With New World Aeternum and Throne and Liberty, there are currently two online role-playing games in focus for many genre fans, who see potential for improvement in the quality of the quests. But which MMORPGs actually have the best quests? MeinMMO editor Karsten Scholz answers this question with his personal power ranking.
When comparing the quests in the newly released New World Aeternum with the quests from the original New World from 2021, it is noticeable that the tasks of the MMORPG have improved significantly over the past years. Nevertheless, there remains a feeling that there is still much more room for improvement.
Similar applies to the challenges from Throne and Liberty, which occasionally include a brain teaser or a skill task, but ultimately usually come with standard objectives like “Kill X enemies” or “Collect Y items”.
Spoiler: Final Fantasy XIV is not in the top 5 for reasons:
But what about the other established genre representatives? Which MMORPGs have the most fun quests? And by fun, I mean that there are not only varied tasks but that it happens regularly. But also, that one must constantly adapt to new situations or step into the shoes of other characters.
Or that one is put in situations that are funny, exciting, scary, or emotional – in other words: entertaining. And finally, that the surrounding details, such as the presentation of the tasks, the flow of accepting and turning in quests, or the stories associated with the quests, are right. The 10 worst types of quests should occur as rarely as possible.
Below, I present to you my personal power ranking from five MMORPGs that I can recommend solely based on their quests. How would your top 5 compare? Let us know in the comments!
He can also have fun with a certain grind factor and silly quest objectives, as long as the fights feel good enough. But that’s a topic for another power ranking. Here, it’s about online role-playing games that shine with their quest design.
What about Elder Scrolls Online and Final Fantasy XIV?
Before you ask in the comments, just a few words about two MMORPGs that did not make it into the top 5 and why that is (although I like both games very much).
The Elder Scrolls Online has weighty arguments for a place on this list with fully voiced dialogues and some strong plot lines. From my perspective, ESO is increasingly struggling with the fact that there are virtually no challenges in normal questing, and even the occasional puzzles play out almost on their own.
Also unfortunate: In principle, every chapter from recent years feels gameplay-wise the same. There are hardly any fresh ideas for the tasks. Additionally, the static dialogues now feel quite outdated. All of this speaks against ESO from my perspective.
What about FFXIV? The MMORPG from Square has successfully concluded one of the best story arcs in video game history with Shadowbringers or Endwalker. And some of the sub-stories are pure gold, such as the quirky adventures of Hildibrand Manderville.
Unfortunately, the gameplay elements of the quests often cannot keep up with the quality of the stories from Eorzea. There are isolated bright spots – thanks to battle events, where I can step into other roles for a certain time and use fresh abilities – but also many annoying escort and companion quests.
Moreover, in Final Fantasy XIV, many things simply take a bit too long, such as using quest items, dialogues with NPCs, mounting up, or interacting with the game world. The quest flow is simply more engaging and direct in many other MMORPGs. Which games made it into the top 5, you will find out on the next page.
