Though it will never unseat Blizzard’s gaming goliath in terms of sheer popularity, Guild Wars 2 does many things better than World of Warcraft, and without charging a monthly fee. With a 90 on Metacritic and a 90% rating on GameRankings - second only to World of Warcraft and three of its expansions - Guild Wars 2 is one of the most critically acclaimed massively multiplayer games of all time. Combat is the star here, along with some exciting and unique quest types, especially Urgent Quests, which are server-wide events that you have to experience for yourself to fully understand the excitement they bring. You don’t need to know anything about the previous games or even pay close attention to this one. Honestly, though, the story isn’t what makes this one of the most popular MMOs on the market today. The story of the game is that you are an operative for Artificial Relict to Keep Species, aka ARKS, which is a group tasked with adventuring to new planets and destroying any signs of the dark Falspawn forces.

This makes it one of the most satisfying MMOs to actually play. Attacks are done in real time, allowing you to execute combos that inflict extra damage. Aside from the class system, you can have up to three weapons equipped at a time, giving you variety and versatility. The gameplay is very action focused, with plenty of diverse weapons and play styles to experiment with. Missions are picked up from a central location, from which you then travel to one of several different worlds to complete your objective. Taking cues more from the mainline series than from other MMOs, Phantasy Star Online 2 isn’t a full-on open world, but instead it uses large hub areas you travel between. It also doesn’t hurt that it is completely free.

Thankfully, about eight years later, Phantasy Star Online 2 has arrived and, despite some technical issues, it’s just as good as we hoped. The Phantasy Star series as a whole has always been incredibly popular among RPG fans, and the first game had a dedicated player base for the time, making the wait for the sequel even more unbearable. After years and years of waiting, Phantasy Star Online 2 finally came to the West officially in 2020 after a beta period.

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