Summary
Free-to-play has almost become the expectation for MMOs, as opposed to the payment and monthly subscription model of the olden days.Crystal of Atlanis another example of this, acting as an MMO where the majority of content is free, and which sustains itself on microtransactions, mainly in the PvE section.
But if you’re looking for games that scratch a similar itch to Crystal of Atlan, there are a lot of other games out there. These others are certainly not a one-to-one copy of CoA, but they are all free-to-play MMOs. Some share a few mechanics with CoA, while others do much more their own thing.
The Western release of Throne and Liberty wasn’t too long before the release of Crystal of Atlan, and Throne and Liberty is actually my second favorite game on this list. It skews a bit more classic MMO structure than CoA, but it does have some compellingly unique mechanics (and a genuinely good story) that really make it stand out from the crowd.
What impresses me the most about Throne and Liberty is the weapon system, which is essentially the class system. It’s one of the most flexible I’ve ever seen, and it is one of my greatest gaming joys tograb two weaponsand figure out how to make them work with each other.
None of this is mentioning the countless, countless hours I have spent fishing in Throne and Liberty. The fishing is truly delightful.
Final Fantasy 14 has been through a meat-grinder of changes over the years, but it’s come out the other end of it a game that I find very charming. It’s a trait that I think it shares with CoA; both of them have little touches spread around the world that make it feel like a lived-in universe. With the amount of time you spend in MMOs, that can make or break the experience for me.
Final Fantasy 14 might not have the best combat around, but it makes up for that in the sheer wealth of things to do. As with most MMOs that are as long in the tooth as FF14, it has had so many expansions that for someone jumping in new, there are quite literally years worth of things to play through.
For someone on the more action-oriented side of CoA, you might enjoy a game more like Warframe, which takes the pace of CoA and plays it at twice the speed. Warframe is not just the fastest MMO on this list, but outside of racing games, it’s one of the fastest games, period.
While the speed of it might make my dilapidated hands ache, what (unsurprisingly) draws me into Warframe is the outrageous build potential between the Warframeand weapon customization. Few games give you the amount of control over how every aspect of your kit works, and after no less than a few hundred hours, I am still unlocking new options all the time.
Few things fill me with as much glee as running into a mission, getting stomped into dust, then going back to my ship to rebuild my kit from the ground up and returning to be the one who stomps, as opposed to the one getting stomped.
CoA strikes a healthy balance between gameplay and storytelling, and one of the best examples of an MMO that does this well is Star Wars: The Old Republic. Every time I load this game up, I’m delighted in how well-incorporated the story and the world is with the gameplay.
There’s nothing quite like getting to spend time in a galaxy far, far away. As someone who grew up watching the box-set VHS of the original trilogy until I was confident I could recite the movies from start to finish, any chance that I get to play a game where I end up with a blaster and/or a lightsaber feels like coming home. SWTOR captures that feeling perfectly.
The combat in CoA is extremely smooth, and is a noticeable upgrade over many other MMOs in that department. But one that keeps pace with that combat is Neverwinter. While it might have been outshined by other D&D releases like Baldur’s Gate 3 and the Dungeons and Dragons movie that was so good we’ll never get another, Neverwinter deserves its flowers, too.
If your focus in CoA is on combat, Neverwinter is one of the best games on this list to move over into. It’s had years to refine its systems into something that makes sense for new players, but is still rewarding for players who have spent hours with it, too.
Palia is one of the most unusual MMOs out there, but there’s something really attractive about its lower-stakes, laid-back world. While CoA is centered around combat, that doesn’t mean you may’t walk around and simply enjoy spending time in the world. A lot of effort has been put in by artists and world designers to make it a place that feels like a pleasant place to walk around in.
Palia takes that to the next level. It’s a game (nearly) devoid of any form of combat, and is instead centered around making a nice little place to live and hopping around the village toenjoy the company of others. It’s a world I really enjoy booting up as I’m heading to bed, and I’ve been surprised at how chill and friendly the community seems to be.
Blade & Soul is a game that’s going to be more familiar to the Eastern audience, but has gotten a Western release now, too. Aesthetically, this is probably the game that shares the most with CoA of any on the list, but the similarities don’t stop there.
Blade & Soul is a very action-oriented MMO, and is another example of one that takes a lot of traditional MMO combat ideas, and refines them. It’s got both PvE and PvP, and for those that enjoy the cosmetic market, there are a lot of outfits to grab, too.
DC Universe Online has been around for a long time for one simple reason: it’s good. Great, in fact. There is no game that captures a comic-book world as perfectly as DCUO, but that doesn’t mean it’s just for people who can’t help but smile when super-speeding around Gotham and Metropolis.
It’s me. I’m the people who smile.
DCUO’s combat system is very easy to understand, but has a high skill ceiling. I have spent hundreds (if not thousands) of hours in PvP over the years, leveled more than 200 characters, and could draw you a map of every instanced PvE mission up to Tier 4. I say this not to impress you with numbers, but to say that if you’re looking for another MMO worth your time, DCUO is that game.
