MMORPG Brawlers
Traditional MMORPGs have very predictable gameplay. Right click on an enemy zombie or orc and watch your character trade blows with the monster until one of you drops. Okay maybe that’s an over simplification, but I think we’ve all had a sense of déjà vu after playing a few MMORPGs.
Fortunately, a new subgenre is shaking up traditional notions of MMORPG combat. What am I talking about? Arcade style brawler MMORPGs. That’s a mouth full, and truth be told there’s no official term for the genre so we’ll stick with my term. These games offer more action oriented combat, the kind where players have to manually aim their attacks and actively dodge oncoming ones. The ‘arcade’ description is drawn from the genre’s similarity to those old school side-scrolling beat em’ ups that sucked up quarters by the fistfull. The free to play MMORPGs that fall into this broad category come in many shapes and sizes, so gamers should see which one best fits their tastes.
Publisher: IJJI
Release Date: 2007
Arguably the first MMORPG brawler, Lunia: Record of Lunia War has 2D graphics, but supports a top-down camera view rather than the more common side-scrolling angle. Lunia combines simple controls and gameplay with instanced stages. There’s even an emphasis on story as players unlock new campaigns and listen to dialogue from NPCs during cutscenes. A persistent world town allows players to meet, greet, accept quests, and buy/sell goods.
Publisher: Nexon
Release Date: 2009
Nexon’s Dungeon Fighter Online already has millions of players worldwide despite its archaic 2D graphics. Just as it has with MapleStory, Nexon didn’t chase fancy graphics with DFO. Instead they focused on an original gameplay experience. The result was a free to play MMORPG that has helped spawn the recent wave of titles with a similar brawler / arcade experience.
Publisher: THQ Ice
Release Date: 2009
Dragonica Online is a side-scroller MMORPG that makes ample use of instancing, but still contains a persistent world. The graphics are 3D, but players have a very limited range of depth. Far from being a flaw, this feature sets the game apart and makes it well worth trying. Dragonica forces players to hunt woodland creatures for quite a while, but eventually the game progresses to more exciting fare.
Publisher: Netmarble
Release Date: 2009
Mini Fighter Online is Netmarble’s first MMORPG release in North America. The game looks and plays like a chibi version of Street Fighter. But room based brawls make up only a portion of gameplay. Players can also explore the game world and beat up monsters. Mini Fighter is a side-scrolling game, but much more action packed than MapleStory. One of the best parts of the game is the ability to level up purely from participating in PvP. This makes the PvE portions entirely voluntary.
Publisher: Outspark
Release Date: 2010
Very similar to the Asian MMORPG Elsword, Fists of Fu is a light hearted side-scroller brawler MMORPG. Many character designs and environments are rendered in 3D but the game world is two dimensional. Like several other games on this list, Fists of Fu has a PvP system where participants have their levels equalized which means the best skilled players are likely to prevail.
Hero:108 Online
Publisher: BeanFun
Release Date: 2010
Following FusionFall, Hero108: Online is the second MMORPG based on a Cartoon Network franchise. Both games are very different from each other, but also very different from most other free to play MMORPGs. Hero 108 has action oriented combat, 3D environments and contains instanced dungeons for groups to tackle. PvP also plays an important role in Hero:108 Online. The graphics are attractive and fit the theme despite being a bit rough on the edges.
Publisher: Outspark
Release Date: 2010
The latest and most graphically impressive brawler to date. Divine Souls is the second game of this nature by Outspark and definitely the better one. Players take control of one of three character classes and must clear instanced stages. Like Dungeon Fighter Online, the only persistent areas in Divine Souls are the town regions. There are plenty of quests to complete, but players will find themselves repeating the same stages several times. This seems to be a common occurrence in brawlers, but there are is a full feature PvP arena to help break up the action.
Zone 4: Fight District
Publisher: OGPlanet
Release Date: 2010
While not yet available in North America, Zone 4 is set to be the most in depth fighting game by OGPlanet. Unlike Rumble Fighter and Lost Saga, Zone 4 will feature plenty of cooperative PvE missions. Zone 4 will also include a ton of real world martial arts forms like Kung Fu, Judo, Boxing, and many others. Of course the game won’t skimp on PvP features either. Rival clans will be able to take part in battles of up to 16 players on each side.
Publisher: GamesCampus
Release Date: 2010
What do you get when you mix role playing, strategy, and brawler gameplay? Soul Master! At first glance the game plays like a MMO version of Pikmin. Players gather resources, build units, and lead them into battle. Like Fists of Fu, Soul Master has a persistent city where players acquire quests and head off into instanced stages that come with multiple difficulty settings. It’s just entered closed beta testing and is well worth checking out.
Publisher: Nexon
Release Date: 2010
When the original Mabinogi MMORPG released, it offered a unique gameplay experience. The cutesy graphics and care free environments weren’t for everyone so Nexon upped the ante with the similar titled Mabinogi Heroes. The game got its name changed to Vindictus in North America to match the completely different gameplay style. Vindictus uses the Steam engine to produce high quality graphics and action packed combat. Players will able to swing their sword, fire arrows, pick up and throw pillars, and interact with the environment in a variety of other ways. Set to enter beta testing soon, Vindictus is definitely the most anticipated brawler MMORPG on this list.
There they are. Some MMORPGs that give players direct control over their character’s attacks. This genre isn’t for everyone, but gamers who crave something different should definitely give one or more of these MMORPGs a try.
Do you already play one of these games? Are there any other free to play games that belong on this list? Is the combat system found in these games a step forward or backwards for the MMORPG industry? Share your thoughts below!
By, Erhan Altay
July 19, 2010
#
i think vindictus should be included in this list lol
July 21, 2010
#1
You want a game in there that’s not even out?
July 19, 2010
#2
If you threw in Fists of Fu, I think you can put in Mini-Fighter. Anyway, I have played DFO and Dragonica, both that I loved tremendously. Seems to be more my style then the traditional point and clickers. Fun, fast paced, and the PvP is muuuch better. What more could you want?
July 19, 2010
#3
i play divine souls, its a really cool, game the steam punk feel is a nice feature, but i feel it could have been alot better like graphics wise and depth wise, like more unique gear or weapons and not just a bunch of cookie cutter people with exact same stuff. but the gamplay is nice i played with a xbox 360 controller and had a blast! the controls are really responsive and smooth. i think if more games are like divine souls, with the depth of gear, weapons and crafting as in WoW and graphics of a p2p game and with the character customiztion of like Aion or Vindictus and gameplay of divine souls, that would truly be an amazing game. hopefully that is where this genre is going in the industry, if so im very excited to see whats to come in the future!
July 19, 2010
#4
I’d say brawler combat is more of a sidestep than either an step forward or backwards. The majority of MMORPGs need to learn some lessons on spicing up combat from brawler-style ones, but MMO brawlers should also try to have more strategic depth and features. I chose to play DDO Unlimited over Dragonica since DDO feels like more of a complete game to me. There’s more depth to building characters and customizing them in DDO, after all.
July 19, 2010
#5
most ppl chose shooters instead, but let me just tell you that the 6 games are on a unamed genre, y would you call it an mmorpg when it’s an arcade like game? u don’t see any arcade games that their genre is mmorpg.
well, welcome to the brawler genre, where games come to reality… ARCADE STYLE!
July 19, 2010
#6
DFO is a pretty good game. It’s just the dungeons are boring. I played with a couple of friends, and the little rooms are so small we were basically fighting each other to get kills. Also, the combat is just boring, constantly hitting the same key constantly while throwing numbers here and there can get boring.
Dragonica was really fun. I loved every aspect of it except how it was so hard to find a party sometimes and how some of the matches are really, really hard. I quit but I don’t quite remember why.
Vindictus and B&S look like something else, I know it’ll blow everyone’s minds away.
Vindictus – You see the videos? You have so many different combination’s of things to do in combat. You can throw a spear and you really have to aim and it’s tough stuff which is quite fun. Boss battles are intense, you have to do other stuff rather than just keep on hitting the boss (DFO), you have to weaken it somehow, then it falls THEN you attack it. It looks excellent!
Blade and Soul – Absolutely beautiful. The trailer is real this time! Unlike in most games, this combat looks different in a great way. Awesome combos, looks challenging, and you can wall run. Wall run is a HUGE plus. I could wall run all day in B&S and not get bored. It’s just an excellent game from the looks of it.
July 20, 2010
#7
Forgot Lunia
July 20, 2010
#8
Dont forget the awesome Latale by Ogplanet. I tried most of the popular mmorpgs and as the author stated its just deja vu. These side scroller games provide action rather then just sitting back spamming F1-F8 while drinking a beer and watching Tv. Seems alot more action based games are going to be released this year.
July 20, 2010
#9
I played both dragonica and DFO. Both are fun at first, but the somewhat repetitive gameplay kinda wears you down. And on a side note, (directed to the #7 comment), is that Krev from mabinogi’s bliss guild? if so, hi!
July 21, 2010
#10
“y would you call it an mmorpg when it’s an arcade like game?”
well…lets use DFO as our focus so your small mind can process what im about to tell you.
1.Massively Multiplayer Online…its massive(millions of accounts), its multiplayer (you can dungeon and socialize with others) online(uhm…you need interwebz to play)
2.RPG…you PLAY the ROLE of a selectable character in the GAME. Also, you level up, job change and learn different skill sets.
The combat style is arcade-esque…thats all.
July 21, 2010
#11
Personally, I REALLY like the new features of the Brawler MMOS. I think that a new era of gaming is on it’s way, and the rest is yet to come. Who knows, maybe we’ll have MMO Brawler Hybrids, sorta’ like DDO or Vindictus (Mabinogi Heros in Korea), and the expansion of MMOs is going to have a LOT more action. I think it’s a good change, since I absolutely hate point and click MMOs.
July 21, 2010
#12
Hey Sergez lol, and yes it is:>
July 21, 2010
#13
I believe everyone here has their own personal tastes but I think most of us has gotten sick of point and click. Lunia by IJJI was actually the first game that got me out of all of that it was great! until you hit myth grinding
… #6 your right that dfo does not support parties but you cannot say that its brainless and repetitive because of the fact that different monster needs different strategies to take care of them or else your gonna burn a lot of potions. What annoys me in dfo is that you cannot buy potions from NPC’s like traditional MMO’s >.< . I played dragonica too but the lvl grind was too intense for my life.
July 24, 2010
#14
I don’t think DFO became a succes DESPITE its 2D graphics, more like BECAUSE of. Some people enjoy good, stylish 2D graphics (like Guilty Gear or Blaz Blue) with the addictive gameplay of an old school side scrolling beat ‘em up. There’s always been brawlers around, its not necessarily because DFO become popular that started a new trend.
Lunia’s graphics also aren’t 2D, the characters are clearly 3D. You also might think about changing the 2D status of Tales of Pirates too.
July 27, 2010
#15
I LOVE SOUL MASTERS!!
July 28, 2010
#16
Soul Masters Loves you!
July 30, 2010
#17
Soul Masters is your lover! also yay brawlers.
July 30, 2010
#18
I love it when people call DFO’s combat repetitive. It’s actually a lot more diverse and intense than the games where you point and click something and watch your character exchange hits with a random goblin in slow motion, and to spice it up, hit f1 for a fancier attack. I played DFO for a solid three months before its official launch, and it is a fantastic game with a great Pvp/Pve system, but the closer it came to launch date the worse the community got. You can still make some great friends on there, but its a lot harder than it used to be and thats why I took a break on it.
I also played Lunia and Dragonica. Lunia had potential, but it was impossible for me to find a party to clear the story mode missions and I get incredibly bored soloing so I quit that fast. Dragonica was a ton of fun until you get to high levels then its all grinding while doing 999+ hit combos to keep the exp boost going.
Guess what i’m trying to say is that i’ve played brawlers and I loved the gameplay aspects of them. It was the other factors like finding a reliable group to party with and in Dragonica’s case the heavy grinding that made me turn away from them. I’d choose brawlers over point-and-click any day.
August 1, 2010
#19
Woooo!! Lunia!! Has to be the best COMBO-Brawler game ever!!!!! Takes skills to juggle, not just button spams. But juggling is only fun in pvp, because in stages, the monsters die before the run starts.
I think the Stages are boring because the mobs die in like 1 hit when you rebirth a few times and get stronger. But sometimes the bosses can 1 hit kill you hahaha.
I lvled to 80 multiple times from PVPing and Fishing overnight. You get level up EXP from both. But the Pvp is getting a little… unbalanced.. Ruining the PvP.
I play this game to just PVP. nothing more… except maybe friends. (: Fun game with a small community that you might be able to get popular in ;]
August 2, 2010
#20
Uh, Vindictus runs on the Source engine, not the Steam engine.
November 4, 2010
#21
*before seeing Vindictus about a month ago* Divine Souls look EPPPPPICCK! *Notices Vindictus* ever mind. That was me one month ago
November 26, 2010
#22
u left out lost saga
November 26, 2010
#23
Nah, Lost Saga is an MMO this lists MMORPGs =p. Though Lost Saga is awesome.
December 19, 2010
#24
cant play Dungeon & Fighter outside of USA ,well that sucked
August 5, 2011
#25
OMG, it is still accepting donations! Fantastic example of a creative fundraising effort that raised $10,000 in 48 hours to build a classroom at the school in Tanzania.
August 25, 2011
#26
Brawl Buster should be in the list its soo cool
March 13, 2012
#27
Rumble Fighter is the only really fun and easy MMO Brawler Arcade 3-D style so far. You can; jump as high as basekball players, you can counter attack, you can block, you can grab attack. You can also do different combos like; punch combos, kick combos, elbow combos, knee comboes, mixed combos, and etc. You can also do; ram monsters and players off maps, slide kick, jump kick, jump punch, jump grab, and etc.