Like several other recent massively-multiplayer role-playing games coming out of Asia such as Blade and Soul or Twin Saga, MapleStory 2 has beautiful graphics, an overwrought storyline about saving the world from evil, and different classes to perform with. The sequel also takes away the original Cheap Maplestory Mesos game's gender-locked classes and limited selection of looks from the character development page. (If you opted to play with a demon slayer in the original, you would have to spend real money or searching to get a beauty coupon if you wanted to take out the character's natural grey skin and reddish eyes.) I chose to create a warrior-type Berserker, a dude with a fairly angry and aggressive backstory, but I was able to customize his look to be female and wear pink curls and multicolored eyes.

The game highlights individuality and customization over conventional defaults. It has an obsession with asking in the event that you would like to screenshot any component of the game, and it automatically saves screenshots at a designated folder into your computer. Perhaps the biggest indication of the match's ambitions is you get your own residence. I never noticed that while playing the first game, but old Maplers are essentially nomads. MapleStory 2 fixes this issue by giving you a large old home so you can craft your own little corner of the game.

Regardless of the shift to 3D, MapleStory 2 smartly retains key elements of the match and storytelling that made the original so distinctive. The storyline has evolved and added dozens of new characters, but the core of the tale remains the same: it's the evil Dark Mage versus the gorgeous goddess. The ever-popular thief class is still available and so are wizard, knight, priest, archer, deep gunner, and assassin. Some less-welcome elements of the original are still in-place, such as the notoriously glitchy Nexon game launcher.

However, once you're in the sport, a lot can be forgiven, given how it's the community that really makes the experience enjoyable. In its heart MapleStory is an internet destination for friends to collect, similar to Club Penguin or even Neopets. I suddenly met my current boyfriend of almost three years through MapleStory when an idle summer drew us both back to the Maplestory items game, and have met several Maple friends in real life from throughout the nation. We keep in touch, even if none of us play the older game much anymore. The people of MapleStory 2 seem nice enough for today. When I died and got pinned by a tombstone, I typed in chat for assistance, and someone actually walked over and revived me before telling me he hadn't helped me earlier because he thought I had been an non-playable character as a result of my suspiciously simple username.