Open-world survival game spin-off RuneScape: Dragonwilds from Jagex is taking you on a new adventure on the forgotten continent of Ashenfall. Check out our RuneScape: Dragonwilds review!
Open-world survival game spin-off RuneScape: Dragonwilds from Jagex is taking you on a new adventure on the forgotten continent of Ashenfall. Since the dragons have awoken, it’s now up to you to gather resources and craft the items and pieces of equipment needed to take on these mighty entities and bring them down before it’s too late. This will all lead you to eventually facing off against the Dragon Queen, Kuldra, so that you – and your allies – can end her reign of terror. The dragons are not the only entities that you’ll be fighting against, since you’ll need to tackle classic RuneScape enemies such as the Black Knight, the Goblins and the Zogres, as well as the all-new Garou.
RuneScape: Dragonwilds is a game that can be played solo on your console, or in which you can play with up to four players by jumping online. Do know that for this you’re going to need a Nintendo Switch Online subscription. You can decide to either host an online game or join an online game as needed.
This release started its path as an Early Access title last year in April, 2025, and it’s been making some solid progress up to this 1.0 version. At first, it featured around 20 hours or so of content, but this was expanded with each subsequent major update, leading to its current 80+ hours of content. Mind you, you can certainly spend more than 80 hours playing RuneScape: Dragonwilds due to its sandbox nature, so it’s a game that definitely offers a good bang for your buck.
The first step on this new journey will be to create a world to play in. You can pick between the Standard, Creative, or Custom Modes for your adventure. The Standard Mode offers the regular experience through Ashenfall, balanced to test your skills without making you feel overwhelmed. The Creative Mode is one in which there will be no building costs, all buildings will be unlocked, there are no aggressive enemies, as well as no survival upkeep. As for the Custom Mode, you’ll be able to play how you want to, tailoring the experience to your liking.
Once that’s been sorted, you’ll be given a chance to create your character. You’ll be choosing their name, as well as their body type, skin tone, face, eyes and brow, eye color, hair style, facial hair, hair color, and eyebrow color. After that’s been taken care of, you’ll get to learn more about the mythical Ashenfall of legend.
After the intro story cutscene is over, you’ll be able to take control of your character by using the left analog stick, and you can move the camera around by using the right analog stick. Sprint by pressing in on the left analog stick. You can lock onto a target by pressing in on the right analog stick. Attack enemies by pressing the R button. Try to dodge incoming attacks by pressing the B button. You can also try to block by pressing the ZL button. Open up your map by pressing the – button, so that you can get a better idea of where you should be heading next.
Every item that you find along the way can be useful for your goals. Collect ash logs for building structures. Grab yourself some redberries to take care of your hunger, as well as to recover some stamina and regenerate some of your lost health. Oh, and get yourself some water to stay alive! Just be careful with dirty water. While some dirty water is going to be better than nothing, you will definitely need to be careful with this since it’s tainted. Perhaps you should boil it to make it drinkable?
You will have to craft some tools at a crafting table to help you. Your hands are probably good enough to deal some damage if needed, but you should definitely craft at least a stone club to take on some of the smaller enemies that are certainly not as deadly as the mighty dragons that you’ll need to slay – you’ll need to get ash logs as well as some stones for this. You know, once you build a crafting table. That one will only need to use four ash logs to get the building cycle going. Maybe craft a shield to defend yourself and a cape to boost your defense.
Open-world survival game spin-off RuneScape: Dragonwilds is taking you on a new adventure on the forgotten continent of Ashenfall. Since the dragons have awoken, it’s now up to you to gather resources and craft the items and pieces of equipment needed to take on these mighty entities and bring them down before it’s too late. This will all lead you to eventually facing off against the Dragon Queen, Kuldra, so that you – and your allies – can end her reign of terror. The dragons are not the only entities that you’ll be fighting against, since you’ll need to tackle classic RuneScape enemies such as the Black Knight, the Goblins and the Zogres, as well as the all-new Garou.
The game’s jump from Early Access to its 1.0 release hasn’t been without hiccups, at least in the current build. The game’s graphics and framerate have certainly taken a hit after the move from PC to the Nintendo Switch, and there are plenty of bugs that need to be ironed out and console crashes that need to be fixed ASAP. Jagex has recently released a new patch that moves things in the right direction, but there’s definitely room for improvement.
RuneScape: Dragonwilds is out on Nintendo Switch 2 with a $29.99 price tag. There’s also the RuneScape: Dragonwilds – Deluxe Edition for $39.99, which bundles the main game as well as the bonus content into a single package. Or you can also grab yourself the RuneScape: Dragonwilds – Deluxe Edition Upgrade for $9.99 if you prefer to first buy the game and take it for a spin before diving into the Deluxe Edition content. If you do get this, you will gain access to the following:
Gilded Armour and Cape: Exclusive craftable armour to wear or display on your adventure. (Comparable to Level 4 armour that is crafted at the Armour Bench.)
6 Old School RuneScape-inspired helmets: these iconic low-poly helmets are craftable items that you can wear instead of the standard helmets at each material tier.
4 decorative Dragon head wall mounts to build and place around your home.
10 exclusive in-game paintings you can place to decorate your home inspired by the art and designs of Ashenfall.
2 animated animal decorations: Muncher (Death’s Best Friend) as well as a Chinchompa, each dozing in a bed as an adorable companion waiting at home.
Disclaimer
This RuneScape: Dragonwilds review is based on a Nintendo Switch 2 copy provided by Jagex.
