This month we have prepared a mixed list of upcoming and already released MMOs for both PC and Mobile from well-known publishers like My.com, Kakao Games, CCP, etc.
Revelation (Closed Beta starts November 3rd)
We already covered Revelation on our previous list, but as you probably know, the first Closed Beta phase was delayed until November 3rd, 2016. If you have already secured a cbt key, you can already start downloading the client from here.
I don't think that there will be any more giveaways, so if you still want to be among the first players who get to see what the western version of Revelation looks like, you will have to get one of the following founder's packs:
The game features a few p2w elements (some of you will call them pay to progress faster), but at least we know them from the start, not like with other, cough "Black Desert" games. If your budget is tight I sugest you go for the cheapest version as I am sure that you will not regret spending $18 for a month of full gameplay (remember that you get the 30 days premium account), and after that you will be able to decide if the game is worth your time and money (sometimes I feel more sad about the time I invested in a game than for the money I've spent).
Another good news is that Revelation is doing well on the Asian market, and developers already prepared a bunch of new content for other localized versions. For example, we recently heard that Revelation CN will receive a big update in December that will bring a new class (the Assassin) and class changes that will allow players to try another class without starting from scratch (death to the ALTs they say ... ). NetEase also has plans to bring guild territories, guild houses and other massive PvP content.
These upcoming features and other small things add up and lean the balance towards giving Revelation the "Worth to try" mark. Who knows, maybe this will be your next favourite MMO.
For some, EVE Online is one of the best MMO that was ever created, for others it's just a nerdy sci-fi adventure full of spreadsheets and excels. In the end each of us has its own values and preferences, but we have to admit that at least one time we read about those massive fights and imagined ourselves in the heat of battle, and if you didn't try the game until now, you were tempted many times to join this sandbox universe.
After 13 years of battles, the latest content update that will arrive on November 8th, 2016, will bring with it the free to play option. Basically there will be two types of players: the Omega Clones for those with an existing subscription account, and Alpha Clones for the f2p players that will have a limited experience (access to a specific set of skills, weapons and ships). Each Alpha Clone may upgrade to the next tier at any given time. If you want to learn more about each account type, check the video below.
I'm amazed that EvE Online managed to stay out of the free to play era for so long. The game was launched in 2003, and 10 years later (last time CCP gave an official number) the number of subscribers peaked at 500,000. You may say that this is not a big number anymore, but remember that in EvE, all the players are on the same server. CCP did their best to increase the number of players by adding tons of new features such as faction warfare, wormhole expeditions, a tied in shooter known as Dust 514, but nothing will reach the level of this upcoming change.
We have a brand new trailer trying to explain what EvE Online is about (first video below), but after watching it I feel that an older video (second video) called "This is EvE" will tell you more about the journey that awaits you.
We don't have any official news about the release date of Dark and Light, but we know that the game is supposed to launch this year, and there are rumors that Snail Game may launch an early access phase in November.
I have to admit that I didn't hear about this game until ChinaJoy 2016, but after doing some research I discovered a similar scenario with the one we had with Final Fantasy XIV, when the game was shut down in order to be completely rebuilt.
Dark and Light story starts in 2006 when NPCube and Farlan Entertainment released a brand new MMORPG that was supposed to forever change the MMO market by bringing a lot of innovative features, including a 40 square kilometer seamless open world. The ideas behind Dark and Light were amazing, but due to insufficient funds and a lack of high end technology the game was a complete failure with tons of bugs and glitches and with a lot of missing features. Two years later, Snail Games bought the rights, but after a short teaser released in 2012, they entered a radio silent period until ChinaJoy 2016.
For those of you who didn't follow this project until now, I will try to do a list with what we know so far (confirmed features, not speculation):
If you didn't try Black Desert until now, ignore all the written complains that are circulating around the web and give it a chance. Recently Kakao Games decided to permanently lower the price to $10 to bring more players in.
The game is quite good and it's far from dying (the doom preachers are usually players that left due to various reasons, and they want to drag as many people as possible with them). Servers are populated and everything is thriving. You may not see "crowded" server mark so often, but you have to remember that Kakao raised the server capacity since launch so we can't compare it with the original state.
I recently decided to try it and I am having a blast. I like almost everything that I got to try until now and I still have a lot left to discover. The only problem that I have is with the texture "pop-in", although I have a decent gaming rig.
If you have a crafter/trader heart, do not waste any more time, open a new tab and go buy the game. You have so many things to do in Black Desert, you can waste an entire gaming day without even touching a monster. Trade between cities, gather resources, manage your worker empire, start producing tools and trading crates, manage your own farms, go on a fishing adventure, hunt crocodiles and wales, tame and breed horses, treasure chest hunting, gathering knowledge about the world to be able to gain reputation with various NPCs, and the list goes on.
"It's p2w they said ...". Well you get a ton of triple A content for just $10, so expect to be charged extra for those little perks. I didn't spend any extra bucks yet, but as I am really enjoying the immersing gameplay until now, I may get the monthly value pack (a premium account that was recently released).
There are a lot of quality of life improvements that can be bought from the shop, but you can live without them also (extra inventory slots, more weight limit, a horse whistle to be able to call your horse from outside the city, etc).
Casual PvP looks fun and those Node Wars where people fight to control a small territory are quite entertaining. I wasn't expecting a lot of action on this low tier PvP, but I was wrong. The siege field was full of players roaming around, scouting for enemy forts, resupplying their fort siege artillery, fighting the opposing guilds, etc. Although I was getting almost one shot due to my low level, I really loved this feature and I am certain that I will have a lot of things to do at "end game".
Hardcore PvP may be a bit imbalanced since not every class has its own awakening and there may be some extra p2w items in the Pearl shop, but with enough time investment (yes it's a grinding game in the end) you will be able to perform well enough.
I really regret that I didn't buy this game from the beginning as apart from the old school MMORPGs that we love (each gamer has its own nostalgic love), Black Desert is one of the best modern MMOs available on the market.
Devilian Mobile is an upcoming free-to-play ARPG that mixes elements from Devilian and Tera (Elin fans will love it). At launch Devilian will feature three playable characters: Kylar, Ayla and Elin, each with their own unique skills and demonic forms, as you are used from the PC title.
The game will feature more than 100 missions in the single player campaign, a progressive system of skills and combos, the usual gear upgrades that are found in other similar titles with some small twists, raid modes, daily dungeons and a PvP arena.
The graphics are really good, but beside the Devilian Mode where your characters turns into a demon with different skills based on the runes applied (you will be able to kill a boss, get a special rune and use the boss power in your future encounters), it feels too similar with other titles, like Cry: Rise of the Antihero.
If you want to try this game don't miss our special pre-registration event that will award 200k gold, 500 gems and mystic armor tickets. Devilian Mobile will officialy launch on November 14, 2016 and will support 12 languages.
Revelation (Closed Beta starts November 3rd)
We already covered Revelation on our previous list, but as you probably know, the first Closed Beta phase was delayed until November 3rd, 2016. If you have already secured a cbt key, you can already start downloading the client from here.
I don't think that there will be any more giveaways, so if you still want to be among the first players who get to see what the western version of Revelation looks like, you will have to get one of the following founder's packs:
- $17.99 Explorer Pack (Access to CBT, Early Access in Open Beta, Premium Account for 30 days and The Imperial Livery Outfit);
- $59.99 Founder Pack (Same as the above plus a few more perks including an exclusive mount and a pair of wings);
- $89.99 Deluxe Pack (All the perks from the other packs plus a Blackthorn Outfit and an exclusive Flying Cat Mount for up to five people).
The game features a few p2w elements (some of you will call them pay to progress faster), but at least we know them from the start, not like with other, cough "Black Desert" games. If your budget is tight I sugest you go for the cheapest version as I am sure that you will not regret spending $18 for a month of full gameplay (remember that you get the 30 days premium account), and after that you will be able to decide if the game is worth your time and money (sometimes I feel more sad about the time I invested in a game than for the money I've spent).
Another good news is that Revelation is doing well on the Asian market, and developers already prepared a bunch of new content for other localized versions. For example, we recently heard that Revelation CN will receive a big update in December that will bring a new class (the Assassin) and class changes that will allow players to try another class without starting from scratch (death to the ALTs they say ... ). NetEase also has plans to bring guild territories, guild houses and other massive PvP content.
These upcoming features and other small things add up and lean the balance towards giving Revelation the "Worth to try" mark. Who knows, maybe this will be your next favourite MMO.
EvE Online (Turning f2p on November 8th)
For some, EVE Online is one of the best MMO that was ever created, for others it's just a nerdy sci-fi adventure full of spreadsheets and excels. In the end each of us has its own values and preferences, but we have to admit that at least one time we read about those massive fights and imagined ourselves in the heat of battle, and if you didn't try the game until now, you were tempted many times to join this sandbox universe.
After 13 years of battles, the latest content update that will arrive on November 8th, 2016, will bring with it the free to play option. Basically there will be two types of players: the Omega Clones for those with an existing subscription account, and Alpha Clones for the f2p players that will have a limited experience (access to a specific set of skills, weapons and ships). Each Alpha Clone may upgrade to the next tier at any given time. If you want to learn more about each account type, check the video below.
I'm amazed that EvE Online managed to stay out of the free to play era for so long. The game was launched in 2003, and 10 years later (last time CCP gave an official number) the number of subscribers peaked at 500,000. You may say that this is not a big number anymore, but remember that in EvE, all the players are on the same server. CCP did their best to increase the number of players by adding tons of new features such as faction warfare, wormhole expeditions, a tied in shooter known as Dust 514, but nothing will reach the level of this upcoming change.
We have a brand new trailer trying to explain what EvE Online is about (first video below), but after watching it I feel that an older video (second video) called "This is EvE" will tell you more about the journey that awaits you.
Dark and Light (MAYBE an Early Access Phase this month)
We don't have any official news about the release date of Dark and Light, but we know that the game is supposed to launch this year, and there are rumors that Snail Game may launch an early access phase in November.
I have to admit that I didn't hear about this game until ChinaJoy 2016, but after doing some research I discovered a similar scenario with the one we had with Final Fantasy XIV, when the game was shut down in order to be completely rebuilt.
Dark and Light story starts in 2006 when NPCube and Farlan Entertainment released a brand new MMORPG that was supposed to forever change the MMO market by bringing a lot of innovative features, including a 40 square kilometer seamless open world. The ideas behind Dark and Light were amazing, but due to insufficient funds and a lack of high end technology the game was a complete failure with tons of bugs and glitches and with a lot of missing features. Two years later, Snail Games bought the rights, but after a short teaser released in 2012, they entered a radio silent period until ChinaJoy 2016.
For those of you who didn't follow this project until now, I will try to do a list with what we know so far (confirmed features, not speculation):
- Steam Early Access in 2016;
- The game will most likely be buy to play, and you will not see Snail Games old business model (for the last part I'll believe it when I'll see it);
- Made with Unreal 4 Engine;
- PvP and PvE servers to please everybody;
- Survival Sandbox Open World MMO with a large map (around 40k square kilometers). For the moment there are several types of enviroment confirmed (volcanoes, snow mountains, swamps, plains, forests and jungles);
- Players will suffer from hunger, fatigue and ilness;
- Three factions, each with their main town where you can construct or rent buildings. You can even become the "lord" of a town. Each town has its own guards NPC that will track you down if you try to steal from others;
- Three playable races so far: Humans, Elves and Dwarfs;
- Players will be able to raise their own settlements where ever they want (outside of cities);
- Action combat (no tab targeting) with first and third person view;
- Leveling will grant attribute points that will help players specialize in different skills (you can develop your character a you ee fir, but there will be a limited amount of skill points);
- No quest or tutorials (I believe this will be truth in the early access, but I doubt they can maintain these things until the official release);
- PvP will be allowed outside of main cities (at least on the PvP server);
- You will be able to form parties with members of other factions and even if it's possible to survive on your own, teaming up with others is strongly recommended;
- More than 50 types of creatures already confirmed, and some of them are tamable as pets or mounts (you will also have flying mounts, like the dragon from the teaser).
Black Desert (Permanent Price Discount)
If you didn't try Black Desert until now, ignore all the written complains that are circulating around the web and give it a chance. Recently Kakao Games decided to permanently lower the price to $10 to bring more players in.
The game is quite good and it's far from dying (the doom preachers are usually players that left due to various reasons, and they want to drag as many people as possible with them). Servers are populated and everything is thriving. You may not see "crowded" server mark so often, but you have to remember that Kakao raised the server capacity since launch so we can't compare it with the original state.
I recently decided to try it and I am having a blast. I like almost everything that I got to try until now and I still have a lot left to discover. The only problem that I have is with the texture "pop-in", although I have a decent gaming rig.
If you have a crafter/trader heart, do not waste any more time, open a new tab and go buy the game. You have so many things to do in Black Desert, you can waste an entire gaming day without even touching a monster. Trade between cities, gather resources, manage your worker empire, start producing tools and trading crates, manage your own farms, go on a fishing adventure, hunt crocodiles and wales, tame and breed horses, treasure chest hunting, gathering knowledge about the world to be able to gain reputation with various NPCs, and the list goes on.
"It's p2w they said ...". Well you get a ton of triple A content for just $10, so expect to be charged extra for those little perks. I didn't spend any extra bucks yet, but as I am really enjoying the immersing gameplay until now, I may get the monthly value pack (a premium account that was recently released).
There are a lot of quality of life improvements that can be bought from the shop, but you can live without them also (extra inventory slots, more weight limit, a horse whistle to be able to call your horse from outside the city, etc).
Casual PvP looks fun and those Node Wars where people fight to control a small territory are quite entertaining. I wasn't expecting a lot of action on this low tier PvP, but I was wrong. The siege field was full of players roaming around, scouting for enemy forts, resupplying their fort siege artillery, fighting the opposing guilds, etc. Although I was getting almost one shot due to my low level, I really loved this feature and I am certain that I will have a lot of things to do at "end game".
Hardcore PvP may be a bit imbalanced since not every class has its own awakening and there may be some extra p2w items in the Pearl shop, but with enough time investment (yes it's a grinding game in the end) you will be able to perform well enough.
I really regret that I didn't buy this game from the beginning as apart from the old school MMORPGs that we love (each gamer has its own nostalgic love), Black Desert is one of the best modern MMOs available on the market.
Devilian Mobile (November 14 Worldwide Release)
Devilian Mobile is an upcoming free-to-play ARPG that mixes elements from Devilian and Tera (Elin fans will love it). At launch Devilian will feature three playable characters: Kylar, Ayla and Elin, each with their own unique skills and demonic forms, as you are used from the PC title.
The game will feature more than 100 missions in the single player campaign, a progressive system of skills and combos, the usual gear upgrades that are found in other similar titles with some small twists, raid modes, daily dungeons and a PvP arena.
The graphics are really good, but beside the Devilian Mode where your characters turns into a demon with different skills based on the runes applied (you will be able to kill a boss, get a special rune and use the boss power in your future encounters), it feels too similar with other titles, like Cry: Rise of the Antihero.
If you want to try this game don't miss our special pre-registration event that will award 200k gold, 500 gems and mystic armor tickets. Devilian Mobile will officialy launch on November 14, 2016 and will support 12 languages.