("real") MMORPGs for Android (and maybe iOS?). No p2w/VIP crap! [List, suggestions, recommendations]

Manasu

So a small introduction: At the beginning I wasn’t really interested in mobile MMORPGs, I guess I was a “hardcore” player pretty much and I’m afraid that most of mobile mmorpgs are casual and full of crap. Then I saw that a MMO (currently in beta; Life is Feudal) has a very interesting idea. An android application that is separate from the main MMO and it has many mini games from which you can keep the score and then use it in the actual MMO game for faster gathering etc. Unfortunately this idea is in hiatus pretty much now, but it got me interested in mobile MMORPGs and their potential. I also wanted to be able to play a game on the go, while not being home at PC, so eventually I’ve discovered many different games for mobiles. I’ve seen many people asking on forums about android MMOs and many more people saying that there aren’t any decent, or that all of them are p2w. Which is definitely not true!

I detest the p2w/VIP, auto-play crap that infests the genre now.
The less the windows/options on the top right the best!

So here is my list with my suggestions, I’ll be starting with the hidden gems/ the most unknown and will be advancing to the most popular ones. I’m gonna include additional information for some of them, as I’ve played/tested/read about them and for some I will not.

Most of them have a high/low fantasy setting (not many sci-fi) and are RPGs (not strategy etc) but I also include some with those specifications. Most of them (if not all) are playable with Android, I’m not sure about iOS.

Some of them are downloadable from the google play market as apks, some others are not in google play and some are browser based MMOs (Puffin browser app is suggested to play those! It’s free!).

Some of them are old (dating even back to 1980) some are brand new and some are on testing phase or not even out yet.
Most of them are F2P with micro-transactions (unfortunately some have slight P2W elements). There are a few which are B2P, or premium with monthly subscription and even one that it’s based on cryptocurrency!

On the name of the games I’m including the link on the official site/where to download them or find more info.

Hidden gems/ Unknown good MMOs for mobile:

Eternal Lands: Very in-depth 3D MMO, fair F2P, you can check all of its features and more details on the link for android. The UI is not 100% suited for smartphones (at least the last time I’ve played). It has a small but very dedicated community.

Teon: An “All fair Hardcore online ARPG” as advertised, and I think I agree. A full-fledged MMO (kinda reminds me of Lineage II but that’s just me), it has PvE (quests, dungeons/bosses), strict open-PvP and free character development. It also has optional subscription allowing you access to some “member zones”, it’s not P2W tho.

Mystera Legacy: Old school 2D style sandbox MMO. Many features, PvE & PvP. Currently in Beta, but lots of content already in. link to google play

Mirage Realms: F2P 2D MMORPG, hack’n’slash, currently in Beta. Kinda feels like RotMG. As dev described; “Zelda Lttp combined with World of Warcraft and Harvest moon”.

Little War Online: It has its own unique setting, fast-paced targetless combat. Currently in Beta.

Kingdom of Drakkar: Forum’s link for download. Really old MMO (started in 1980s!). Lots of features, still developed. Link of a nice article from massively about it.

RPG MO: Oldschool, sandbox cross-platform MMORPG.

Margonem (Browser Based).

FlameFrost Legacy: (Browser Based) More like RTS but with turn-based like battles. Very in-depth, many features, influenced by D&D in some aspects.

Noblemen: 1896: MMORTS game taking place in 1896. It’s military/war themed strategy game in which you can also fight in battles with shooter-combat type.
*Found this game thanks to u/NimbleThor who creates some great tl;dr android game reviews quite often, check his profile for more.

Durango Wild lands: The first true survival sandbox MMO in the list. Currently is in-beta (but downloadable and playable from google store). The publisher is gonna be Nexon, which is both good and bad. Good because it’s a very big company with many successful titles but many of which are slight to extremely P2W!
Now about Durango so far is an amazing game. True survival/sandbox/building MMO with dinosaurs. Nice combat, lots of content, PvP and more. So far in betas there was no shop at all, but almost sure this gonna change on release, have to see what they gonna add and how the monetization will be. It’s expected to release soon.

More survival based MMOs:
Zombie Raiders Beta: I used to play this game a lot, but I’m afraid that now is pretty much abandoned. Anyway, it’s a very good survival/crafting/sandbox MMO with zombies, feels like rust in some aspects but with a lot less features. Not really p2w, back when I was playing it was infested with hackers, I doubt that it has been fixed since then…

Last Day on Earth: Survival: Same genre pretty much, survival/sandbox with zombies, besides this one is not abandonware, it still gets updated. It’s not really open world and it doesn't actually plays like a MMO. I also felt like it got very repetitive at some point, but you can try out, its F2P without extreme P2W.

Survival Island Online: Fantasy setting (no zombies).

"Continued on post below..."

Manasu

Pokemon-based MMOs: Now I think that this is not really widely known, but there are many pokemon MMOs out there and afaik most of them are really good and most of them browser-based, thus playable from mobiles.

Personally I’ve played Pokemon Planet online from my android device and it was a perfect experience.

Another one is Pokemon Revolution, which also has a dedicated android apk (and I think is the only one of those that does).

Afaik they are all 100% F2P with cosmetic shops and little to none p2w.

There are many more (PokeMMO g.e. is another well-known), you can search for yourself if you’re interested.

Getting on more popular ones:

Realm of the mad God: The rather popular to all game. Action Combat, great PvE & PvP. It has browser-based client, tested with android (with puffer) and works great.

Vendetta Online: A very solid sci-fi MMORPG, rather similar to EVE, but it has twitch-based action FPS combat! It's been out for many years now on PC and it still gets updated frequently. It has sandbox world/features, good combat and alot of content.

Warspear Online: Mildly p2w, heavy grind, great PvP, old game (some aspects are outdated but lots of content), big community.

Order and Chaos 2 (and 1): One of the most popular and successful mobile MMOs. Inspired by WoW, has PvE (raids,dungeons etc), PvP and lots of other content. Pretty generic for my likes.

Crusaders of Light: Released recently. It’s a very decent full MMO experience, similar to Order and Chaos, inspired by WoW.

Celtic Heroes: Similar to the previous 2, but in a Nordic/Viking setting.

AdventureQuest 3D: Similar to the previous ones, it’s a basic complete 3D cross-platform MMO based on the setting of the classic, old AdventureQuest games. Many frequent updates.

Villagers and Heroes: It’s a cross platform game, been out on pc for many years and recently released for mobiles. It’s a great MMO, heavily focused on PvE and Crafting/Gathering. It doesn’t have any PvP (so far), but lots of other gameplay options.

Albion Online: A cross platform hardcore MMO, also advertised as “sandbox” (and even though it’s my current main game, I have to disagree with this “tag”). It has very good combat, hardcore PvP with full loot, arenas and guild conflicts. Complete PvE with expeditions and dungeons. Lots of crafting and gathering with a player-based economy. Little to none p2w, it does have grind. Careful though, it’s suggested to do simpler activities with mobile devices (PvE, gathering/crafting) and not anything risky.
It’s the first mentioned (and I think the only one in this list) that is B2P!

Lordmancer II: Now this is a very special one. It plays like a typical, good Strategy-RPG F2P MMO. Big open world, PvP & PvE, guilds and player-trading. But it has a twist, players are able to mine cryptocurrency and spend it both inside and outside of the game! Currently is in open beta testing for Android.

Dofus Touch: Dofus is a rather successful old pc MMORPG. Now it has ported to mobiles, it features turn-based strategy combat, many unique classes, PvE with player-based economy, PvP and more. UI is kinda small for mobiles (last time I’ve checked). It has separate servers from Dofus the main PC MMO.

Tibia: Just like Dofus, a very good MMORPG ported to mobile. Not all features are the same like the classic one and also it has separate servers for mobiles.

Asobimo’s MMOs: Asobimo inc is a developer/ publisher of many decent MMOs. Most of them are Eastern-type games (influenced by Asian art and gameplay), which means that they have some p2w aspects but overall they are decent. They all have a big playerbase.
2 of them I liked more: 
Toram Online: Great for PvE (doesn’t have PvP)
Avabel Online: Great for PvP.

They have published and developed many others. g.e: Stellacept Online(sci-fi/dragons theme), Izanagi Online(ninjas theme), Iruna Online

You can find them all here.

 

Spacetime Studios: Another studio that have released several good mobile MMOs. From Pocket Legends being their oldest, which is a very good, complete MMORPG and Pocket Legends Adventures their newest, which is more action based but more like a co-op game.

Other games of theirs: Star Legends (sci-fi setting), Dark Legends (vampires/horror setting), Arcane Legends (fantasy).
Find them all here.

All of them have slight p2w aspects.

*Continued on post below...*

Manasu

RuneScape: Good ol’ Runescape. I think most of you know about it. There are 2 active versions of it. OSRS and RS3, both have long and great questlines, skill grinding and a thriving community with the first version focusing more on PvP and the second on PvE afaik.

Jagex (the developer) recently announced that they’ll be ported on mobiles sharing the same servers as PC. OSRS is coming sooner (early 2018) with RS3 following shortly after.

Now the reason that I’ve included RS in this list and not in the last with the unreleased/upcoming games, as both versions of RS currently are in strict closed beta tests, is because there is a private OSRS server which has a dedicated android app: RSCRevolution.

 

More (decent) MMORPGs from googleplay store:
3D/Newer ones: World of Prandis, Crasher,
2D/Oldschool type: Graal Online , Forgotten Tales, Rucoy Online , WinterSun

 

 

Upcoming/Not yet released:
Official Runescapes
Blossom & Decay(Browser based, combat demo is out and playable)
Endyr (Browser based),
Mad World (Browser Based – HTML5)
Therion Saga: Not the typical MMO, more like RTS like Might & Magic H but online. It has many features and options of gameplay. Right now It's possible to play with windows phone or if you manage to install Silverlight on Android somehow. Altough devs said that they will work on an android version.

The current “trend” that’s going on right now with mobile MMORPGs. Very popular and rather successful PC MMORPGs, mostly from Asian countries, that are based on well-known franchises are developing a mobile version. It has started with MU Origin, Lineage II Revolution and ArcheAge Begins (which are out already) and many more are going to follow; Black Desert Mobile, Tera M, Blade & Soul Revolution, Icarus M, Aion Tempest, SAO: Integral Factor, Linage II M, Mabinogi Mobile and very likely more that I’ve forgot or I’m not aware of.
In my opinion, some of them do have some potential, they got interesting features and aspects but I’m afraid that most likely they are going to be the generic, 3D good-looking, “action combat” Asian P2W auto quest/battle grind fests. Tbh I’m not really excited for them (maybe only for Mabinogi? Will see…)

 

I’ll be updating the thread with anything new or any additional info I may find.

Feel free to contribute with your information or games that you’re aware of so I add them in the list. Either popular or not games, help expand this list!

dougha1

Neat thread.  Thanks.    I like the idea of a game I can play on the computer and then later resume on my phone.  Will be checking some of these out.

karakass

If you are interested in Hard Core MMORPG for android, you can try pandum online http://www.pandum.net/
This game is really difficult with some platform oriented sequences in dungeons. Controls seem strange at first time, but as far as i'm concerned, I hate multi windows on mobile, and this game allows to do everything from a single action bar swiping the finger on the screen.
It seems that you can also play it from PC (I didn't try).

AnOldFart

Hmmm pokemon planet I can't find a browser that works.
Tried
Firefox
Chrome
Samsung Internet... 

Manasu

AnOldFart said:

Hmmm pokemon planet I can't find a browser that works.
Tried
Firefox
Chrome
Samsung Internet... 

Try Puffin (it's free)