MapleStory DS 2025 [Full English Translation][Complete]

[houst]

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-- [COMPLETE] MapleStoryDS Translation Project 2025 --

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15 years ago MapleStory DS was released
15 years ago we had the first English translation project... which was then subsequently abandoned...
Over the years that went by, there were many projects that were started then abruptly ended

Today, we now have a full English patch for the MapleStory DS game.

This is a follow up to a post I did in 2021, where I just put English keywords in a Chinese rom for playability.
In this update, the rom has been translated fully to English using Japanese.

Summary

1. All text have been translated to English.
   • Conversational language
   • Actual funny lines without broken english
   • Good grammar, no spacing or spelling errors
   • Translated from Japanese via LLM, then proof read. Errors like syntax, missing spaces were fixed. Some run on sentences in the dialogue, though nothing serious.
     • Additional notes on the translation, it is more akin to "anime subtitle" translations. As long as it is grammatically correct the translation follows the Japanese way of speaking. Sometimes the Japanese sentence structure reemphasises words when "few word do trick", and sometimes we see english that is 'technically correct' but people don't speak that way. However, I have done my share of proof reading and see most cases the translation does translate to 'correct' english, not just technical correctness. Temper your expectations a little, as the text is still somewhat Japan-English sort of speaking.
       
       
2. Proper highlighting of keywords like places and items have been applied throughout.
   
   
3. Dialogue text line breaks have been done so words don't end abruptly at the end of the textbox.
   
   
4. The "story" page has been left with text overflowing across lines.
   • Due to the limitation ds, the text will always having varying lengths due to character name variations.
   • No line breaks have been added to give a more 'justified' style of text (within the ds limitations) for the story summary page, fitting in with the theme.
     
     
5. Graphics, maps, menus are all in english, as per previous projects

Credits to
DarthNemesis for MapleTrans, the nds repacking software
twiztidsinz for the English graphics
Everyone who worked on the MapleStory translation project over the years

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-- Download Patch file --

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Follow the instructions to patch the file
Google Drive (Patch in 7z zip)
Baidu Drive (req login)

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-- Update --

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-- 2025.11.18 --
From some feedback on some further edits to the translation, I've removed all the links except one, the gdrive folder.

Rom translation is going to be updated for final fixes, and remaining links will be put back when done.

By all means the rom should have everything translated, with only some occasional contextual errors.

I have opened a google doc to any proof readers that can help on suggesting corrections to any parts. Seems like there may be some parts that still require slight edits, like gender "she">"he" or name>he/she/you that need to be played through to understand.

I will set a timeline of 1 month until 2025.12.18 for this proof read extension to accept any suggested edits.

Go to the google doc and google sheet with any suggestions on corrections / parts that need to be reviewed


-- 2025.11.25 --
Week 1 Update
New NDS file created, there are two versions of the same translation, using two different roms in case for compatibility.

Community Changes:
~15 lines changed total in warrior chapter (total 589 lines in one warrior chapter file)
- 4 pronoun changes (It seems she hasn’t come back yet -> he hasn't come back yet)
- 3 changes on wording/ spacing changes
- 8 changes on awkward english (You were alive? -> You're alive?)

Also changed capitalisation according to feedback
The Tree that Grew>The Tree That Grew

Other changes:
- Leafre changes
- Toys storyline related changes
- Bulk changes to some names for consistency
- Minor changes to dialogue across files

-- 2025.12.16 --
Week 4 Update
New NDS file created, only one version created since the problem for compatibility seems to be solved in the comments.

Made some changes to the dialouge for consistency. Generally only minor changes to the dialouge. Toward the end seems like the community didn't have many changes to suggest.

This will be the final update for the translation. Those updating their rom archives please use this patch!

Leave a thanks if you read this in the future, happy mapling!

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-- Images --

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[Egoistamamono]

Finally, after years waiting. Thanks tor your effort.

 

[Chris_Highwind]

Neat that Maplestory DS finally has a full translation, but the fact that it's done with an LLM has me worried. The screenshots look comprehensible enough (Story text notwithstanding), but I can't help but wonder if there'll be some noticeable oddities as a result, or if you and/or your team made sure to proofread the translated script for any egregious errors.

EDIT: Yeah, just as I thought, I'm definitely seeing a few egregious errors in the translation. Like, the Warrior calling their grandpa a "she" throughout a cutscene with Hatch, and the Warrior greeting Aunt Sophia being replied with "It's not [name]", even though it is.

Note that these errors were found with the pre-patched rom found in the Google Drive, which may be an earlier version, I'll try patching it myself and see if anything changes from there.

 

[houst]

Neat that Maplestory DS finally has a full translation, but the fact that it's done with an LLM has me worried. The screenshots look comprehensible enough (Story text notwithstanding), but I can't help but wonder if there'll be some noticeable oddities as a result, or if you and/or your team made sure to proofread the translated script for any egregious errors.

EDIT: Yeah, just as I thought, I'm definitely seeing a few egregious errors in the translation. Like, the Warrior calling their grandpa a "she" throughout a cutscene with Hatch, and the Warrior greeting Aunt Sophia being replied with "It's not [name]", even though it is.

Main bulk of the translation was done with LLM, after which I proof read the text files. Many oddities like missing spaces, extra letters as sentence end markers were removed manually / through code. I went through a few chapters in game to check the readability as well, which is consistent with the screenshots shown.

I'll update the post to clarify on the LLM part.

Post automatically merged: Nov 17, 2025

Neat that Maplestory DS finally has a full translation, but the fact that it's done with an LLM has me worried. The screenshots look comprehensible enough (Story text notwithstanding), but I can't help but wonder if there'll be some noticeable oddities as a result, or if you and/or your team made sure to proofread the translated script for any egregious errors.

EDIT: Yeah, just as I thought, I'm definitely seeing a few egregious errors in the translation. Like, the Warrior calling their grandpa a "she" throughout a cutscene with Hatch, and the Warrior greeting Aunt Sophia being replied with "It's not [name]", even though it is.

Note that these errors were found with the pre-patched rom found in the Google Drive, which may be an earlier version, I'll try patching it myself and see if anything changes from there.

I just saw your recent reply, perhaps you can quote the parts to look at? I went through the text doing manual gender "I you he she" checks as well, since its not clear that from the text alone what the gender of the archer is, which possesive pronoun to use, etc, and did corrections.

Will update the files as we go along. It'll be good if we have enough proof readers, since some parts require the game's context to find errors.

 

[Chris_Highwind]

Main bulk of the translation was done with LLM, after which I proof read the text files. Many oddities like missing spaces, extra letters as sentence end markers were removed manually / through code. I went through a few chapters in game to check the readability as well, which is consistent with the screenshots shown.

I'll update the post to clarify on the LLM part.

Post automatically merged: Nov 17, 2025

I just saw your recent reply, perhaps you can quote the parts to look at? I went through the text doing manual gender "I you he she" checks as well, since its not clear that from the text alone what the gender of the archer is, which possesive pronoun to use, etc, and did corrections.

Will update the files as we go along. It'll be good if we have enough proof readers, since some parts require the game's context to find errors.

Added some errors I discovered in the game, mainly in Perion in Warrior Ch. 1.

 

[houst]

Added some errors I discovered in the game, mainly in Perion in Warrior Ch. 1.

Great! I'll take a look later. Can you clarify on the second person pronoun? Some parts I've chosen to use "we" since the char is usually in a group, otherwise the char can also use "we" as a fourth wall to talk to the player to do something or just talking to themselves for eg Lets go to ludibrium! This would fit most if not all cases. Best if you specify which exact quotes do not fit.

 

[Chris_Highwind]

Great! I'll take a look later. Can you clarify on the second person pronoun? Some parts I've chosen to use "we" since the char is usually in a group, otherwise the char can also use "we" as a fourth wall to talk to the player to do something or just talking to themselves for eg Lets go to ludibrium! This would fit most if not all cases. Best if you specify which exact quotes do not fit.

Second-person pronouns are usually "you/your/yours". I've seen the Warrior refer to Hatch in the third-person while directly speaking to him in the opening of the prologue, and shortly after the first error I mentioned under Aunt Sophia, the Warrior refers to Sophia in the third-person while talking directly to her. Again, I'm not sure if this is an error or just a thing the Warrior does.

 

[houst]

Taking a look at it, the warrior mentions Hatch's name in a very normal way, esp when Hatch also uses the char's (DK) name. I don't think there's a need to change it. "Hatch should go first" is also said in front of Blackbull; don't think this is a pronoun issue.

Alright, <Hatch>! Let's go quickly!
<DK>, you go.
No, <Hatch> should go first.
Thanks <Hatch>

Warrior talking to Sophia was a bit awkward, so it will be changed.

Hey, ma'am. Grandpa went out because <Sophia> asked him to, right?
Hey, ma'am. Grandpa went out because you asked him to, right?

Great that we have @Chris_Highwind helping to check the warrior storyline. I have since updated the files in the google drive folder.

Are there any others who can check the other storylines?

Or just play through it and tell us what you think

 

[Tyvar1]

Oh nice one! Thanks!

 

[Chris_Highwind]

Just did some more proofreading up until the Abandoned Subway areas. Hopefully we can get some more people to proofread the game, because idk if I'll have the attention span required to proofread an entire RPG by myself.

 

[houst]

Just did some more proofreading up until the Abandoned Subway areas. Hopefully we can get some more people to proofread the game, because idk if I'll have the attention span required to proofread an entire RPG by myself.

Thanks!

Just an update, I have added a google sheet with all game dialogue to help facilitate this.

It should be easier to do proof reading like this, just use ctrl+F to find.
Also helps in cases where you want to see the last text after pressing next.
Update on the gba temp thread after you've done some proof reading parts

Occasionally I will be updating the rom files in the google folder after making changes, and will state so in the google doc changelog.

edit: let me know if anyone else spots any other errors, best if we can get a complete check through

 

[Truner]

Could you maybe include the original Korean and the Japanese text as well for people to compare the text to? Could be very useful in case someone who actually understands those happens to look at this.

 

[Flame]

Thank you for your hard work. But can you post a patch file instead? That link contains a ROM.

 

[REPOSITORY2]

@houst
hey the patch doesn't work, it either crashes or it doesnt' let me create a character, i put on my name and signature and tells me is saving, before booting me back to the main menu over and over again with both save files empty, meaning is unplayable.

edit: oh and it crashes a lot too, at random times.

 

[houst]

Thank you for your hard work. But can you post a patch file instead? That link contains a ROM.

Hi I have uploaded a 7z file for the patch instead of a rom

hey the patch doesn't work, it either crashes or it doesnt' let me create a character, i put on my name and signature and tells me is saving, before booting me back to the main menu over and over again with both save files empty, meaning is unplayable.

edit: oh and it crashes a lot too, at random times.

Can you let us know what you are using to play the game? Is it an emulator? Is it some specific device that you are using?

Try out the patch and update us.

Post automatically merged: Nov 22, 2025

Could you maybe include the original Korean and the Japanese text as well for people to compare the text to? Could be very useful in case someone who actually understands those happens to look at this.

Sure, I can include them when I have the time.

Note that both Korean and Japanese lines do not specify the gender most of the time, which is what some of the small errors are. This is just the way the language is, from my limited Korean reading ability, most of the time it lines are "went out already" instead of "He/She went out already". Some lines are tranlated to gender neutral "they went out already" which is acceptable in spoken english, and the only way to figure out who it is refering to by playing through and understanding the context.

Are there any proof readers who can read Korean and Japanese? Please reach out, I can make the time to add this.

 

[REPOSITORY2]

Hi I have uploaded a 7z file for the patch instead of a rom



Can you let us know what you are using to play the game? Is it an emulator? Is it some specific device that you are using?

Try out the patch and update us.

Post automatically merged: Nov 22, 2025

Sure, I can include them when I have the time.

Note that both Korean and Japanese lines do not specify the gender most of the time, which is what some of the small errors are. This is just the way the language is, from my limited Korean reading ability, most of the time it lines are "went out already" instead of "He/She went out already". Some lines are tranlated to gender neutral "they went out already" which is acceptable in spoken english, and the only way to figure out who it is refering to by playing through and understanding the context.

Are there any proof readers who can read Korean and Japanese? Please reach out, I can make the time to add this.

hey dude, did you read my menssages by chance? thanks.

 

[houst]

hey dude, did you read my menssages by chance? thanks.

hi, i edit my reply above, I was responding to your msg but quoted the wrong person, fixed.

 

[REPOSITORY2]

hi, i edit my reply above, I was responding to your msg but quoted the wrong person, fixed.

hey, i am using DraStic on android as my emulator, i am pretty sure its and older version of the emulator too, since they stop updating it.

 

[houst]

hey, i am using DraStic on android as my emulator, i am pretty sure its and older version of the emulator too, since they stop updating it.

what device are you using, what are the hardware specs? Android version?

 

[Truner]

Sure, I can include them when I have the time.

Note that both Korean and Japanese lines do not specify the gender most of the time, which is what some of the small errors are. This is just the way the language is, from my limited Korean reading ability, most of the time it lines are "went out already" instead of "He/She went out already". Some lines are tranlated to gender neutral "they went out already" which is acceptable in spoken english, and the only way to figure out who it is refering to by playing through and understanding the context.

Are there any proof readers who can read Korean and Japanese? Please reach out, I can make the time to add this.

FWIW, I've alerted the Reddit MapleStory community of this ongoing effort, but I imagine the target audience for this specific game has most probably moved on a long time ago.

I can't read either, So at most, I can help with the English side of things. But at this point, wouldn't it make more sense to just make the whole patch gender neutral if no proper help arrives? That would 100% weed out all the issues. Also, what LLM did you use for the translation?

Would it be worth trying to compare how it does with the Korean text and see if any contextual clues are lost between the two?

Sorry for the plethora of question, I've had this game on my shelf for about 15 years, having only stumbled through one scenario only. Would be nice to get back to it and actually have a clue about what is going on.