Earlier this month video game developer and publisher Nexon partnered up with Reki Kawahara’s light novel series Sword Art Online with a crossover in Nexon’s most popular MMORPG, Maplestory. Unfortunately the campaign itself ended last week, so we will let you know what you missed out on.
Maplestory had a Sword Art Online campaign where players could play as the main characters from the popular light novel and anime series. The first main feature is a new dungeon solely for the campaign, where you can enter a familiar dungeon from the series as either Kirito, Asuna or Leafa, in a party of up to 3. To get to the dungeon, you needed to accept the quest from the universal notifier from Kirito himself, where you and your party will be teleported to the dungeon entrance. You can enter the dungeon once a day for free, but for additional entries into the dungeon you need at least 3 SAO coins for the normal dungeon, and 5 coins for the premium version.
Each of the characters have their own unique skill set in the dungeon with an ultimate attack. Kirito has his default Vertical Square, a skill that attacks in front of him 4 times in rapid succession that can deal massive critical damage, Dark Repulser, which allows him to get his second sword of the same name to dual wield that increases his attack for 60 seconds, and his ultimate The Eclipse, which is a massive onslaught of attack to those in front of him.
Asuna has her default skill Star Splash, which attacks multiple times so fast that the blade can’t be seen, Battle Healing, a health regenerating skill that heals each time you land an attack, and her ultimate Flashing Penetrator, which deals a massive attack to enemies in a straight line.
Leafa’s default skill is Vacuum Blades, a long range arc attack that hits an enemy multiple times, Blessings of the Wind, a passive buff that allows quicker attacks, and her ultimate Wind Needles, a power magic skill that deals massive damage to a small area.
The dungeon is split up into floors where you need to eliminate all enemies before moving up. After 4 floors, you will meet the boss of the dungeon. The boss is randomly selected from: The Gleam Eyes, The Skull Reaper, and The Fatal Scythe. And once you clear the dungeon Asuna will appear and give your character a reward.
Of course there are some cash items for you to purchase, which are the costumes of the three crossover characters. You can keep these and wear them even though the campaign is now over.
Here is some gameplay footage of the event from blindsh0t:
Sword Art Online is a light novel series written by Reki Kawahara, who also is the author of Accel World. The light novel series began in 2009 being published in ASCII Media Works’ Dengeki Bunko. To date a total of 15 volumes have been compiled in the series, released in Japan on August 9th 2014. . Since then it sold millions of copies, topping the charts in 2012. Additionally in 2012, an anime adaptation was released. The Sword Art Online anime aired in July and was produced by A-1 Pictures, which received a large reception. Since then, the series has appeared on a plethora of media with international merchandise, spinoff manga, and handheld and browser video games, including Sword Art Online: Hollow Fragment for the Vita. The latest manga volume, Sword Art Online: Caliber, began serialization in the September issue of Dengeki G’s Comic magazine. In addition, Kawahara has relaunched the series as Sword Art Online: Progressive, a re-release of the light novels with additional content. A new light novel adaptation titled Sword Art Online: Alternative will begin publication on December 10th. A second anime adaptation of the series began airing from July this year.
Here is a synopsis of the first series:
In the near future, a Virtual Reality Massive Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game (VRMMORPG) called Sword Art Online has been released where players can control their avatars through brain waves using technology called “NerveGear.” When players enter the game, they discover they cannot log out, as the game creator is holding them captive. To escape, players must beat the game by defeating each boss on all 100 floors; however, if they die in the game, they die in real life too. Their struggle for survival starts now…
The Maplestory x Sword Art Online campaign is unfortunately over. There has been no announcement from Nexon about any more future campaigns.
You can visit the game’s website here: http://maplestory.nexon.net/
Source Article – Maplestory Updates
“Sword Art Online”, , images, and all associated brands and titles © 2014 Reki Kawahara, A-1 Pictures, Bandai Namco Games inc. and SAO Project
“Maplestory”, images, video and all associated brands and titles © 2014 NEXON Korea Corp. and NEXON America Inc