Maplestory is a good game that is worth getting into

User Rating: 7.5 | Maple Story PC
Maplestory is a game that a truly grown from when it first came out in 2005. when it first came out I made a warrior, as I do when I'm testing a new MMO that I have never played. while i had fallen in love with the adorable and cute monsters and the interesting 2D atmosphere, there was much lacking in almost every respect. the worst part was there were not enough quests to keep a player to level and for the most part left the player hanging. there were no guilds and almost no reasons to party up unless you wanted to jump into areas like Sleepywood, which in 2005 was a milestone. leveling was so terrible back then that it took my character 6 months to get from level 26 to level 30 for the job advancement playing 2 to 3 days a week.

Something that has to be said about Maplestory is that the whole game is a grind, TURN BACK NOW, i repeat TURN BACK NOW IF YOU ARE NOT THE KIND OF PERSON WHO LIKES FETCH QUESTS. I am putting this disclaimer here because that is all that Maplestory is. Every quest will ask you to receive something from some monster that is somewhere near by or talk to someone in a different city. There is no "ever changing and constant world" like one might find in Guild Wars 2. Monsters are basically stuffed on the 2D planks on the map waiting for the slaughter. So even thought Maplestory is an ever growing world with new monsters and new quests to take on. the only new thing about them is the fact the the monsters are cuter than the last and that the map is different.

Currently the game has become far better than it was when it first conceived. If you're looking for an MMO, definitely look into Maplestory. However there are some aspects of this game that need to be pointed out before you go running head long into a pile of Maple leaves...

In a recent update Nexon thought it would be interesting to add a new "innovation" to Maplestory with something called Monster Life. This has been a slight problem for players because it is a direct duplicate of FarmVille. It should be noted for new players or players coming back to the game that FarmVille...I mean Monster Life is COMPLETELY separate from Maplestory. The intro tutorial where the game wants to tell you how amazing and fun this new addition is. After that you never have to see it.

When it comes down to it though, Monster Life is a very quaint mini-game that you can check on once and a while and not feel addicted to it. For one thing, Monster Life has its own currency completely separate from the Meso, known as Waru. the buildings you create produce a certain amount of Waru per 10 minutes. Also there is little to invest in Monster life as you are only given a small plot of land to fill and part of the space will be filled with monsters! The monsters in Monster Life serve very litter perpose besides you being able to nurture them....yeeeeaaah, nothing much there.

I have little to complain about this Mini-game, its cute and fun, and the best part about it is that I am not forced to play it, i can look at it once and never have to look at it again...unless i get an uncanny itch to watch some adorable monsters hopping around a deserted town.

Now to the actual game! Maplestory has changed so much from its earlier days, and for the better. In the past there were not enough quests to keep you playing, now there are so many quests a completion's head would pop like a balloon onsite. This might be because of the second most wonderful thing and that is the sheer amount of jobs that one can choose from. Maplestory has built itself up from the the original Warrior, Magician, Bowman, and Thief groups that have many different job choices within them, they now have 24 more classes since these original 4 creating many avenues that a player can experience. There are so many classes that Maplestory actually cycles through classes, a few months ago in march there were a wide array of classes that were open for creation, that are currently not available, like the Hayato of the Sengoku group and the Luminous of the Heroes group. This can be limiting at times when you want to create one of these characters, but there are so many more that are open for creation that will keep you busy until they open for business.

However there is something to be wary about with all these characters. The current level cap, with the new patch that is going around now is going to be level 250. This is a problem for anyone who wants to play any of the Cygnus Knights, because their level cap is kept at 120, making these characters completely useless because all other classes can go the full distance. Don't get all this mixed up with the Mihile class however, because even though it is a Cygnus Knight, unlike its brethren classes it can level fully. Why on earth did Nexon think it was a good idea to make a class that couldn't even level completely? That's like World of Warcraft saying the the Death knights and the Paladins could only level up to level 60. Keeping them at the original level without the ability to progress through any of the expansion content.

Currently i have a level 200 Mechanic from the Resistance and a level 200 Cannoneer from the Explorers. I would highly recommend these two classes as the Mechanic is slow going for the first 20 levels until you get the ability to use the mech, which feels like your walking around in a big Jaeger killing Kaijus...for those who don't know a Jaeger is a giant mech armed to the teeth and Kaijus are giant monsters.

The Mech is certainly armed to the teeth, well equip with a Machine gun for single target, a Flamethrower for its multi-target, and a Drill. This is only the first adaptation of the Mech however. When you reach the third job advancement the Mechanic gains the next level of Mech, Siege Mode, and then finally with the fourth and final job advancement, the Missile Tank.

If this isn't enough to get you excited than try out the Cannoneer, who survives on pure strength alone. While this class looks a little silly as your small hands doesn't really work well holding a huge cannon, there is a lot to say about being able to kick barrels of TNT at anything living in front of you and watching all in your wake turn into piles of loot. You also get an adorable Monkey that follows you around, cheering you on wherever you go. This is just to give you an example of what a few of the classes are like.

Another thing to address is the Cash shop. Yes, of course Maplestory has one, but unless you really want to just pour money into the game and buy some skin or change your hair, there really is no need. Some people might complain that they don't have enough Character slots, some maybe complain about the lack of backpack slots. Something that players need to know is that Maplestory gives rewards to players that are active, and active players get huge gifts. In just 2 days the game gifted me enough to fully fill out my backpack slots, an extra character slot, a special chat ring, and chair that is an enormous yeti, with me sitting on the huge throne on his back.

its things like these that keep me playing Maplestory. Another thing is that Events in Maplestory seem to be constantly going on, in some form or another, and special loot always seem to drop, giving low level plays access to weapons and armor for level 70 - 99 gear. While it may seem like a huge turn off to some, it really gives a player something to aspire to.