MMORPG Games

Aura Kingdom is a fantasy MMORPG published by Aeria Games on a free-to-play format. The closed beta was released in 2013 while the open beta was released in 2014. The game is very colorful and rather cute.

This game offers you the chance to become the hero that saves the universe of Aura Kingdom from the grips of evil as well as from the bandits who, after being expelled for years have now returned with even more power than ever. The game lets you choose one of 8 different classes and one of 7 different companions , or “Ediolons” who fight at your side. The game has something for all different tastes, leaving the player with a remarkable sense of choice.

Choose your character from a number of unique classes in Fiesta Online and develop their skills to complete a range of progressively difficult tasks and missions. Polish your passive skills to gain an edge all the time and get a momentary boost by unlocking various temporary active skills.

Manage your finances as well by selling items and completing missions to buy unlockables and upgrades which also enhance your character's performance. Engage with other players in a variety of ways, form allies and make enemies on your way to become the best!

➔ Main points:

• 2006 MMORPG by Gamigo (formerly gPotato).
• Four available classes.
• Active, passive and alchemy skills to improve your character's performance.
• Manage your money to get new items.

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

Last Chaos is a bit of an oddity. Despite its age and dwindling popularity it seems to preserve in an MMO ecosystem rife with other choices. It’s a relic of a bygone era, and maybe this is what makes it compelling to some players.

Originally published way back in 2006 by Aeria Games, their first game ever in fact, Last Chaos has recently changed hands and is now being handled by Gamigo. Last Chaos is a game victimized by its own age. Its graphics, animation, and systems all attest to the game’s age. None are particularly impressive by today’s standards.

However fans looking for a nostalgic MMO experience may find Last Chaos enjoyable. It has a classic feel that modern games can fail to capture. Last Chaos boasts a plethora of classes to choose from, these are gender locked however. Unfortunately with all of it’s classes and somewhat charming nostalgia, Last Chaos still falls flat gameplay-wise. It’s repetitive, and for the most part uninteresting.

➔ Main points:

• Guardian System
• Level Cap is 184
• Classic Gameplay
• Robust Crafting

Released in 2004, Metin2 is a Korean free to play MMORPG that allows players to pick one of three kingdoms to represent as factions, and embark on slow progression journey to becoming a master combat fighter. The game's combo-based action combat is revolutionary for its time, making open world fighting a pleasure especially against waves of enemies.

When it comes to gameplay, the PVE content is mediocre as questing is largely uninteresting, but the game's focus lies largely within its exciting PVP modes.

The game does look very aged and dull in comparison to newer MMOs, but there is a certain nostalgic factor in addition to an emergence of private servers that has been keeping Metin2 relevant today. Overall, Metin2 is a pioneer of Asian-style MMORPGs and it's worth checking out for the combat and PVP, and since it's free, all you have to lose is just time.

➔ Main points:

• Join one of the three empires of the game
• Enjoy a hack’n’ slash-like gameplay based on combos
• Fight other players in PvP mode

Runes of Magic has everything you might expect from an old-style MMORPG.
It is captivating, extremely varied and rather vast; offering a fun and challenging experience to new and veteran RPG players alike.
The game's strengths undeniably rest with its variety, as there are hundreds (if not thousands) of objects to find, collect and / or create.
Whilst the graphics may appear dated by modern standards, Runes of Magic is a perfectly good title for anyone who wants a decent MMORPG without having to spend a fortune.

➔ Main points:

• Fantasy themed, free to play MMORPG.
• Huge number of PVE quests to get stuck in with.
• Staggering variety of items to find, collect and craft.

Star Stable Online is a free to play MMORPG that's all about horses and female heroines.
Players create their characters and horses, and are taken to Jorvic, a fantasy island in which you'll quest, raise and train horses, and grow your heroine and stable while making new online friends.

The game has been around since 2011 and contains thousands of quests, but quantity doesn't mean quality as most of the questing mechanics are old-school in nature and mundane.

Gameplay mechanics are rather clunky when it comes to horse control, but key systems like racing are fun to participate in.

The game while free does have a limited trial up until level 5, when a payment becomes necessary to continue playing.

Overall, it's a unique MMORPG for younger audiences and horse lovers alike.

➔ Main points:

• A truly unique "freemium" MMORPG experience built around horses
• Only female protagonists
• Thousands of quests on the isle of Jorvik
• Mobile version available
• Limited free to play trial

A big budget MMORPG, TERA originally required a subscription fee but it has recently become free-to-play. This title was released in Korea in 2011 and then later in 2013 for a Western audience. TERA was published in the US and Europe by En Masse Entertainment and Frogster, respectively.

The game has one big advantage: its combat system which was extensively highlighted during the game's marketing campaign. TERA's combat system is far from what people are used to seeing in other titles. At times the action will remind you more of a third person action game with its much more direct and visceral presentation.

Despite all this, the repetitive quests will quickly remind you that this games is an MMORPG, but fortunately the very sophisticated graphics along with the combat system make up for the repetitiveness of the quests.

More or less free-to-play, there isn't much from stopping you to at least try the game's new adaptations, except maybe its long download times.

➔ Main points:

• A very popular MMORPG, which happens to be also the most played free to play game on Steam.
• Typical Korean gameplay, with lots of enemies to kill and farming quests.
• Action-based combat system with combos and special attacks.
• Amazing graphics.

Lineage 2 is the continuation of the timeless Lineage released in 1998. Despite the "2" in the title, this second episode of the saga represents to all intents and purposes a prequel to the original game, being set 150 years earlier than the events narrated in the progenitor.

For better or for worse, Lineage 2 is a title strongly anchored to the time of its release, dated 2003, and playing it today means coming to terms with gameplay mechanisms belonging to another time, and which could displace new players more accustomed to modern variations of MMORPGs.

If you manage to go beyond the anachronisms implicit in the game mechanics and an outdated technical sector, however, Lineage 2 will show itself to you in all its magnificence, making you discover a fascinating world with a lore articulated, a rewarding progression system and PvP mechanics capable of sucking up large portions of your free time.w

➔ Main points:

• 7 races to choose from, all enormously diverse
• Extremely deep yet accessible gameplay
• Great focus on the PvP component
• Fascinating and immersive Lore

The world of NosVille has turned to chaos and your character comes in with tremendous power and fighting abilities to bring it to peace.

You'll have a number of NosMates (computer-controlled characters) to help you in this quest, as well as pets. Over the course of the game, you will also gain access to different cards that will give your character newfound skills.

NosTale comes with a number of unique classes and their interesting sub-classes with each character possessing special abilities depending on which group they are from.
To make the game less gloomy and more fun, you can train pets as well and make them get involved in missions too.
With all these features and so much more, NosTale really promises to be an excellent adventure for you.

➔ Main points:

• An anime MMORPG game with an interesting storyline.
• A number of fun activities including pet management and fighting.
• 15 unique classes and sub-classes.
• Graphics (anime-style) have a room for improvement.