Linkrealms
Linkrealms is a free-to-play 3D sandbox MMORPG with a deliberately old-school presentation and an open-ended, classless progression model. Instead of locking you into a role, it encourages you to mix weapons, magic, and professions as you carve out your own routine in a dangerous world where other players can be as threatening as the monsters.
|
Publisher: Mythyn Interactive Playerbase: Medium Type: MMORPG Release Date: May 19, 2016 PvP: Open World/ Territory Wars Pros: +Flexible, class-free character building. +Open sandbox design with player-driven goals. +Plenty of skills and activities beyond combat. Cons: -Movement and combat feel slow and awkward. -UI and inventory can be messy to manage. -No quickslots/hotbar for fast skill use. |
Linkrealms Overview
Linkrealms drops you into Syndesia, a fantasy sandbox built around freedom and risk. It is a 3D MMORPG with a classless approach, so your “build” is defined by what you practice rather than what you pick on a character creation screen. You can lean into swordplay, focus on spellcasting, or train both and swap roles depending on the situation. The world itself is wide open and designed to be explored without strict rails, with creatures that may flee when injured and, at times, behave in groups that punish careless pulls.
Outside of combat, the game pushes a strong crafting and profession loop. You can develop a large set of skills aimed at self-sufficiency, producing gear, consumables, and everyday supplies (including food and drinks) that support survival and progression. On top of that, the ruleset is harsh once you leave safety, because player killing is a constant possibility beyond protected areas, and death can mean losing items depending on the server settings. In short, it is a sandbox where the best stories often come from what players choose to do to each other.
Linkrealms Key Features:
- Classless Gameplay – shape your role through what you use and train, whether that is melee, magic, or a hybrid.
- Sandbox Environment – roam a large world with minimal barriers and fewer “theme park” constraints.
- Professions & Crafting – build up practical skills such as blacksmithing, alchemy, cooking, and farming to support your character.
- Land Ownership – claim a personal plot and customize it with a wide selection of items.
- Server-wide PK – step outside safe-zones and you can be attacked and potentially looted by other players.
Linkrealms Screenshots
Linkrealms Featured Video
Linkrealms Review
Linkrealms is a free-to-play fantasy sandbox MMORPG set in Syndesia, built around the idea that players should set their own direction. You can play the wandering hero, the dedicated crafter supplying a local economy, or the opportunist who treats the wilderness as a hunting ground for other adventurers. It is a game that leans into older MMO sensibilities, both in presentation and in how much responsibility it places on the player to find purpose.
Retro Presentation With Mixed Results
Visually, Linkrealms goes for an early 3D PC look that will immediately remind many players of late 1990s and early 2000s fantasy games. That aesthetic can be charming if you enjoy nostalgia, but it is also the kind of 3D style that tends to look dated quickly, especially compared to 2D art or sprite-based MMORPGs that often age more gracefully. Audio is a stronger fit overall, with music that supports the game’s adventurous, mystical mood through grand fantasy themes and choral touches. Sound effects are less distinctive and mostly functional, doing the job without adding much personality.
Character Creation and the Opening Lesson
Your first step is making a character from roughly a dozen race options, ranging from fairly standard humanoids to more animal-like variants. These choices are cosmetic only and do not alter stats or gameplay performance. Customization is simple, covering gender and a small set of faces and hairstyles, which aligns with the game’s retro ambitions but may feel limited for players used to modern character creators.
Afterward, Linkrealms places you into a harsh-looking starting area that teaches fundamentals like movement, combat basics, death, and returning to life. The tutorial cannot be skipped, but it is short enough that it is more of a speed bump than a major problem. Death works in a spirit-like state similar to what many MMORPG players will recognize, you must work your way back to a resurrection point or meet a revival condition while avoiding dangers that can set you back further. On some servers, death also carries the added sting of item loss.
Controls and Interface Friction
The biggest obstacle to enjoying Linkrealms tends to show up early, the controls feel unintuitive and sluggish. Movement relies on holding the right mouse button while steering your character toward the cursor, with distance influencing whether you walk or run. Attacking asks for extra precision, including double-clicking a target and then closing into range, which can feel cumbersome during hectic fights. Combined with slow response, the result is a control scheme that can be physically tiring over longer sessions.
The lack of a quickslot or hotbar system is another pain point, particularly for spellcasters. Without fast access to abilities, magic users spend a lot of time interacting with the spellbook and selecting actions manually, which slows down combat and makes reactive play harder than it needs to be. Inventory management also contributes to the rough edges. Items are placed in a loose, unstructured way inside your pack, so organizing your gear and materials becomes a manual drag-and-drop exercise that can feel more like housekeeping than gameplay.
Open-Class Progression and Player-Driven Play
Where Linkrealms shines is in its sandbox identity and flexible character development. It shares DNA with older online RPG traditions (including MUD-like design principles), focusing less on guided quest chains and more on letting players explore, experiment, and create their own routines. The world is not built around heavy instancing or tightly managed level brackets, which encourages wandering and discovery rather than following a prescribed path.
Progression is use-based instead of traditional character levels. Skills and attributes improve through repetition, so the more you fight with a weapon type, the more proficient you become, and the more you use magic, the more your magical effectiveness grows. This naturally supports experimentation, you can start as a straightforward melee fighter, pivot into spellcasting later, or aim for a hybrid playstyle that blends both. The tradeoff is that building versatility requires time and consistency, because the system rewards doing, not choosing.
For players who prefer non-combat goals, the profession system offers a parallel path. Crafting-focused characters can develop blacksmithing, alchemy, cooking, and other practical skills, improving them through repeated creation. In a game with real risk outside safe areas, being able to produce your own gear and supplies is not just a pastime, it can be a core survival strategy.
High-Risk PvP and Territory Conflict
Linkrealms embraces the idea that danger should feel real, and open-world player killing is a major part of that design. Outside towns and other safe-zones, other players can attack you with minimal restrictions, and death can lead to losing items depending on the server rules. This creates meaningful tension while traveling and farming, because every trip can carry consequences.
That same system can also invite frustration. Open PK environments often struggle with griefing, and Linkrealms is not immune to the problem. When experienced players target weaker ones repeatedly, the sense of danger can shift from exciting to exhausting. For those who enjoy organized conflict, guilds and territory battles provide larger-scale PvP goals that can turn that chaos into something more structured.
Cash Shop Approach
As a free-to-play MMORPG, Linkrealms uses microtransactions, but the stated intent is to avoid selling power in a way that undermines competition. The overall message from the developers is that purchases should not abruptly make a character overpowered or grant an unfair edge. For players wary of pay-to-win economies, that philosophy is an important consideration, even if individual perceptions will vary based on what is offered and how the community uses it.
The Final Verdict – Fair
Linkrealms captures one of the best parts of sandbox MMORPGs, the ability to build a character around your own decisions and live in a world that does not constantly direct you with checklists. The classless, use-based progression and broad crafting options support experimentation and long-term personal goals, especially for players who enjoy self-made stories and systems-driven play.
At the same time, the game’s dated 3D visuals, awkward control scheme, and cumbersome interface make it harder to recommend broadly. The open PK rules add intensity, but they can also amplify burnout when griefing becomes common. Linkrealms is most appealing to players who already enjoy old-school sandbox design and can tolerate rough edges in exchange for freedom. If you want a smoother, more guided experience, modern sandbox-leaning MMORPGs will likely be a better fit.
Linkrealms Links
Linkrealms Official Site
Linkrealms Steam Greenlight Page
Linkrealms Wikia [Database/Guides]
Linkrealms System Requirements
Minimum Requirements:
Operating System: Windows-based PC
CPU: Pentium 4
RAM: 200 MB RAM
Video Card: 32 MB Video Card
Direct X: DirectX 8.0
Hard Disk Space: 400 MB available space
Recommended Requirements:
Operating System: Windows 7
CPU: Quad Core 2.4 GHz
RAM: 6 GB RAM or more
Video Card: Any video card with a minimum of 32 MB RAM
Direct X: DirectX 9.0
Hard Disk Space: 500 GB or more available space
Linkrealms is optimized to run even on outdated and low-end machines. A broadband internet connection is recommended but even a dial-up connection will work.
Linkrealms Music & Soundtrack
Coming Soon!
Linkrealms Additional Information
Developer: Mythyn Interactive
Publisher: Mythyn Interactive
Distributor: Steam (Coming Soon)
Designer: Christopher Theriault
Producer: Konstantin Fomenko
Technical Director: John Lockwood
Composer: Joel Steudler
Game Engine: Mithrill
Closed Beta: February 27, 2015
Summer Beta: August 29, 210
Fall Beta: October 31, 2015
Winter Beta: January 5, 2016
Open Beta: TBA
Shut Down: January 31, 2018
Official Launch Date: TBA
Development History / Background:
Linkrealms is a free-to-play 3D sandbox MMORPG developed and published by indie game developer Mythyn Interactive. Testing began on February 27, 2015 with the Phoenix server going live, followed by additional test periods in the fall and winter (October 31, 2015 and January 5, 2016). The project was Greenlit on Steam on July 29, 2015, with plans to distribute the game through Steam’s platform.
Linkrealms shut down on January 31, 2018. It never succeeded in building a large, sustained community.