The best MMORPGs

We’ll likely be waiting several more years before the release of Elder Scrolls 6, but ZeniMax Online Studios’ The Elder Scrolls Online continues to have a dedicated following of players invested in Tamriel and its inhabitants. Set years before the events of titles like Oblivion and Skyrim, The Elder Scrolls Online is free to explore territory not explored in the other games, and it has received several expansions that cater to longtime fans. The first, Morrowind, returns us to the setting of The Elder Scrolls III, while Summerset takes us to the setting of The Elder Scrolls: Arena. Free-to-play after the initial game and expansion purchases, there’s little to lose in giving the game a try, and players on PC and consoles can all join in.

The MMO many players enjoyed before graduating to more advanced games, RuneScape’s simplicity is much of its charm. The newest iteration, sometimes called RuneScape 3, is a creative and polished role-playing game with a visual style not unlike its contemporaries, yet it still uses the basic click-heavy gameplay mechanics of its predecessors and can still be played in your browser. Without set classes to choose from, you can customize your character to be exactly as you want it, and there’s even a “Legacy” combat style so you can play the game as you remember it from a decade ago. Old School RuneScape, meanwhile, is a playable love letter to classic fans, delivering an experience nearly identical to what RuneScape was over a decade ago. Player-versus-player combat is still enabled in the infamous Wilderness region, and there are still hundreds of different quests to complete, with a membership option giving you access to additional content if you don’t want to stay free-to-play. It’s also available on mobile devices with cross-platform support, and you can keep your progress across all systems.

Ditching the 3D character models traditionally seen in MMO games, Ragnarok Online’s flat hand-drawn aesthetic helps it to stand out from the pack — and it’s comparable to the gorgeous Octopath Traveler. The free-to-play game offers 32 different classes to choose from, and with new maps, dungeons, and player-versus-player content being added, it’s an extensive and deep role-playing experience despite its cutesy look. The economy system also offers a nice twist, with players able to set up their own merchant shops to sell goods to others, and Ragnarok Online is playable on machines only slightly more powerful than toasters, so you are very unlikely to have any problem running it.