Tree of Savior

Game overview

Tree of Savior is a Korean isometric MMORPG from IMC Games that wears its old-school sensibilities—and its Ragnarok Online heritage—on an embroidered sleeve.
The first thing that hits you is the look: painterly backdrops, chibi-but-detailed character sprites, and particle effects that bloom like magic confetti.
The second thing is the class system. You don’t just pick a role; you stitch one together from multiple class advancements, mixing archetypes (Wizard, Swordsman, Archer, Cleric, Scout) with a smorgasbord of subclasses to create a build that’s either brilliantly synergized… or hilariously cursed. That freedom is the game’s identity: it’s a sandbox for build-tinkerers.

Combat is quick and flashy—an action-oriented click/keyboard/controller affair where positioning, cooldowns, and mob herding matter. The PvE loop leans hard into grinding, with quest hubs, instanced dungeons, raids, challenge modes, and field farming that feels cozy when you’re in the groove. Gear progression, attributes, enchants, and ichors layer on long-term goals, while the soundtrack—light, whimsical, and nostalgic—keeps the mood buoyant.

It’s not all cotton-candy clouds. Tree of Savior has historically struggled with a clunky UI, uneven onboarding, and performance hiccups during busy scenes. Some systems are opaque until you live in them, and the meta can feel like a moving target. Monetization and event cadence have waxed and waned over the years, and the population varies by region and season.

Still, when Tree of Savior clicks, it really clicks. It’s that rare MMO where experimentation is the point, where you load into a sunny field, turn monsters into fireworks, and tweak your build for “just one more” percent. If you crave expressive character building, cozy mob mowing, and throwback vibes with modern sparkle, this quirky canopy of a game is worth climbing.

➔ Main points:

• Expressive class building: combine multiple advancements to craft synergistic, weird, or wonderfully overpowered builds.
• Flashy action combat: isometric brawling with big pulls, big AOEs, and crunchy visual feedback.
• Layered progression systems: attributes, ichors, set effects, and enchants drive long-term goals.
• Chill grind-friendly zones: open fields, challenge modes, and dungeons feed that “one more run” itch.
• Co-op focused endgame: raids, bosses, and party synergies reward coordination and smart builds.
• Nostalgic audiovisual charm: whimsical soundtrack and painterly maps sell the fantasy beautifully.

Full review

Under the Canopy: Art, Atmosphere, and That Cozy MMO Flow

The first hour of Tree of Savior feels like stepping into an illustrated storybook that someone accidentally wired to a fireworks factory. The isometric, hand-painted maps are lush without being noisy, and your chibi-esque avatar pirouettes through mobs while spells burst like neon confetti. This is a game that understands vibe. You’re not trudging across grim realism; you’re sashaying through sun-dappled forests, cobblestone towns, and ruins drenched in soft color gradients. Between the whimsical soundtrack and the pleasantly chunky sound effects, even basic mob grinding slides into a kind of meditative rhythm. It’s comfort food with particle effects.

The structure is classic MMO: quest hubs dole out tasks that gently shepherd you through new biomes and mechanics while you hoover up gear, cards, and materials. It’s approachable in the “sit down after work and farm” sense. Teleports keep you moving; field maps are designed for pulling packs and testing your kit; and dungeons, raids, and Challenge Modes act as pressure cookers that ask, “So, does your build really work?” Combat is action-oriented and brisk—movement, positioning, and cooldown choreography all matter—but it avoids becoming twitchy. Whether you prefer kiting as a bow-slinger, clapping packs together with a hammer-wielding zealot, or evaporating screens as a spell-slinger, the game rewards confidence and pattern recognition. You learn the feel of your skills: the chunk of a big AOE finishing its cast, the snap of a CC timing, the satisfying whoosh of vacuuming mobs into a damage blender.

There’s an undeniable cozy grind underpinning everything. You log in, set a goal (finish a weekly, chase an ichor, test a new enhancement), and let the loops take the wheel. That’s Tree of Savior’s secret sauce: it’s not trying to reinvent the wheel with cinematic questlines or dialog trees the size of encyclopedias. It’s selling the loop, and thanks to the art and audio, the loop feels good. Not perfect—the UI can be a little “Excel spreadsheet wearing cosplay,” and performance can hitch when the screen becomes a rave—but the charm returns as soon as the music swells and the next pack of mobs obligingly lines up for your AOE encore.

Builds Upon Builds: The Joy and Madness of Class Crafting

If the art is what gets you in the door, the class system is what locks it behind you (lovingly). Tree of Savior doesn’t just ask you to pick a class; it invites you to stack multiple advancements into a bespoke toolkit. Start with a base archetype—Wizard, Swordsman, Archer, Cleric, or Scout—then branch into a spread of subclasses, each with its own skills, passives, and thematic flavor. The alchemy happens in the combinations. You might concoct a crit-stacking Archer cocktail that melts bosses with multihit volleys, or a Cleric mix that bolts together healing, buffs, and unapologetic smiting. Wizards can lean into sustained DOT sorcery or go full “one-button meteorologist.” Swordsman? Anything from whirlwind blender to tanky control freak. The joy is in synergy hunting—finding how one class’s debuff turbocharges another’s nuke, or how a support kit elevates a friend’s damage curve from “nice” to “chef’s kiss.”

This freedom comes with responsibility. The game doesn’t always explain its mechanics with the clarity of a tutorialized single-player RPG. You’re expected to experiment—reshuffle, retune, and occasionally admit, “Yes, I have built a beautiful disaster.” The good news is that the feedback loop is snappy: take your Frankenstein into Challenge Mode, see what shreds and what sputters, then tune gear, attributes, enchants, and ichors to seal the leaks. The progression layers are where ToS reveals its crunchy heart. Gear is not just about stat sticks; it’s a puzzle where set effects, awakenings, and enhancement thresholds lock together to amplify your build fantasy. It’s grindy, yes, but the grind has purpose. You’re not just chasing bigger numbers—you’re sculpting a playstyle until it hums.

Controls are flexible—keyboard/mouse or controller both work—though the UI remains dense and occasionally stubborn. You will click through menus that feel a patch behind the times, and you will, at least once, stare at a tooltip like it owes you money. Performance can wobble when the screen becomes a soup of telegraphs, pets, and spell trails, but the net feel of combat remains responsive. Endgame content leans cooperative: raids and tougher instances reward party synergy, not just burst DPS. The game shines brightest when a group leans into its overlapping kits—the buff window fills, debuffs stack, and bosses pop like piñatas at a wizard’s birthday party. When that machine is humming, Tree of Savior is pure serotonin.

Final Verdict

Tree of Savior is a love letter to expressive builds, cozy mob mowing, and painterly MMO worlds. It’s also a reminder that freedom comes with a learning curve. If you want an MMO that escorts you from cutscene to cutscene with cinematic bombast, this isn’t your date. If you want to tinker, if your idea of fun is turning spreadsheets into satisfying explosions, and if you smile at art that looks like it wandered out of a lovingly illustrated TRPG manual, this canopy’s shade is perfect.

The strengths are obvious: gorgeous art, whimsical music, and a class system that lets you be exactly as normal or deranged as you choose. The core combat loop is fast, flashy, and snackable; sessions can be as short as a couple runs or as long as an evening rabbit hole. Progression is layered but purposeful, with a sense that every upgrade threads into your personal build fantasy. In co-op, the game sings—party comps feel meaningful, and the “aha” moments when skills and passives interlock are genuinely rewarding.

The warts are visible too. The UI feels dated, menus sprawl, and information density can overwhelm new players until the systems snap into focus. Performance can hiccup during maximal onscreen chaos. And the onboarding doesn’t always respect your time; some systems unveil themselves like a magician who forgot the finale. Yet, even with those scuffs, Tree of Savior’s charm is unusually resilient. Once the loops click, the friction blurs into the background hum of “just one more” run.

So where does that leave it? For me, Tree of Savior is a keeper—not because it’s perfect, but because its identity is unmistakable. In a genre that often chases the same trends, this is a game with soul: a distinctive look, a playful soundscape, and a design thesis that trusts you to make your own fun. If you live for buildcraft, cooperative synergy, and that uniquely satisfying pop of a screen full of enemies dissolving under a plan that finally came together, climb the tree. The view, quirks and all, is delightful.

Review summary

1. Under the Canopy: Art, Atmosphere, and That Cozy MMO Flow
2. Builds Upon Builds: The Joy and Madness of Class Crafting
3. Final Verdict