Before World of Warcraft revolutionized the MMORPG genre, Lineage 2 was the undisputed king of the castle when it came to truly hardcore MMORPG gameplay. The leveling process was long and arduous, the group content required good coordination with other players or you wouldn't get far, and while I never really dabbled into PvP, it was supposedly quite amazing. The oldschool Lineage 2 was also most definitely a grindy game, but that was just how things were done back in the 'olden days'.

If you're feeling particularly nostalgic about this period of MMO history and you're not afraid of the endless grind, you might be interested to hear that NCsoft has now announced that Lineage 2 Classic will be arriving this October 3rd. As the name itself would imply, Lineage 2 Classic will give you a chance to return to the original game and experience all of it as it once was, both the good and the bad.

Lineage 2 Classic will be entirely free to play, so I would definitely recommend you give it a try, if for no other reason than to see just how far MMORPGs have come since 2003. If you're considering dedicating serious amounts of time and effort to playing the earliest version of Lienage 2, however, that I wouldn't exactly recommend. I played it back when I was in high school and had tons of free time, and even then I found it to be impossible to get anywhere without investing even more time. And these days with far more competition in the MMORPG genre, I simply don't think the original Lineage 2 will manage stand the test of time for very long.

But whether you disagree or not, you should head on over to the official website to learn more. And just for good measure, here's the brief trailer. Enjoy the nostalgia trip!