WonderKing or Dragonica Online?

There are a bunch of awesome side scrolling MMORPGs out there, but the best ones include MapleStory, WonderKing Online and Dragonica Online. There are a few more, but they really aren’t worth mentioning. I’ve played MapleStory from Nexon to death, as I’ve leveled like 10 characters to 40 by now, so I’m a bit tired of it. Both WonderKing and Dragonica Online though are still new territory to me. I mean, I’ve played them both for a while, but not nearly as long as I played MapleStory. When you play one game for so long, you get a bit sick of it, even if it’s a great game.

WonderKing is by Ndoors and it was released in 2009 to compete with MapleStory. It is being published by Ndoors, the company who developed Atlantica Online, but I’m not entirely sure if WonderKing was developed by Ndoors or not. In fact, I’m pretty sure WonderKing has been available n South Korea for many years and only came to the U.S. Recently. Why Ndoors waited so long to localize such a great game like WonderKing is beyond me. Luckily, we gamers in the U.S. Don’t need to wait years to play Vindictus. Nexon is localizing it pretty fast! Nexon has actually been pretty good with localizing their games. Mabinogi and Combat Arms came out in the U.S. Pretty fast. Anyway, WonderKing is a lot like MapleStory in terms of graphics and gameplay, except a bit sharper, visually. There aren’t as many playable classes in it, and that’s my biggest complaint. The number of playable classes in an MMORPG is very important. MapleStory has like 20+ playable classes. Like MapleStory, WonderKing is a 2D MMORPG.

Dragonica Online, although a side scrolling MMORPG, is significantly different than MapleStory and WonderKing. It’s actually a 3D MMORPG, and the first 3D side scrolling MMORPG I’ve ever played. Visually, it’s not as “cute” / “cartoony”, but it still has anime inspired graphics. It looks and feels a bit more mature and the controls are responsive. It’s more of an action MMORPG as well, because players have to get combos to do optimal damage. It also has a lot of quests, so you never need to out right grind. Much of the fighting in it takes place in instanced dungeons rather than in a persistent world, so it’s a bit original in that department as well. Like Dungeons and Dragons Online from Turbine, players can play each dungeon in Dragonica in 3 different difficulty settings. This leads to players sort of being forced to play each dungeon multiple times, which can get boring. In terms of character customization, Dragonica Online has a slight edge, but in terms of variety, WonderKing wins. Dragonica has so few playable classes, which is a big down side to it. On the positive side, with only a handful of classes, the classes are balanced.

So which game is better? Sorry. I can’t say. Both are top notch fantasy MMORPGs that are worth checking out. You should download both and give them each a try.

2D MMORPGs Are Here to Stay

With the launch of Fists of Fu from Outspark and ever growing playerbase in established 2D MMORPGs like MapleStory and WonderKing I think it’s safe to say that 2D is here to stay. Most newer games nowdays have pretty 3D graphics, but 2D games are still growing incredibly fast – especially the browser based ones. Even though there aren’t too many new client based games, there are new 2D browser based MMORPGs being released regularly. ZOMG from Gaia Interactive for example, is a fast growing 2D MMORPG from the same guys behind Gaia Online. The beauty of zOMG, aside from its name, is that it’s actually a fully fledged game. Not some cheap turn based nonsense. It’s set in a large persistent world, which is pretty rare for browser based MMOs.

Another really awesome new 2D MMORPG is Neverland Online from HiThere. HiThere is a Chinese company most well known for their strategy MMORPG Empire Craft. They also make Age of Ocean though. Neverland Online is a neat turn based MMORPG with 2D graphics that closely resemble that of Zodiac Online and Destiny Online. Two other turn based MMORPGs with anime inspired graphics. I still find it mind boggling that web browsers can support full 2D graphics without any lag. With such awesome technology, I see no reason to download my games, when you can play them on the browser.

I’m sort of looking forward to Altis Gates from IGG, but it was recently delayed “indefinitely”. Luckily, IGG has clarified that “indefinitely” does not mean forever. They still intend on releasing the game, just at a later date. If you’re into turn based games, there’s really no reason not to try it, as graphically, it looks a lot better than Myth War 2 Online and Wonderland Online, two other 2D turn based MMORPGs.

On the fighting MMO front, Netmarble has had some success with Mini Fighter Online – the chibi street fighter style game. I actually really like Mini Fighter Online, as it’s a fun distraction from regular MMORPGs. It’s the only street fighter style MMO. It’s actually pretty competitive, but what’s really neat about it is that it also has an MMORPG component to it. There’s a lobby based PvP area and an actual persistent world. I feel that with everything that’s going on, it’s fair to say that 2D is here to stay.

Free 2D MMORPGs You Never Played

There are a lot of 2D MMORPGs out there. So many that I bet I can name a handful that you’ve never heard of. Obviously we’ve all heard of epic games like MapleStory and WonderKing, but what about obscure games like Destiny Online from EnjoyMMO or Great Merchant from AK interactive? These are both ‘unknown’ games that very few people play. The first game, destiny online is actually decent, but Great Merchant is pretty terrible. So if you want to try one of the two, try Destiny Online. Another game that I bet you haven’t heard of is Esteria Mythos from Seed C Korea Inc. I’ve never heard of this one until a few days ago, but it’s a pretty random game. It’s meant to be an old school 2D game, but it just feels too old in my opinion to be good. The biggest issue with the game is that it has a really low playerbase, so just finding others to play with can be hard.

Next is Battle of Destiny from the Malaysian publisher Cubizone. Know how people call games like Runes of Magic and Talisman online WoW clones? Well Battle of Destiny is a Dungeon Fighter Online clone. In fact the games are nearly identical. I’m pretty sure Battle of Destiny is a shameless rip off of Dungeon Fighter Online. More so than ANY other game is a clone of WoW. Seriously. Look at some side by side screenshots, it’s really funny. Another weird unknown 2D MMO is Blitz 1941. The game is a World War 2 tank based MMO by TwoWar – the same company who makes Navy Field. The game’s translations are so bad it’s funny. I can safely say Blitz 1941 has the worst translations of any MMO i’ve ever played. Stay away from this one lol.

Next is Mini Fighter Online from Netmarble. This game is actually pretty fun, so if you haven’t played it you really should. I threw this one on the list because the game doesn’t have as many players as it deserves. Seriously, the game is awesome. It plays like a chibi street fighter MMO. How awesome is that? The more unique aspect of the game though is that it has both lobby style MMO gameplay as well as a persistent world MMORPG section. Another good unknown 2D MMORPG is Wonderland Online from IGG. It’s actually one of the best turn based MMORPGs out there. The game has a community too, which is win. The town areas in the game are incredibly packed! The gameplay reminds me of final fantasy, which is good. Anyway, if I missed any obscure 2D MMOs, let me know!

So Many Old 2D MMORPGs.

Just look at all the free to play 2D MMORPGs out there. Most of them are really old games. There really hasn’t been any new 2D MMORPGs released since Ndoors put out WonderKing 6 months ago or so. Sadly, the most popular 2D MMOs are really old games like Mir 2 and the Legend of Mir 3. Plus, other old games like Magic World Online from EnjoyMMO and The Warlords from TQ Digital are still popular. There’s nothing particularly wrong with these old MMORPGs, it’s just that I’m upset that there hasn’t been any NEW 2D MMORPGs. It seems like game developers these days are focusing their efforts on 3D games. I really don’t know why they’re doing this either, as some of the most successful free to play MMORPGs are 2D games. Most notably, MapleStory from Nexon which is wildly profitable. Nexon also has Dungeon Fighter Online which I’m sure makes them a lot of money.

MapleStory actually has over 100 million registered users world wide, making it one of the most popular free MMORPGs ever. Obviously not all of these people are active users, but still. 100 million is a dang big number. Aside from MapleStory, the only other REALLY mega popular free to play MMORPG is probably RuneScape. Even though RuneScape isn’t 2D, the game has very low end graphics, which makes me question why so many MMO developers are focusing their efforts on good looking 3D Games. I mean, 3D MMORPGs like Vindictus and Loong: The Power of the Dragon look great, but MapleStory and RuneScape prove that you don’t need good graphics to be successful. Heck, having pretty graphics only hurts a game, as not everyone has high end PCs to even be able to play some 3D MMORPGs. Plus, 3D MMORPGs tend to be much larger in filesize as well, so downloading a good looking 3D game can take a very long time on a slow connection.

What’s the point of this rant? Simple. I’m tired of super old 2D MMOs like Navyfield and Shadow of Legend. I want game developers to put out some NEW 2D MMORPGs. I imagine newer 2D games will have sleeker and more awesome graphics.

A 2D Racing MMO Would be Amazing

There are already a handful of free to play racing MMOs available to play from the realistic Project Torque to the more insane battle racing game UpShift StrikeRacer, but there aren’t any real 2D racing MMOs. A 2D side scrolling racing MMO with pitfalls, obstacles and such would be awesome. After all, games like LaTale and WonderKing have proved that 2D games can be incredibly popular if done right. This racing game would need great sleek 2D graphics. I imagine it would be cheaper to develop a 2D game than a 3D one anyway, but I could be wrong.

The 2D MMO scene has been getting better and better, as there are new 2D MMOs coming out regularly, with the newest one being Destiny Online. You also have oldies like Endless Online and DarkEden, which are okay. My two favorite MMORPGs are for sure Conquer Online and Grand Chase though. Both games are distinctly different, but fun. Conquer Online is by TQ Digital and focuses on intense PvP combat while Grand Chase by Ntreev, focuses more on player cooperation through dungeons. I’m actually a fan of both types of games. I also really like Lunia by ijji. That game is amazing. It’s a bit linear but as a fan of RPGs in general, that doesn’t bother me at all.

Anyway, I’m getting a bit off topic =]. There are so many sports MMOs, Racing MMOs, MMOFPS games and more, so why shouldn’t there be a 2D racing MMO? It would be cheap to develop and I can already imagine how fun it would be in my head. Putting a game from my head into reality though would be difficult though. I guess for now I’ll have to be content with the games out there. I’m going back to playing one of my favorite free MMORPGs – Luminary: Rise of the Goonzu. If you guys haven’t played it, do yourselves a favor and give the game a chance it’s quite epic and has an entirely player controlled economy.

zOMG! And 2D Browser MMROPGs

Browser MMORPGs as a whole aren’t too popular. The only really popular one is Runescape, but that’s not exactly 2D, it’s more 3D. One fun browser MMO I ran into the other day is zOMG! And it’s published by the same dudes behind Gaia Online. The game is also set in the same Gaia universe, but unlike the social MMORPG Gaia Online, zOMG! Has a stronger emphasis on actual MMORPG style gameplay – kill enemies and level up. Unfortunately, most browser based games nowadays are generic strategy MMORPGs like Empire Craft and Lords Online where you build up an empire and battle it out. Not that these games aren’t fun, but I’m just not a fan of them.

Come to think of it, aside from zOMG! There are very few 2D browser based MMORPGs. I mean there are games like MechQuest and AdventureQuest, but these are more single player games than anything else, as there’s minimal interaction between players. The only other real 2D browser MMORPG I can think of is Adventure Quest Worlds, which is actually an awesome game. I don’t count games like Tanoth and Gladiatus, as those games use still images rather than actual graphics. Those games aside, zOMG! And Adventure Quest Worlds are the only real 2D browser MMORPGs.

I suspect this will change in the coming years, as browser based games are getting big. Not just the strategy ones either. Big download sizes in client based games like Runes of Magic and Dungeons and Ether Saga Online are turning a lot of users away from those games. And who can blame them? I don’t want to wait 20 hours to download Runes of Magic. That game is like 6GB big and that’s like 5% of my entire hard drive. Browser games make more sense as they don’t usually require any downloads. 2D MMORPGs are good too, because they tend to be small installs.

Anyone else mad that there are so few 2D browser MMORPGs? I know I am :(.

Woot! Digimon Battle is Awesome

I finally got around to downloading Digimon Battle and I have to say I really like it. I think I like it more because I’m sucker for Digimon and turn based games, than the game’s actual merits, but I think its worth checking. The only real issue most people will have with the game is its graphics. It is a 2D MMORPG, but the 2D graphics aren’t modern or ’sleek’ the way they are in newer MMOs like LaTale or Battle of Destiny. If you can look past the graphics though, Digimon Battle is a pretty solid pet raising game. Even though you start off with a single Digimon, you can easily catch more at anytime. The way the game is designed is that players can catch pretty much any Digimon they bump into. One thing that sucks is that the Korean version of the game is much, much further ahead in terms of development. Digimon Battle has been available in South Korea for over 8 years now and came to North America sometime in March 2010. So the game only has 50 or so Digimon in the entire game, vs the some 500+ Digimon in existence.

The company behind Digimon Battle, Wemade, also developers a few other MMORPGs. Interestingly, they are almost all 2D (Yay for 2D!). The other games WeMade develops are Avalon Heroes, Mir 2, and The Legend of Mir 3. If you’re a fan of either Digimon or Pokemon, Digimon Battle is certainly worth the download. Combat is also simple enough that younger gamers can learn the ropes rather easily. Everything is turn based and things start off really easy. In fact, the game never gets too challenging, but the real thrill behind it is trying to build the perfect ‘team’. The perfect lineup of Digimon. Players can field up to three Digimon at once, so there’s room for a lot of variety.

I’ll likely be playing the game for a while, provided that WeMade adds more content to the game. I’ve only been playing for a few days and I’ve already almost maxed out. I’m starting to think that they should have developed the game a bit more before releasing it. Anyone else here play Digimon Battle? If so, leave your username in the comments!

Good Graphics are Over Rated. It's all about Gameplay

I’ve been an MMORPG gamer since the days of Ultima Online in 1999. For me, a good game has nothing to do with graphics, but rather gameplay and gameplay alone. Since I grew up with older largely 2D games, pretty graphics don’t really mean that much to me. I’ve also been a big fan of RPGs since I first played Chrono Trigger when I was younger, so I have an affinity towards turn based MMORPGs. Unfortunately for me though, the only turn based MMORPGs these days that are 2D tend to have lame gameplay. IGG has two big turn based fantasy MMORPGs – Myth War 2 Online and Wonderland Online. Neither are terrible, but neither are exceptional either. In fact, the only good looking 2D turn based MMORPG is Altis Gates, and that isn’t even out yet.

A few weeks ago I downloaded a game called Tales of Fantasy from IGG. It’s their newest game has boasts some impressive graphics. I downloaded it and logged in and play for a few hours. Aside from the pretty animations and environments, I was far from impressed. In fact, I couldn’t even play it for more than a few hours as combat felt stale and moving around from point A to Point B just took too long. I’m not saying all 3D games are over rated, I’m just saying good graphics are over rated. The most important aspect of a game is its gameplay mechanics. If a game isn’t fun, it doesn’t matter how awesome or realistic the graphics are. One of the few 3D MMORPGs I really like is Atlantica Online, but I like that game because of its solid gameplay mechanics, not its visuals. The company behind Atlantica was actually purchased by one of my favorite MMO developers last week – Nexon. For those that don’t know, Nexon publishes MapleStory, Mabinogi, Combat Arms and Dungeon Fighter Online. The last one, Dungeon Fighter Online, being my favorite MMORPG of all time. That’s a story for another day though.

What do you think? 3D vs 2D? Are graphics in MMORPGs important or no? Let me know in the comments below!