After a long wait, many of us have already completed Empyrea and the third storyline of Wizard101! As eager and enthusiastic fans, we always expect a world to amaze us, especially when it's the final world of an arc that lasted 3 years, and Empyrea has definitely set the bar so high in terms of quality, that it was hard not to be completely and utterly mesmerized from the first half!
As far as I can recall, there hasn't been any other world that's had such a great diversity in terms of areas and environments! And this is precisely why we only get a world update a year with KingsIsle: quality over quantity. When they commit to something, they deliver! And with Empyrea Part 2 specifically, they produced quite the masterpiece.
Strong points
This cannot be stressed enough, but the quality is undoubtedly Empyrea's strongest asset. You'll be amazed simply by exploring the different areas of the expansion, most of which are breathtakingly stunning, and the epic music that will carry you all the way through to the end. The sound team did an incredible job with this one, taking it up a notch from what was produced for the first part of Empyrea!
KingsIsle has brought back many iconic bosses and villains, and you can't help but feel nostalgic at times... From Morganthe to an unexpected rematch with Belloq and Jabberwock, Empyrea Part 2 is packed with pleasant surprises! Fighting Headmaster Ambrose was probably one of the most requested things from the Wizard101 community in the last decade, and we finally get to test our skills against such a fearsome and powerful Wizard. And with the return of Old Cob's children, the fate of the Spiral has never looked more uncertain!
Whether you like it or not, the new Whirlyburly minigame offers an alternative to questing and keeps you entertained after completing the storyline. It may take a few tries for you to get into it, but I was hooked from the very beginning. And the furniture and housing guests that you can buy after winning 10 matches are totally worth it! Yes, it certainly isn't for everyone, but it is another much-needed side activity.The difficulty of Empyrea Part 2 is similar to what we experienced in the first half, and it's exactly what you'd expect for high level Wizards. While you can probably solo most of the areas and dungeons without much trouble (Henchmen are especially useful here), there are tougher bosses that will require the assistance of your Wizard friends.
Downsides
While the new conditional spells are an exciting introduction to the game, and despite KingsIsle's efforts to polish them and make them actually useful in battle, they remain too costly in terms of Pips. I don't think we'll be seeing them much in PvP, considering the current fast-paced meta, and I hardly ever cast them throughout Empyrea. The excitement dissipated shortly after learning the spell...
The amount of tough fights early on can discourage you, if you're the kind of person that likes to do it solo. You'll find buying Henchmen is a viable option in tougher instances.
The Verdict
Empyrea is filled with countless unexpected turn of events, with hilarious dialogs here and there to relieve the tension, leading to an epic finale. This latest update is combined with KingsIsle's best storytelling to date, making it one of the best Wizard101 expansions yet.
Graphics: 8
Music: 7
Cinematics: 7
Story: 7
Content: 8
Final score: 7.4/10
What did you think of Empyrea Part 2? Did you like it?
Leave a comment below and let me know!