10 Incredible MMORPGs We Forgot Exist..

Typically we’re so caught up with what MMORPGs we have to look forward to that we often neglect MMORPGs that currently exist.
This isn’t your typical “Best MMORPG” video though, but rather a look at the more.. unique yet simultaneously obscure titles that are available to play. Games you have likely completely overlooked at one point or another.

Once again, please remember when going into this list that these aren’t necessarily the best looking, the best playing or overall best titles available.

I’m gonna go ahead and start this off with Black Gold Online. It was an MMO I played back in 2016 and.. admittedly it wasn’t a bad game at all. Honestly, it was one of the, if the only Steampunk MMO I’ve played other than Elyon back when it was Ascent: Infinite Realm.
This is a very traditional MMO. You choose your race, your class, you customize your character in a pretty solid character creator and proceed to explore a large world filled with story and side quests.
I was surprised when I saw how good this game looked considering when this game was developed and published in the West. The character models look great, even by today’s standards and the environments look vibrant and beautiful.
Translations were good, quests were pretty basic – about what you’d expect from a free game but it was quite a bit of fun roaming the wasteland on steampunk motorbikes. Admittedly, the combat wasn’t nearly as good as the rest of the game was.
It was tab-target with the ability to place down your AoEs but it was a little slow and was definitely inhibited by the FPS issues I was having, leaving me frozen in place at times while being assailed by 20 to 30 monsters at a time.

Much like Black Gold, the very first time I ever dipped my toes into RF Online was back in 2016. And at the time.. not only did I not truly appreciate the game for what it was, but I was also a little harsh on it. However, after investing much more time into it I came to realize that it was much better than I had initially given it credit for.
There are a few different races and classes to choose between, a basic form of character creation, and then you’re thrown right into the game!
While you technically have a class, you’re not limited to that class and weapon type specifically. You have the option of freely swapping between weapons, each providing a different style of play and having their own strengths and weaknesses.
It was interesting since you could run around with a greatsword one minute and a staff the next, but thankfully there are enough abilities that it allows for you to customize the type of general class you want to ultimately end up playing.
I did notice that the game was heavily grindy, though. As in, the game is predominantly you, running around, killing monsters with the occasional quest here and there, which is fine – one of the most popular MMOs, Black Desert Online is much the same and it’s still alive and kicking.

Scarlet Blade is an MMO I’ve dedicated quite a bit of time to. And I promise it’s for reasons that you’re not expecting! While yes, the characters are definitely the main appeal of the game – not only does it have some solid customization options but your characters are.. well, a little more suggestive than almost any other MMO.
But the game itself is actually filled with a lot of story and a lot of things to do. More than most other free MMOs – and thanks to certain.. aesthetic choices, the game has retained quite a sizeable playerbase ever since launching, regardless of either the Aeria Games version of Vendetta.
The world is large yet split into segregated zones – but there are plenty of quest hubs to move between in each zone, providing you endless things to do and avoiding the horrendous grind that is so prevalent in some games.
Combat is a hybrid between both tab-target and action combat and each class – which is essentially a customizable girl functions and plays very differently from one another.
And you get to transform into these giant mech monsters that make you feel like you’re playing a Mobile Suit Gundam game after building up enough of the resource for it.. which is pretty sick.

I think there’s actually a Trickster M – I feel like I did a video on this for my Mobile channel a little while ago but this game – Trickster Online, the PC version in specific is quite an old one!
This is a very old-school point-and-click MMO that I bet many new-generation players have never experienced. It’s grindy. It doesn’t provide much in the way of explanation. Movement requires you point to move your character and manually click on the enemy – each and every enemy.
I know this might sound incredibly dated to you, but it’s one of the few sprite-style town-down isometric MMOs left with an Anime-inspired style. And that’s unfortunate as these were the kinds of MMOs I actually grew up playing!
The graphics are absolutely adorable, the characters – both the portraits and in-game models are both surprisingly high quality and if you’re into grinding.. well, here ya go.

Despite how Project: Gorgon looks, this is actually a newer title. Yeah, no kidding.
Where most MMOs developed for this generation of gamer require prowess in terms of both graphical and gameplay mechanics to really garner attention, Project: Gorgon and its devs instead opted to go for something a little easier to manage, and a little more old-school.
And thus a brand new classic-inspired MMORPG was created – in the form we have this in today. This is a game that has almost no hand-holding whatsoever. You’re thrown directly into the game and learn as you play, something that really isn’t done anymore.
Even WoW’s latest Shadowlands leveling zone walks you through moving your character, each and every ability you learn, how to take quests, sell items.. what happened to the days when we could just create our character, log in, and play, consequences be damned, right?
And that’s kind of what Project: Gorgon allows for. You to experience the game at your own pace and in your own way.
Yes, the graphics and the combat both are.. I mean slow and clunky would be one way of putting it, but that doesn’t inhibit the overall enjoyment you can get out of the game nor does it limit the complexities the game brings with it.

This is admittedly something I never really tried as extensively as I perhaps should have.
And I have every intention of revisiting the game in due time, but until then I’d like to note that while I didn’t appreciate how unique an MMO this was at the time, I do urge people to take the time to try it out and judge for yourself whether or not this is an MMO that is worth playing.
Yes, graphically this is a very.. unique looking game. It looks dated and it feels even more so when you’re in-game playing it. But just because something both looks and plays dated doesn’t necessarily mean it’s bad, right?
I only ever invested maybe an hour into the game total so my impression is definitely limited but from what I’d experienced, this is yet another MMO that doesn’t hold your hand and just throws you into the deep end without any knowledge as to what’s going on.
Yes there is the occasional quest. There are a diverse selection of races and classes to choose from. There’s also a whole lot to do and experience.. you just kinda have to get there and figuring out how to is part of the journey.

Wizard101 is probably the only type of MMO of this kind in this list. Not only is it a Western MMO but.. well it’s essentially Harry Potter.. the MMO. The entirety of the game takes place in a magical setting.
Granted I’ve never played this nearly as much as I should have, but wandering around the magical city, questing and engaging in the combat – which is very unique mind you, was a lot of fun.
Combat is turn-based, with your party occupying one side of the field and the enemies occupying the other. Questing was pretty basic yet highly humorous, and the world itself was filled with life. This felt like I was playing through a cartoon – something that I haven’t really ever experienced before.
I really need to take a much deeper look at the game so I can get a proper gauge of what the game is at its core, but from what I could tell this was a pretty simple, pretty traditional MMO with a lot of fancy magic spells.

Onigiri is one of the few Anime MMOs that I enjoy quite a bit. It’s like a very Japanese version of PSO2, but instead of featuring exclusively instanced zones, you have access to a much more open, larger world with dungeons being instanced off, but dungeons being the bulk of the game in terms of content.
Combat is pure action, which was surprising to me as I hadn’t really seen many Anime MMOs employ action combat. You have a selection of weapons you can equip with each one having their own unique abilities and playstyles.
There’s a solid story – while nothing extraordinary, it’s definitely enough to warrant paying attention to. It isn’t too difficult, but it can definitely be a little repetitive if you’re not a fan of games like Vindictus, Soul Worker or PSO2.
I’ve played through a ton of hours of Onigiri and can happily say that this is one of the better Anime MMOs out there in terms of gameplay and graphics.

This one is actually quite a “treasure!” Eh? Ehh? Too much? Okay. Seriously though, this game actually looks pretty good. And it’s one of the few pirate MMOs available!
There are several different factions to choose between with each faction having their own classes associated with them. Quite a bit of the game actually takes place on the ocean, with players gaining access to their own private ship that they can use to sail the seas.
You can dock your ship at various ports scattered throughout the world though which is where the majority of combat and questing happens to take place. The cities themselves are filled with life and NPCs – enough where the game doesn’t feel empty at all.
The world is pretty large and fairly open – with a lot of NPC ships and other players sailing around. There’s a lot to explore and a lot to learn but this is probably one of the only MMOs of its kind. If you miss the opportunity to play this while it’s here, you might regret it later.

This is one of the few MMOs I’ve ever seen that doesn’t actually have combat.
Yup, A Tale in the Desert is an MMO that is built completely around its community and the role playing aspect of the game. I know you’re not used to that – typically we log in, and within 30 seconds take a quest that tells us to go out and murder a bunch of monsters, right?
This is a game that focuses on crafting, building up your faction, trading, exploring, researching.. all things that aren’t really all too common, especially with there being no combat present.
Add on to that the game only ever exists for a period of time – after which the world “ends” and begins a brand new season with entirely new features and goals. This provides a sense of continual growth and progression, but also means there’s always a sense of things to do – things to work towards.
Honestly, I’ve never had to play an MMO where I couldn’t engage in combat, but it was a refreshing change of pace.

And they’re 10 obscure MMORPG gems that you may or may not know exist. I’m sure you’ve likely played a few of them, there’s no doubt of that, but I guarantee you there’s something here you haven’t.
Let me know if you think there’s an MMO you believe warrants inclusion in a list like this in the future, and I’ll go ahead and include it next time!