MMORPG Games

ArcheAge is a free-to-play (with an optional subscription) MMORPG developed by XLGAMES, published by Trion Worlds, and created by the Korean game designer, Jake Song. You might remember him from Lineage, a game he helped to create way back when. Park originally envisioned ArcheAge as a “sandpark” MMO, meant to mix the openness of a sandbox game with the more structured approach of a themepark MMO, but as time went on, the game became more theme and less sand, with a fair amount of paying-to-win.

➔ Main points:

• Great graphics, higher system requirements
• Houses give you a place to rest your feet
• Interesting justice system.
• 120 Classes

Dragon Awaken is a turn-based, browser MMORPG that does most of the work for you but still leaves you with plenty of choices to make and loot to claim. Most of the actual gameplay is automated (save for multiplayer dungeons – you have to actually participate in those). But solo adventures all play out automatically. You can choose to queue up attacks with your primary hero, or just set it to auto and watch as your party lays waste. But there is some strategy involved, especially when it comes to trying to maximize both your character and party power.

➔ Main points:

• Turn-based browser MMORPG
• 2D graphics, easy to run
• Automated gameplay
• Lots to do

Echo of Soul is a fantasy/ role-playing game which has been released by Aeria on Microsoft Windows. The game revolves around players' characters called 'Soulkeepers' whose main mission is to overcome evil and ensure peace. Players can collect the Souls of the enemies they overpower and then refine them to use for getting upgrades.

The map of the world in Echo of Soul, although relatively small, is pretty well-defined and features a number of battles raging all around it. The players can compete against each other and face Artificial Intelligence as well over a range of interesting game modes.

Almost approaching its' tenth birthday, Grand Fantasia is an F2P Anime MMORPG that doesn't reinvent the wheel of the genre but follows the 'If it isn't broke, don't fix it" mentality.

Pleasantly cheerful music, and a game world that is bright and colorful, Grand Fantasia's art style holds up well. What doesn't, is the PVE and PVP content. Quests in Grand Fantasia are painstakingly boring and what's left of the PVE content is little more than level grinding for PVP.

PVP is all but inaccessible to anyone but high-level players, and the P2W game model the game uses makes PVP very unbalanced, as all the top Pkers have spent real-life money to give themselves a huge advantage over the competition and grant themselves powerful end-game gear. PVP is the best part about Grand Fantasia, but unless you spend money, you don't stand a chance.

The game is dead and that makes it hard to recommend. A new server, Siwa was released 5 months ago, and it is already a ghost town. A world full of lively things is now lifeless.

➔ Main points:

• Downloadable F2P Anime MMORPG
• Vibrant and cheerful art style
• Game world is too big and spread out
• Often feels like a single-player experience because no one else is ever around
• P2W PVP, only high-level spenders can be competitive

Pokemon Mega is an unofficial Pokemon RPG adventure game that is inspired by the classic series from Nintendo's legendary franchise. The gamplay includes familiar systems from the originals, but adds plenty of good ideas like open world PvP, a gear system and more to make it different from the paid games.

Pokemon Mega also functions like a proper browser MMO with world chat, guild functionality and PvP tournaments. The graphics and art style are for the most part authentic, but the game changes quite a few things about the Pokemon such as altering base types and attacks. For a free to play game with a cash shop, the game can be fun but it takes a while to overcome to autonomy of the early game levels.

➔ Main points:

• Unofficial Pokemon adventure game that is inspired by classics
• Free to play with optional cash shop buffs and boosts
• Full roster of Pokemon across generations
• Plenty of gameplay features like tournaments, dungeons and open world PvP
• You won't have full control until level 26 and above

League of Angels III is the third installment in the popular League of Angels fantasy MMORPGs based primarily on web browsers and is free to play. The world is about to be destroyed by an ancient threat, and players are sent back in time to collect legendary weapons and recruit powerful companions to prevent this catastrophy.

The game features full 3D graphics that looks excellent on any browser. Questing remains largely unchained from the second game, whereby players follow a theme-park style quest chain that is tied to the main story. Along the way, players will unlock more gameplay mechanics such as manual combat, mounts, dungeons and more.

Combat and progression has been given a face-lift and feels significantly better than before. You will need to collect heroes that joins your party in formation during turn-based combat sequences that feels strategic and fun. At end-game, there are high level world boss fights and other content to do, which makes the journey there worthwhile. While the in-game cash shop may be attractive, plenty of things on sale serve to speed up progression and are not necessary for purchase to play the game effectively.

➔ Main points:

• Free to play fantasy MMORPG and is the third installment of the franchise
• Excellent graphics and presentation that surpasses other browser games
• Intuitive party combat system that utilizes companion collection system
• Very linear PvE gameplay that offers mediocre challenge

Based on famed table top game Champions, Champions Online is a recently free-to-play MMORPG created by City of Heroes developer Cryptic Studios. Champions online is a comic book lover’s ideal virtual world. While it has its issues, mostly related to graphics, playing through Champions is still an enjoyable romp filled with a plethora of well executed ideas. The game creates a rich yet traditional MMO experience, however much of the game’s systems and classes are locked behind a subscription-based paywall.

The combat feels, for the most part, very traditional. It’s a variation of the classic tab targeting system we’ve come to love, and expect from games like World of Warcraft and Star Wars: The Old Republic. What differentiates combat the most is the ability to enter combat with a unique ability called a travel power. Travel powers are pretty much exactly as the sound, superpowers that allow for different methods of travel. There are a plethora of travel powers to choose from, each compliments a certain class type, however you can choose whichever you are most fond of.

➔ Main points:

• 2009 MMORPG
• Superhero Themed
• Unique Nemesis System
• Plethora of Customization options

League of Angels 2 is a beautiful new follow-up to the highly popular League of Angels. It’s a highly traditional MMO with a glossy new paint job and a few new mechanics. Playing through the game's story kept me entertained, and combat is a spectacle to behold.

Though not particularly engaging, the combat animations and visual effects are of high quality. Progressing through the story is similar to many other Browser MMO’s. In fact that seems to be the game’s biggest fault. It’s so reminiscent of other games, especially its predecessor, the original League of Angels. This however doesn’t ruin the fun, the experience is still engaging because the mechanics of the game are solid and the game is well made.

➔ Main points:

• Improved Angels
• Return of AFK gameplay
• Beautiful Graphics
• Sub-par Voice Acting

Savage Hunt - Dragon's Prophet is a relaunch of the original Dragon's Prophet. All the dragons are now free, and the game is the culmination of five ears of bug fixes, changes, and new content.

➔ Main points:

• Lots of dragons to tame.
• Action-based combat is fun.
• Large-scale Frontier PvP.

Blood Rites is a free to play Asian fantasy MMORPG, first released in 2011. The game features a tab-target combat system, four classes and plenty of progression systems to sink your teeth into. These include weapon enchantments and the more popular Elf companion system, which lets you increase attributes with pets. In the content department, the game's PvE dungeons and raids is where you'll have the most fun, as opposed to the unbalanced PvP modes and a bland story and questing experience to level cap. Graphics and visuals doesn't do Blood Rites any favors, but players actively looking for a classic MMORPG won't mind that too much. Elswhere, the in-game cash shop can be obtrusive if you want to be a competitive player, but otherwise the game is completely playable as a free title.

➔ Main points:

• Fully free to play without any restrictions
• Only four classes but plenty of growth systems to make up for it
• Aging graphics and game engine
• Fun PvE group content to counter the bland questing