Hello.

The keyword this time is blood moon, and I will be looking at elements in Nexon games whose dark crimson tones evoke that theme.

This is an AI-generated image.

A red moon typically creates an eerie atmosphere that leaves a lasting impression. For this post, I looked for elements in MapleStory that capture that feeling.

Root Abyss and Crimson Queen

Root Abyss, where four guardians serving Damien watch over the sealed World Tree, has a dark atmosphere well suited to the theme.

Among these guardians, Pierre evokes the theme through red roses and a moon, but Crimson Queen combines red light and darkness even more strongly.

To begin with, the queen's palace is decorated in red tones, with red light streaming through the windows as well. There were also some striking effects in overseas versions of MapleStory that we did not get to see in Korea's KSM.

These included the bloody tears and the bloodlike red effects shown here. Apparently, they were censored in Korea along with the hands visible in Pierre's sandwich, so they never made it into our version; while I can understand that decision, it is somewhat disappointing, as their inclusion might have given this boss a slightly more memorable atmosphere.

The El Nath Mountains Region

The mountains of the El Nath region also have a distinctly dark atmosphere.

Lion King's Castle, in particular, feels even darker when considered alongside Von Leon's tragic story. There is a real beauty to the atmosphere created by the grand but weathered castle and the reddish clouds.

Lava flows through the castle interior where Von Leon resides, bringing its red and black tones into even sharper focus. His role has diminished now that he is a daily boss many players skip, but Von Leon's story is worth exploring, so I recommend looking into it if you are interested. Additions to the story have now brought it to a proper conclusion.

The dark atmosphere becomes more pronounced along the path leading behind the Dead Mine, where it begins to take hold in earnest; considering that the Liches and Zombies were all once humans living in El Nath, I find it quite a frightening setting beneath the cute pixel art.

At the far end of the Dead Mine, as you approach Zakum, the atmosphere fits this theme particularly well. Players rarely fight Zakum these days, and even when they enter, the boss is summoned immediately, leaving few opportunities to see the Demon Tree, Zakum's true body, whose resemblance to a screaming person is quite striking. The more I look at it, the more I feel that it is a well-designed boss in many respects, especially as the very first boss monster.

The Now-Forgotten Crimsonwood

This is a region many of you may have forgotten, or perhaps never knew about at all. I had forgotten about it myself until writing this post brought it to mind for the first time in ages and prompted me to visit. As you can see above, it is only accessible through this button in the Maple Guide, no longer appears on the world map, and has had all its related main quests removed, leaving it in a rather unfortunate state.

Entering through the Maple Guide brings you to this map, where the castle is tinged with red light in keeping with the region's name. It resembles Lion King's Castle and is similarly deserted, but being so much more forgotten gives it an even stronger sense of isolation.

Pressing the return-to-town button takes you to the top of the citadel, where you can access some of the maps.

The 4 portals above lead to maps with layouts similar to those just shown, with 2 maps accessible through each portal.

Each map has its own monsters, with no overlap between them.

The other portals lead to the monsters shown above, though there is currently nothing particularly noteworthy about them.

The statue in the center offers a total of 3 minigames. I tried them all to see what rewards they offered, but there is nothing to earn beyond a tiny amount of EXP, and they are difficult enough to be frustrating, so I would not recommend them at all.

At this point, you may be wondering what purpose this map serves. I wondered the same thing, so I looked it up and found that it apparently once had a party quest as well as its own story quests

The quests were removed in a relatively recent patch on April 17, 2025, and the region now serves only as a place for Monster Collection. With the story revisions reportedly establishing Masteria as MapleStory's third region, and given this area's connection to demons and Masteria, the theory that the quests were removed in preparation for exploring the region in greater depth in a later story seems quite plausible.

The statue on the now-inaccessible map is one example of the elements here that could create a very atmospheric setting if used well, so I am looking forward to future patches.

The Classic Black Mage

Finally, the Black Mage fits this theme perfectly in many respects. His appearance alone is striking, with a red aura standing out against his otherwise black design.

Not only the throne where the Black Mage sits,

but also his guards, the black chains, the death count UI, and his various attack patterns are designed to complement the atmosphere of the boss himself, giving the encounter an immensely imposing presence overall.

Since the atmosphere of phases 1~2 shown above is what players generally expected from the Black Mage, some have expressed disappointment with phases 3~4. Although those later phases do not fit this post's theme, I personally like them as an attempt to give form to the new world the Black Mage dreamed of.

Thank you for reading.