Maplestory Review

Hello everybody! This is my first review and I want you guys to give me your honest opinion of it. PLEASE give me any advice on how I can improve my reviews and please send me requests for games you would like me to review. AGAIN this is my first time reviewing ANYTHING so please bear with me since I am not a professional. Thank You VERY much!



And so…LET’S GET STARTED!







MapleStory



Maplestory is a free to play, 2D MMORPG developed by Wizet and published by Nexon. It is incredibly popular and has had a total of over 92 million users as of 2009. Now many of you are probably thinking “Wow are you serious!?” with you jaw dropped. Want to know something even crazier? That was in 2009 so think about the amount of players there are today! Now I too was one of those players. In fact Maplestory was the first mmorpg I ever played and after hearing about the new Big Bang update nexon had, I decided to check the game out again and to give you guys my honest opinion of it.



GAMEPLAY



Alright so one major thing I realized that was different is the amount of classes there were. Before when I played, all there was were warriors, magicians, bowmen, thieves, and pirates. Now there are the Cygnus knights, dual blade, Aran, Evan, and the newest ones, due to the Big Bang Update, Wild Hunter, Battle Mage, and Mechanic. Now overall you don’t see that many classes in every MMORPG. Also they may be making even more. I was looking on you tube and I came across this video:YouTube - [Korean] MapleStory Alchemist Jewelist Creator (sorry about it being Korean…)

So overall this could be a good and bad thing. Good because with all these classes, you won’t get bored easily with all the different and unique skills. Bad because the amount of classes may confuse new players on which class to pick but then again most will probably go “ OH MY GOD! So many classes I’m in heaven!” Now with the actual gameplay. Since it is a 2D sides roller platform game you will be using your keyboard to navigate and attack instead of using your mouse like most MMORPG’s. In my opinion I find this type of gameplay. This gameplay gives the game an arcade-type feel and makes the game very enjoyable and simplistic and like arcade games there is a lot and I mean A LOT of button mashing which is one of my pet peeves of this game. There are a lot of quests in Maplestory also (over 600) so you always have something to do. However most of these quests are kill this many of these monsters or collect this and deliver that so basically its very basic quests like you see in every MMORPG. The quests that are really unique are the PQs (party quest). These are quests in which you take you and your party to a dungeon where you solve puzzles, collect items, and defeat the boss at the end. Another thing about the game is the stats. Each time you level up you have the choice to raise your STR, DEX, INT, and/or LUK, stats. One thing that you must be crucial about this is that it is very easy to mess up your stats. I highly suggest reading a guide for your class when raising your stats so you don’t screw up. Maplestory’s game shop or “cash shop” has plenty of items for your character. There of plenty of upgrades and accessories to upgrade or customize your character to make it suit your exact taste. One thing that I dislike about the shop is that items such as clothing only lasts for 90 days after you buy it so that can be very troublesome.

Now a major problem for some players is the amount of “grinding” there is in Maplestory. This is very true and I have experienced it myself. Sometimes it takes hours, days, even weeks before you see those amazing words above your character (“LEVEL UP”) but if you can go through with it the gameplay is pretty decent and may become addicting.



GAMPLAY: 80%



GRAPHICS



Well obviously not much can be said about the graphics since it is 2D but it is very bright and colorful which is what you really want to see in a 2D cartoon/anime style game.



GRAPHICS: 80%





STORY



Well for some odd reason there basically was no story before the black mage (Maplestory’s main antagonist) has been heard of and most of the stories were in the PQs. Many believed that “You make your own story “but I didn’t really believe that. However I came across this and it may show you that Maplestory has somewhat of a decent story and due to the black mage there will be even more background for this game.



STORY: 78%



COMMUNITY



Maplestory is said to be notorious for its rude players. From what I’ve seen that is false. Sure, once in a while you’ll see a jerk but which MMORPG doesn’t have a few ignorant players. Most players in Maplestory are helpful and kind if you are the same. Not only that but as I said before the player base is HUGE! So come and join the party!



COMMUNITY: 91%



SOUND



The music in Maplestory is relaxing. It kind of makes slaughtering cute slimes and huge mushrooms even more enjoyable. However it is kind of like a broken record since you hear it over and over but if you don’t mind, the music is very good.



SOUND: 85%



PROS



- Plenty of Classes

- Huge community

- Simplistic gameplay that anyone can understand and enjoy

- Good music

- A lot of quests

Cons



-Grinding

-easy to screw up stats

- Button masher

- Some quests are boring and are not worth the rewards



OVERALL



Maplestory is very simple and fun. Both casual and hardcore gamers can enjoy this game and the huge community, amount of classes, and different skills also add more goodies to this game. Some may not like the game due to the grind and 2D-ness but don’t knock it till you try it maple story is definitely a MMORPG Gem!



FINAL SCORE: 82%= B-





THANK YOU FOR READING THIS WAS MY FIRST REVIEW!