Automatic system can be challenging

Darkmoon Realm is free and online with several in-game purchases that are unnecessary to make the game progress. The tutorial will walk you through practically every step-- completely literally. The battle system is automatic; your character runs around the screen, defeating minor enemies to collect resources while you upgrade whatever you need to yourself. After the overwhelming instruction at the beginning, it can be almost fun to upgrade your character. When you go offline, there's idle EXP and gold income as well, to make sure you have plenty to do when you get back. Additionally, you can choose what server to play on, in case you want a new start elsewhere after reaching a high point with your current character. With three options- Warrior, Mage, and Priest- the ability to switch servers can also provide an opportunity to try all the different branch developments. You can even have more than one character in the same server; however, while you can have the same name in different servers, you need to create a new name for a second character in the same server.

As stated before, the battle system is automatic. Additionally, there are quests to complete, which are always visible on scree. At the beginning, these quests almost serve as a fast-paced tutorial, putting the storyline in motion and showing you where to go to accomplish the different tasks. However, it can get bothersome when after reaching higher levels, you're still being shown what buttons to press. It does not prevent you from completing things on your own, such as choosing to do more than the quest requires; however, when one takes that path, it might mean you put yourself in a position where you did something too soon and the quests do not acknowledge it. In that case, you'll need to wait to gain resources to finish the quest. And as stated before, being at level 60 and still being told what button to click detracts from the game. In addition to the game's help, there is also a narrator almost constantly speaking her lines. Many menus are set up to automatically have her explain, and while this is alright the first time, it does get annoying when you open a menu for the fifteenth, twentieth, perhaps even fiftieth time and she still recites that same line.

The art in the game seems to be of good quality, although the lack of character customization is disappointing. The character's appearance upgrades as you gain experience, but with only three options to choose from, there isn't much satisfaction in that. The art also appears to be somewhat sexualized, and practically all the characters are female, which seems to be typical in this type of game.

Overall, this game is about what you would expect from a free-to-play. It looks more impressive than it is, and treats the player as if they know nothing about playing the game themself. Thankfully, however, the gets more manageable as time progresses as tutorials are spread out more instead of overwhelming you constantly. Typically free-to-play games get harder as time progresses, in order to force you to spend money to have the same enjoyment as before. As I am only level 60, I cannot guarantee this will not happen, but for now it seems to grow smoother. There are a good deal of requests for you to spend money in the game, but thankfully no outside ads. Props to them for that.