10 Iconic Fantasy Sets That Need an MMORPG

Franchises like Warcraft and Final Fantasy have benefited enormously from MMORPGs, but what other franchises need to do the same?

World of Warcraft remains one of the most popular MMORPGs of all time and gets a new expansion on November 28, 2022 at Dragonflight. Dragonflight is one of the best World of Warcraft expansions in years, with many veteran players returning for the first time in a long time.

Many fantasy series have started making MMORPGs, such as Warcraft, Final Fantasy, The Elder Scrolls, and Lord of the Rings. These have been huge hits for the franchise, and often serve as a fuel for the franchise when other content has dried up. Yet many fantasy franchises have never tried MMORPGs as they should.

Dragon Age

Dragon Age has been slowly establishing itself over the years and has some incredible storylines and characters. The character creation also feels unique and fits well into an MMORPG transition.

If there's really one problem with the Dragon Age games, it's the gameplay. At times, the gameplay can feel tedious and repetitive. Because of this, a new approach could be the way to make the franchise feel as stylized as many major MMOs.

The Witcher

The popularity of The Witcher has steadily increased over the years, but more recently, the franchise Received a lot of hate. This is mostly on the Netflix side, not the video game side. Given Cyberpunk's initial failure, many gamers worry about the future of the game.

The Witcher has reached the point where it cannot continue the story beyond Geralt of Rivia. Because of this, there are only so many places a game can go, and original stories can end up backfiring. Instead of trying to create a new wizard character out of the same type of game as always, the franchise should take a risk and create an MMORPG using the different races they have available.

The Wheel of Time

The Wheel of Time has long been a staple of the fantasy medium. It's one of the best-selling fantasy novel series of all time, selling as many as A Song of Ice and Fire, even though the former wasn't adapted for TV until recently. The show received mixed reviews, with most book fans hating it.

However, a video game adaptation would be a good fit for the franchise, the best being an MMORPG. The Wheel of Time Has Some of the Best Worldbuilding Fiction, and the different cultures and races in the world, can create many character possibilities. It's also a more accessible type of game than a narrative game that adapts the plot of this book.

Fate/Stay Night

The Fate series has had its fair share of video games, even starting as a visual novel. Every holy war is different, but every war always has a certain number of occupations. These classes are all very different from each other and would work perfectly in an MMORPG or even a battle royale game.

Probably the best way to incorporate a franchise into an MMORPG is to deviate from the typical jihad story, like Fate/Grand Order. This would allow the franchise to offer something new and unique while also giving fans something familiar.

Fire Emblem

Fire Emblem might seem like an odd choice, but given that the Warcraft series can transition from an RTS to an MMORPG, it wouldn't even be too surprising for a tactical RPG to transition to an MMORPG. Fire Emblem always seemed to grab fans' attention again, however, it did lose The fan bases of other games are fast.

Fire Emblem Heroes, a smartphone game from the classic video game series, failed to attract as many fans as it did, but the MMORPG may be what the series needs to keep it alive. The world of Fire Emblem is very well written and there are many different classes and races to choose from which will keep the game alive and interesting.

One Piece

One Piece is one of the highest-rated manga, long praised for its incredible story and even more impressive world view. This is an ever-expanding story that has been running since 1997. Due to the vastness of the world and the diversity within it, this game would be the perfect MMORPG.

While the manga series is still ongoing, the game can be started at any time and adapted to a small portion of the world at a time, while expansion packs are released. This does look like one of the most likely MMORPGs that could take a lot of inspiration from Sea of ​​Thieves.

The Cosmere

Brandon Sanderson's Cosmere has always been one of the funniest fantasy worlds unraveled over the past few decades. With multiple major live-action adaptations planned, the franchise is growing.

Due to Sanderson's love of video games, MMORPGs are not out of the question. The game can start on any of his planets, and each expansion covers more of the story, even going to other planets in the series. While Cosmere is still growing, it could very well become one of the biggest fantasy franchises of all time.

Malazan

Malazan has all the tools to create the perfect MMORPG that feels new and unique, yet familiar. Fantasyland was originally a tabletop role-playing game created by friends Steven Erickson and Ian Eslemont, inspired by Dungeons and Dragons.

They created complex characters, emotional and hopeless storylines, and incredible new races. The world building alone is second to none, and many readers consider it the best fantasy world ever made. The world is carefully crafted, and the two authors often hope to release the world as some sort of role-playing game one day.

Elden Ring

FromSoftware's Souls game takes popularity to a whole new level with Elden Ring, one of the best medieval fantasy RPGs, It won more awards in one year than any other game ever. The variety of class options and builds tailored to the player's playstyle is well established.

Elden Ring itself opens up a world with a large number of dungeons and many mini-bosses as well as the main boss. The world is so vast that in many ways it could be a solid MMORPG. With FromSoftware looking to expand further, and even turn Elden Ring into a larger franchise, the MMORPG isn't much of a surprise.

The Legend of Zelda

The Legend of Zelda is certainly the perfect series for an MMORPG. The game series has done extremely well for itself from the start, but it can only go so far from here.

MMORPGs serve the series well by bringing back familiar games and allowing players to play them for the first time. This could be a great opportunity to add more lore to the world as a whole, and with how extensive Zelda is already, they could add many future expansions before needing to come up with new ideas.