My Take On "Maple Story"

I finally got around to playing "Maple Story", the free online MMO. It strikes me as a cross between Super Mario and Final Fantasy (or some other sprite based SNES RPG). Thankfully, unlike Mario games, there are not bottomless pits to fall into over and over again. The platform jumping is fun and the combat and little fetch quests are oddly addicting.

I'm playing the game with a game controller using "joy2key" instead of the keyboard, as a game like this just feels wrong when playing on a keyboard. There don't seem to be a ton of skills to use as a fighter, so I've got plenty of buttons with room to spare on my controller.

So far, I don't see another shoe dropping. Y'know, the kind that would say "Hey, we're glad you've enjoyed playing for free, but if you want to advance past level 2, buy any decent equipment or go anywhere of real interest in this game, you have to pay us!" Hopefully I'll never hit that obstacle, because I'm enjoying the game, but refuse to invest any money in it.

I do have to complain about the install time, though. For some reason, this relatively simplistic (though beautiful) looking game took longer to install on my computer than more advanced games that I've installed in the past. It also has a lame password entry system that is a minor annoyance to use every time I log in.

Otherwise, it's a great diversion and scratches my itch for an action rpg that offers a different experience from my usual games.