Fans of PC MMORPGs are eagerly looking towards Asia. With Lost Ark and Project TL, the next generation of MMORPGs is on the horizon. They could bring new impulses to the MMORPG genre from the action RPG perspective. But when will the games be released, and will they even come to Europe and North America?
The MMORPG genre has been in a sort of hibernation for years. The hopes of PC MMORPGs in the West have all perished: Blizzard has buried Titan, Daybreak pulled the plug on Everquest Next.
This leaves genre fans with few alternatives:
- Either you play the existing, decent western MMORPGs, all of which are a bit dated
- or you play Asian imports from the second tier, which do not quite rock the boat. Furthermore, they are not tailored to our barbaric western tastes.
- or you fall in love with an indie project and follow its development in the hope that something great comes out of it before you get too old to move a mouse
For many, “Lost Ark” is an exception. It is an action MMORPG from Korea that has been attracting the eager gazes of MMORPG fans worldwide for years. When you look at it, you quickly see: This is something special. This is interesting.
Lost Ark – the great hope from the East
In principle, Lost Ark is a typical MMORPG, but with a fixed perspective and gameplay elements from action RPGs like Diablo 3. This promise: “to mix MMORPG with action RPG” has been around for a while.
Lost Ark is meant to be the first game to really achieve this: A full-fledged MMORPG with action RPG gameplay.
The promise of Lost Ark is: A game with the depth of an MMORPG and dynamic gameplay like modern action titles.
We simplifiers from the gaming press like to say: “This is a Diablo MMORPG!” However, at Lost Ark, they scoff at that and say: “We actually have more in common with Guild Wars 2.”
Lost Ark has been in development for quite a while. The second beta was in 2017 and it all looks pretty neat. We reported extensively about it.
The big catch: Lost Ark comes from Smilegate. And Smilegate is not a developer that does much in the West. So nobody knows whether Lost Ark will really come to Europe and North America. There have been signs so far indicating that Lost Ark will first conquer China after its home market Korea.
But Lost Ark still lacks a release date. Some criticize: You’re piling system upon system. You’re suffering from feature creep.
In 2018, we should hear more about Lost Ark, but for now the title remains a distant dream.
Project TL – the new ray of hope
Now newly risen as a star of hope for MMORPG fans is Project TL. This is the response of the Korean giant NCSoft to Lost Ark.
NCSoft has long tried to find a successor for the Lineage series, had a PC/mobile hybrid in development called “Lineage Eternal” that never worked. That thing is now dead and resurrected as “Project TL”.
Project TL promises us finally the destructible environment. MMORPG fans have been hot for it since Everquest Next tantalized us with it, but then rather passed away.
Project TL promises the same vision as Lost Ark:
- Unreal Engine 4 – so great graphics
- Destructible environment
- Dynamic weather
- And action gameplay
- 5 classes are currently confirmed
Is Project TL even coming as a new MMORPG for PS4 and Xbox One?
A bonus: Apparently, NCSoft plans to let us play the game with controllers – a hint that they might envision a port for PS4 and perhaps even for Xbox One. But that is music for the future.
- The best part: NCSoft is a worldwide publisher with studios and connections here in the West. So the game should definitely also come to us in Europe and the USA. A worldwide release was also planned for Lineage Eternal.
- The other best part: NCSoft has currently made a lot of money in the mobile market. If one can hope for something “big” from the MMORPG market right now, then it is from NCSoft.
- The downside: Project TL will also take a while to materialize. A closed beta is planned for 2018.
The question of whether Project TL and Lost Ark can bring new impulses to the ailing PC MMORPG market and lead it into the next generation is a question for the coming years. Hope and longing are there and quite justified.
More on the topic:
10 years waiting for Lineage 3 – Will NCSoft succeed in creating the great PC MMORPG?
