#ThursdayThrowdown - I still think that “Pre-Searing Ascalon” is the best ‘feeling’ location in the entire Guild Wars franchise

… And that includes everywhere in Guild Wars 2.

Now I don’t want to get into the whole GW1 vs GW2 argument as it’s fruitless and has been done to death, but going back to Pre-Searing Ascalon for my recent locations comparison post really brought it home just how much ArenaNet knocked it out of the park with this whole location.

For those who didn’t play GW1, “Pre-Searing Ascalon” was the game’s tutorial zone. It took place in the past, before the rest of the events of the game, in a lush, peaceful version of Ascalon, before the Charr invasion and “The Searing”, a word given to the magic that was used to burn much of the land to ashes.

However, it was more than just a tutorial area; PSA was like a microcosm of the Guild Wars world, with a great many places to explore; forests, catacombs, snowy peaks… It looked amazing at the time, and honestly still looks pretty good now (if a bit “static” - it’s hard to convey in screenshots, but one of the strengths of GW2 over GW1 is that the world “moves” a lot more, partially because of GW1 being completely instanced outside of towns and cities).

There were other elements too, such as Jeremy Soule’s excellent music, which had a serene, relaxing feel that went extremely well with the sleepy, warm feel of the entire zone. Then, of course, there was the whole mystery that surrounded the area, set up by the opening cutscene which merely said:

The last day dawns upon the Kingdom of Ascalon.

It arrives with no fanfare, no tolling of alarms.

People go about their daily lives, completely unaware that everything they know…

… Is about to come to an end.

It was an awesome start to an amazing game.

The Guild Wars franchise is no stranger to amazing looking places, across both the games and all expansions. They’re memorable too, such as Kryta or Camp Rankor in Prophecies, Shing Jea Island or The Jade Sea in Factions, the wonderful desert vistas in Nightfall, the eponymous Eye of the North, Divinity’s Reach or Lornar’s Pass in Guild Wars 2 - but I believe nothing has yet quite beaten the overall ‘feel’ of Pre-Searing Ascalon.

The last image there shows the trek I had to make through the catacombs to find that Grenth stained glass window. Seriously took me over an-hour-and-a-half.