MMORPG Games

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

Hero Wars is a browser-based RPG adventure game by Nexters, also available on mobile devices.
It's a casual free-to-play game with over 100 million downloads in the Android and iOS App Store, and also one of the most popular Facebook games in 2023.
But why is it so popular?

One thing we appreciated about Hero Wars is its easy-to-learn gameplay.
You simply follow the storyline or campaign and get to battle with unique and strong heroes: most of the combat will happen automatically, but the player can make a difference by using each character's special skills at the right moment.

The game has pretty good graphics: playful, colorful and eye-catching.
The artworks of the characters are quite different from other similar casual games, and the skill effects used by each character were relatively impressive.

In Hero Wars, you collect over 50 unique heroes to make your team strong. You can obtain these characters by playing the campaign, where you will be rewarded heroes at certain stages. However, you can only use the five strongest heroes in battle.

There are 13 campaigns with 190 missions, and the farther you go, the stronger the enemies become. But don't worry, as you complete each mission, you will receive good and rare loot equipment.

In addition, you can equip each hero with suitable equipment for your class, and level up your heroes by giving them XP brews or sacrificing 10 weaker heroes. The higher the grade of the heroes, the higher their level can be.

Each stage/mission has three stages inside, and the last stage is where you will face the boss. You can also join a guild and start guild battles with your friends.

Honkai: Star Rail is a free-to-play, turn-based role-playing online game developed by HoYoverse, already known for its flagship game Genshin Impact. Set in a vibrant sci-fi universe, players traverse diverse worlds aboard the Astral Express, engaging in strategic battles and uncovering a rich narrative.

Honkai: Star Rail propels players into a universe teeming with adventure, mystery, and a dash of interstellar whimsy, shifting gears from real-time action to a more strategic, turn-based combat system, offering a fresh yet familiar experience for both veterans and newcomers.

The game introduces you to the Astral Express, a cosmic locomotive that serves as your gateway to a multitude of worlds, each with its own unique aesthetic and lore. From the icy expanses of Jarilo-VI to the bustling, futuristic cityscapes of the Xianzhou Luofu, the environments are crafted with meticulous detail, making exploration a visual treat.

Combat in Honkai: Star Rail is where strategy enthusiasts will find their playground. The turn-based system requires thoughtful team composition and skill synergy. Each character brings distinct abilities to the table, and mastering their interplay can lead to satisfying victories against the game’s diverse array of adversaries. The inclusion of elemental affinities and status effects adds layers of depth, ensuring that battles remain engaging as you progress.

Narratively, the game doesn't shy away from complexity. The storyline is rich with interwoven character arcs, political intrigue, and philosophical musings on the nature of civilization and the cosmos. Side quests and character-specific missions further expand the lore, providing a comprehensive understanding of the game's universe.

However, it's worth noting that, like many free-to-play games, Honkai: Star Rail incorporates a gacha system for character and equipment acquisition. While it's entirely possible to enjoy the game without spending money, progression can be slower, and obtaining specific characters may require patience or luck.

➔ Main points:

• Strategic turn-based combat: Assemble a team of heroes and engage in tactical battles against a variety of foes.
• Expansive universe exploration: Travel aboard the Astral Express to diverse worlds, each with unique stories and environments.
• Deep character customization: Enhance your characters with various abilities, equipment, and upgrades to suit your playstyle.
• Rich narrative experience: Uncover an intricate storyline filled with memorable characters, political intrigue, and cosmic mysteries.
• High-quality visuals and sound: Enjoy stunning graphics and a captivating soundtrack that bring the game's universe to life.
• Free-to-play model: Accessible to all players, with optional in-game purchases for those who wish to enhance their experience.

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

League of Angels - Heaven's Fury is the latest iteration in the League of Angels MMORPG franchise, a series of browser-based free to play titles. The game offers improvements in plenty of areas like gameplay, graphics and progression systems over its predecessor. Where the game shines is in its content offering, where there are new ways to enjoy PvE like server time-based events that adds more options instead of just grinding monsters and dungeons. Under the hood, the UI and graphics makes the game more enjoyable, and overall Heaven's Fury is one of the best browser-based MMOs released in 2020, and marks a successful return of the franchise for both new and returning players.

➔ Main points:

• Solid free to play MMORPG on browser or desktop
• Improved graphics and UI from previous installments
• Better PvE and PvP offerings
• Impressive and refined combat system inspired by classic ARPGS

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

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.

Star Trek Online is an MMO developed by Cryptic Studios and inspired the eponymous television series.
Chronologically, it is set thirty years after the conclusion of the events of Star Trek: Nemesis and drops us in the middle of the rekindled conflict between the Federation and the Klingons, without forgetting about the Borg, always lurking in the background.
Character customization is very good and allows you to choose between three different factions, with numerous races for each, and three distinct classes between them.
Customization also extends to physical appearance and choice of skills.
During the game we will have the opportunity to complete assignments on foot or aboard our personal spaceship.
On foot, the game seems like an action/RPG hybrid where we directly control our character through a third-person view.
Aboard the ship, however, we will have the opportunity to fight and to explore the surrounding area.
Graphically the game is very good but is lacking in some technical fields, one of which is the animation in the third-person sections.
All in all, it's a good game for fans of the genre and a great game for avid fans of Star Trek.

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

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