Any RPGs that play like MMOs?

[Taco9er]

Hello! I have a question for the RPG fans. Does anyone know of any non MMO RPGs that control like and MMO?

I play all kinds of RPGs from the classic console style of Dragon Quest, Final Fantasy, etc to action RPGs like Zelda, Diablo, etc, MMOs, turn based strategy and everything in between.

My wife on the other hand only plays MMOs. I want to try to get her into a game that has a story and character progression beyond stats and gear. Something with a plot and an ending. The problem is she hates the default 'random encounter, stand in a row, take turns' gameplay of your standard JRPG and the targeting and twitch aspects of action RPGs are too difficult for her.

What Im looking for is any story based RPG that uses MMO style combat mechanics. Now that I think about it, Im surprised that I havent heard of anyone doing it yet. hehe. If you know of anything like this please reply. Thanks. =)

[Ryos]

For ps2, Final Fantasy XII is basically FFXI solo.  .hack is pretty much a virtual MMO series, although G.U. is much better than the original .hack series.

For PC the Elder Scrolls series are pretty much MMOs with no other players.

Other than those nothing else I can think of.

[Ramza]

For ps2, Final Fantasy XII is basically FFXI solo.  .hack is pretty much a virtual MMO series, although G.U. is much better than the original .hack series.

Was going to say both of those right when I saw the topic title. Good call.

Both of the suggested games are great for your wife because they don't have random encounters, and you don't take turns. It's all pretty much real-time, like an MMO.

[Akanbe-]

I echo the others' statement.

FFXII is very mmo-esque in its combat which is something I enjoyed about the game.

.hack//G.U could also be a possibility if you like the .hack universe.  I played through all 3 and enjoyed them for the most part, but it does have its flaws and not everyone could enjoy the "seriousness" of a plot inside an online world.

[Jet16]

Since people mentioned .hack, are those games actually any good?

[Ramza]

The original four are ... meh. Great concept, but the gameplay wears thin WAY too fast.

the GU series are above-average action RPGs. Great characters, really stylish in-game and FMV graphics. Less repetitive than the original series (though still fairly repetitive: the first two games basically have the same pattern in action with the tournaments breaking up segments of plot).

I would really recommend playing the GU series if you can rent them or pay a good price for them.

Ramza

[Jet16]

Is there any sort of story continuation between the first four and GU?

[Ramza]

yes. Most definitely. But it isn't obvious. The big connection on the surface is that an evil version of the original series' main character (Kite) appears as a villain right from the start in GU. The whole backstory as to how that's happening takes awhile to flesh out. But everything ties together quite nicely by the end.

GU takes place 7 years after the original series (2017 instead of 2010), and they're all playing "The World 2.0" instead of the original "The World."

One super-duper cool part of GU is that, when you exit "The World" and play around on your computer, the news stories (hypothetical future events written by the GU staff) are REALLY interesting. That was one of my favorite parts. There are some anime video sequences, and tons of text to read.

[Jet16]

Interesting. I'll check them out sometime, thanks.

[Akanbe-]

yes. Most definitely. But it isn't obvious. The big connection on the surface is that an evil version of the original series' main character (Kite) appears as a villain right from the start in GU. The whole backstory as to how that's happening takes awhile to flesh out. But everything ties together quite nicely by the end.

GU takes place 7 years after the original series (2017 instead of 2010), and they're all playing "The World 2.0" instead of the original "The World."

One super-duper cool part of GU is that, when you exit "The World" and play around on your computer, the news stories (hypothetical future events written by the GU staff) are REALLY interesting. That was one of my favorite parts. There are some anime video sequences, and tons of text to read.

Agreed.  I kinda liked reading the news stories as well.

You can get the first game off Amazon for about 20-25 (including shipping). 

If you find it interesting, I'll echo pat's sentiments that it's worth checking out.  I didn't play the original four either (well, a little bit of the first one and that's it).

[Hathen]

Having played the original 4 .Hack games, I'd say stay away from those unless you're a huge fan of .Hack (Which I am). I've always wanted to play the G.U. games, but I've never gotten them, and I dunno if I'd have time to play them- I am really interested in seeing how the story plays out since I watched the /Roots anime though.

[seaechiowai]

Doesn't Rogue Galaxy have MMO ish combat?

Rune Factory series is heavily quest-based, has farming(lol), fishing, item creations but small amount of dungeons. Focus of that game is money and item gains. I saw flashbacks of Mabinogi when I played this series.

[Solas]

Did you try playing an action RPG in multiplayer with her? The old Diablo series is a lot more like a MMO instead of "action game" when you have help around