Not-So-Massively games are online games that share some but not all mechanics in common with traditional MMORPGs. Generally, their “massive” nature is contested. They frequently include games from subgenres like battle royale, OARPG, MMOFPS, MMORTS, MOBA, lootershooter, mobile, and other pseudo-MMOs that provide single-player, offline, or custom-server support. The Not So Massively column is now written by Tyler Edwards. [Follow this column’s RSS feed]
not so massively
Not So Massively: Outriders’ demo teases a decent but unremarkable looter-shooter
Outriders, the new co-op shooter from publisher Square Enix, is not a game I've followed super closely, but with Anthem consigned to eternal purgatory,...
Not So Massively: A eulogy for Anthem and Defiance
Last week was a bloodbath. In a single day, we saw Electronic Arts consign one game to eternal maintenance mode, and Gamigo announced closures...
Not So Massively: Torchlight III is less than the sum of its parts
Last summer in this very column, I argued that ARPGs are the pizza of gaming: Even when they're bad, they're still pretty good.
The Torchlight...
Not So Massively: First impressions of Century Age of Ashes
Dragons are ubiquitous to the point of over-exposure in gaming these days. And yet for all that, there are still very few games that...
Not So Massively: Wolcen’s Bloodtrail is worth coming back for
I've been a fan of Wolcen: Lords of Mayhem from the start, but with how long things went quiet after the initial post-launch updates,...
Not So Massively: Haven is a noble but failed experiment in couples’ gaming
This is purely anecdotal, but it has been my experience that most people who play games with other people tend to spend most of...
Not So Massively: Drake Hollow is the wholesome survival game we need right now
I've talked in the past about liking survival mechanics in games, but not so much survival games themselves. There are a couple of reasons...
Not So Massively: Looking back at 2020 and ahead to 2021 in the realm of not-so-massively games
So another year comes, and the last one's gone, and we dig deep just to carry on. Musical allusions notwithstanding, I thought it might...
Not So Massively: StarCraft II’s maintenance mode doesn’t mean game over
Earlier this month, we learned that Blizzard was effectively putting StarCraft II into maintenance mode. Considering what a massive fan of StarCraft II I...
Not So Massively: Reflections on Blizzard, one year after the Hong Kong fiasco
Almost exactly a year ago, I declared that the Blizzard I loved is dead, in reaction to the Blitzchung/Hearthstone/Hong Kong fiasco.
Twelve months later, that...
Not So Massively: The dos and don’ts of stealing from single-player games
In my last Not So Massively column, I looked at the right and wrong ways for other genres to steal from MMOs. But in...
Not So Massively: The dos and don’ts of stealing from MMOs
Recently I played through the new PC port of the open world RPG Horizon Zero Dawn. While playing it, I was struck by how...
Not So Massively: Iron Harvest 1920 is a dieselpunk RTS with a surprising amount of heart
It's pretty common to stumble across a new game on the front page of Steam and think it looks interesting enough to add to...
Not So Massively: First impressions of StarCraft II’s co-op prestige system
Last week, StarCraft II celebrated its tenth anniversary by launching the major 5.0 patch. With it came the new "prestige" system for co-op mode,...
First impressions: Fall Guys Ultimate Knockout is a battle royale game for people who hate battle royale games
Is anyone here familiar with Wipeout? It was an obstacle course game show where contestants had to avoid some pretty plush yet hard-hitting goofy...
Not So Massively: Online ARPGs are the pizza of gaming
I spend a lot of time thinking about online ARPGs these days. It's always been a genre I've enjoyed, and since taking over the...
Not So Massively: Gatewalkers has huge potential but isn’t there yet
After years of hilariously wrong recommendations, something seems to have clicked with Facebook's algorithms lately to make it finally start showing me relevant ads....
Not So Massively: My top 10 favorite ARPG classes
I love me some ARPGs, but in any RPG your enjoyment will depend so much on finding the right class. A game that felt...
Not So Massively: I like survival mechanics, not survival games
When I played We Happy Few, one of the things that surprised me the most was how much I enjoyed the survival mechanics. I...
Not So Massively: Kind Words is one of the most intense games I’ve ever played
In these trying times, I think we're all dealing with a certain degree of anxiety and loneliness. For some of us, feeling worried and...
