Review: MapleStory Thief Edition - Do You Have It In You?
August 30, 2010
Overview
MapleStory Thief Edition by Nexon is an action-RPG that brings the epic MMORPG cast onto the iPhone. You are Robin, and you’re on a quest to become the greatest thief in the world. You must work under your master MacArthur, and help the towns’ people with missions in order to master new skills and level up.
To be honest, having never played the MapleStory MMO on the PC, I was afraid it would take me a while until I got the feel of it down. Since this is a single player offline adventure, no previous experience was necessary. The plot was very simple while the gameplay delivered in depth.
Features:
MapleStory Thief Edition has hundreds of treasures to uncover, and over 70 pieces of equipment you can equip your character with. They are spread out throughout the different towns in MapleWorld, and you must both slash through enemies, and talk to fellow townsman to obtain them. MapleStory keeps players glued with its level-up (capped at level 99) system which is common in RPGs today.
You can adjust the speed of your adventure from the Options menu by toggling through Slow, Normal, and Fast. Movement can be set to either Auto or Manual, where Auto requires you to tap the direction you want to go, and have the computer walk your character for you. This is helpful if you find the on screen controls bothersome to your
experience.
Breakdown:
The Good:
MapleStory Thief Edition presents itself as an 8 Bit platformer, which always holds a dear place in my heart. Paired with action-RPG elements, there is a lot to do throughout the game. The personalities you get to meet are both humorous, and interesting.
One of the first missions I enjoyed was getting 8 blue snail shells for Humanoid, an empty robot yearning to be human. He needed the shells for his plot to humanize himself so he could finally experience the concept of friendship and community. The more characters you interact with, the more opportunities you have at advancing your character and becoming a better thief.
Leveling up is fast paced, and loads of fun. After all, this is an action-RPG adventure for the iPhone, so the key is to keep it casual, but also give you something to play for. MapleStory makes its expectations clear from the start of the game, and carries the theme throughout.
As a side note for you button mashers, don’t focus on clearing all the enemies off the screen. They will simply respawn and keep coming at you. However, you do get items such as coins as a result of killing them, so there’s an incentive to all the heavy lifting.
The Bad:
Visual controls are obviously a fact of life for iPhone gamers. As a platformer, MapleStory does not deviate from the trend. However, there is a good system for doing visual controls, and there are bad. MapleStory definitely went towards the bad.
The buttons were simply too small for comfortably maneuvering around the different stages filled with enemies. I often found myself failing to connect, and getting dinged as a result. The buttons were also placed too closely to each other, so attempting to hit the attack button would often cause me to use up my items placed nearby instead.
Another gripe I had with this game was its lack of an auto-save feature. I had to replay the first few levels since the save feature was sort of hidden. To save your progress, tap the briefcase icon at the top-right, and click the "Option" tab below.
The Verdict:
MapleStory Thief Edition offers RPG goodness, in an 8 bit platforming flavor. If you’re a fan of the PC MMO, then besides spotty controls, there is very little reason to avoid this title. With mission based gameplay and loads of goodies to discover, new and old players alike can get in on the action with ease. With the number of towns to explore, together with a unique cast of characters, MapleStory Thief Edition is worth it.