This post was created as part of Nexon PEAK activities.

Hello.

With October 2026 already here, autumn has arrived. I imagine quite a few people prefer autumn for how mild and comfortable it feels compared with summer or winter.

There are a few maps in MapleStory that naturally come to mind when you think of autumn. Some can be visited at any time, but there is also a past event theme that stayed with me even though you can’t access it now, so I wanted to include that here as well.

Two autumn-feeling maps you can visit now

To start with, even aside from autumn itself, there is Maple Island, a place with obvious significance in this game, marked by its enormous maple tree.

All jobs can see this map on the world map, but you can only enter it through Return to Maple, the Explorer beginner skill, which gives the area a certain unique charm.

As soon as you use the skill and arrive at Southperry, you can spot the giant maple tree, and it looks genuinely impressive.

And beyond that large maple tree, even these smaller trees carry a nice hint of autumn foliage.

If you keep heading left, you eventually reach the giant maple tree, with fallen maple leaves scattered across the ground as well. It really captures the feeling of autumn.

Unlike Ereve, there isn’t a separate teleport portal here, but you can still make your way to the top of the tree by using skills such as Rope Lift.

Next is Fox Valley. This used to be a place people would stop by just before reaching level 200, so it had a bit of significance of its own, but now it has honestly become somewhere that’s hard to fit into the usual leveling route.

Even so, the backdrop still feels meaningful. It looks different from the giant maple leaves of Maple Island, but it does a lovely job of conveying the look of mountains colored by autumn.

Lastly, there is the lightly colored autumn of Shangri-La. Since Shangri-La itself was designed around the motif of the four seasons, the setting is even more direct than the two places above. In the lore, though, these areas are not currently in their normal state, so visually they do not line up exactly with the kind of autumn we usually imagine.

Autumn-feeling maps that are no longer accessible, but were memorable

Next are some autumn-themed maps that you can’t visit now, but that left a strong impression on me. This was [Minar Autumn Picnic], the autumn event held in 2023.

It’s only a short 40-second video, but it’s put together in a very charming way, so it’s worth a look. As you can see, the concept was that the Halflings of Leafre were preparing for an autumn picnic, and because the theme was so clearly centered on that idea, every element from beginning to end fit the season remarkably well.

The event-only map used during the event period was also decorated very nicely overall, and along with that,

there was a Punch King-style event where you gathered acorns,

and a level range monster skill event where you could see the Halflings enjoying cosmos flowers and ginkgo-leaf flower viewing,

as well as an event built around the idea of packing lunchboxes and heading out on picnics to different regions. Overall, I really liked how well it captured the cheerful mood of an autumn outing.

The NPCs were dressed well to match the concept too. These days, event themes tend to run alongside the main story progression in Grandis, so side-story themes like this have become less common. Still, I sometimes think it would be nice to see something like this return briefly now and then as a small change of pace.

The background music is quite good as well.

Official illustrations released during the autumn season

Lastly, I’ll close this post with official illustrations released for the autumn season. These come from the artwork board on the official MapleStory website , and if you like them, you can also download high-resolution versions from there.

Thank you for reading.