Story based mmorpg: The 14 MMORPGs With The Best Storytelling, Ranked

6/14 Final Fantasy 14

• Platforms:
  Microsoft Windows, macOS, PS3, PS4, PS5

• Get It Here:
  PC,
  PSN

There are several major story arcs contained in Final Fantasy 14. This massively multiplayer online role-playing game proves relevant because of its intriguing storylines that never cease to surprise. The game takes place in a fictional land known as Eorzea, which exists in the fictional world Hydaelyn.

RELATED: Best Bioware Games, According To Metacritic

Expansions like Stormblood, Heavensward, and Shadowbringers add depth to the story in many ways. Although the game was dubbed a failure at launch, a turnaround made this into a masterpiece.

5/14 Neverwinter

• Platforms:
  Microsoft Windows, Xbox One, PS4

• Get It Here:
  Arc Games
  ,
  Steam
  ,
  PSN
  ,
  Microsoft Store

This massively multiplayer online role-playing game is an independent, standalone title. It’s a game that delivers a story themed after previous Neverwinter Nights games. Neverwinter’s main antagonist is Valindra Shadowmantle — once a moon elf, and now a fearsome Lich queen leading an attack on Neverwinter itself.

Neverwinter differs from games from the same genre since it’s very story intensive. You won’t find zones with crowds of people, but you will be drawn in by its story-based gameplay.

4/14 The Lord Of The Rings Online

• Platforms:
  Microsoft Windows, macOS

• Get It Here
  :
  Play for Free

How could any game set in the The Lord of the Rings universe not cater to players who love a good story? Featuring classic and familiar characters like Aragorn, Gandalf, and Frodo, the story of The Lord Of The Rings Online gets convoluted as you delve deeper into it, yet it’s part of an adventure that’s worth experiencing. The Epic Story (the main storyline) is formatted as a series of books made up of chapters. New books were added in later updates, further expanding what was already one of the longest and most well-developed stories in the genre’s history.

3/14 Star Wars: The Old Republic

• Platforms:
  Microsoft Windows

• Get It Here:
  Play for Free

Star Wars: The Old Republic’s immersive storytelling is made up of chapters, and it’s arguably the game’s best feature. BioWare and the now-defunct LucasArts put together one of the most expansive massively multiplayer online role-playing games in history here. With a budget of over $200 million, no expense was spared. As a fun note, classic RPG fans will be thrilled to know that the game contains dialogue choices for each conversation. It was an ambitious project, but ultimately, the end result was worth it.

• Platforms:
  Microsoft Windows, macOS, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Stadia

• Get It Here:
  PC
  ,
  PlayStation Store
  ,
  Microsoft Store

Many would indeed argue that The Elder Scrolls Online has the best storytelling seen in a massively multiplayer online role-playing game. The main questlines are epic enough, but even the side quests generally feature engrossing dialogue with well designed and fleshed-out characters, quite reminiscent of the franchise’s traditional mainline games. The Elder Scrolls had a smooth transition to online, to say the least of it.

1/14 World Of Warcraft

• Platforms:
  Microsoft Windows, macOS

• Get It Here:
  BattleNet

Could it have been any other MMO? Some of the later expansions like Mists of Pandaria and Cataclysm may not have received the same acclaim as some previous expansions, but World of Warcraft undeniably features some of the most deep-reaching story and lore to be found in the gaming industry. It can’t be forgotten that The Lich King and Illidan are among the greatest video game villains of all time. Blizzard has invested literal decades building out Warcraft lore, and it shows.

Come to World of Warcraft for the grind but stay for the story — the fine balance between well-crafted gameplay and a stunningly detailed setting is why millions are still invested in this game, despite it having released way back in 2004.

MORE: World of Warcraft: Rarest Mounts In The Game, Ranked

MMORPGs With The Best Storylines

While massively multiplayer online games are best-known for their unique blend of challenging gameplay and social interaction, many of these games remain true to their RPG roots. Some of the most successful games in the genre offer an immersive story complete with expansive lore and worldbuilding, proving that it takes more than class mechanics and gearing systems for an MMO to truly stand the test of time.

RELATED: Best MMORPGs For Solo Players

While it’s easy to talk about MMOs in terms of gameplay, this list is focused on the great games that go beyond fetch quests and generic plotlines. If you’re looking for memorable characters, epic stories that pull on your heartstrings, choices that matter, or even a little bit of humor—these are the online games you should play.

Secret World Legends puts a modern twist on the classic “good vs. evil” story with its real-world setting that puts human-only player characters up against secret societies, zombies, mythological creatures, and modern day power struggles. Missions are full of fantastic voice-acting that’s on par with some single-player RPGs, and side quests are their own self-contained mini stories that may or may not require combat.

While this part sci-fi, part supernatural, part horror MMO includes traditional hallmarks like raids, dungeons, and PvP, its cohesive and well-written narrative is its biggest draw. The base game is completely free, and when combined with the three DLCs, this game from the studio that made Conan Exiles offers more than 100 hours of storyline.

7/8 Lost Ark

While Lost Ark has been available in South Korea since 2019, it’s relatively new to the North American market. The game is most notable for its unique mixture of top-down, isometric gameplay and MMO elements, but it also includes a long storyline with a memorable cast of characters.

RELATED: The Best MMORPGs For Beginners

While the overarching plot can be boiled down to “humans and angels fighting demons” it’s presented in a compelling way that doesn’t get bogged down with fetch and gather objectives—although you won’t escape those entirely. You’ll get cinematic cutscenes with dramatic music and sound effects, instanced areas for most of the main story’s major plot points, and unique story quests on every continent.

6/8 EVE Online

While EVE Online is a far cry from a traditional MMO, it deserves a spot on this list for its unique player-driven narrative. You start the game in the year 21000 as the capsuleer (or pilot) of a ship who set out to colonize the unexplored parts of space after humanity used up all of earth’s resources. Your objective is survival—but you won’t survive alone.

EVE takes the focus off PvE mission arcs, and instead allows you to write your own story by joining a player alliance to fight in massive space battles, becoming a pirate, going on missions for established factions, or by renouncing combat entirely and using your ship to gather raw materials that you sell to warring factions.

The Elder Scrolls Online may have had a rough launch back in 2014, but things took a turn for the better once the game dropped its mandatory monthly subscription in favor of a free-to-play model. With its MMO elements tied almost entirely to endgame content, the leveling experience feels about as close as you can get to a single-player RPG (without actually being one).

In true Elder Scrolls fashion, player characters start as a prisoner, but soon find themselves in the midst of over 100 hours of expansive storylines and memorable quests. The voice-acting is superb, and franchise fans will appreciate familiar locations like Orsimer, Morrowind, Elsweyer, and others. If you’re looking for a game that goes beyond social obligations and grinding for experience points, ESO has you covered.

4/8 Lord Of The Rings Online

Lord of the Rings Online might be a 15-year-old MMO, but it still holds up as one of the best Tolkien adaptations to date. Sure, its graphics might look a little dated in 2022, but Turbine found a way to take a standard theme park MMO and make it feel like an interactive novel. The game stays true to the books—and you can find locations like The Shire, Rivendell, and Minas Tirith exactly where they should be.

You’ll also encounter famous faces and participate in battles based on actual book events as you progress through a main storyline (called the Epic Quest) that’s divided into a series of chapters. Whether you’re a diehard Tolkien fan or just looking for a tab-target MMO that has deep and expansive lore behind it, give LOTRO a try. The entire base game and most of its expansions are completely free.

3/8 Guild Wars 2

Guild Wars 2 takes everything we know from mainstream MMOs and turns it on its head. Quests aren’t organized into hubs, instead you encounter them naturally as you travel across Tyria—along with jumping puzzles, exploration areas, festivals, and open world meta events—and every single one of them includes NPC dialogue that gives you insight into bits of the game’s lore.

RELATED: Games For MMO Fans That Aren’t MMOs

You’ll start with a personal story based on your race and a main story about saving the world from the Elder Dragons, but ArenaNet also releases new narrative content with every season of the Living World. This means that even if you never set foot inside a dungeon or raid, you’ll always have something to do related to the ever-evolving storylines and lore.

2/8 Star Wars: The Old Republic

With a budget of over 200 million dollars, Star Wars: The Old Republic is one of the most expensive games ever made—and it shows, especially when it comes to the story. Between the eight origin stories based on your character’s class and allegiance, and six major expansions, the game offers hours of RPG-like narrative through cutscenes, dialogue choices, friendship-building, and more.

In addition to the main plot, each planet has its own unique story arc with more cutscenes and dialogue choices, and even side quests include voice acting and insight into bits of galactic history. In SWTOR, your character is measured by their relationships, not by their experience points. So if you’re looking for an MMO that lets you decide whether you want to be good or evil, diplomatic or ruthless, loyal or a traitor, you should give SWTOR a try.

1/8 Final Fantasy 14

Final Fantasy 14 was widely considered a failure when it was released in 2010, but instead of letting the game die, Square Enix overhauled and re-released it a few years later. Since then, the game has steadily grown in popularity to become one of the best MMOs—with one of the best stories—of all time. Player characters start off as a lowly adventurer, but soon find themselves on an epic journey after befriending the Scions of the Seventh Dawn.

In typical Final Fantasy fashion, you’ll be immersed in a gorgeous and colorful world that’s full of memorable characters, heroic battles with dragons and other adversaries, silly side quests, and heartwarming stories that might even make you cry. A lot of FF14’s story might boil down to “good vs. evil”—but as the Warrior of Light, your character is always right in the middle of the action.

NEXT: Ranking The Best MMORPGs Of All Time

Top 8 PvE MMORPGs

Sometimes you just want to plunge into the atmosphere of an MMORPG and play in PVE mode, alone or side by side with friends, taming the world around. Below you will see a list of interesting PvE games that offer fans of this mode exciting stories and many different gameplay options.

8. Final Fantasy XIV

Awarded for one of the best storylines in an MMORPG, FFXIV is a good choice for beginners looking to get into a quality PvE game. As you level up your character, you unlock chapters of the story, blast your way through dungeons, and fight alongside other players. By the way, FFXIV offers one of the most well-developed craft and management systems; in-game raids for players who want to cooperate and organize gangs and maximize profits are also a bonus of this game. FFXIV has quite a lot of plot development schemes for every taste: you can generally forget about leveling up and keep your casino.

Read also our review of Final Fantasy XIV.

7. The Secret World

If you want your journey through the game world to be accompanied by furious screams, then feel free to open Elder Scrolls Online . There are many good MMORPGs out there and now we have been introduced to the exciting world of ESO. The most attractive thing in this game is that in the development of your character, you are not limited by anything. The whole world is at your disposal. The developers have pleased us with a completely open world, which very few MMORPGs can boast of.

5. Star Wars: The Old Republic

If you are a Star Wars fan, then you really should pay attention to the game Star Wars: The Old Republic . There are many class-specific storylines in the game, each one unique, so it feels like you’re being forced to play them all. The indisputable advantage of the game, of course, is that you revisit already familiar places in the Star Wars universe. However, do not think that the developers have stopped there: they offer us an expanded galaxy. In a word, Star Wars: The Old Republic is ideal for fans of the famous franchise and for those who dream of traveling to universes far, far away.

4. WildStar

WildStar offers players perhaps the most difficult and interesting dungeon locations of any modern MMORPG. As usual, the storyline depends on the level of the character. A rich environment and cartoonish fantasy characters inhabiting the planet — this is what awaits the player who has discovered WildStar. Don’t let the numbers fool you: despite the fact that this game has not taken the leading positions in the ratings for a long time, it will be a real pleasure for PVE fans.

3. World of Warcraft

WOW gives players an exciting PvE story. In WOW is one of the largest and «filled» worlds, so even for those who start from level 1, there are feasible and interesting tasks. The developers have made sure that even at the maximum levels in WOW, you do not just run through the dungeons and fight. There are many different achievements and side quests, the completion of which will bring you fame and certainly give you pleasure. And if you really don’t like PvP, WOW always offers its players PvE servers where you can devote all your time to development without fear that other players will attack you.

2. Guild Wars 2

Guild Wars 2 is another MMORPG with a personalized storyline. A feature of the game is the automatic grouping of players, which allows you to cope with tasks that arise in different zones of the map within the formed group. Without being too difficult and impenetrable, Gild Wars 2 is quite diverse and, in addition, ArenaNet periodically pleases fans of the game with new additions.

Read also our review of Guild Wars 2.

1. Neverwinter Online

We run along the corridors, merge everything in our path, sometimes we solve small riddles and, having picked up tactics, bend the bosses — this is, in general terms, the gameplay of the game at the initial levels. Then, of course, it becomes more interesting. Events, dungeons and PvP arenas will appear, where you have to capture and control several points in order to win. The assignments are, of course, classic, but I am glad that the essentially banal assignments are wrapped in a smartly chic, intricately woven plot with an unpredictable denouement. This Neverwinter is even closer to single-player role-playing.

Read more about the game in our review of Neverwinter Online.

All MMORPG DC Universe Online story episodes are now available for free until the next update

05/05/2021 15:34

MMORPG DC Universe Online has been around for quite some time and is free to play. Paid content includes an in-game store with microtransactions and story arcs, which needed to be purchased separately.

However, with the release of Episode 40: World of Flashpoint, MMORPG fans can now experience all story episodes for free, senior producer Landon «Panderus» Falls announced on the official website. This feature will be available until the release of the next major update this summer.

It is also worth mentioning that a roadmap has been released, according to which the project is waiting for a release on the PlayStation 5 in 2022, as well as an abundance of content and events in 2021.

DC Universe OnlineMMORPGActionFantasyDimensional Ink GamesRoadmapEvent

DC Universe Online

Released 12/30/2010

MMORPG | Action

PC

MMO, Multiplayer

Free

Game page

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