There's still nothing quite like the original Guild Wars. It came out before World of Warcraft had crystallized the face of the modern MMORPG, and was as inspired by Magic: The Gathering as it was by Everquest or Ultima. It turned out as more of a co-op ARPG with shared town hubs, dual-class deckbuilding, and a cutscene-driven narrative—and that unique confluence of inspirations may be why it's still popular today. So popular, in fact, that it's even a surprise to developer ArenaNet.
The game's recent remaster, Guild Wars Reforged, launched Wednesday as a free update for existing players and an inexpensive way to get in for newbies. While most Guild Wars fans are on to the game's more traditionally MMO-ish sequel, Reforged still brought the game's concurrent player peak on Steam up to over 5,000 at time of writing, according to SteamDB.
