Ragnarok Online was one of the first MMORPGs played by MeinMMO editor Alexander Leitsch. In recent years, more and more spin-offs have been published in this world by the same developer. However, these games are just a shadow of the original.
Ragnarok Online was a small phenomenon. In the early 2000s, it tried to establish a new model in the West. Instead of a subscription, players paid for a fixed amount of playtime and could even try it out for free at the beginning. It was a success: Ragnarok managed to attract over 250,000 players in Europe early on (via PCGames).
What fascinated me back then were especially the colorful graphics, the many different classes, and the fact that you could roam the world with many players. There were no instanced dungeons or raids back then.
The game world of Ragnarok Online simply had something special.
However, just in 2002, shortly after the release, the head of the game, Gravity, left after a dispute with the main financier, Samsung. He took a large part of the development team with him, which is painfully noticeable.
The development studio Gravity has since regularly tried to release new games for the franchise. In 2021 alone, three new Ragnarok titles were released. However, none of the games released in recent years have been able to captivate me as much or meet the quality that Ragnarok Online had in its time.
Since April 13, there has been a new Ragnarok on Steam, which has been heavily criticized by players. And I completely understand why.
Mobile, Idle, and Hero-Collector instead of a really good MMORPG
Ragnarok is an IP that many know from their youth and has great potential, which I keep seeing whenever we report on a new Ragnarok game. The interest is there. But in recent years, the reporting on MMORPGs has really hurt.
New titles in the Ragnarok universe rely on collectible card mechanics, are mobile games with autoplay, pay-to-win, or simply poorly made, like Ragnarok 2, which was discontinued in 2019.
The latest title in this series is “The Lost Memories,” which has just been released on Steam. It received 58 reviews in less than 24 hours, of which 71% are negative (as of April 14, via Steam). The criticisms are clear:
- It is a mobile port, and you can immediately tell by the controls. There is auto-run, auto-battle, and even auto-quests. You don’t need to play at all.
- The version is about 5 months older than the mobile game itself.
- There are connection and server issues.
- While the game uses the Ragnarok IP, aside from a similar graphic style and the basic backstory, it has nothing in common with the old MMORPG.
Anyone who wants to try it can play it for free on Steam or on their smartphone. I uninstalled it after less than two hours.
You can find an insight into “The Lost Memories” in this video by FG3000:
Ragnarok brings new MMORPGs, but it’s not getting better yet
The future of the IP does not look good right now. With Ragnarok Begins, a new multi-platform MMORPG has been released that can also be played on PC and is supposed to tell the backstory of Ragnarok Online. The game has been highly acclaimed for supposedly returning to the roots of the series and creating a lot of nostalgia.
So far, the game is only available in Asia, but even there it only received a rating of 2.7 out of 5 possible stars (via TapTap). Experience shows that the criticism is usually even harsher in the West.
Since we can no longer officially play the original version of Ragnarok Online in the West, fans either have to resort to private servers or forgo their experience with Ragnarok.
What remains of Ragnarok Online is a good memory of old times. And the hope that Gravity might release another MMORPG that captivates me again.
What do you think about the Ragnarok IP? Did you love the game back then or couldn’t you relate to this anime game? Feel free to write it in the comments.
An MMORPG that gives me great hopes this year is Throne and Liberty. You can find everything known about the game here:
New “€75 million” MMORPG showcases huge boss battles – Looks stunning
