Wistfully, I re-installed TSW this weekend and gave it a good spin.

I jumped in on my character who had made it to Transylvania, which if I recall, is pretty much the final zone before end game.  I have ~30% of the skill wheel unlocked, which means I have all the skills I want for solo play.

Further, I’m at skill 10, meaning that I’m in the best solo gear I can find.  Any power progression is unlikely to come from solo play.  So, given that I like goals, let’s see what’s here.

Exploration – I can finish up the next zone (forest) and move on to the other chapters and see the story play itself out.  TSW does have the best story-telling out there, and I certainly find it interesting.  This zone in particular is less weird, and more Vampires everywhere, so I might just jump through as fast as possible.  There are plenty of other issues to give stock.

Killer – I don’t think there’s any PvP here, or rather I’ve not found any.  Murder machine this game is not.

Achiever – Specific achievements don’t really get to me.  Power increments are a goal, but only so much as a step to the next one.  I’d like to collect more costumes, maybe round out some other skill trees.  None of that would have much impact on gameplay.  I wouldn’t really call that horizontal progression either.  I would like to get through combat faster though, it gets repetitive quickly.

Social – TSW focuses a lot on the RP community.  That is not my bag.  Social would be a means to do group content, which doesn’t interest me either.

I keep coming back to TSW.  A few weeks here and there throughout the years.  The story and quests (with a few notable exceptions) are very well done and immersive.   Character progression is no where close to linear, and setting the various decks out means you reach a point where you can do what you want.  There are a few weak choices but not too many bad ones.  If you pay attention though, then you find the really optimal playstyles.  You could concentrate on affliction, or penetration, find some leech options… everything links with everything else in some form.

The downside is that combat is extremely boring.  It all revolves around building 1-5 charges and using a finisher.  With so many skills, it’s hard to find proper and distinct animations as well.

So I’ll keep giving it a go, in small doses, until the combat wears me out.  Maybe I’ll finally leave the zone this time!