Kingdom of Loathing

"It's funny, so why bother with graphics?"

Honestly, I've been playing this game since the end of August, and it's lasted longer for me (while still being fun) than any other MMORPG/MPOG out there. When I first saw this game, I just thought "Oh great, another text-based game." and then I played for a few days. Then I got ticked off that I only had 40 adventures a day. Anyways, let's get trough this.

Graphics: 10
After calling it a text-based game above, you're probably thinking, "What's this guy smoking?" Well, first of all, I'm not smoking anything. Secondly, this isn't really a text-based game. Too many graphics to be one. Thirdly, KoL's graphics are so utterly simple that they make the game even more unique than it already is. Stick figures with different faces, every so often holding a weapon, account for most of the monsters. Familiars (or pets) are based off of strange things like barnacles and could take no more than 2 minutes to draw. If you ask almost anyone on the message boards, they'll say this game has good graphics. Really. There's nothing wrong with the graphics, if they were changed then the entire game would be... different, somehow.

Gameplay: 10
Click, click... click! All you really have to do in this game is click, but there are forums, clan message boards, a chat system, and a quest or two that require you to type. Honestly, it's so easy to figure out that you could become a pro at clicking in less than a day! But seriously, you start out getting 40 adventures a day to spend as you please. Fight monsters, work out, run around in a drunken stupor, do as you please. The PVP system seems a little odd, it certainly wasn't what I expected and now I vow never to go PVP again. There are many weapons, familiars, food, and other items that you can get. Some items are impossible to obtain, and others are very close to impossible to obtain. Some monsters are very difficult to beat, some are pathetically easy. Overall, the gameplay is better than almost any other game, and is unique in many ways.

Community: 10
Everyone in KoL is friendly... at least everyone I've met. It is frowned upon to use really, really bad grammar (some mistakes are okay, but 1337 is annoying) and no spoilers/recipes/whatever are allowed in the forums, so you have to use your brain a bit more. GameFAQs should be more like that (not intended to be cruel).

Replayability: 10
To put it simply, you can now ascend to a higher plane of existence, then get reincarnated into the body of your descendants. Basically, you can restart the game with some added tweaks. You get more areas, more skills, and (sometimes) more quests than you had before. You don't even need to make a new file to do it. In other words, it's got great replay value.

Should you Pay to Play?
If you wish to, yes, you can pay $10US to get a nice little item called a Mr. A. You can trade it for other items at a store, sell it, or give it to a friend. It has an awesome effect, and it supports a great game. You can also buy stuff (for the real world) through the Store of Loathing. They have T-Shirts, pint glasses, and bumper stickers that you can buy. The game itself doesn't require you to pay, but if you do, you get some nice stuff.

Overall: 10
This game has no flaws that could possibly be changed in any good ways. You want better graphics? Go sacrifice great gameplay, a great community, and hours of fun and go play Runescape. Honestly, I've never seen an online game as good as KoL.
Peace out.

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 02/06/06