MapleStory M Review – An MMO port which only gets the port bit right

There are some games that just don't feel good to play on a phone, games that require twitchy controls, games that need a lot of buttons, and games that can't be put down for a moment so you can answer a text are just a few examples.

While MapleStory M knows that it's not ideally suited for touchscreen play, its solutions to the problem end up distancing the player and making for a rather boring experience.

MapleStory M is a mobile port of classic PC MMO. It's an ambitious project, and for the most part it works really well.

You create a character, level them up, unlock new abilities, find citizens in need, help them with their quests, and then get some rewards.

While there's a sharp, dopamine-filled compulsion loop here, MapleStory M falls into the same trap as a lot of other mobile MMOs out there. Within about an hour and a half, I was already level 20 and could get rid of my enemies with a few attacks. If you're looking for a challenge, this really isn't the place to find one.

Controlling your character and moving around the world is also not great, you go at a walking pace and although the virtual d-pad is pretty responsive it can often be tricking jumping up platforms.

The game attempts to remedy this issue with an auto-quest button, you tap it and it'll walk you where you need to go, and even automatically fight the creature you need to defeat.

Of course, auto-questing is entirely optional, but the combat is so shallow and samey that sometimes you just want the computer to do it for you, at which point you might as well not be playing.

MapleStory M is a successful port of a genre that doesn't really feel great to play on mobile. It's quite impressive to see the full MapleStory world that originated on PC come to mobile, but the game is not challenging enough and a slog to get through.

It's ironic that the solutions MapleStory M uses to make the game easier to play on mobile often mean that you'd rather let the game do everything. And that's not the best way to keep your audience engaged.