Final Fantasy Awakening vs Pokemon Planet
Final Fantasy Awakening
Final Fantasy Awakening is one of the many official, third-party spin-offs for the incredibly popular Final Fantasy game franchise. Featuring a 3D ARPG gameplay that many casual MMO gamers would probably be familiar with, this game offers players with a brand-new storyline set in the world similar to Final Fantasy Type-0. Aside from having plenty of the franchise's iconic characters and Eidolons, Final Fantasy Awakening also boasts of containing over 200 high quality CGs that help in the visualization of the narrative as well as the gameplay.The game is a party-based RPG, where you'll need to recruit heroes to your Class Zero team. However, the heroes that you choose will also have positive or negative reactions to the other members of the team - this is called hero's bond, and having a good symbiotic bond can be crucial to assembling a much more superior team. Besides the many PvE elements, the game has a strong focus on PvP as well, providing players with intense cross-server PKs and Arenas to showcase their team and their skills.
As exciting as all of these sound, Final Fantasy Awakening is however only available in selected countries in the South-East Asian region for the moment. It is possible that the game may eventually make its way to the Western countries, but if you simply can't wait, using a mobile VPN is a way to go or you can simply grab the game's APK (or the iTunes equivalent) off a third-party website.
Pokemon Planet
Pokemon Planet is a Pokemon-themed, MMO adventure-RPG where you'll not only get to strive to "become the very best like no one ever was"; you'll also be able to assemble a team of Pokemon from various generations/regions (except the ones from Alola). It even features graphics that will definitely twinge that sense of nostalgia in your heart, especially for those who have loved Pokemon ever since their childhood days.The game plays out pretty much like the usual handheld Pokemon games of old, except that this time around, the game is an MMO and hence, you can actually interact with other players in the game. This does make trading Pokemon or dueling a lot easier. However, since the game is not Nintendo-affiliated, the developers are restricted from using certain assets of the franchise, which apparently includes animation and sound effects, but oddly enough, that exclude all the Pokemon designs and every other game element in the game like Gyms and Pokemon Centers.
Although Pokemon Planet is not a Nintendo-created game, it is the sort of Pokemon game that fans of the franchise have always dreamed of. It has the entire package, from the nostalgic graphics to all the Pokemon you can possibly catch (and then to duel other players with). Personally, I believe Pokemon has always been a game that's just primed for an MMO game, and Pokemon Planet simply one-up Nintendo by turning that into a reality (first).