Welcome to gametobest for Maple
Story Mesos
Dean D. Cho, Development Manager of MapleStory Europe at NEXON,
gives us a look behind the scenes of this amazing new free to
play MMORPG in the first of a series of insider articles.
What makes MapleStory immediately special is its unique,
two-dimensional viewpoint. The reason behind this is twofold.
Firstly, it allows for a simple control system familiar to
anybody who's played the classic two-dimensional platform games
of old. Characters can run, jump, climb ladders, shimmy down
ropes and attack, all of which makes for quick, arcade-style
play, not to mention introducing a whole new element of
'jumping' quests to the MMORPG genre.
And secondly, it permits players to experience a stunning and
completely hand-drawn world, something of a rarity in the
polygon-dominated videogame landscape of today. From the dreamy
treetop walkways of Ellinia, home of the mages, to the sparkling
underwater realm of Aqua Road, charming environments, cute
characters and even cuter monsters are the hallmarks of
MapleStory's distinct and vibrant art style.
Easy to learn, fun to master!
While its MapleStory's unique look that draws players in
initially, it's the gameplay itself that will keep gamers
hooked. Many of MapleStory's features will be familiar to
seasoned MMORPG players - accepting quests; fighting monsters
for money and experience; developing your character's special
skills and abilities - but these have all been specifically
tailored to be as simple and accessible as possible, making for
a game that can be easily dipped into for short periods of time.
Menus and inventory screens are kept straightforward and clutter
free, character skill lists are comprehensive enough to offer
significant depth without being overwhelming, and the control
scheme is quick to learn and completely user-definable.
MapleStory carries the same design philosophy through to its
gameplay, with a special training world that helps ease new
players into the game without confusing them. Characters start
their adventure on Maple Island as a Beginner, where they'll
carry out simple quests and train against weaker monsters,
before taking the boat to the significantly larger Victoria
Island. Once there, players are free to continue their quest as
they wish, choosing as they do so one of the four principle
career paths of MapleStory: Warrior, Bowman, Thief and Magician.
A whole word of opportunity for you to explore
MapleStory Europe's elegant world is both vast and varied.
Victoria Island's busy towns, rocky mountains and lush forests
are the perfect training ground for newly qualified adventurers,
with a wealth of different locations to explore, both obvious
and cleverly concealed, but that's just the beginning. Players
can book passage on a flying ship to the even larger continent
of Ossyria, where they'll be able to visit the frozen wastes of
El Nath, the multicoloured castles of Ludibrium and the ethereal
cloud city of Orbis, among others. Not that you should ever feel
alone in your travels. MapleStory is as much about socialising
and making friends as it is taking on epic adventures.
Customisable buddy lists help you keep track of when and where
your friends are online, while like-minded players can drop in
and out of adventure parties on the fly, or form more organised
player guilds, in an effort to help each other take on the
game's most powerful monsters and quests. And in keeping with
MapleStory's light-hearted spirit, players can communicate with
each other through hilarious facial animations as well as the
more traditional text chat channels. .
|