Maplestory M Review: It Could Well Be Better than Pokemon GO

Wassup guys, Zhi Hao here, and I’m here to take you through our First Look impression of the latest mobile sensation…

Maplestory M.

Launched just today (25 July), the game promised what every Maple fan has been waiting so desperately for:

An on-the-go Mapling experience that doesn’t just confine you to the mere spaces of a lonely RPG, but the real MMO that everyone has grown to love.

But is it really what it proclaims itself to be?

Let’s find out.

Vying for the spot

Incidentally, I volunteered to write this article. After all, it’s not every day that you get to play a video game and not be kicked out of the office for it. Also, I consider myself to be a Maplestory maestro, seeing how I had a level 50 character in my prime. So with all respects, I really am the best fit for the job. No questions entertained.

“But dude, I have a level 200 character!” Justin, Goody Feed’s resident cat – I mean, videographer, sounded out.

…

And moving on.

Now, I can’t exactly play a game without downloading it, so I set about installing it. Which was pretty fast, much to my surprise. I honestly thought it would take longer than that.

Then I was in the game and was feeling the hype and all when the game requested to download 1.4GB worth of content.

(Even Frank is frankly shocked)

So that’s why the initial download was so fast. Knew it was too good to be true.

But I’m a strict believer in the saying “Good things come to those who wait”, and so I set about twiddling my thumbs while waiting for the download to finalise. But what’s this? Nexon has actually incorporated a mini-game for us to dabble in while we wait!

Called Forest of Endurance, the mini-game requires you to jump your way to the top while avoiding spikes that would almost certainly kill you in real life, and monkey-thrown banana peels that would definitely kill you in real life.

Honestly, I suck at jumping quests so before long I was swearing at my phone, but it did its job. Before I finished cursing the download has ended, and I was all set to relive my entire childhood all over again.

Classes

Before long I was taken to the character creation screen, and suffice it to say that I was wetting my pants in excitement.

“Keep your pants on you lil piece of shit,” my boss, who’s a five-time recipient of Goody Feed’s Most Charismatic Smile award, shouted at me.

…

Right moving onnnn.

So if you recall, the desktop version requires you to start from a beginner, where you have to level up and orientate your stats such that you can qualify for the class of your desire.

Maplestory M, however, seems to have scrapped that route, with you taking on a designated role right at the very start.

Players choose from 5 available classes at the start:

• Dark Knight
• Bow Master
• Night Lord
• Bishop
• Corsair

Each has its own skills and equipment, so suffice it to say that your Mapling experience varies greatly based on the class you pick.

Incidentally, being a real nerdy kid in real life, I naturally went with the Night Lord. Cool, badass and mysterious, it’s pretty much everything I’m not, and I dug it.

And this is why you should always be careful of the girl you’re talking to online, fellows. It might be a trap.

First Look

So with my character all developed, it was time to head into the crux of it all:

The gameplay.

Right off the bat, I found myself situated against a large red tree, and almost instantaneously I took a screenshot because damn, my character looks photogenic here.

#ootd #nofilter #duckface

I can’t possibly keep admiring my online persona forever though, and so I set about obeying the on-screen instruction.

Mai, where are thou….

Thereon, it was pretty much the entire Maple tutorial session gone mobile, as I spent my time clicking on random lightbulbs and hitting up multiple dudes with chronic skeletal illnesses who can’t seem to walk or see 10m ahead of them.

Magical Pigs

So I was equipping multiple rewards as a result of quests, and looking like a total badass now next to my new cat, Tom, when I clicked on something and boomz.

I’m now riding on a big-ass pig.

I knew beforehand that rideable animals were available in the game, but I just didn’t expect it to be this… soon. No complaints from my side though.

And then it was slime-time, and I get to use my kickass bandit skills on those poor green slimy things.

It’s just too bad that they had to meet me.

Incidentally, I chanced upon a fellow pig-riding compatriot, and he very kindly agreed (silence means consent) to take a photo with me.

And here we are smiling like the badasses we inexplicably are.

Features

Like every other RPG Game, Maplestory M offers the auto-quest function, where the game basically directs your character if you’re feeling lazy or just directionally challenged.

There’s also an auto-battle option, but you need to reach level 20 in order to utilise that.

Events seem to be rampant ingame, as I got mesos and items for virtually everything I’m doing, including spending 20 minutes in the game and reaching level 5. Gauging by my inner gaming talents I would say that it’s Nexon’s way of attracting Maplers to its platform fast, and so you guys should really hop onto the bandwagon soon, because if there’s anything these perks don’t last forever.

Admittedly I didn’t really play long enough to get a good grasp of the other features the game has to offer,  but I have a feeling I’ve only touched the tip of the iceberg. A positive thing for new gamers, surely.

Thoughts

While the music’s somewhat of a disappointment (I was expecting the iconic log in soundtrack to play when I started it), every other aspect just about screams ‘nostalgia’ to me, whether it’s fighting slimes, clicking on lightbulbs, or just falling off random platforms and cursing at your screen.

So if you’re a Maplestory fan, or used to play it, you might want to check this game out. For one there’s no harm done, and for two you might just see all the years rolling back again.

Childhood for the win.