The app that I'll be reviewing is a third-party client for a game that I have played for a long time, so am quite familiar with. For those that aren't familiar with Runescape, it's a Massively Multiplayer Online (MMO) game created and operated by the British Game company Jagex. In 2014, following a significant overhaul of the game that divided fans, they released an alternate version of the game based on a backup of the servers from 2007 called Old School Runescape. This is the version I play, and for a while now, I've used a third-party client called Runelite to play the game, which Jagex recently began providing official support for in their new game launcher.
Features
The major feature of this custom client is the ability to run custom
plugins designed to enhance your game experience, such as replacing
textures and assets with high-definition versions, animation smoothing,
FPS control, helpful overlays to help guide players through quests, help
with minigames, or provide additional information on monsters, drop
tables, experience rates, and the value of items.
For instance, the Agility plugin adds an overlay to highlight interactive elements on agility courses (used to train one of the game's many skills) to help make it easier to identify what the player is intended to do, and changes its color if a valuable reward has spawned somewhere along the course.
All of these plugins are user-created, and available for download directly through the client by selecting the plugin icon in the toolbar in a manner that is intuitive and easy to use. Every plugin that either comes with the client or can be downloaded is ready to use out of the box, being configured by default to run simply by toggling it on in the menu. However, most plugins feature additional customization options that can be accessed through the gear icon next to the plugin name.
It's a great plugin, that adds a lot of quality of life features to the base game, like moddable controls, customizable render distance, and even Discord functionality. However, there are several improvements I think would make it even better. New players may find the large list of plugins loaded by default overwhelming. I would reduce the number of plugins loaded by default to just the basics, enhanced graphic options, texture packs, control modification, and the like. Additional plugins for things like minigame overlays, bosses, DPS counters, and tick-manipulation metronomes that the player is unlikely to need until dozens of hours into the game can be left for them to look up later to declutter the plugin menu. Alternatively, I would group similar plugins under subfolders in the menu, letting players quickly find all of the plugins associated with graphics or controls, minigame helpers, quest guides, or bossing and PVP assistants under their respective categories instead of one massive, alphabetically organized list. One other improvement I would suggest is include the option to walk the player through a short tour of the interface when the client is run for the first time to show the player where everything is and what the different icons mean.
I love this client, and I can't imagine going back to playing the game without all of the great ways it improves the experience. I'm happy to see a game company officially recognize and endorse fan-made content for their game, so long as it doesn't violate the spirit of the game or break the rules.
References
Jagex. (2023). Jagex Launcher (version 0.29.1) [Application]. Runescape.com. https//www.runescape.com.
Runelite. (2016). Runelite (version 1.10.17.1) [Game Client]. Runelite.net. https://runelite.net/.
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