These games are developed and/or published by Korean game companies, and include some of the oldest free PC online games, as well as some great new games from the biggest Korean developers.
Wildstar
Wildstar is perhaps the newest and biggest Korean MMO to come out in 2014. Explore Nexus in this stylish new action game, and fight for control either as a member of the Dominion or the ragtag group of rebels known as the Exiles. Choose between eight races, six classes, and four paths, and eat up your time with the game’s many customization and options. Wildstar boasts the polish and craftsmanship of the people behind World of Warcraft, and it tries to push the genre forward on so many fronts.
Elsword Online
Elsword remains one of Korea’s biggest and most popular games. This action based RPG uses a cel-shaded, anime style to depict a vibrant fantasy world. The game is bursting with features, including chat, guilds item trading, a deep story mode, and PvP. KoG Games have also been working hard to ensure new content comes out for it constantly, and with the large, active community, it’s hard to not recommend this game to newbies and veterans alike. Play Here Now
GunZ 2: The Second Duel
GunZ 2: The Second Duel is a third person shooter with a difference. Easily traverse walls and freely explore, break up the shooting action with showboaty melee and combo attacks, and use class specific attacks and strategies. No, this isn’t the traditional shooter that you are used to, it’s a Korean style shooter, and it revels in that flair. The best thing about GunZ 2 is how easy it is to pick up and play. Even scaling walls has been simplified to pointing at the direction you are going to and double clicking. GunZ 2 boasts over 100 weapons and the same relentless fast paced gameplay that made the original a thrill to play.
Silkroad Online
Silkroad Online is one of the more venerable MMOs, set in the fabled silk road connecting Europe to Asia in the 7th century. It is most famous for its Triangular Conflict System, which allows you to choose one of three classes that interact and fight with each other in unique ways. Traders level up via trade runs, Thieves kill Traders and Hunters for experience, and Hunters kill Thieves. Silkroad continues to be popular worldwide, with 15 million players and weekly events to keep them playing. Joymax has been at it so long, they were able to execute this week’s server maintenance (October 7) without any downtime.
Digimon Masters
This one seems like it should be more famous today than it actually is. Digimon Masters brings the famous toy, game and cartoon franchise into another meta level as an online game, with its own real world and Digital World. You choose an avatar based on one of the Tamers from Digimon Data Squad, and get a Partner Digimon, also based on the original animation. However, you then get to choose an additional Mercenary Digimon, completely of your own choosing. You get to level up both your Partner and Mercenary Digimon across several Digivolves, and battles in the world are real time, and Trainers can even join in.
Grand Chase
Grand Chase is KOG’s other key franchise, and it’s every bit as action packed as Elsword. It brings together elements from MMOs, fighting games, platformers, and side-scrollers, and combines them in a fantasy anime setting. A highlight that breaks the game apart from the pack is Relay Dungeons, a cooperative mode where four players work together to beat several bosses from the same Continent in sequence. On the competitive end, they also offer Honor Guard, Team Battle and Survival modes. Above all else, Grand Chase is classic 2D gaming taken to the online realm. It may not have the graphical flair or deep mechanics of console games, but when you get down to it, it’s just fun.
Dungeon Fighter Online
This one briefly went down in North America last year, but only as a precursor to the developer bringing the game on international servers. Dungeon fighter is a side scrolling hack and slash game in the same vein as Dungeons and Dragons Shadow of Mystara or Golden Axe. You can move in 8 directions, battling monsters in different worlds. You can jump, attack, and use skills, and there are classes, a skill system, and even skills and techniques points. Dungeon Fighter is renowned for having one of the best tutorials of any game out there. Dungeon Fighter’s global beta remains ongoing.
Ragnarok Online 2
You would be hard pressed to convince me that you have never heard of Ragnarok Online 2. The game and its predecessor are based on the man hwa, or Korean comic book, by Lee Myung-jin, making it a genuinely Korean creation. The game retains the vestiges of most MMORPGs, and adds a Dual Life System, a Job System. It also retained the original Ragnarok’s Pet System, and a revised character based Card System.
CrossFire
CrossFire is a tactical FPS made by SmileGate, that has taken the world by storm region by region. Join one of two mercenary corporations, the Black List or Global Risk, and go eight versus eight in mission based competitive scenarios. CrossFire boasts a fair degree of military and technological accuracy, although the names have been changed. Modes include Team Death Match, Search and Destroy, Elimination Match, Ghost Mode, Free-For-All, Mutation Mode, Escape Mode, Hero Mode, Advanced Hero Mode, Hero Mode X, Zombie Mode, Elite Mode, and Wave Mode. It also has a progression system and in-game currency, but above all else, it’s a highlight for Korean gaming as an earnest Call of Duty competitor.
PangYa
We cap off this list with what would seem like a casual game on the surface, but is one of the deepest RPGs on this list. PangYa’s core golf gameplay is conventional, using the three clicks method to set the meter, to choose power, and to move directions. The eponymous PangYa refers to a perfect or near perfect shot. Unlike most golf games, PangYa goes crazy on presentation, adding an insanely deep RPG layer on top, as well as impossible shots, insane golf club replacements, customizable outfits, and more.
