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.

Outspark's Fists of Fu MMORPG Coming Soon!

Fists of Fu from Outspark is coming soon! According to the latest news from Outspark, Fists of Fu is going into closed beta sometime during the last week of June. I actually look forward to giving the game a try, as I’m a fan of both Fiesta Online and Secret of the Solstice – two other Outspark games. In case you haven’t heard of Fists of Fu, the game has anime inspired graphics, but unlike Grand Fantasia from Aeria Games, the visuals in Fists of Fu look a bit more Western than other anime MMORPGs.

Gameplay wise, Fists of Fu is supposed to play like Dragonica Online. I actually really liked Dragonica Online, as the action oriented gameplay was a breath of fresh air to the genre. Obviously Dragonica wasn’t the first action MMORPG, but it was a top notch one. I actually think that Outspark is taking a good direction with the game. Fists of Fu is going to be their first action MMORPG, with Divine Souls being their second one. I think its safe to say that a lot of upcoming MMORPGs will be action oriented. After all, some of the most anticipated games, think Vindictus and Dragon Nest from Nexon, are action MMORPGs. Vindictus is for some odd reason especially hyped up. I mean the 3D graphics look great, but no one really knows anything about the game, and yet most people talk about the game on forums and comments as if its the best thing since sliced bread. I can safely say its one of the most hyped up free MMORPGs ever. Will it live up to that hype? Time will tell.

Outspark on the other hand seems to still be focusing on cartoony / anime inspired games. Their most popular game today is still Fiesta Online, and with good reason. It’s a 3D anime inspired game with cool cel-shading graphics. They have a 2D side scrolling MMORPG called Wind Slayer out right now as well, but it’s not that popular. They also have Project Powder, a racing MMO, which isn’t too popular either. I really hope Fists of Fu lives up to my expectations. I don’t think it’s going to be that amazing, but it looks interesting. I like the fact that its lighthearted and a bid comedic. After all, games shouldn’t try to be too serious anyway. Especially cartoony ones.

Anyone else looking forward to playing Fists of Fu? If not Fists of Fu, what games does everyone else want to play? Any cool upcoming games that I should know about? Anyone know any good social games? Let me know!