by ByteStixMMOStalgia Episode 3: Onigiri
Onigiri is a highly unique Anime MMORPG with a fast action combat system.
I wouldn’t say this is one of the best MMORPG games of 2021, far from it, actually. But it is easily one of the best free MMORPG of its kind – and that is specifically pertaining to the hub-MMO genre.
Yes, Onigiri is a hub-MMORPG. But it’s very different to your typical hub-MMOs like Vindictus or PSO2. While there are various different quest hubs scattered around the world, there are large, open areas separating them providing ample opportunities for you to explore new areas, fight monsters outside of instanced dungeons, and meet other players all participating in the same content as you. That is one of the areas that Onigiri really stands out – by providing players your typical hub experience, while improving on the world overall.
The action combat is fast, it feels impactful and honestly, there’s a ton of crowd control abilities present within the game. So many in fact, that half the time either I was being knocked back, or the enemy was. Which admittedly does make it a little easier to avoid getting overwhelmed if you’re in a group. You can chain abilities in succession and continue to lock a boss in place.
Combat was made fairly unique by providing you a variety of different weapons you could equip. There were various different weapon types, and a surplus of weapons for each sub-category, each with their own unique abilities specifically associated with that weapon. You could equip 4 weapons at once, and each one provided not only a distinct combat style, but also skills you likely wouldn’t find on a different weapon. Such as lightning slashes for dual swords, or flaming jabs with your spear.
The character models look fantastic in the game, if a little.. gratuitous at times. But it’s to be expected. It is an Anime MMO after all. However the scenery and armor definitely felt like the textures didn’t fit with the rest of the game. Which was a shame to see.
Overall, this is an Anime MMORPG that you should definitely consider playing if you haven’t already. It’s a fairly unique hub-MMO that you don’t typically see around the genre, and considering it just shut down on PC – all that we have left is the console iteration. So it might be time to boot up your console and jump on in!
