Even in the best of years, we come across games that just aren’t very good. Whether it is the poor writing and forgettable story of Asura Force or the ultra-grindy repetitive questing of Ragnarok Online 2, some games just aren’t worth your time. There are games that should be good and aren’t which somehow makes them even worse. Either way, a bad game is a disappointment that we want to help you avoid. This year was light on releases but there was no shortage of bad games vying for your attention. Come along as we recount the Worst MMOs of 2013.
10.) Wizardry Online
On paper, Wizardry Online is a hardcore player’s dream, so it took some time before we settled on it for this list over Dragon’s Prophet. But at the end of the day, Wizardry just doesn’t translate to a fun, well-designed game. It might get there but in 2013, Wizardry proved that good ideas can be soured by poor execution. A weird, unlocked camera made combat unwieldy and sometimes nauseating. Gold was arbitrarily difficult to obtain which made getting started or back on your feet more difficult. Translation issues make the dialogue feel stilted and unnatural. Wizardry is an MMO of false challenges and small niggles which add up to a mundane and ultimately disappointing experience.
9.) City of Steam
City of Steam is one of the great let-downs of 2013. Fans have clamored for a true steampunk MMO for ages and, for a time, City of Steam seemed to be their answer. Unfortunately that’s just not the case. As a browser-based MMO, CoS is visually striking but that quickly fades before the repetition of actual gameplay. Instanced quest areas feel almost copied and pasted between each other and even an initially interesting combat system can’t hold back the monotony. The developer, Mechanist Games, has recently re-secured the game right from Reality Squared and is working hard to “restore faith” amongst their players.
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8.) Ragnarok Online 2
It is a shame that Ragnarok Online 2 should be included on this list but sadly this is right where it belongs. Gravity Interactive had fans of the original excited with the jump to 3D but, sadly, outdated, grindy gameplay and an oppressive cash shop brings RO2 to its knees. Here’s another thing: the jump to 3D has caused Ragnarok Online 2 to feel quite unlike the original. While that might sound like a “no, duh” statement to some of you, we can’t help but mention that the game feels more like World of Warcraft then the original Ragnarok.
7.) Wings of Destiny
Wings of Destiny is just plain forgettable. Between the generic setting, boring armor, and sleepy combat, you could easily write it off as “just another browser MMO”. Wings of Destiny is a checklist of bad free-to-play design. Bland quests? Auto-pathing? Lots of grind and even more pressure to buy into the cash shop? You betcha. Played from an isometric viewpoint, combat feels like an uninspired World of Warcraft with none of the satisfaction. Even in the browser world, there are better options than Wings of Destiny.
6.) Asura Force
Asura Force, have you played it? If you had, you might not remember. Mira Game’s 2013 darling is the kind of MMO you forget shortly after installing it. Not only does your character automatically run to quest objectives and gain gobs of experience for the most simple tasks, he also continues to gain experience when you’re offline. The world is filled with un-aggressive monsters which makes exploration and questing a doldrum. Our reviewer described the games as boring her senseless. If that’s not a tell for a bad game, I don’t know what is.
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5.) Eternal Saga
Wait a second, you thought Asura Force was bad? R2 could teach Mira Game a thing or two about developing a Ron Popeil, Set It and Forget It, MMO. Eternal Saga not only cracks the code by keeping mobs right next to the quest giver but it also allows you to enter AFK mode when entering a dungeon. Don’t want to kill those mobs with the overly cluttered, poorly explained UI? Click AFK and let the game do it for you. Easy-peasy.
4.) Yitien
Yitien is a shallow, me-too MMO if ever there was one. It features the same auto-pathing system as Asura Force and Eternal Saga but even routine battles are automated based on the order of your action bar. If that wasn’t enough, Yitien could also be used as a training course in how to design a messy user interface. Following the disturbingly popular Eastern trend of alerting the everyone when a whale buys something big, Yitien carelessly makes free-to-players feel like second-class citizens. In Yitien, it is pay-up or shut-up.
