http://www.mapleglobal.com/
Maple Story is yet another in a recent series of free MMORPGs. Now, this game differenciates itself rather quickly by boasting that it is the first side-scrolling 2D (not sure how true this is, though the idea had crossed my mind when I first played Aria of Sorrow and thought of a SOTN MMORPG) The game, which indeed is played from a side scrolling viewpoint, is fairl simple and reminds me of Ragnarok Online in it's visual theme and music.
The visuals are bright and cutesy and the UI is fairy simple, though it lacks customibility. You start the game out as a beginner, a class that lacks any particular skills, and when you reach level 10 you are allowed to become either a Warrior, Thief, Bowman, or Magician (Actually, you can become a Magician at level 8). In order to become whatever class you choose, you must travel to the city that contains that classs headmaster. Doing this requires a small monetary fee or a dangerous travel,
Now, maybe I'm getting ahead of myself--let's go to the character generation process. You choose to create a new character and are allowed to customize your appearance (including your complexion!). You are also allowed to roll dice on your characters starting statistics. Combat is relatively simple--you can attack as you would in any side scroller. The lack of the auto-combat 'feature' that is prevailent in so many other MMOs is a welcome sight, though if you wish, you can hold the attack button and continue to attack (you loose all mobility when you do this, however). This creates a tactical battle system that has fights that range from standing still and holding the attack button to attacking-taking a step back-attacking-taking a step back-attacking-etc.
Leveling up is a simple process: simply fight enemys for experience. The enemies I have encountered so far cover a wide variety of fun and quircky designs. Green snails, blue snails, red snails, small shrooms, large shrooms, pigs, pigs with red ribbons, tree stumps, grey tree stumps, tree stumps with axes in them, green blobs, and grey shrooms have wandered the lands that I have encontered. Initially, combat is slightly ackward, as the timing takes some getting used to, but you will quickly see your character advance in levels. This game's leveling is fast paced and rewarding!
Until you hit level 6. At around level 6, your character's progression will slow to a near halt as challenging enemies yeild a net gain of 1% experience. At level 10, enemies that can take off 30% of your health in a single hit still net only around 1%. This creates an ackwardly slow progression that is in stark contrast to the brisque initial levels.
This isnt't helped by the fact that if you wish to become a Magician, you must first survive up till level 8 in the melee-only Beginner class. In order to do this without wasting extra time or making things extra hard on yourself, you must level stats that have far less importance to your character than your magicpower-enhancing INT stat. This, I assume, is the reason why the player can advance to the Magician class 2 levels ahead of the others.
Currency, in the game, is in Mesos. All enemies have a chance to 'drop' Mesos along with other items that you can then sell toward a shop for more Mesos (or in some cases-items that you can use--though these are extremely rare). Items that enemies drop are of insignificant monetary value (as of level 10, no dropped non-equipable has been worth more than 10 Mesos), and the mesos that they leave behind is as well. This creates a monetary system where the only way to procure wealth is to combat hundreds of foes. Couple this with the high equipment prices (that seem to start at 300 and jump to 2,000) and you have a game that ensures countless hours of fun! Selling price to Buying Price also follows a almost 1::2 ratio.
Quests in this game are gained by double clicking on NPCs that stand around the map saying "Click Me" or similar phrases. These quests range from collecting 10 of one item and 30 of another--to collecting 40 of one item and 60 of another--to collecting 70 of one item and 100 of another. The rewards for these quests range from poorly outdated by the time you finish the quest to already affordable if you were to sell all the items and combine that money with the earnings from the enemies the quests had you defeat.
It should be easy to see just how this game pales World of Warcraft in comparison. Why someone would want to pay for a game like WoW when they can play Maple Story for FREE is beyond me. I hope everyone enjoys my impressions and is able to lend me constructive criticism and offer me corrections. I believe I have shown that Maple Story is one of the most fun-filled and addictive MMOs ever made and would love to see more of you guys online!
-Gattsu25
Maple Story is yet another in a recent series of free MMORPGs. Now, this game differenciates itself rather quickly by boasting that it is the first side-scrolling 2D (not sure how true this is, though the idea had crossed my mind when I first played Aria of Sorrow and thought of a SOTN MMORPG) The game, which indeed is played from a side scrolling viewpoint, is fairl simple and reminds me of Ragnarok Online in it's visual theme and music.
The visuals are bright and cutesy and the UI is fairy simple, though it lacks customibility. You start the game out as a beginner, a class that lacks any particular skills, and when you reach level 10 you are allowed to become either a Warrior, Thief, Bowman, or Magician (Actually, you can become a Magician at level 8). In order to become whatever class you choose, you must travel to the city that contains that classs headmaster. Doing this requires a small monetary fee or a dangerous travel,
Now, maybe I'm getting ahead of myself--let's go to the character generation process. You choose to create a new character and are allowed to customize your appearance (including your complexion!). You are also allowed to roll dice on your characters starting statistics. Combat is relatively simple--you can attack as you would in any side scroller. The lack of the auto-combat 'feature' that is prevailent in so many other MMOs is a welcome sight, though if you wish, you can hold the attack button and continue to attack (you loose all mobility when you do this, however). This creates a tactical battle system that has fights that range from standing still and holding the attack button to attacking-taking a step back-attacking-taking a step back-attacking-etc.
Leveling up is a simple process: simply fight enemys for experience. The enemies I have encountered so far cover a wide variety of fun and quircky designs. Green snails, blue snails, red snails, small shrooms, large shrooms, pigs, pigs with red ribbons, tree stumps, grey tree stumps, tree stumps with axes in them, green blobs, and grey shrooms have wandered the lands that I have encontered. Initially, combat is slightly ackward, as the timing takes some getting used to, but you will quickly see your character advance in levels. This game's leveling is fast paced and rewarding!
Until you hit level 6. At around level 6, your character's progression will slow to a near halt as challenging enemies yeild a net gain of 1% experience. At level 10, enemies that can take off 30% of your health in a single hit still net only around 1%. This creates an ackwardly slow progression that is in stark contrast to the brisque initial levels.
This isnt't helped by the fact that if you wish to become a Magician, you must first survive up till level 8 in the melee-only Beginner class. In order to do this without wasting extra time or making things extra hard on yourself, you must level stats that have far less importance to your character than your magicpower-enhancing INT stat. This, I assume, is the reason why the player can advance to the Magician class 2 levels ahead of the others.
Currency, in the game, is in Mesos. All enemies have a chance to 'drop' Mesos along with other items that you can then sell toward a shop for more Mesos (or in some cases-items that you can use--though these are extremely rare). Items that enemies drop are of insignificant monetary value (as of level 10, no dropped non-equipable has been worth more than 10 Mesos), and the mesos that they leave behind is as well. This creates a monetary system where the only way to procure wealth is to combat hundreds of foes. Couple this with the high equipment prices (that seem to start at 300 and jump to 2,000) and you have a game that ensures countless hours of fun! Selling price to Buying Price also follows a almost 1::2 ratio.
Quests in this game are gained by double clicking on NPCs that stand around the map saying "Click Me" or similar phrases. These quests range from collecting 10 of one item and 30 of another--to collecting 40 of one item and 60 of another--to collecting 70 of one item and 100 of another. The rewards for these quests range from poorly outdated by the time you finish the quest to already affordable if you were to sell all the items and combine that money with the earnings from the enemies the quests had you defeat.
It should be easy to see just how this game pales World of Warcraft in comparison. Why someone would want to pay for a game like WoW when they can play Maple Story for FREE is beyond me. I hope everyone enjoys my impressions and is able to lend me constructive criticism and offer me corrections. I believe I have shown that Maple Story is one of the most fun-filled and addictive MMOs ever made and would love to see more of you guys online!
-Gattsu25
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