by The MMORPG drought is real. Many players within the community are restlessly twiddling their thumbs and poring over their library of games, wondering which game is worth re-installing and if they want to go through the trouble of getting back into it. We’re all waiting for Ashes of Creation, aren’t we? If you’re an MMORPG grinder like me, you’re probably looking for something to keep you occupied until it releases. (Please don’t delay it again!)
There are many MMORPGs that are already released that have been aging quite gracefully into 2023. I’ve gathered 5 games that I’ve played off and on that have recently released a huge update or have one coming up soon that are worth the re-install (or if you’re a new player, a fresh install).
Table of Contents
Destiny 2: Lightfall
Destiny 2’s Lightfall expansion was released on February 28th, 2023, adding another spectacular story to the game. Destiny 2 never fails to come out with some of the highest quality story content in the genre and has one of the most immersed communities around.
New subclasses have been added including:
- The Berserker (Titan)
- The Broodweaver (Warlock)
- The Threadrunner (Hunter)
And for all classes, a new grapple ability that can be used to drastically increase their mobility has been added to the game which opens up some creative uses in all types of content. The new cyberpunk-ish city called Neomuna that Lightfall introduces is the perfect setting for showcasing this new grapple ability.
Destiny 2 is ripe with content for new and returning players alike. Whether you’re a story gamer looking for an immersive world, a PvE grinder seeking high-intensity raids to conquer, or you’re itching for a fast-paced competitive PvP experience, Destiny 2 has it all.
For new players looking to see what Destiny 2 is all about, you can jump into the base game for free. Free players have access to 60% of the subclasses that the game has to offer, the first campaign missions for a couple of expansions, nearly all PvP content, and can participate in whatever event is currently going on. Unfortunately, dungeons and raids, some of the most popular activities within Destiny 2, are locked behind the purchase of an expansion. If you play with friends, it’s worth coordinating with them to find out which expansion and its content are most appealing to your group.
That being said, Destiny 2’s Legacy Collection (includes all previous seasons and DLC) can often be found on sale along with the separate expansions. It was just recently on sale for $23.99 (60% off) during the Steam Summer Sale. You can find the expansions to be anywhere from 40-50% off regularly throughout the year.
New World: Blood of the Sands
New World’s Summer Medleyfaire returns on July 19th, 2023. Just like last year’s Medleyfaire, the event has plenty of fun-filled events ranging from musical performances to fishing quests. There are many rewards including some silly theme-based cosmetics and housing items.
Season 2: Blood of the Sands was released on July 6th, 2023. Season 2: Blood of the Sands leads players into the desert on a quest to defeat a legendary sandwurm. You can expect the rewards from the Season 2 content to be desert-themed with earthy colors. The second season of New World introduces more than just fresh content: Transmogrification has finally arrived in New World. Now players have more customization options than ever before with the ability to copy the appearance of gear that they’ve collected and turn it into a skin for their cosmetic collection. Along with Transmogrification comes the usual seasonal additions. A new Elite Trial, a Seasonal Trial, fresh goodies within the PvP reward track, and a new PvP 3v3 Arena map.
The patch notes for the Season 2 update are enormous and filled with many changes to combat, game modes, and other mechanics within that game that can contribute to a more streamlined experience for all players. Returning players can be welcomed back with many quality of life changes to the various game modes and a more balanced combat system that allows for more viable builds to be made.
The MMORPG community has mixed feelings towards New World and though they have struggled to hold onto their player base, they’re making efforts to bring players back to the game. Those efforts are paying off since many content creators have returned to New World to check out the Season 2 update and with them, come a ton of fans itching to see what it’s all about.
With mounts on the horizon and changes coming to the main storyline, New World is setting up to attempt to get their players back. The concern of the community and my own is, with exploration being easier and sped up with the addition of mounts, that means the leveling experience that most of the community enjoys the most will be shortened. Will New World finally get an actual end game? Looking at what the developers have been discussing, it seems that might be where their focus ends up after these additions coming to the game this year. By next year, New World could likely end up feeling like an entirely different MMORPG.
Guild Wars 2: Secrets of the Obscure
Guild Wars 2’s 4th expansion was announced back on March 22, 2022. It’s been over a year but fans of the award-winning MMORPG were finally given a taste of what is to come on June 27th, 2023 with the release of the Secrets of the Obscure Trailer. The newest expansion, Secrets of the Obscure is set to release on August 22nd, 2023.
To avoid giving out any spoilers, I’ll just say that a new era is coming to Guild Wars 2. New and returning players alike can experience a fresh story that doesn’t require knowledge of the previous events in order to make sense. Many new maps will be available at the start of the expansion and developers have promised three major quarterly updates to follow along with it.
With any expansion comes brand new additional weapon access for every class. Typically this means a new elite specialization, but with Secrets of the Obscure, they’re allowing all professions the ability to use the weapons of their elite specializations, even if they aren’t currently training or equipping that particular elite specialization. This introduces more variety with weapon usage across the board. Additionally, they are adding one new weapon for each profession. While these weapons don’t have any exclusive new skills to come along with them, it gives players more customization options to make their character however they’d like.
Looking at how Arena Net has spoken about the new expansion, it sounds like flight is going to be an important part of exploration in the new zones added with Secrets of the Obscure and the future updates. To further support that, Arena Net has teased that an alternative acquisition method for the Skyscale will be coming. The Skyscale, a small dragon-like mount, is notorious for requiring the completion of a long time-gated quest line in order to acquire one. With this news, it looks like it’ll be easier for players to obtain a Skyscale to assist them on their journey within the new expansion pack.
The expansion has three editions that are each available for pre-purchase right now. As usual with Guild Wars 2 expansions, pre-purchased editions receive a special skin, weapon chest, and title regardless of the tier of edition that you pre-purchase.
- The Standard Edition for $24.99 / €24,99 / £20.99
- The Deluxe Edition for $49.99 / €49,99 / £42.99
- The Ultimate Edition for $74.99 / €74,99 / £64.99
For new players, you can see what Guild Wars 2 is all about for free. While the free version lacks a tremendous amount of content that the expansion packs provide, you are still able to go through a captivating story with a charming cast of characters and experience both PvP and WvW uninhibited. If you’re looking to spend a bit of money, some further research is advised so that you can purchase the content that is right for you. Every expansion pack adds different maps, mechanics, activities, and rewards. For example, the Path of Fire expansion introduces a wide variety of mounts for you to acquire that each offers different ways for the player to travel the world, while End of Dragons gives players a jade bot companion with many functionalities.
Guild Wars 2 has one of the most loyal communities and their loyalty is starting to pay off. Arena Net has reorganized itself and is determined to bring the game into the next generation by updating its systems and providing a better onboarding experience for new players.
The Elder Scrolls Online: Necrom
The Elder Scrolls Online’s (ESO) seventh chapter, Necrom: Shadow Over Morrowind arrived on PC on June 5th, 2023, and consoles on June 20th, 2023. With it, came a new class known as the Arcanist which is a well-rounded mage-like character, capable of destruction, restoration, or defensive abilities.
As the name implies, the chapter takes place within Morrowind in the Telvanni Peninsula. As with all Morrowind areas, players can expect dark and mysterious architecture that beckons adventurers to explore along with… mushrooms… mushrooms everywhere. Players will be able to explore new fungi-filled zones, a new library filled with forbidden knowledge known as Apocrypha, and work their way through a brand new 12-man Trial with a rather interesting setting…
Two new companions are introduced for the player to level up and equip. So for those that might not have a buddy to tackle the new content with, you can simply build up your own.
The Elder Scrolls Online: Necrom can be purchased for $39.99, but for $20 more, the Collection edition will give the player the base game and Necrom along with all of the previous chapters. It’s worth mentioning that much of the game’s content can be played with just the base game alone (for $5.99), but if ESO ends up being a game you find yourself putting many hours into, it’s worth checking out which chapters have the content that is most appealing for you. ESO is a game that doesn’t require you to have all of the latest content in order to enjoy it.
Chapters can be purchased individually to unlock their corresponding content. If there’s a particular gear set that you’re looking for or a dungeon or raid that looks like it’d be a fun time, you need only to purchase the chapter that includes it. But while you aren’t able to farm the content to get the gear set you’re looking for, you’re still able to purchase the set from other players. So though the content is locked behind a paywall, the gear itself isn’t.
Out of all of the MMORPGs I’ve played, I’ve found that ESO has always been one of the easier ones to return to. While you aren’t met with a ton of returning player rewards like other games, you also aren’t overwhelmed by new or revamped systems that you have to learn or re-learn. It’s much like a friend that you haven’t talked to in a while but when you do, it’s like no time had passed at all. For an MMORPG, that could be a good or a bad thing. For returning players, you probably won’t feel like the game is fresh unless you purchase the latest chapter.
Black Desert: Land of the Morning Light
Black Desert Online (BDO) launched in North America and Europe on March 3rd, 2016. After a remastered edition and countless consistent updates, BDO looks as if it could’ve been launched today. It previously had a reputation for being overwhelming to new players, but with the addition of seasonal servers a couple of years ago along with streamlined tutorials and guided questlines, BDO is better than ever. New and returning players have many rewards awaiting them and the game has done well to provide new players with ways to jump right into the content without having to spend a few months grinding.
The latest large update, Land of the Morning Light, was released on June 14th, 2023. This update takes players across the sea to the new Haso continent. The land is heavily inspired by the last Korean dynasty and has many references to actual locations in Korea. New characters can begin their journey in Land of the Morning Light by selecting the option within character creation. You’ll see a brief flashback of the events up to that point and then begin your journey in this new continent without having to travel there on your own.
Along with this update comes what is making many previous players of the game (including myself) reinstall. Players are being given three free outfits along with a free T9 Dream horse, one of the top tiers of horses (only below the new T10) which is something that veteran players typically have to spend months working towards. While some players complain about things they’ve worked hard for being given out for free, everybody benefits from it. BDO has done an excellent job at consistently onboarding new players every cycle and it’s clear that they are not taking the new and returning player experience lightly.
Black Desert Online used to be notorious for being confusing and lacking PvE content. While the PvP combat is (in my opinion) one of the most unique systems, it too had criticism for not offering many modes beyond Node Wars (which requires guild coordination) and a simple arena mode.
The PvE has been improved over the last couple of years with the inclusion of dungeons and various bosses for both solo and group players can tackle. No longer is PvE simply a grinding simulator so that you can improve your gear just so you are stronger in PvP. This brings much more attention to the PvE side of things since in the past, the routine was to arrive at a grind spot, hope it isn’t contested by other players, and then repeat your rotation over and over for hours on end. With PvE content that actually requires you to learn boss abilities and pay attention to your main monitor instead of watching Netflix while grinding (I’m guilty of that), BDO can finally foster a PvE community.
On the PvP end, a new 300 vs 300 territory war game mode called War of the Roses is coming out. If large-scale PvP isn’t for you, the Arena of Solare, BDO’s 3v3 arena game mode might be what you’re looking for. The 3rd season of Arena of Solare begins on July 19th, 2023. With an upcoming balanced arena system, it’ll make the jump into PvP content much more accessible for lower gear score players.
I’m biased towards Black Desert Online since while I’ve spent a few hundred hours in each of the other MMORPGs on this list, I’ve spent many thousands of hours within BDO. But overall, Black Desert Online truly showcases how a live service game ought to be. They release consistent updates both for the game and for the game engine itself and remastered the game to bring it into the new generation. The graphics are still superior to new releases, the level of customization cannot be compared to any other game, and the systems within the game are satisfying to learn and master.
The best part? Black Desert Online can be purchased for $9.99 but is very often found on sale for around $4.99. There aren’t any expansions to purchase so no player is left behind. While the cash shop has a reputation of its own, Black Desert Online has been increasingly generous to the community over the years and much of what was previously labeled as pay-to-win is given to you for free with little effort, sometimes without any effort at all.
Final Words
Are you looking to make a return to any of these games in the latter half of 2023? Or maybe you’re just looking for an MMORPG to keep you occupied until Ashes of Creation. Feel free to leave a comment about any MMORPGs that aren’t on this list whose latest update is worth checking out. I may just give them a week or two and end up writing about my experience afterward.
Leave a Reply