Side Scrolling MMORPGs 4TW

Why is it that just about every side scrolling MMORPG has been very successful? For a long while MapleStory from Nexon was the only side scrolling MMORPG on the block – at least until Ndoors decided to embrace the sub genre with their WonderKing game. Ndoors is probably best known for the turn based MMORPG Atlantica Online, and that’s it. I think a few months after Ndoors released WonderKing, Nexon actually bought the entire company. I think it’s because Nexon saw WonderKing as a thread to MapleStory’s dominance. It’s safe to say that after Runescape from Jagex, MapleStory is the most profitable and most popular free to play MMORPG on the market. WonderKing isn’t nearly as big of a success as MapleStory has been, but the game definitely carved out its own slice of the 2D MMORPG market.

WonderKing isn’t the only new side scrolling MMORPG to release chasing after MapleStory’s success. Fists of Fu from OutSpark is a 2D action MMORPG that’s trying to mix MapleStory and Dragon Saga style gameplay. Whether it’ll be successful or not remains unknown – as the game launched into open beta recently. I doubt it’ll be as successful as Outspark’s flagship anime MMORPG Fiesta Online. For those that didn’t know Fiesta Online is by far the most successful game OutSpark has. I think Secret of the Solstice (The Ragnarok Online clone they have) is their second most popular, but Fiesta is leaps and bounds ahead of Secret of the Solstice. They pretty much abandoned their other MMORPGs – Project Powder and Wind Slayer. They for sure abandoned Dance Groove Online and Blackshot. Hopefully these two games launch through another publisher.

Aside from the growth of side scrolling MMORPGs, games like Forsaken World from Perfect World Entertainment and War of Angels from Neowiz have attracted quite a bit of attention. Many Perfect World, Battle of the Immortals and Jade Dynasty fans have been flocking to try Forsaken World. Too bad the game is still in phase 1 closed beta, with full release being severla years in the future. Suba Games has been pushing Mission Against Terror quite hard lately. I just wish they’d get around to releasing Priston Tale 2 sometime soon, as that game has been on hiatus forever. The worst thing about it is that it’s already released in Europe through Gamerkraft, who also publishes FreeJack. I’m also waiting for Netmarble to release Koongya Adventure in the U.S. Instead of releasing it, they recently launched Uncharted Waters Online instead. It’s not a terrible game, but it’s too much like Voyage Century for my taste. On the positive side, Uncharted Waters Online is one of the only Japanese MMORPGs out there. Yeah, it’s developed in Japan. I think Lucent Heart (Beanfun) and Dynasty Warriors Online (Aeria Games) are some of the only other Japanese MMORPGs.

Anyway, I’m getting side tracked here. I think it’s clear that side scrolling MMORPGs are incredibly popular. I suspect that both WonderKing and Fists of Fu will prove to be a success in the near future.

More Anime MMORPGs Coming Soon

A lot of new anime themed MMORPGs are coming out in the next few months. Many of them have been announced already and many of them are just starting their closed beta. August, 2010 has been a great month for free to play anime games! Gpotato announced Iris Online, which looks amazing. Looks like Bright Shadow from GamePot USA, except much brighter and more colorful. I personally love anime graphics in video games for some reason, so I’m definitely excited about Iris. Prior to Iris Online, gPotato only had Fly For Fun as an anime themed MMORPG and it’s been getting old. I mean, it’s a great game, but it’s really old now. Another new anime inspired MMORPG from gPotato that was announced recently is Prius Online. Netmarble is the company that publishes it in South Korea, so I’m surprised they’re not publishing it on their global portal, and instead, are letting gPotato publish it. I never really heard much about Prius Online, but I recently read an article on a news site that a couple in South Korea were so addicted to the game that they had forgotten to feed their child. The game must be good!

Kitsu Saga is another 3D anime MMORPG i’m looking forward to trying once it releases. The game is published by Aeria Games and was developed by the same company who also made Grand Fantasia – one of my favorite MMORPGs. Like Zentia and Dragon Oath, Kitsu Saga is supposed to be martial arts themed. I’m not crazy about the whole martial arts thing, but so long as the game is fun – that’s all that matters. The game is actually called JS Online in South Korea and its supposed to launch in north America sometime in late 2010.

I’ve been playing older MMORPGs like Secret of the Solstice and Fiesta Online from Outspark for a while. So seeing all these new MMORPGs being announced is great. Both Fiesta and Secret of the Solstice are solid games, but i’m looking to try something else. Mostly because I’ve played these games to death. I tried Fantasy Earth Zero from GamePot USA but couldn’t get into it. The same goes for Asda Story from GamesCampus. I’m really looking forward to some of these newer games though. Until they come out, I’ll probably kill some time playing some Lost Saga on OGPlanet and Soul Master. Both games are fairly new and incredibly fun. If you haven’t played them do give them a chance!

Playing MMORPGs in Korea

One of my buddies here in the U.S. Is moving to Korea later this year. Sorta sucks, but at least I can still talk to him via skype and play MMOs like Dragon Oath and Neo Steam with him. Internet 4tw I guess. Korea is pretty awesome considering all of these free to play MMORPGs originate there. Well not all of them, but most, as Electronic Arts recently entered the free to play arena with FIFA Online and Battleforge. Even Sony Online Entertainment began embracing free to play with Free Realms and Clone Wars Adventures. Some of my favorite free to play MMORPG companies though are Korean. Companies like NCSoft and Netgame for example are high quality MMO developers. NCSoft is probably best known for Guild Wars and Aion while Netgame is better known for Hero Online, Scions of Fate and Cloud Nine.

Come to think of it… a lot of the MMORPGs I play are developed in China. I used to think 99% of free to play MMOs came from Korea, but chinese developers like Perfect World Entertainment (Ether Saga Online, Jade Dynasty, Etc) and ChangYou (Dragon Oath and blade Wars) are pretty big companies. Perfect World Entertainment is huge in China and probably one of the biggest MMO companies in the U.S as well with their American division. So I guess its sort of a misconception that free to play MMOs are exclusively from Korea! Chinese MMORPGs are big too!

Anyway. I bet there are a lot of awesome MMOs available in Korea that aren’t out in the U.S. Yet. I know Netmarble (Korean MMO company) launched a global English portal, but they only have one game available at the moment – Mini Fighter Online. The Korean portal on the other hand has games like Koongya Adventure, Wego and numerous other titles that haven’t even been announced in the U.S. Yet. Vindictus is already available in Open Beta in Korea through Nexon as well. That game is highly anticipated here in the States, but it won’t be released until Fall, 2010. So North American and European users will have to wait. I guess one of the perks of living in Korea is that there are a lot more free to play games available. I wonder if pay to play games in the U.S. Like Lineage 2 and Aion are free to play in Korea? I think they actually might be.

Anyway. Yeah. Living in Korea sounds pretty interesting, but it would sorta be impossible for me, as I don’t even know the language. My buddy who’s moving there is Korean so it makes sense for him. Anyway, I’m about to go play some League of Legends with my Korean buddy.