Participating in the NEXON PEAK Post Challenge

What games do you usually play?

I enjoy anime-style character-collection games and games where I can dress up my characters!

But collecting alone isn't enough to keep a game interesting, is it?

For me, a big part of enjoying a game is the satisfaction of progressing both my account and my characters.

In MapleStory, Lost Ark, and Honkai: Star Rail, building stronger characters is important,

but all three also give players a clear idea of what content to tackle next.

It's interesting to see that common thread across PC and mobile games, isn't it?

In MapleStory and Lost Ark, I mainly upgraded my gear or worked on what's often called horizontal progression to take on bosses I hadn't been able to defeat.

In Honkai: Star Rail, I enjoy seeing how changes to my team composition and relic builds can make the difference between clearing difficult content and falling short.

In this post, I'd like to take a brief look at how these three games give players their next progression goal, and why working toward it keeps them coming back.

ⅠContentsⅠ

① Why Do Progression Goals Matter?

② Progression Goals in Each Game

③ Moments That Felt Rewarding

1. Why Do Progression Goals Matter?

Even as your character grows stronger,

if there's no clear place to put

all that newfound power to use,

progression can start to feel like a repetitive chore,

and it's easy to lose interest.

└ Give me something more fun and challenging next time.

Think of players who finish all their routine tasks

and have nothing left to do but jump back and forth in town.

└ Players who just keep jumping in town...

On the other hand, if you have a specific boss or activity

you can take on once you're a little stronger,

gearing up and developing your character has a purpose,

giving you a reason to keep logging in over the long term.

Rather than simply raising my attack stat,

I find getting stronger much more enjoyable when there's a tangible goal,

like defeating the next boss or earning rewards from difficult content—something I can actually see myself accomplish.

It's much like a horse chasing a carrot dangling in front of it... ㅎ..

2. Progression Goals in Each Game

2.1 - MapleStory

MapleStory has a clear progression loop:

steadily increasing your level and upgrading your gear and Nodes,

then taking on the next tier of bosses.

Even the boss UI

shows the level required to enter.

Some of my attempts ended with the boss still at high HP,

while others ended because I'd run out of lives or time.

Eventually, I managed to stay within the death limit, cut my clear time as much as possible,

and concentrate my damage into shorter bursts to finally defeat those bosses!

Those were the moments when the results of getting stronger

felt most tangible.

Improving my character also let me confidently take on

boss fights I hadn't even met the entry requirements for before.

└ Of course, I still had to chug plenty of potions... ㅎ..

2.2 - Lost Ark

Lost Ark follows a similar pattern

to its fellow MMORPG, MapleStory.

If you look at the Legion Raid matchmaking UI,

you'll see the entry level requirement listed there.

2.3 - Honkai: Star Rail

In Honkai: Star Rail, clearing content depends not only

on an individual character's strength, but also on which characters

you pair together and how strong their relic stats are.

└ My 뀨랑, whose signature Light Cone I couldn't get...

Even with the same character, relic main stats and substats, Speed, overall stat values,

and team composition can change the outcome of a battle,

so adjusting teams and builds

can feel like a form of progression in itself.

3. Moments That Felt Rewarding

Across all three games, the greatest sense of accomplishment from getting stronger ultimately came

when I cleared content I hadn't been able to clear before.

Game	Progression Goal	Shared Progression Goal
MapleStory	Defeat the next tier of bosses	Earn more rewards than at the previous stage
Lost Ark	Enter new raids and deal consistent damage
Honkai: Star Rail	Clear difficult content through team composition and relic builds

When I clear content I once struggled with after fine-tuning my build and making further upgrades,

I can see that all the work I've put into my characters

has amounted to more than just higher numbers.

Ultimately, I think the appeal of progression is seeing my characters and my account grow stronger:

that growth puts previously impossible goals within reach,

and ultimately lets me earn more rewards than before.

That's all for this post.

I'll be back with another topic next time (๑>؂•̀๑)