Games in English

Overview

If orange is the new black, then farming is the new popular app. With games like Farmville and Hay Day, players can immerse themselves into the artificial pleasures of farming. This includes things like growing crops, raising livestock, and delivering goods and services to awaiting customers. Like Farmville, Township got its start on the Facebook platform and evolved into a standalone app. But where Farmville and Hay Day focus strictly on farm-building, Township expands the player's reach into other areas of development, like house-building, factories, restaurants, movie theaters, and even a zoo. It blends farm and city building together into something that's less 'nostalgic farming' and more 'farming metropolis'. The game is also quick to catch on to, with a fairly basic tutorial that relies on simple animated GIFs that show the player exactly how to play, but leaves enough room to let the player explore on their own if they want.

With a fairly basic premise ("Congratulations on inheriting some property!"), a simple-yet-complex gaming structure that keeps you engaged, and amazing graphics, Township remains a top contender in the world-building simulation apps out there.

➔ Main points:

• Blends both city building and farm building together
• Grow your own crops, take care of your own animals, and sell the wares that you make
• Build and grow things in real-time with accelerated speed
• Focus on building your city into whatever you want it to be!
• Game shop allows player to use real money to advance your level faster

RAM Pressure is a turn-based tactical squad strategy game in the mold of XCOM. It's free to play and players will pick either the USA, Russia or China to represent. In RAM Pressure players control squads of soldiers which contain up to 4 soldiers, each varying in terms of class and weapon-set. The objective will be to complete PvE missions and PvP battles to eventually grow their squads through experience points and better gear.

➔ Main points:

• Squad tactical turn-based strategy game that will feel familiar for fans of XCOM
• Highly detailed environment graphics and visuals
• Plenty of missions to do solo or multiplayer
• Free to play with optional transactions

League of Angels is an acceptable turn-based MMORPG on rails for the casual player. Everything is clearly explained and marked and there is virtually no learning curve. There are plenty of things to do, including the usual daily events, dungeons to explore, world bosses, various PvP modes and mini-games along the lines of Bejeweled and Farmville – but not much original thought has gone on here.

The graphics and music are of reasonable quality, but while the game runs well the gameplay itself leaves much to be desired. The automated play style means that the main game pretty much plays itself, and the combat mechanics determine battle outcomes from gear and character skill sets rather than any strategy on your part.

Furthermore, the game places paying players at a distinct advantage over the free to play crowd, who will soon hit daily limits and won’t get access to the best weapons, armor and mounts. Serious gamers up for a challenge may want to look elsewhere.

After being in closed alpha for several years, Total War: Arena has finally opened up to the public. A collaboration between The Creative Assembly and Wargaming, Total War: Arena is based on the famed franchise of the same name but with a twist.

Instead of focusing on a single-player campaign, the game focuses entirely on player versus player combat, with massive 10 versus 10 battles taking place with thousands of units on the field at once.

The Total War series has always had issues with PVP game modes, specifically balance, or lack thereof, and although Total War: Arena is an entirely PVP game, these issues have not been fixed. Be prepared for lengthy queue times and bad matchmaking a lot in higher tiers in particular.

The game's cash shop is relatively mild. Players can have plenty of fun in the lower and mid tiers, however, in the higher tiers, players who spend money will have a significant advantage, and players who don't will be at a significant disadvantage. Balance wise, premium units aren't a big deal compared to non-premium units, but they do offer up increased XP and silver gains. The endgame is almost completely inaccessible to non-spending players, and it is nigh-impossible to reach and stay in the highest tiers unless you spend money in this game.

Total War: Arena is a flawed game with a pretty harsh ceiling for F2P players, but offers up a lot of fun for fans of the genre.

➔ Main points:

• Downloadable F2P MMO real-time tactics strategy game with MOBA elements inspired by the Total War series
• 10 versus 10 PVP battles with a 15-minute time limit
• 4 different factions each with several leaders and dozens of units
• Unbalanced matchmaking at higher tiers
• Very long endgame grind - hard ceiling for non-paying players

Throne: Kingdom at War is a Browser game, released by Plarium in August 2016. While it does have its little quirks that can serve to be an annoyance to some, its overall gameplay, visuals, and gaming structure make it yet another incredible addition to the avid gamer’s collection. With new players continuing to join every day, it is a game that is well worth checking out, with some heavy addiction warnings in place (coming from personal experience).

➔ Main points:

• Free Browser Game set in a medieval fantasy realm
• Build your own kingdom and watch it come to life
• Assemble an unstoppable army and take other kingdoms by force
• Building takes time (or just some money instead)
• Join an Order and have allies watching your back

A big budget MMORPG, TERA originally required a subscription fee but it has recently become free-to-play. This title was released in Korea in 2011 and then later in 2013 for a Western audience. TERA was published in the US and Europe by En Masse Entertainment and Frogster, respectively.

The game has one big advantage: its combat system which was extensively highlighted during the game's marketing campaign. TERA's combat system is far from what people are used to seeing in other titles. At times the action will remind you more of a third person action game with its much more direct and visceral presentation.

Despite all this, the repetitive quests will quickly remind you that this games is an MMORPG, but fortunately the very sophisticated graphics along with the combat system make up for the repetitiveness of the quests.

More or less free-to-play, there isn't much from stopping you to at least try the game's new adaptations, except maybe its long download times.

➔ Main points:

• A very popular MMORPG, which happens to be also the most played free to play game on Steam.
• Typical Korean gameplay, with lots of enemies to kill and farming quests.
• Action-based combat system with combos and special attacks.
• Amazing graphics.

Entropia Universe is a free to play, open world sandbox MMORPG that is unlike most games in the genre. Entropia Universe utilizes a simulation-driven gameplay where players are encouraged to explore their new home world planets and progress their characters through activities such as hunting, mining and crafting. There are no traditional quests and a main story, but players can instead take part in a real cash economy, and invest real money within the game to make profit over time.

From a graphic's standpoint, Entropia Universe does look decent for a game made in 2003, and has had it's engine upgraded. However, players who've played modern MMORPG's may find the graphics to be below par, and may struggle with the complicated UI system. Overall, Entropia Universe offers an alternative way to have fun in an MMORPG that doesn't rely on traditional theme park mechanics.

➔ Main points:

• Deep and immersive open world sandbox MMORPG
• Players can invest real money and make profit returns
• Upgraded graphics and game engine to modernize the game
• Skills and character progression unlike any other MMORPG

Game Overview

When I had first heard of a Soul Calibur MMO, I was a bit surprised. I never would’ve thought that a classic fighting game franchise would enter the world of MMOs. After all, how would an MMO fighting game work? What else would there be to do that online competitive and non-competitive play didn’t already cover?

And then when I went to the game’s website and discovered that it was a Chinese browser MMO all my curiosity dissipated entirely and turned into disappointment. Chinese browser MMOs have a reputation for being a niche genre of video games, that caters to very specific gamers.

You will either like them, or you won’t; there is no in between. If you like games that you can heavily AFK and or put on auto-pilot, then you’ll probably like Chinese browser MMOs, but if you want your games to be engaging and interactive, then these games are not for you. Soul Calibur is your run on the mill Chinese browser MMO. It doesn’t change the wheel in any way, and in some cases, it actually makes the wheel worse.

➔ Main points:

• Chinese Browser MMOARPG
• Uses the characters from the Soul Calibur series
• Horrible UI cluttered by pop-ups and cash offers. Heavily P2W
• Very boring combat. The game plays itself
• Rudimentary, non-compelling dialogue, non-existent story

Soldiers Inc is a free-to-play strategic management game set in the near future, in a land where there is an ongoing war for control of resources.
In between the quests that we will be assigned, we will turn our little camp into a base of operations in all respects, with reservoirs, troops, vehicles, and ammunition.

The Plarium title simply brings the formula that has already been proven in many medieval strategic games into a futuristic world, where battles are fought with guns instead of hand-to-hand.
Graphically, the game holds its own, presenting detailed scenarios with dozens of animations that make each scene believable.

Soldiers Inc is a well-done strategy game: fun, but as often happens, it doesn't offer anything new to the genre.
Of course, it offers a new setting; it's up to you to decide if that is enough.

➔ Main points:

• - Futuristic war\strategy browser game
• - Join the great war for predominance on oil rigs and other resources
• - War has never been funnier: Plarium's humoristic approach pervades every aspect of the gameplay, thanks to the fully-voiced dialogues and grotesque quest characters.

The world of NosVille has turned to chaos and your character comes in with tremendous power and fighting abilities to bring it to peace.

You'll have a number of NosMates (computer-controlled characters) to help you in this quest, as well as pets. Over the course of the game, you will also gain access to different cards that will give your character newfound skills.

NosTale comes with a number of unique classes and their interesting sub-classes with each character possessing special abilities depending on which group they are from.
To make the game less gloomy and more fun, you can train pets as well and make them get involved in missions too.
With all these features and so much more, NosTale really promises to be an excellent adventure for you.

➔ Main points:

• An anime MMORPG game with an interesting storyline.
• A number of fun activities including pet management and fighting.
• 15 unique classes and sub-classes.
• Graphics (anime-style) have a room for improvement.