MapleStory 2 Game Review

MapleStory is a 3D isometric side scrolling Anime inspired MMORPG. It is both a sequel to, and simultaneously a prequel to the original MapleStory game by Nexon.

Offering highly customizable character creation, an in-depth housing system, flashy action combat and a deep, lore-rich storyline, MapleStory 2 could be one of the breakouts of 2018!

I have been spammed by so, so many people over the last 24 hours asking me to do a video on MapleStory 2.
Since my first video did so well, and with the Closed Beta starting a few mere days ago, I felt like this was the perfect opportunity to.
Well, just because I felt that way didn’t mean the Goddess of Light would grace me with a beta key..
Alas, the Goddess of Darkness, with whom my wife shares similar personality traits to (don’t kill me) did bless her with a closed beta key, with which I promptly.. borrowed (stole) and began my adventure in MapleStory 2.

There are a total of 8 classes in-game right now: Knight, Wizard, Archer, Thief, Berserker, Priest, Heavy Gunner (not to be confused with Light Gunner – she hates it when you do that) and Assassin.
Each class utilizes its own unique playstyle, has its own unique choice of weapons, and has its own story to follow. Yes, each class has its very own unique class-centric storyline to follow.

As an example, I started off as an adorable little wizard. Look at him. He’s so cute. Actually, he kinda reminds me of Soul from Soul Eater. If you ever watched that Anime. Man I loved that show.
I started off in a “School For The Gifted”, I think its name started with.. pig? Pigwarts? No, Boarwarts? Argh. It was some kind of hog alternative. Ah well.
It was a school where wizards went to learn to hone their magic.

We had fun 1 on 1 duels, and we even had an older headmaster – a wizard that was stronger than all others. He kinda reminded me of Dumbledore.. if Dumbledore skipped his eyebrow threading appointment for this week.
There is a main story to follow – and that becomes your overall focus very quickly. But I feel like I’m getting ahead of myself here. Let me backtrack a little bit.

For an Anime MMORPG, I was quite surprised by the level of customization.
Yes, it’s no Peria Chronicles or KurtzPel but the fact that you’re given access to 15 unique hairstyles, faces, a large quantity of colors, various default outfits to pick from and one of my personal favorites..
The ability to control both your hair and individual cosmetics that you place onto your face. It’s honestly very well handled and something I spent.. maybe a little too much time doing.

From what I can tell, the story follows you, some unknown kid that – as you journey to put a stop to some other.. emo kid that has the power to.. digitally.. delete.. blocks? I think that’s his power.
Doesn’t that look like his power? Wait, is that even a guy?!

Now, I will preface this by stating that I didn’t get to experience everything the game had to offer so my first impressions of this game is based off of what I did. Therefore things like PvP will have to be done in a follow up video.

Like most MMORPGs you have your basic skill tree. Skills learned at level 1, 10, 20, etc. You can spend individual points you obtain in-game to level up those skills but be warned – your skill points are limited!
Unfortunately it seemed as though to purchase additional “Builds” you were required to purchase additional tabs using a form of premium currency. Which could give people a slight edge over those that do not have access to it.
And by edge, I mean the ability to swap specs when they want. Nothing drastic. Put your pitchforks down.

For playing during the closed beta I did get some cool little goodies. Like this adorable little hipster cap. Oh, man, I look like Avril Lavigne from the 90s before she’d sold out. I mean what?
Oh, I also got what is potentially the greatest costume a teenage boy could ever ask for, something I’m sure every guy secretly wants deep, deep down. Ohhh yeahhh.

Moving along.

The game has a lot of story. Like, a serious amount of story. I know I pressed on that a little above, but holy crap did I not realize just how much story there was.
In my first 45 minutes of playing I believe I spent a solid 20 minutes in pure cutscenes. Which isn’t a bad thing, honestly as I love story. That’s why Final Fantasy XIV is one of my favorite MMOs.

After wandering for what seemed like forever, I managed to happen across my first real boss encounter: A cute little succubus. Aww, look at her little tooth. And that cute outfit, and.. That guards face lmao.
She ultimately left – leaving me to fight her pet which I will refer to as.. Lizzie McGuire. Because he’s a giant lizard. And he’s.. well, it’s not as funny when you have to explain it.
This boss encounter however was quite confusing, as he kept knocking me down, yet when I approached him it would give me the option to “grab on”.
Not knowing what I was doing I promptly mounted Lizzie and thought we’d go off and have wonderful adventures together. Instead, he beat me just like my stepdad used to whenever he got drunk.

As I made progress through the game I learned a variety of new skills – all of which were pretty pleasing to the eye, especially for an Anime MMORPG.
The combat was actually surprisingly fun. Playing a Wizard I got to experience a good amount of ranged combat- Oh, god. What the fuck is that?! Nope, I’m outta here. Sorry, everyone.

While wandering the incredibly large city, I happened across a familiar tune. “To Zanarkand.” Ahh, my heart strings!

The questing in the game was actually pretty good. They weren’t just generic “fetch” or “kill” quests. During one quest, I needed to make my way through a large enclosed area, attempting to avoid the enemy NPCs by scaling the walls and walking across the piping.
On a completely seperate quest, I was playing tag with The Shredder as he attempted to keep his distance from me.
Another thing I realized – was that the environment was filled with items you can use to your advantage in combat.
As you can see while fighting this boss monster, I picked up a nearby oil barrel and threw it right at him, dealing physical damage and then further applying a damage over time to him.
This made for some interestingly compelling encounters.

After I believe an hour and a half, I made my way to the building and decorating aspect of MapleStory 2.
This is a mode I am 100% sure my wife will love as she’s a huge fan of The Sims, building simulators, house decor..
The interface was a little confusing at first but after spending 5 to 10 minutes in it I figured out how things worked.
I ended up building myself a nice little home.. complete with a large HD TV, right across from the bathroom. So if I wanted to, I could rotate the TV and watch it while pooping or bathing.
Ahhh.

Like the player housing, another very exciting aspect of the game came from the mini-games. Although I only had the opportunity to test the Maze out, I was well aware that the game did in fact offer various alternate forms of mini-games with which to partake.
Something that is very unique, and quite thrilling to participate in. Granted, I didn’t win the Maze race but I also didn’t do too badly!

I managed to make it far enough that I got to engage in my very first dungeon.
Now, I didn’t require the participation of other players for this specific dungeon but nevertheless it was unequivocally more difficult than anything I had experienced up until this point.
This was quite stimulating for me as there were moments where I genuinely got low on HP and needed to use healing items.
From what I was able to tell, bosses have unique mechanics requiring you dodge, look out for telegraphing and remain very mobile, which kept my attention at all times.

Now, from what I played through I can enthusiastically endorse this game as worth playing. Disregarding any speculation on pay to win and categorically and objectively looking at the game for what it is right now, I can say that MapleStory 2 was a lot of fun.
I will definitely, so long as Nexon doesn’t break the game with its cash shop, be there at launch and will dedicate time to not only playing it, but also recording videos on it.

Operating System: Windows XP SP3 32bit
CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo 1.8 GHz
Video Card: nVidia GeForce 9800 / ATI Radeon HD 4000
RAM: 2 GB
Hard Disk Space: 3 GB

Operating System: Windows 7 or Windows 8 64 bit
CPU: Intel Core i5 or better
Video Card: nVidia GeForce 600 GT / AMD Radeon HD 6000
RAM: 4 GB
Hard Disk Space: 3 GB