Pocket MapleStory is an 2D fantasy MMORPG on mobile devices with a zone-based persistent world, anime-inspired graphics, action combat, hundreds of quests, party-based dungeons and boss battles, and a story with cutscenes. Pocket MapleStory is the mobile version of the PC MMORPG, MapleStory.

Pocket MapleStory is a 2D persistent zone-based MMORPG developed and published by NEXON Company, NEXON’s mobile branch behind the mobile MMORPG, Legion of Heroes . Experience MapleStory recreated for mobile devices with similar graphics, combat, monsters, maps, and more. Defeat monsters in side-scrolling, action combat and complete hundreds of quests. Choose one of three classes and participate in their unique stories featuring character dialogue and cutscenes. Join a guild and team up with other players to take on powerful bosses and mysterious dungeons. Relive the world of MapleStory on your mobile device today!

Full Review

Pocket MapleStory Review

By, Herman Y.

Pocket MapleStory is a free-to-play, 2D fantasy MMORPG developed and published by NEXON, the creators of the mobile MMORPG, Legion of Heroes, and the PC MMORPG, MapleStory. Pocket MapleStory was first released in Korea in 2013 and was very successful with over 7 million downloads in Asia due to the huge popularity of the PC MMORPG title, MapleStory, which came out in 2003. Pocket MapleStory finally launched worldwide (excluding South East Asia which has a different publisher) on October 27, 2015 and despite its popularity in Asia, the global version was met with a surprisingly low turnout which was unexpected for such as well-known brand. Pocket MapleStory greatly resembles the original PC MMORPG, but was recreated for mobile devices to appeal to a more casual audience. It will provide great nostalgia to returning players but not without a price.

Character Creation and Classes

When players begin Pocket MapleStory, they can choose between 3 gender-locked classes (with more in development). The current classes include Demon Slayer, Dual Blade, and Angelic Buster. Demon Slayers are strong warriors that wield blunt weapons with AOE abilities that can hit many enemies at once. Dual Blades are dual dagger-wielding rogues with swift attacks and multi-hit skills for high single-target damage. Last, Angelic Busters are magical gunslingers equipped with Soul Shooters and can attack from long range. Each class plays fairly differently due to differences in attack style, skills, and builds, and players can customize their character’s skill and stat point allocations after level 10. The first “job advancement” is at level 10 but it is really just going from jobless to the job you picked in the beginning. Unfortunately, there is no appearance customization at all during the character creation and players can only customize their appearance with cash.

The World of MapleStory on Mobile

Pocket MapleStory has a persistent world with many maps broken up into different zones. Players of the original MapleStory will recognize the familiar map designs with platforms and portals on the left and right ends of the map leading to the next zone. There are many zones between each town and each have their own level design (mainly differences in platforms) and unique monster types. The world resembles that of the original game with the same towns such as Kerning City, Perion, and Ellinia, identical soundtracks, and the same monsters including blue and red snails, bouncing orange mushrooms, and walking stumps. The world will certainly bring great nostalgia to players of the original game although the towns and stages are much smaller and were recreated on mobile for less running around. It is basically a miniaturized version of the original game.

Questing and Story

The questing in Pocket MapleStory greatly resembles that of the original game as well as many older PC MMORPGs. Almost every quest involves killing monsters or obtaining monster drops and there are hundreds of quests scattered around in each town. Some of these quests will advance the main storyline, some will give special equipment, and most are repeatable quests that players can complete for gold and experience. The game essentially gives quests for defeating monsters in each zone/map and players will spend a majority of their time killing monsters for quests and leveling up. This does create some repetitive gameplay since the game requires a lot of grinding and players will generally move from zone to zone killing monsters with not much else to do until they can progress with the story. Luckily, the game has a “quest teleportation” system that allows players to instantly teleport to their quest objective, which removes the need to run through maps and provides a quicker, to-the-point, casual experience.

Unlike the original MapleStory, Pocket MapleStory incorporates a new storyline into the game with cutscenes and character dialogue that makes it more interesting to play. Each class has their own unique storyline and starting area, and players take on the role of a pre-designed character with their own background and purpose in the world. The dialogue is conversational and somewhat humorous, although cheesy at times and generally aimed toward children and teenagers. The story itself has some twists and turns that makes it fairly interesting, although the quests associated with it are still generally fetch quests. Overall, the questing is very generic, but the story adds some entertainment and charm to the game which makes questing and grinding a little more enjoyable.

Side-Scrolling, Action Combat

Pocket MapleStory features side-scrolling movement and action combat. Players can choose between a joystick or D-pad to move left and right on the ground, and up and down on ropes/ladders. There are buttons to attack, jump, and to use skills and potions (with 4 hotkey slots). The combat is very similar to the PC version in which monsters are constantly running left and right and getting touched by them hurts the player. Attacking enemies damage them, knocks them back slightly, and makes them aggressive toward the player. Despite the simple controls, the movement is, unfortunately, very cumbersome due to the small joystick/D-pad resulting in failures to move left or right in times of need and getting hit often. In the PC MapleStory, kiting was very important, which involved constantly hitting enemies and then moving back to avoid damage but this is very difficult to execute in Pocket MapleStory due to the controls. There is an “Auto-Combat” option that players can opt for that allows for their character to automatically fight enemies which helps with grinding and finishing quests quicker. While this feature will put off players that dislike automated combat, players still cannot go AFK while in “Auto-Combat” mode because their character will constantly get hit by enemies and will die quickly if players are not watching over the combat.

Dungeons and Bosses

In addition to the main, persistent leveling areas, there are special, instanced dungeons that players can participate in with bosses to fight. New dungeons unlock every few levels, and players can team up with up to 3 other players to fight through these dungeons which give out great rewards including gold, experience, and rare equipment. Dungeons involve fighting through waves of monsters, navigating past various zones and platforms, and taking on powerful bosses. Bosses are very exciting to fight and have special attacks and skills that can be devastating to unprepared players. Dungeons help break up the monotony of grinding but can only be attempted with Dimensional Mirrors, obtained from the Cash Shop or from certain quests and events, which limits dungeon runs. There is also a guild system that makes finding a party for dungeons easier as well as provides more social interaction to the game.

Cash Shop/In-App Purchases (IAP)

In-app purchases offer a good amount of advantages to paying players. The Cash Shop includes Upgrade Cubes and Scrolls that add special attributes to equipment, Pets (that last 1-30 days) that remind players to use potions and help pick up loot, cosmetic fashion items, Capsule Machines that give out random weapons, armor, and accessories, Dimensional Mirrors to enter dungeons, and experience boosts. All items in the shop can only be purchased with Candies (premium currency) except for lower tier Dimensional Mirrors and Regular Capsule Machine draws. The biggest advantages to spending money are the Upgrade Cubes that make equipment more powerful, Premium Capsule Machine draws, and experience boosts. The Capsule Machines give out random equipment from level 0-80 and can include very powerful and rare equipment, some of which cannot be found anywhere else. There is also a 20-tier VIP system that gives free in-game gold, Capsule Machine tickets, Dimensional Mirrors, pets, mounts, experience and stat boosts, and more for spending money. Overall, the in-app purchases and VIP system associated with it offer a lot of advantages to paying players and although players willing to grind and farm a lot may not need to spend any money, the paid advantages are undeniably large.

Final Verdict – Good

Pocket MapleStory is a casual version of the original Maplestory with similar graphics, combat, and environments, streamlined quest teleporting, and a story. While it may provide great nostalgia to former MapleStory players, it ultimately suffers from unresponsive controls, large amounts of repetition and grinding, and pay-to-win aspects that makes it a largely mediocre mobile MMORPG that will appeal mainly to die-hard MapleStory fans.