MMORPGs With a Twist

I’m tired of playing cookie-cutter fantasy MMORPGs like Last Chaos and Grand Fantasia from Aeria Games. Now these games aren’t terrible, but they aren’t original either. When I play generic fantasy games, I always feel as if “I’ve been here before”. Class names, environments and gameplay mechanics just feel way too similar. It’s not just fantasy games either. I’m tired of playing very basic MMORPGs that do nothing to push the genre forward. I want to play games that are genuinely different, because as is most games are way too similar to each other. Luckily there are MMOs and MMORPGs out there that satisfy my desire for creativity.

Games like Savage 2 and League of Legends for example are top notch original titles. Savage 2 is a unique mix of third person shooter and MMO strategy. The game is broken down into two teams – the Beasts and the Legion. Basically humans vs monsters. Each side has 1 player called the commander who plays in a top down real time strategy style camera view, like in Starcraft and Age of Empires. The commander is responsible for spending the team’s resources on constructing buildings, researches and defenses. The players on the team are the foot soldiers who must secure resource and strategic points. It’s a game that requires a lot of team work and even though it sounds complicated, it’s not. It’s a really easy game to learn that everyone should check out. The second game I mentioned is League of Legends from Riot Games. It plays like DotA from Warcraft 3, except with much crisper graphics. The visuals are definitely anime inspired, but they look gorgeous. They’re more “Western” anime than Eastern, sort of like Battlefield Heroes from Electronic Arts and Team Fortress 2 from Valve. The gameplay is very complicated, but it’s a really fun game that’s worth learning.

Another MMORPG with a twist is Land of Chaos Online from Alaplaya. It’s called Loco for short and plays a lot like League of Legends. It’s actually League of Legends meets Savage 2, as the gameplay is done entirely in third person. It’s an action MMORPG as well, so combat is always fun and interactive. No boring point and click stuff. The game is still in closed beta, so there are a lot of bugs, but from my experience with the game, it’s a very original title. I can’t decide if I want to recommend it yet, because I get a lot of lag in the game. It’s weird, because I don’t lag at all in Florensia, which is also published by Alaplaya.

On the more traditional MMORPG front, I recently played Neo Steam from Atlus Online and Kingdom Heroes from Aeria Games. Both are neat titles, but I liked Neo Steam a bit more. The game is largely a traditional fantasy game with Steampunk MMORPG elements. Come to think of it, Steampunk is a very under utilized setting that deserves more exposure. Kingdom Heroes is a fun game too. The game’s soldier system adds some variety to the otherwise bland grind oriented genre. The game’s intense PvP keeps things interesting too.

Anyway guys. I definitely recommend checking out the games mentioned in this piece. If you know of any other MMORPGs with a twist, leave their names in the comments.

Anime MMORPG Graphics

Is it just me or do anime MMORPGs just look nicer than realistic 3D MMORPGs. I’ve never been a fan of anime, but I find MMORPGs that have sleek anime graphics to be visually satisfying. Games like Cloud Nine (Netgame) and S4 League (Alaplaya) for example look really awesome. The graphics aren’t at all realistic, but the art style is gorgeous. Not all anime MMORPGs look nice though. MMOs like Grand Chase from Ntreev and Fly For Fun from gPotato don’t look nearly as awesome. I guess its because the graphics in these games are a bit more jagged and low quality. No fault of the publishers of course, as both of these games are quite old now. I can safely say though I prefer Cloud Nine style anime graphics over Runes of Magic style Western cartoony graphics. I don’t think Cloud Nine is a better game than Runes of Magic, but I like the art style much better.

One interesting thing about this issue is that realistic 3D MMORPGs like Karos Online from NHN and Last Chaos from Aeria Games will age much faster. In 5 years these games will look terrible in comparison to the new 3D games, while anime inspired MMORPGs like S4 League will still look good. Obviously newer games will always look better, but my argument is that anime inspired games age better as its much harder to improve anime style graphics than realistic 3D graphics. Here’s some interesting proof. MapleStory which is a 7 year old game now still looks good visually while an older 3D game like Rappelz is beginning to show its age.

Anyone else with me on this? I find it weird that I think this way because I don’t really like anime, but I love anime graphics and characters. Unfortunately there aren’t enough good anime inspired MMORPGs out there. All the best MMORPGs are 3D and more realistic. Think Dungeons and Dragons Online and Allods Online.

MMORPG Balance Doesn't Matter

I feel that a lot of free to play MMORPGs spend too much time worrying about balance. When I play a new MMORPG I care a lot more if the game has lots of playable classes than if they’re balanced. In fact, I could care less if one class is slightly over powered or if one class is slightly under powered. I like games that offer lots of variety. Games like Ragnarok Online and Requiem from Gravity on the free to play front and games like Dark Age of Camelot and Vanguard on the pay to play front. I Feel that if MMO developers spend too much time and energy worrying about balance, they won’t be working on adding new classes and races. World of Warcraft for example is an extremely balanced game, but it has such little variety. I mean, if a game is big into PvP, then balance should be important, but a lot of people play MMOs for the PvE aspect.

Does anyone really care if about balance anyway? I know I don’t. I mean, I do to an extent, but so long as one class isn’t absurdly over powered, balance is not in my top 5 concerns about a game. Just look at the Super Smash Brothers franchise – it has so many characters. Characters like Bowser and Jigglypuff are outright useless. In fact, within the community players have broken down characters into tier 1, 2 and 3. There are usually a few tier 1 characters which the ‘pros’ use and a few tier 2 characters which are also good, but 90% of characters in Super Smash are garbage, thus they’re thrown into tier 3. I think it’s almost universally accepted that Super Smash Brothers is a fun game, which is why I used it as an example. Balance does not equal fun.

Developers should focus on character customization (Think Perfect World), content and features. These are much more important than balance. Sure PvP MMORPGs like Aika Online and Kingdom Heroes would require a bit more attention in the balance department, but I think MMO companies are wasting their efforts worrying about balance when they could actually be improving their games.

I Can’t be the only one who feels this way, but sometimes I do feel this way, as every time I’ve discussed this issue across various forums, people tend to disagree. I’ve noticed though that people who play pay to play MMORPGs seem to care more than those who play free to play games. People who player browser games also preferred variety over balance. Any thoughts? Leave them in the comments below

Under the Radar New MMORPGs

I’ve learned of a few interesting under the radar new MMORPGs over the last few days. One neat game I learned about is RayCity, and it’s pretty new. The game was developed by Electronic Art’s Korean Studio and is published in Malaysia. Luckily, there aren’t any IP Blocks, so players in Europe and North America can play it freely. RayCity is a racing MMO that plays remarkably like Drift City which ijji publishes. The game has a persistent world where players can complete various missions as well as a designated racing area (just like Drift City). Unlike Drift City though, which has cartoony graphics, RayCity has gorgeous 3D graphics. I love how EA is really going all out with the whole free to play scene, as they make some of the best free MMORPGs ever. EA also made Battlefield Heroes, Battleforge and Lord of Ultima.

Aside from RayCity, another under the radar new MMORPG that I found is Empire of Sports. I think this game’s been available for a while, but it’s new to me. It’s one of the only sports MMOs and is incredibly high quality. The game offers a boat load of sports within it from basketball to sledding. The game combines Fantasy Tennis, FreeStyle: Street Basketball, Football Superstars, Dance Online and numerous other sports into one game. The graphics are absolutely gorgeous too. The one complaint I have with it is the extremely small playerbase. I really don’t know why no one plays Empire of Sports, as the game offers so much.

Lastly, another cool new MMO I discovered is Mytheon, which is a Diablo 2 style action MMORPG, except with a unique card system. The game is by True Games, the same people who made Warrior Epic. You can actually use your Warrior Epic login to access the game, which is what I did. This game is incredibly addictive, as it has the fun Diablo 2 style gameplay with newer graphics and more variety. Unfortunately, TrueGames is having issues with their developer, which is delaying the addition of new features. When they can get over this legal issue, the game should explode in popularity.

If anyone else knows any new awesome games I didn’t mention, let me know ^_^.