MMORPGs and Graphics

New MMORPGs like Vindictus, King of Kings 3 and Forsaken World bring a lot to the table – most notably better visuals. It shouldn’t be any surprise that graphics amongst free to play MMORPGs are improving, as technology keeps getting better. In fact, even older games such as Mabinogi and RuneScape have undergone major graphical overhauls since their original release dates. The thing is though – even though graphics keep getting better, some people are being left behind. A lot of gamers out there don’t have powerful enough PCs to handle the more visually intense games. I guess the reason why older MMORPGs like Fly For Fun, MapleStory and Rappelz are still popular is because more people can actually play them.

Don’t get me wrong – MMORPGs like Vindictus that have top notch graphics are great. Heck, I was just playing Savage 2 the other day and I love the game’s graphics. Graphics most certainly do matter in games, it’s just that games that shoot for ridiculously high quality graphics are sort of screwing themselves over. The most popular MMORPGs today aren’t the best looking. Just look at The Legend of Mir 2, Fists of Fu and Fiesta Online. These games are relatively successful, but the graphics in them are nothing to write home about.

I think the company that found the perfect balance between graphics and gameplay is Perfect World Entertainment. They publish Perfect World, Jade Dynasty, Forsaken World, Heroes of Three Kingdoms and Ether Saga Online. All of their games look great and feel great, but don’t require high end PCs. If you do have a high end PC, you can play these games on 1920×1080 resolution with anti-aliasing, shadows and all that jazz, but if you’re on a lower end PC, you can still play these games, just on a lower setting. Perfect World Entertainment is good at optimizing their games to run well on older machines.

I think ChangYou has the right idea between graphics and gameplay too. Their newest game Zentia looks fine on new PCs, but it’s also designed to run smoothly on much older, weaker computers. The same applies for their two other games – Dragon Oath and Blade Wars. Netmarble made sure their Uncharted Waters Online game runs well on older PCs too, which is good. Runes of Magic on the other hand runes decently on older computers, but the problem with it is the download is way too big. No one wants to sit and wait for a 6+ GB game to download and install. I think that’s the game’s biggest drawback. 4Story and Gates of Andaron on the other hand, aren’t nearly as big, which is why they’re able to grab players from Runes of Magic. RoM is a much better game, but the download just takes too long.

So what game do you really like that strikes a good balance between visuals and gameplay?

MMOs That are Aging Well

As new free to play MMORPGs like Vindictus, Kitsu Saga and Iris Online launch, older games like Shaiya, Last Chaos and MapleStory are starting to show their age. If you compare Shaiya or Last Chaos from Aeria Games to any of the newer titles out – you’ll quickly realize that Shaiya and Last Chaos aren’t aging too well – in terms of graphics that is. The fascinating thing however is that both Shaiya and Last Chaos are still around and being updated. The same goes for MapleStory. In fact, MapleStory is over 5 years old, yet it’s still growing incredibly fast. It’s still one of the most popular free MMORPGs ever – with over 100 million accounts world-wide. Even Rappelz and Fly For Fun from gPotato are still around and growing. It may sound surprising, but Fly For Fun is actually more popular than both Allods Online and Aika at the moment, and it’s over 5 years old. How can a 5+ year old game with lousy graphics be more popular than a game like Allods which cost over $10 million to develop is fascinating. It shows that older MMOs can age well. Another example of an older MMORPG that has aged well is RuneScape from Jagex and Tribal Wars from InnoGames. Browser games tend to age really well, mostly because visuals on browser games haven’t improved too drastically over the years – though Unity wants to change all of that now.

I think the reason some older MMORPGs are still a big success is that graphics aren’t the most important thing in the world. Users are clearly looking at things like gameplay and content when deciding which game to play, and older MMORPGs like Hero Online, Silkroad online and Grand Chase have more content than newer games, as they’ve been around for a longer time – meaning, they had more time to add content, instances and characters to their games. Obviously newer MMORPGs like Fists of Fu, Uncharted Waters Online and Dungeons and Dragons Online have numerous advantages too, but people are clearly more interested in gameplay and content than visuals. Having good visuals certainly helps, as I think so many people became fascinated with Vindictus because of its graphics. The game has solid gameplay mechanics too, but its beautiful graphics are what pulled in users while the gameplay kept them hooked. This theory applies to FPS games too. Just look at Cross Fire from Z8Games – it’s HUGELY popular, even though Cross Fire isn’t exactly a new game. In fact, Alliance of Valiant Arms has 10x better graphics, but it has a smaller playerbase.

Are there any older MMOs you still play? I personally still MapleStory and GunZ, even though they’re both old games with less than stellar graphics. I’m also more interested in gameplay elements than visuals. Because if I wanted “good graphics” I’d watch a movie. When I’m playing an MMO or an MMORPG, I want fun gameplay. Visuals help, but in the end gameplay is what matters.

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.

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!