Wildstar was one of those games that people really hold a special place in their heart for. Even though the official servers are long gone, the memories are still super bright.
The Good Stuff: Charm, Combat, and Your Own Pad
- Cartoon Sci-Fi Charm: First off, the art style was just so colorful and unique—like a Saturday morning cartoon mashed up with a sci-fi epic. You had these cute-but-evil rodent people called Chua, and the whole world of Nexus was bright, zany, and full of personality. The music was a total banger, too!
- Action Combat: The fighting was fast, dynamic, and you had to move. Enemies (and you!) would show the area of your attacks on the ground with brightly colored shapes, called “telegraphs.” You had to constantly dodge out of the red and step into the green for healing. It was way more engaging than just standing still and mashing buttons.
- Unmatched Housing: Seriously, this was a huge highlight. You got your own floating plot of land that you could customize with incredible freedom. We’re talking placing every item exactly where you wanted, inside and out. You could build crazy obstacle courses, grow resources, or just make a cozy, personalized home. For casual players, this was basically a game-within-a-game.
- The Path System: When you made your character, you chose a “Path” (like Explorer, Settler, Soldier, or Scientist) which gave you unique, fun side-activities to do while questing. Explorers got to climb mountains and find hidden spots, while Settlers built helpful public amenities. It gave you things to do besides just killing mobs.
The Less Good Stuff: The “Hardcore” Hurdle
- The Hardcore Reputation: Here’s where things got tricky. The developers really leaned into a “hardcore” identity, especially for endgame. They had massive, difficult 40-person raids and a ridiculously long, brutal process called Attunement just to unlock them.
- Difficulty Wall: Even the normal dungeons while leveling were surprisingly tough, often requiring tight teamwork and perfect execution. Many casual players hit this wall and felt the game was being toxic or punishing, especially since the devs’ marketing often called players “cupcakes” if they weren’t into the difficulty.
- Busywork: While the world was pretty, a lot of the standard questing could feel like repetitive, generic “kill X, collect Y” fetch quests. It felt like filler between the fun, dynamic parts.
In the end, Wildstar had a fantastic core—a charming world, phenomenal housing, and super fun combat—that casual players absolutely loved.
However, the game’s heavy emphasis on hardcore endgame and the sheer difficulty of its dungeons is what ultimately pushed a lot of those players away, and the game eventually had to shut down. It was a victim of trying to cater to both the super-hardcore and the casual crowd and missing the mark on how to balance that difficulty.
The desire for a full official return of the game is certainly there—NCSoft has recently renewed the WildStar trademark, which sparked some hope, but there has been no official announcement of a new game or a relaunch.
Meanwhile there are a few non-official options and player run private servers that you can use to experience the game:
- Nexus Forever: This is the main fan-run project attempting to reverse-engineer and emulate the original game’s server. Progress is ongoing but slow, as it’s a massive undertaking. You can usually join their testing or “sandbox” server to run around, view content, and sometimes access early-stage combat/quests in starting zones.
- Arctium: Another community project that offers a downloadable Wildstar client and a private “sandbox” to explore Nexus.
- Genesis Prime: This is a fork of Nexus Forever specifically focused on creating a social and roleplay environment. It has fully functional housing and social features but less focus on combat/endgame at the moment,
Also, take a gander at the official Wildstar Trailer from yesteryear, below.
