Exciting early access starts in 2024
- April 4: Reign of Guilds
- June 18: Pax Dei
- November 6: Brighter Shores
- November 26: Corepunk
- December 13: Pantheon – Rise of the Fallen
That early access phases can be good and meaningful should have been shown by Baldur’s Gate 3 at the latest. In the MMORPG genre, it is – as the short list beautifully shows – mostly smaller niche titles that incorporate an early access phase before the final launch.
On the one hand, because they often need every Euro to ultimately reach the release finish line. On the other hand, because such early access provides valuable feedback on the potential pain points of a game.
The trailer for the early access launch of Pax Dei:
I was particularly interested in Pax Dei, which is technically the strongest MMORPG of all early access representatives by a wide margin. Unfortunately, both my preliminary assessment of the early access launch and my second assessment in July were mixed. Since then, however, so much has happened that the desire to check back in is gradually increasing.
Despite the isometric graphics and oldschool gaming experience, Corepunk could also be an MMORPG to keep an eye on. The entry is laborious and tedious, but I had increasingly more fun in the first hours getting to grips with the systems and the world of the game.
Karsten’s highlight of the MMORPG year 2024
My personal highlight of the year is actually very personal. As you probably know, I’ve been in the industry for more than 15 years (and an enthusiastic MMORPG player for even longer), but only joined the fantastic team of MeinMMO in March 2024. That alone would already suffice as a major highlight.
In the almost ten months, I was able to publish around 600 articles on MeinMMO, and some of my favorite specials were created during the major MMORPG theme week. Such as the six-part report on the MMORPG genre, which took a lot of time. I also enjoyed the MMORPG talk with our lead community manager Mary and host Géraldine.
And then there was also a survey and the evaluation of the community vote for the best MMORPGs of all time for PC and console – with contributions from the fantastic guest authors Entenburg, Mottenmann, Gloria H. Manderfeld, and Alexander Leitsch. I am already incredibly excited about what we will come up with for 2025!
Blue Protocol looked partly like a playable anime in the trailers:
Karsten’s disappointment of the MMORPG year 2024
I had high hopes for Blue Protocol. The strong focus on story and PvE content such as quests, dungeons, and raids was unusual for an Asian free-to-play MMORPG. In addition, I liked the colorful anime style. Man, I was excited to get to know this in a finished version.
Accordingly, I was disappointed when the responsible parties at Bandai Namco announced in August that there would be no planned global launch. Of course, this didn’t come out of nowhere. There had already been reports about the disappointing launch in Japan.
Something similar happened with Throne and Liberty, which was also released first in its home market, and NCSoft used this initial situation and the initially quite critical feedback to significantly improve their MMORPG in cooperation with Amazon Games before its launch in the West. It’s a real shame that Bandai Namco Online probably lacked the means for that.
Conclusion on the MMORPG year 2024
Thanks to the sheer volume of releases, I was never bored this year, although I managed to have some fun at the launch of Tarisland. In the medium term, though, Tencent’s MMORPG has too little substance. Regarding new releases, I probably had the most fun with Throne and Liberty, as well as with WoW, Final Fantasy XIV, and Guild Wars 2.
However, since the release of the 2-star dungeons, I am noticing some signs of wear regarding Throne and Liberty, and I have been playing the established big titles – in most cases – since their respective launches or even since the beta. What is missing in 2024, therefore, is a fresh highlight that could excite me sustainably. Will it be better in 2025?
- 1
- 2
