MapleStory : Idle RPG

About

MapleStory : Idle RPG is a single player role playing game. It received neutral reviews from players.

MapleStory: Idle RPG is a single-player role-playing game that brings the classic MapleStory experience into an idle format. While it features a good story and extensive grinding, the gameplay is hampered by frequent bugs, poor optimization, and an overwhelming amount of advertisements. Despite its challenges, fans of the original may find enjoyment in its idle adaptation.

Genres & Tags

Role Playing

Play Modes

Single-Player

Skip User Reviews

53%

Audience ScoreBased on 1,260 reviews

story24 positive mentions

monetization112 negative mentions

The game brings back a lot of nostalgia for long-time MapleStory fans.
The idle mechanics allow for a more relaxed gaming experience, making it suitable for busy players.
The graphics and art style are appealing, reminiscent of the original MapleStory.

The game crashes frequently, making it nearly unplayable for many users.
Progression is heavily gated behind paywalls, making it difficult for free-to-play players to advance.
The user interface is often criticized for being too small and unresponsive, leading to a frustrating experience.

story
192 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
13%
81%
6%
The story aspect of the game is largely criticized for its lack of depth and engaging narrative, with many players noting that it consists mainly of repetitive quests and tutorials that feel more like a cash grab than a meaningful experience. While some players appreciate the nostalgia of the original MapleStory, they express disappointment in the game's heavy monetization and technical issues, which detract from the overall enjoyment. Overall, the game is seen as a shallow iteration of the beloved franchise, lacking the rich storytelling and character development that fans had hoped for.
- “The game itself is fun for an idle RPG themed around my nostalgic memories of MapleStory.”
- “Absolutely adorable and so nostalgic, everyone I know loves MapleStory and this is a trip down memory lane.”
- “It brings back many memories I've had playing MapleStory years ago.”
- “There's no story, nothing to explore, nothing to learn, nothing to develop, it's just grinding, grinding slowing down, encouraging you to spend.”
- “The quest is not rewarding, they do not give anything to help you progress through the game, just some trash to trick you as a reward.”
- “Worse game ever, just a repeat of the same quest over, over, and over again.”
monetization
143 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
7%
15%
78%
The monetization strategy of the game has been widely criticized as aggressive and predatory, with many users labeling it a cash grab. Players report frequent crashes related to ads, ineffective ad rewards, and a heavy reliance on microtransactions, which detracts from the overall gameplay experience. Despite some nostalgic appeal, the overwhelming presence of ads and the pay-to-win model have left many feeling frustrated and dissatisfied.
- “There was more focus on the marketing and monetization side of this game than actual gameplay.”
- “Monetization is quite aggressive/predatory.”
- “The sheer amount of required monetization in this game is beyond comprehension.”
- “It's a prime example of exploitative mobile monetization at its worst.”
gameplay
74 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
19%
67%
14%
The gameplay of the game has received mixed reviews, with many players criticizing its repetitiveness, lack of depth, and heavy reliance on pay-to-win mechanics. While some find the idle gameplay enjoyable and reminiscent of classic titles, others express frustration over technical issues, such as lag and crashes, which detract from the overall experience. Overall, the game seems to struggle with balancing engaging mechanics and monetization, leading to a gameplay experience that feels shallow and unoptimized for mobile platforms.
- “The gameplay is amazing, but the lack of updates is concerning as there is no weekly or monthly content or events.”
- “Very intuitive gameplay, easy to navigate.”
- “Gameplay is fine for an idle game.”
- “Gameplay wise, it's pretty lackluster and is filled with repetitive gameplay 'events'...”
- “Fun for an hour until you realize there's no actual gameplay.”
- “There's zero actual gameplay available.”
optimization
32 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
9%
47%
44%
The game's optimization is widely criticized, with users reporting frequent crashes, lag, and high battery drain across various devices, particularly older models. Many players express frustration over the lack of performance settings and the game's inability to run smoothly, even in low-graphic modes. Overall, the consensus is that significant improvements are needed to enhance stability and performance for a better gaming experience.
- “If the devs can fix the issues like that and give performance a tune-up, they could have a good idle game.”
- “Gameplay is great, but it needs optimization.”
- “Would be better if optimized.”
- “In typical Nexon fashion, the game is prone to crashing for seemingly no reason at all - probably due to poor optimization on the app developers' side.”
- “This game is an unoptimized mess.”
- “Absolutely love the game, don't get me wrong, but the horrible performance and sheer number of bugs and crashes make it beyond irritating to play.”
graphics
29 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
17%
73%
10%
The graphics of the game receive mixed reviews, with many players appreciating the art style and visual appeal, describing them as beautiful and enjoyable. However, there are significant concerns regarding poor optimization, lack of customizable graphics settings, and performance issues, such as lag and crashes, even on high-end devices. Players are calling for improvements in graphical options to enhance performance and reduce resource consumption.
- “The star is for the graphics which are really nice.”
- “It's very, very beautiful and its graphics are amazing.”
- “Definitely love the pixelated graphics.”
- “Oh, and there are essentially no real graphics options to help it run better or take less battery.”
- “How can a lower end graphic game have such poor optimization yet Honkai Star Rail, TFT, more demanding spec games can run flawlessly on my phone?”
- “How is a game this old with such basic graphics so riddled with lag and game crashes?”
grinding
22 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
14%
95%
The reviews highlight that grinding in Maplestory is excessive and often feels tedious, with many players expressing frustration over the pay-to-win mechanics that hinder progression without spending money. While some enjoy the social aspects and the idle gameplay, the lack of meaningful exploration and strategy makes the grinding experience feel repetitive and unfulfilling for many. Overall, the game is characterized as a grind-heavy experience that may appeal to dedicated fans of the genre but can be off-putting for casual players.
- “I played for 2 days, and while it can be a grind to reach the top rank without spending money, the challenge keeps me engaged.”
- “The grinding aspect of the game is rewarding; it feels satisfying to see my progress over time.”
- “Grinding may take time, but it allows me to fully explore the game's mechanics and develop my character.”
- “There's no story, nothing to explore, nothing to learn, nothing to develop, it's just grinding, grinding slowing down, encouraging you to spend.”
- “It would be different if there was any way to obtain premium currency without purchases, even if it was grindy... but there is not.”
- “This is just a brainless grinding idle game, requires no strategy and skills, and social aspect with only chat that brings no value; unlike other idle games, that requires careful tactics and planning, and also social teamwork and strategy, this game has none.”
stability
22 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
5%
95%
The game's stability is heavily criticized, with users reporting frequent freezes, crashes, and lag, particularly during party quests and ad transitions. Many players experience issues on various devices, including flagship models, leading to frustration over the game's performance and reliability. Overall, the game is described as a "buggy mess" that detracts significantly from the user experience.
- “The party quest system is buggy and inconsistent.”
- “Game is very buggy and power ratings are useless.”
- “They release new content and fix minor bugs, but the game is just as buggy if not worse.”
humor
4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
75%
75%
Users find the humor in the game to be a mixed bag; some appreciate the unintentional comedy from bugs, such as persistent ad audio, while others find amusement in the game's nostalgic references to outdated gaming practices, like farm bot accounts from 2004. Overall, the humor seems to stem from both technical glitches and the game's quirky design choices.
- “It's honestly hilarious that they basically took the farm bot accounts from 2004 and made them into a mobile game.”
- “What a funny game.”
- “It's supposed to be a comedy, but I found the jokes to be flat and unoriginal.”
- “The humor fell completely flat; I didn't laugh once during the entire game.”
- “I expected a lot of laughs, but the attempts at humor were cringeworthy and missed the mark.”
music
4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
50%
50%
The music in the game receives mixed reviews; while some players appreciate the original soundtrack and find it enjoyable, others criticize it as repetitive and annoying, with one user specifically noting that it disrupts gameplay when switching apps. Additionally, the loading screen music is mentioned as a highlight by some, but overall, the experience is marred by technical issues related to music playback.
- “Fun game and great music, definitely give it a try.”
- “You open another tab on your phone even for just a second to change your music, and the game completely shuts down. It takes forever to open again.”
- “This game sucks. I only installed it because the ads for it were so repetitive, and that song was so annoying. There are too many buttons for a mobile user, and the loading screen is just wasting time. Please do not install and avoid this game.”
emotional
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Players express a mix of nostalgia and frustration regarding the emotional experience of the game. While it evokes fond memories reminiscent of early gaming experiences like MapleStory, the limitations on in-game purchases and rewards can detract from the overall enjoyment and emotional engagement.
- “Simple nostalgia vibe similar to how Maplestory M made me feel at launch.”