The Best Non English MMORPGs You Absolutely Have To Try!

Today I’m doing something a little different, today I’ll be talking about the best MMORPGs currently not released in the West.

Before I continue however, do note that all of the games I’ll be listing are currently playable right now, no matter the country, they just require some effort to get working in your region, and a strong PC, but I guess that goes for most MMORPGs nowadays.

So what is Closers? Well it’s a Free to Play Action MMORPG that was released in Korea in 2014, and, if you haven’t noticed yet, yes it is anime inspired. Closers is set in a modern-ish world that’s overrun
by monsters where you’ll need to pick 1 one of the 8 playable classes, or characters if you prefer. Each character has there own unique play style however, and as you continue the story and level up, your class
upgrades, giving you access to new and devastating abilities, and new areas of course. Now regarding the areas themselves, Closers, much like in Vindictus, is instanced. For instance you start off in a quest hub,
where you’ll then need to teleport to another area to complete your quest. Once completed, you’ll then be returned to the quest hub. I will point out that unlike Vindictus, Closers is a side scroller.
Now regarding the combat, in Closers the combat is fantastic, it’s fast, it’s fluid, and quite addictive. Although, it can get a little repetitive at times, as you’ll no doubt find yourself repeating skill
combinations, since they work best together, or repeating the same dungeons or instances until you’re high enough for the next areas. Regarding the graphics, the characters in Closers are very detailed
and generally look stunning, be it male or female, the battle animations and effects are great, all in all I’d have to say it’s top tier for an anime inspired MMORPG.

Bless is an open world fantasy MMORPG developed by Neowiz Games. Now in Bless Online you get the option to play 1 of 2 factions at war with each other, not unlike WoW, or Aion. Both sides have 4 races, all starting in
their own race specific starting zones and starting quest lines, I do believe once you leave the starting area however, all the races quest lines converge and everyone follows along the same base storyline. Now Graphically
speaking Bless Online looks absolutely amazing. The character models are gorgeous, the scenery is unique and detailed whilst having a medieval-ish theme going on, I will point out that there
are some minor issues with the graphics, like characters glowing like a light bulb and shadows not appearing, or characters being shaded while in the light. While this doesn’t really detract from the overall graphics
of the game, it can be a little distracting. However it is just a bug, that will no doubt be fixed in a future update, or patch. The combat in Bless is tab target, and is surprisingly one of the major things people seem to
complain about regarding Bless. Although before you judge Bless’s combat too harshly, do note that, Aeria Games the publisher that’ll be bringing Bless to the west, will be overhauling the combat to suit the Western
market. And while I personally don’t actually mind tab target combat in MMORPGs, as I have played WoW for years, I am looking forward to seeing how the combat changes.

Soul Worker is an Action, Anime inspired MMORPG released in Korea in 2016. One of the first things you’ll no doubt notice is the beautifully rendered cell shaded graphics, and fancy special effects, unless you’re
not into the whole anime inspired MMORPG thing, in which case, not big deal, to each their own! So, Soul Worker, much like Closers or Vindictus, is an instanced based MMO. However as you continue along the story,
and level up, you’ll gain access to new towns, unlocking more quests, areas, and even more companions. Soul Worker’s combat is so damn fantastic, it has one of the best feeling combat I’ve ever had the pleasure
of playing, it’s fast, fluid, it doesn’t seem to have any ping issuses getting in the way, the area’s are pretty from a post-apocalyptic stand point, the bossess are actually quite challenging, the skill effects
are top tier. However like it is with most Action MMORPGs, it can get repetitive once you find what works best versus specific monsters. Before we move onto the next MMO, I would like to point out there are 5 classes
in total so far with unique weapons and play styles. Also, there is some in the way of character customization, however most of it comes after you’ve made your character, as you can farm for outfits, and hairstyles.

Moonlight Blade is a open-world Action MMORPG. Now before I get into the combat, I will point out that there are 8 classes to choose between, one of which is gender locked. Another thing, from what I can tell all the
classes have a unique starting areas, and quest chains once you’ve finish the initial tutorial area, so if you intend on playing with a friend, you may have to be the same class in order to play together, at least
early on. So the combat in Moonlight blade is action oriented, and it is very fast, and very flashy, from flipping into the air impaling your foes, to throwing giant energy spears at your enemy. Just a quick FYI
though, there are no monsters in Moonlight Blade, every enemy within the game world is a human, while this may be a downer to some, I think it “fits” with the general scheme of things, as it’s a wuxia themed MMO, thus
the setting, the buildings, the outfits, the flying, wait what? Okay so you can’t “actually” fly, but it’s close enough, in Moonlight blade you use your mana, or MP, or whatever it’s called in Chinese, to jump into
the air, once in the air you can use other aerial skills that can push you more forward or higher up, but generally as long as you have mana you can keep going. Since everything in Moonlight Blade is in Chinese, and there are no English
translations out yet, I can’t really say how good the story aspect is, as I can’t actually understand or read what they’re saying, although I do enjoy watching what happens in the cutscenes.
That being said, from what little I can tell so far, the game does seem to be very linear and story driven. So, Graphically speaking, Moonlight blade has one of the best graphics found in any MMORPG to date, the game
looks stunningly beautiful, it’s even got a day and night cycle, weather climates, like sandstorms, snowing, raining, but I guess most MMOs have that one. pretty much everything you’d wan’t.. except for one thing,
that might deter people, which is a lack of variation and customization. In Moonlight blade you cannot change you hair color and you can’t make a western or fantasy character. Nor are there any non Asian themed areas,
which doesn’t bother me, personally. However I can see it being a problem to some people.

Dragons Dogma, is an open world fantasy MMORPG that was released in 2015 in Japan. Now Dragons Dogma is a lot like its non MMO counter part, it’s got a deep well thought out story, tons of class customization, it’s
got a huge world to explore, it has action combat, climbable environments, even climbable monsters, it’s got everything the original console game had, but in an MMO package. But for those of you who have never
played Dragons Dogma allow me to elaborate a little more. You the player are an Arisen, and as such you have to ability to control pawns, which are essentially NPC party members. Pawns have the same class and
character customization as you, but are mainly there if you don’t have anyone else to play with. In Dragons Dogma you take quests like any normal MMORPG, so nothing different there, however a lot of things within
the game world are intractable, for instance if you see a destroyed house, you can climb it. See that cliff? you can probably climb it, see that really angry hulking giant? Yeah, you can climb it. Not only that
however it’s got combo-ish action combat, pretty similar to Dark Souls actually, if I had to compare. It also has a multitude of classses, some of which are only available after you make it out of the
tutorial, Oh and there’s a shit ton of class customization. Though if you ever make a mistake or end up not liking your class you can change “vocations” whenever you go back to the Inn in the main city, so don’t worry!

PSO2 is an Action scifi MMORPG and was released in Japan in 2012. So PSO2 uses a similar formula to Vindictus; AKA, you take quests from the quest hub, where you then take your ship to said destination, and complete said
quests. Now although they do use the same formula, it feels completely different somehow, It could be due to the story in PSO2, as there is an English translation, you can actually understand it, unlike some of the
MMOs I’ve listed. whilst PSO2 is instanced the areas are large enough to allow you to have fun looking around, killing monsters and what not, some of the areas can be quite small, and
very linear, which is sad, because it’s a lot of fun. In PSO2 you choose your class like any normal MMORPG, however you can change your class whenever you want
while you’re on the ship, or quest hub, however you wan’t to say it. Not only can you just change your class, but while you’re at the skill trainer you can customize your skills,
through the skill tree, not unlike the talent tree in WoW, or Rift. Now the combat in PSO2 is great, it’s got action combat, with some auto locking at times, which is never a bad thing, the skills are flashy,
it plays smoothly, there’s a large variety in weapons as each class can equip multiple weapons appropriate to there class, for instance a Hunter, which is a 2 handed sword user, can use a gunblade, but can’t use
shoeblades or a cannon, where as a brawler can use shoeblades, but can’t use 2 handed swords. The Graphics in PSO2 are good, nothing fantastic, but I personally find it nice, but it can be a little flat and stiff.
The characters do look fantastic though, and the amount of clothing and character customization, without having to pay for anything is just shocking, if only more games allowed for such customization.

Monster Hunter Online is an Action MMORPG, and is quite similar to its non MMO counter part. Monster Hunter Online; much like other action MMORPGs, is instanced. However, unlike them, the instances are massive
open areas, with each place having different biomes and monsters. Now there are no classes in Monster Hunter, instead, there are weapon types, each weapon has it’s own very own purpose and uses, for instance
the Greatsword is the strongest weapon and can break off monster parts easy, however it’s very slow and therefore, fast monsters will be a challenge to beat, where as dual swords are fast, but they can’t
deal as much damage, or knock down the monsters. Luckily you can change your weapons whenever you want to suit the type of monster you’re hunting, so as long as you’ve got the resources to make the weapons of course.
Monster Hunter Online has beautiful graphics, the monsters are very detailed, and the variety of monster types is impressive, the scenery is fantastic, character models are gorgeous, it’s hard to believe it was
released in 2013!

Dragon Quest X is an MMORPG that was released in 2013 in Japan. So If you’ve ever played a dragon quest game you’ll notice it looks and feels very similar to it’s non MMO counter part, and it is! As soon as
you enter you’ll notice iconic music, and art styles, Dragon quest X is a gem, it blends a typical Dragon Quest story, AKA, you’re a hero who needs to save the world, with MMORPG elements, while not losing
anything that makes Dragon Quest special. So, the combat in Dragon Quest X is turn based, where you’ll run into the monsters in the overworld, and a battle will start, however you do have a limited amount
of time you can spend on your turn so, think fast! You can still party up like normal MMORPGs however there are some unique things to point out, before we move on, for instance, like in previous Dragon
Quest titles, you can still capture monsters and train them to be party members, however you can also “rent” players from the Inns. How this works is, when a player goes offline, and sets themselves at the
inn, you can hire them for your party as AI controlled characters. This doesn’t just benefit the person who hired you however, as you still get XP for being hired, while you were logged off.
So the World of Dragon Quest is large, however it does have loading screens between zones, and towns, like FFXIV. Dragon Quest X has a job system, also similar to FFXIV, where you can choose between 6 classes
that can be changed whenever you go back to the town, so don’t worry if you pick the wrong class first! Graphically speaking Dragon Quest doesn’t do anything fancy, it’s nice to look at but by no means ground
breaking, however it doesn’t need to be, Dragon Quest X is the perfect blend of traditional gaming meeting MMO.