I've been playing Mabinogi for years, and it's always had its fair share of issues, especially with pay-to-win elements and how they handle updates. They rarely do small patches or fixes—it’s almost always a big overhaul if something needs changing. I can’t complain too much since at least it still gets updates. But the latest "Memory Book" rework is the final straw for me, and I wouldn’t recommend the game to any new players anymore.

They’ve tried several times to make the Memory Book system work, but each attempt just makes things worse. Originally, it was just a power-leveling tool for new players, which I could overlook. But now, it’s a forced info dump. It guides you there before any other quest, with its own UI separate from the usual quest menu, which is already confusing for beginners. It overwhelms you with details right away, making you go through different systems and skills without really understanding them. Then it levels you up so quickly that you barely know what's happening or why you’re suddenly so powerful.

Mabinogi used to be all about flexibility, where you could "do what you want and explore." But now, the Memory Book creates a linear path that takes away the game's sense of discovery. It makes it feel like you’re on a straight track to the "end game," skipping over years of content that could still be fun for new players. Vets might think this is a good change because they're bored of the old content, but it still holds a lot of value for newcomers.

The Memory Book even lets you teleport between NPCs with a single click, so you don’t learn how to navigate on your own. The one upside is that you get extra rewards for completing the original story and skills, which typically involves lots of work that isn't worth it anymore. But overall, it’s doing more harm than good. If they don’t remove it before the graphics overhaul, I think this game is in trouble.