Cheap EverQuest: Legacy of Ykesha (Software) (Windows 95, Windows 98) Price

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Customer Reviews of EverQuest: Legacy of Ykesha

When this disc was originally announced, Sony took great pains to not call it an expansion, but an extension. At the time, it seemed like they were splitting hairs, but it turns out that they were right.

While "Legacy of Ykesha" (LoY) is done well, it's short on overall content or additions to the game. This extension adds the playable froglok race, double bank space, a little-used addition to inventory (charm slot) and a handful of new zones.

The froglok race is quite nice, but at this point in the game's development, a new race isn't a cause for a lot of excitement, as previous expansions (most especially the Planes of Power) served to level the playing field, and now playing one race is a great deal like playing another, save for those people who actually roleplay in Everquest. (If you're one of these, frogloks are a lot of fun, with plenty of charm, character and lore, as well as having far more quests available to low level frogs than most races.)

The doubled bank space is nice, I suppose, but again, having the (free) ability to share two bank slots and coin between characters takes away a lot of the impact of this, as players can simply have one or more "mule" characters storing the things that would otherwise go into the doubled bank space.

And finally, there's Broken Skull Rock, home of troll pirates and the Cthulu-esque Luggalds. Everyone likes pirates, and for the most part, these zones are well-designed, beautifully appointed (some of the best models in the game, along with a few clunkers) and feature some unique events and treasure. The boss of the whole expansion, in fact, has perhaps the most interesting death animation in the whole of the game. But everything in these zones is significantly tougher of other things of their level in other parts of the game, and EQ players tend to prefer the path of least resistance so as a result, they're lightly populated at best most of the time.

LoY wasn't the flop some said it was -- for what it was, it was well-done, but it simply consists of a lot of things that are nice enough, but nothing that constitutes a "must have."

Mildly recommended for EQ players with mid- to high-level characters (levels 35-60), inveterate pack rats and those who really, really like frogloks.

Greedily Created To Add "Kid Appeal"
More than any other expansion pack to date, "Legacy of Ykesha" demonstrates the clear intention of Sony to target youngsters with disposable incomes. The questionable addition of Frogloks as a playable race (very cute characters... they resemble Kermit the Frog, and do cute little cartoonish backflips when they cast spells), combined with the overall "Sony PlayStation 2~ish" appearance, and overly simplified gameplay reinforce this obvious marketing ploy. Kids will love it, though.

Whilst the addition of a few new bells and whistles into the player interface are handy at times (the Guild Manager tool for example), ultimately those features serve to further clutter up the player's screen with gadgets that are rarely (if ever) used during the course of normal gameplay. Overall, the screen appears to be too "busy" as a result, and some players find this to be more of a distraction than a gameplay enhancement.

Finally, the price of this supposed "expansion pack" is not warranted... especially when one considers that it may very well simply be those sections of the previous "Planes of Power" expansion that were not finished in time for the Christmas sales. "Legacy of Ykesha" was released (suspiciously) far too soon after "Planes of Power" was for me to easily believe it was a completely separate project all along.

My overall assessment would be this: if you are an avid player of EverQuest, then obviously you will need this "expansion pack," but unless you are between the ages of 8 and 14, do not expect to be thrilled by its overall lack of content. The EverQuest series has been suffering ever since the departure of Verant in 2002, and both the "Planes of Power" and "Legacy of Ykesha" expansion packs (both made after Verant had left the franchise) clearly show that Sony is either unable, or unwilling to maintain the same depth of storyline and overall game content that Verant was known for. Like many sensationalistic (but sadly profitable) films made today, Sony has decidedly chosen the path of special effects and cutesy characters over actual depth of storyline and character development. Overall, "Ykesha" is a disappointment, unless you are keen on console-style games.

Final word: how all of this bodes for "EverQuest II" is a serious issue to consider. Based upon the declining quality of the post-Verant expansions to "EverQuest," combined with the *atrocious* lack of customer support and generally deteriorating service overall, I have my doubts as to whether "EverQuest II" will have much appeal to mature (read:expert) gamers. The trend at Sony Online Entertainment seems to favor dollars over dungeons, and cartoons over content. Fortunately, "old timers" and other more serious gamesters should find quite a few more worthy alternatives. A big thumbs down.

A good addition, but enough for an expansion?
LoY adds a lot of new features.. Frogloks being a playable race as the biggest.. it also added some zones, items, and the new wear location "Charms".. Oh, and of course, the armor dye feature.

Is it really enough to force people to buy yet another expansion at full price?

A lot of the smaller features could have easily been added in patches.. while the larger things just doesn't feel like enough to satisfy me. It took me a while to buy the expansion, as I have no desire to make a Froglok, nor do I feel $35CDN was worth it for a charm. And armor dye, while cool, again is hardly necessary.

Then comes the part where you're paying the same price as previous expansions.. for a cd case. No fancy box, no updated manual explaining the new features, and worst of all, no updated map showing locations of new zones.

Now that I do own it, I enjoy the new tools and the armor dye is fun. I hate watching Frogloks run around freely, but I can deal with that. Do I feel I got the best deal for my money? Not really, but I've paid more for less in the past. It's not the worst thing you can spend your money on. The features ARE useful, it's just questionable whether they are worthy of an expansion.