Maple Story Game

Below you’ll find a comprehensive review on the game an insight on the past of this infamous RPG. If you’re already a player and are looking for the in-depth section for the game, just skip ahead.

As most of you already know, Maplestory is the most popular free-to-play 2D side-scrolling game, and definitely the most successful. If you haven’t heard of Maplestory, and would like to know what all of the craze is about, read on!

Note: Seeing as this is an English site, this article will be based solely on GMS (Global Maplestory).

“Being a player since beta, and the official launch of Maplestory in 2005, I remember when there were hardly any players, and leveling was hard work. I remember when I first made a character and getting second job advancement was a great accomplishment. I also remember when there were only a few bosses and party quests. Much of what happened in-game was left up to the players.”

Almost all of this has changed now. In December of 2010, the maple story game was revamped with a patch called, “the Big Bang.” This patch was revolutionary in how it impacted Maplestory and the community. It updated the entire UI (user interface) and much of the content. Along with it, came new classes, more bosses, new maps, tons of new items, and changed the way many players looked at the game. Some veteran players disliked the changes, and even quit playing because of it. They claim Maplestory is a totally different game now, and just doesn’t have the unique “pizzazz it used to.”

Since the release of Maplestory (in all countries), there have been many attempts at “copying” or “cloning” Maplestory. There have been many gaming companies that have created a 2D side-scrolling RPG that is similar to Maple. After looking at how successful the maple story game has become since its launch, this is no wonder. This may be partly to blame for Maple no longer being “unique.” Others choose to point their fingers at the company, rather than the game itself. Many blame Nexon for ruining a game which Wizet once “ran properly.” The power-hungry Nexon Inc. did in fact change and create many features in-game where players had to pay in order to use. This was done through the Cash Shop and the use of NX Cash (Nexon Cash). NX Cash can be purchased by using real money (USD currency). In turn, the users that had access to NX generally gained a huge advantage over the free users.

Note: The Cash Shop feature was around even when Wizet owned the game. Nexon just “abused” it, in a sense. By adding a surplus of items to the Cash Shop, buyers gained a huge unfair advantage over free users.

Although the advantage factor is still generally true, Nexon has done their best to balance this. Even though the use of NX Cash does enhance gameplay, users who can’t or simply choose not to purchase NX still enjoy the game. In fact, there is also a semi-new feature that allows players to convert their virtual items in-game and sell them for NX Cash. So in a way, players can actually make a real profit from the game, if done properly.

Going back to the “not enough pizzazz” factor, the opposite is actually true. I think the reason why so many veterans quit is simply because they didn’t like the new changes. The game probably didn’t appeal to them anymore, and when a game loses its appeal, you usually quit playing. There is nothing wrong with this, and players should quit playing if they feel like they need to. The recent update really did change the game, in both how it looks and how it operates.

On another note, things are looking up for GMS. Nexon recently announced in one of their recent announcements that they won’t be patching as often anymore. This could be good or bad, depending on how you look at it… and maybe a little of both. In previous versions of Maplestory, there would be a minimum of one to two patches per month, usually more. This is good now that the maple story game versions won’t be flying by, and players can actually enjoy the content and take their time with each version. However, this could be bad if a single patch brings a number of bugs and/or glitches. Then again, if that did happen, there would probably be an immediate patch implemented to fix this depending on the severity of it. Rumors are saying that Maple could go almost half a year at a time from now on without any major patches. Although this is probably untrue, it sure is food for thought.

Anyway, many players were inspired by the new maple story game update, and became even more fanatic about the game. With over 100 million players worldwide, the maple story game is ever-growing. This includes both the player-count and the content. The game as a whole is now more storyline driven, and has a lot more to offer. Despite many of the drawbacks the game has had, the future looks bright for Maplestory. With an endless number of things to do in-game, it is well worth checking out if you haven’t done so already.

“I hate when I read an article on a game that glorifies it so much that it’s overkill, or trash talks a game so severely that it doesn’t even show you the good aspects of it. I like reading the straight up truth, nothing more and nothing less. In the end, it should be left up to each person whether or not that game is worth pursuing.”

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