Finding SP Pearls in South Korean MMOs
South Korean developers have a bad habit of locking great games behind servers and user name / password nonesense. I want to highlight some of the great Korean MMOs that deserve to be single-player games, starting with one that made the switch already.
Game #0: MapleStory DS. The South Korea-only release set the ground work for adapting South Korean MMOs to single-player games. The action-platforming RPG already had the structure to be shifted into a single player title. Sadly Nexon didn't feel it warranted a follow-up or international release. Maybe fans could con Nexon into the recent "remaster" fever.
Game #1: Vindictus. Nexon has a bad habit of developing single-player games and mucking them up with cluttered UI, MMO hubs, and premium currency. Vindictus features instanced dungeons, a story with cinematics, and 3D beat'um up gameplay. It is a worthy contender to Capcom's Devil May Cry and Monster Hunter series.
Game #2: Dungeon Fighter Online. DFO is essentially Vindictus in classic 2D form. Hopefully the investment in DNF Duel is a sign that Nexon will be moving development to more single-player titles.
Game #3: Blade & Soul. NCSoft's multi-media IP has everything, but a strong single-player RPG. It is a shame because Blade and Soul occupies a unique genre space that isn't super saturated globally. While it seems prime for a licensed game through Bandai Namco, I think that it could be the perfect way for Sony Interactive Entertainment to gain a little ground back from Nintendo in Japan.
Game #4: Granado Espada. What I wouldn't do for a Omega Team-developed, single player version of this interesting cross-section of South Korean developer influences stirred into a canvas of the Golden Age of Spanish Exploration. Hanbitsoft, between the setting and MCC system, has a license primed to set itself apart from the Grimdark, Soulslike trends that have the industry feeling uninspired and stale.
Game #5: Hellgate: London. This is possibly the strangest title still existing in the video game industry. Original a title developed by U.S. studio Flagship studios, with veteran developers from the original Diablo team, it launched in awful shape and quickly sunk the studio. The title languished as a Weekend at Bernie's corpse propped up by a devoted modding community desperate to see the vision of the game realized, before being purchased by Hanbitsoft and made into a strange, unlocalized, relocalized MMO then back into a single player game. Hellgate: London is the original shlooter, predating Borderlands and Destiny, and is in need of a complete Remake. Outdated controls, physics, and poor localization plague this once great hope. Activision Blizzard could use the bones of the game to resurrect the original Shlooter that started it all.
What SP dreams do you have stuck behind MMO schemes?
Game #5: Hellgate: London. This is possibly the strangest title still existing in the video game industry. Original a title developed by U.S. studio Flagship studios, with veteran developers from the original Diablo team, it launched in awful shape and quickly sunk the studio. The title languished as a Weekend at Bernie's corpse propped up by a devoted modding community desperate to see the vision of the game realized, before being purchased by Hanbitsoft and made into a strange, unlocalized, relocalized MMO then back into a single player game. Hellgate: London is the original shlooter, predating Borderlands and Destiny, and is in need of a complete Remake. Outdated controls, physics, and poor localization plague this once great hope. Activision Blizzard could use the bones of the game to resurrect the original Shlooter that started it all.
What SP dreams do you have stuck behind MMO schemes?
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