MMOs have fallen a bit out of favor as the 2000s and early 2010s were full of them. Now, there are just a handful, like Final Fantasy 14 and World of Warcraft. The idea of MMOs has evolved into live-service experiences like Destiny 2 and Tom Clancy’s The Division. There are even some single-player games that are MMO-like in quality.
Greatest RPGs Of The Last 10 Years
A lot of RPGs have come and gone since 2015, but in the decade between then and now, these games stand as the best the genre has to offer.
They may have giant open-worlds, similar quest structures, a character creator, and even autoplaying combat. For anyone who wants to get a feel for an MMO, but not invest in a membership, these are some games to check out that players may not have even known were MMO-like. Live-service games will be left off the table as they are not properly in disguise, more like an evolved form, as previously mentioned.
An Endless, Cold Quest
The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim has everything an MMO fan would want, minus the multiplayer aspect. They can create their character and level them up through an astounding amount of skill trees, from magical gifts to melee boosts.
Even though there is plenty of handcrafted content between main and side quests, there are also some randomly generated quests to make it feel like a forever game. The massive scope of the open world should keep players occupied, no matter which version of The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim they pick up.
Borderlands 4
A Non-Live Looter Shooter
Borderlands 4, as the latest addition to the Borderlands franchise, changed some things up to make it feel like a fresher game. As always, players can explore the world alone, which is now more open than ever before, or they can group up with three other players online.
There is no hub area wherein players can interact with others, akin to a live-service game like Destiny 2, which is perhaps the greatest competitor to Borderlands in the looter shooter genre. This can be seen as a positive that sets Borderlands 4 apart, along with the four classes, which have three branching paths apiece, the open-world design, the wild variety of guns, and the simple design of the fetch quests.
Final Fantasy 12
Learning From The MMO
Final Fantasy 11 was an MMO that featured traditional auto-battle combat in real-time, and Final Fantasy 12 was the direct game that followed it. The combat is mostly the same as players, in their party of three, can encounter monsters in the world and engage them in real-time.
Don’t let the shift in perspective fool you; these 2D turn-based RPGs are just as epic and enthralling as any 3D game.
However, there are some slight variations as players can choose to pause the game and issue commands, or they can set up Gambits in Final Fantasy 12. They are sort of like a command system that characters will follow automatically if they meet certain conditions. The world is not seamless, but areas are big and filled with tons of treasure and monsters, and most side content follows the fetch quest and bounty board design philosophy to get the best stuff.
Star Wars: Knights Of The Old Republic
Jedi Vs Sith
Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic is one of the best RPGs BioWare has ever made, and it is also just a great Star Wars game. The game follows the typical BioWare formula, wherein players will go through the story, making small decisions along the way to make their character good, evil, or somewhere in between.
Combat is similar to Final Fantasy 12, minus the Gambits, and the areas players can explore are much smaller than in an MMO. On the plus side, players can visit a vast number of planets to make it feel like a bigger adventure with their growing party of companions.
Monster Hunter Wilds
Keeping The Collaborations Live
Monster Hunter Wilds, and the Monster Hunter franchise overall, are meant to be played with others online. While past entries and this latest one are not considered live-service games, Capcom does a decent job dropping updates like adding new monsters or collaborations with other properties like Final Fantasy.
The mainline missions are linear, but there’s a whole bounty board of quests players can replay to grind for specific materials needed to make their characters better with new gear. In the post-game, players can transmog their outfits and show them off in the various villages, which are populated by others online, but the world will be devoid of players unless players specifically group up with three others.
Xenoblade Chronicles X
Building Sci-Fi Momentum
All four games in the Xenoblade Chronicles franchise have MMO-style combat that causes the characters to fight automatically while players wait to use abilities on cooldowns. Xenoblade Chronicles X feels most fitting to compare to an MMO because it’s the only one that lets players create their character and offers multiplayer.
Great Tactical RPGs With Simple But Satisfying Mechanics
Like a good game of chess, these tactical RPGs are hard to leave alone.
The world is seamless to explore, and the quest system is very simple without many compelling narratives to follow. It’s also a grind to get to the best content, like in an MMO, as players have to spend around twenty hours to unlock their mount in the form of a mech called a Skell. Once unlocked, the game will change significantly from a good RPG to an amazing one, but the grind can be daunting for some to stick to.
Kingdoms Of Amalur: Reckoning
World Of Warcraft’s Action-Based Spiritual Spinoff
Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning was released as the starter game in what was planned to lead into an MMO. Given the shape of the world, the dialogue trees, and the quest system, this made sense, along with the overall design looking like it was inspired by the king of all MMOs, World of Warcraft.
Plans for the MMO fell through, but thankfully, Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning is great as a standalone game, with the combat being its best feature. It’s an action RPG wherein players can equip a wide assortment of weapons and skills, each of which will drastically switch up gameplay, making each encounter feel invigorating.
Dragon’s Dogma 2
Collecting Pawns
Dragon’s Dogma 2 has some MMO qualities, even though it is an action game. There is no group-based multiplayer, but players can design their main character along with their sidekick, called a Pawn. Players can then share their Pawns online to create and find a party, and sometimes they can get lucky and find a very powerful Pawn to hire.
Players are free to explore the world, which is vast but more challenging than most, as enemies are strong and often come in large numbers. There’s not much in the way of a compelling narrative or quirky NPCs, as this game is more about getting lost in the gameplay.
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