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Many Mana fans have long awaited the series' return on the portable system screen. Does it mirror the legendary success of the past SNES classic?
November 5, 2006 | 3:31 AM PSTby: Ray Almeda
It was one of the most revered action-RPGs of our time. Secret of Mana for the Super Nintendo was simply a triumph of a simple gameplay formula, that when combined with an amazing story, presentation, and an unbelievable amount of depth, created an aura of pure gaming bliss. It has been longer than a decade already since that title dawned the 16-bit era, and we have had little to get excited about in the Mana series ever since. Sure we had Legend of Mana for the PlayStation and Sword of Mana for the Game Boy Advance, but although those games mirror several gameplay elements of the classic, nothing took anything to an extreme, quality-wise. Now, will Square-Enix’s latest trial on the Mana series take the cake with its recently released Children of Mana for the DS? After a thorough playthrough of the game, I’m still not convinced whether or not it actually comes close to the easily replayable fun as before. However, with a few tweaks here and there and some more time to work on projects like these, the Mana series is definitely headed in a much better, if a bit forced, direction. In reality, this one may be up to the gamer to decide its success as a gaming project.
Facts and Features:
Mana’s Amazing World
What Children of Mana does so well initially from turning it on is its presentation. From the get-go, you’re treated to an anime-style video showing off all of the main characters, some sweet moves, and a dual-screened version of the large Mana tree. Combine this with some memorable music, and things were already looking good for the title. However, after several hours in, you’ll find yourself either loving or hating some of the major changes the DS game has made with both its dungeon and spell variability.
With the ability to choose a hero (or heroine) from the start with four different choices essentially excelling individually in physical attack skills, magic spells, and even two characters that balance the attributes (HP, MP, Dexterity, and Mind) with a few edges, the game already seems highly customizable. The story premise revolves around a magical sword sent down from the heavens during a boss fight, which concludes in a mysterious, foreboding man hoping to someday rule the world. After all of these events transpire, the major towns in the world are lit with a glowing ray of light, seemingly one of destruction. With a mana-imbalance being the culprit here, it’s your job to make sure that the world isn’t brought back to the devastating state that it had witnessed 10 years ago. You’ll meet plenty of people, including the elemental sprites we’ve all seen before, and take on the luscious world of Mana. Even talking with the various characters in the game brings up a nice close-up view of their persona with animated facial expressions to show bring out a better presentation of the much smaller sprites from afar.
Now that's a boss!
Generic Dungeon Crawl
Remember those super-long dungeons that required you to fight enemies to go to the next room, all the way leading up to a boss? Scratch all of that. Children of Mana truly pits the gamer in a multitude of things to do right from the start, whether it be continuing the story, performing a side-quest, or just looking for the best gem combinations possible. From a dungeon-standpoint, Children of Mana plays like a dungeon crawling arcade game of sorts. You’ll receive a letter grade, and score at the end of area major dungeon area, and after the boss as well, tallied by monster kills, time, and ability to find items. Some of these dungeons are even automatically created when you begin your quest, and they are totally randomized.
The fighting mechanics are extremely simple, and it’s a shame, considering that the past Mana portable game, Sword of Mana was called out for converting the famous action-RPG series into more of a hack-n-slash game. To an extent, this is indeed true, and even the spell system is simplistic in nature. Remember the time when each elemental had in excess of four spells minimum each? Well, Children of Mana only allow you to individually use an attack, and support spell for each elemental –- bringing the total amount of spells initially to 16. You will be able to switch between the spirits as you continue on (Yes, that’s only one elemental spirit equipped at a time), so at least you can vary your battle styles based on the variation of attacks, spells, and recovery techniques. The enemies, like most of the baddies in the series, vary from extremely easy, to extremely frustrating. With that already being said, somehow I feel that these creatures could be a bit buggy. They fly all over the place, due to the game’s highly odd “wall-bouncing” system, and a good number of them on-screen can cause slight slow-down occasionally. Thankfully, the bosses are as imaginative as ever, as evident by some of our screenshots.
Two sets of weapons are better than one.
The Gem System
As we previously mentioned, there’s already a ton of hero personalization in the game, which is based mostly around the game’s “gem frame” system. Similar to Final Fantasy VII’s “Materia” system, your hero will have equipped a shell, which can house any number of gem types. These gems provide statistical boosts to your stats, but they also create better effects for the elemental spirits’ spells. You’ll start with a 2 X 2 shell at first, but as time goes along, this will increase in size allowing for weapon combos. It’s only obvious that the gems will increase in size too; as some gems will require more than one open spot in your gem frame. In addition to this, you’re also able to upgrade your weapons and armor through shops and items found throughout Mana. Another gripe of mine is the continuous reluctance to put a large weapon selection in the game. There are only four (Sword, Flail, Bow/Arrow, and Hammer). Although the customization aspect holds its own at first, many players will get tired of switching around constantly. Moving everything around before entering a dungeon will be important, since you’ll only be able to equip two weapons at one time upon entering. You’re able to change once during each save point however, but that only occurs every four floors or so. The limitations can be annoying, especially during some of your quest’s most important times. And this is why Square-Enix probably decided upon adding the many non-story quests.
Facts and Features:
- 8 Elemental Spirits: The eight elemental spirits are a staple of the Mana series. These powerful allies aid you with healing and special status effects. They can also unleash fearsome magic upon your foes.
- Cooperative or Competitive Gameplay for Up to Four Players: The ability to play the entire single-player game with four DS systems wirelessly linked with one another.
- Save Anywhere feature for non-dungeon areas.
Mana’s Amazing World
What Children of Mana does so well initially from turning it on is its presentation. From the get-go, you’re treated to an anime-style video showing off all of the main characters, some sweet moves, and a dual-screened version of the large Mana tree. Combine this with some memorable music, and things were already looking good for the title. However, after several hours in, you’ll find yourself either loving or hating some of the major changes the DS game has made with both its dungeon and spell variability.
With the ability to choose a hero (or heroine) from the start with four different choices essentially excelling individually in physical attack skills, magic spells, and even two characters that balance the attributes (HP, MP, Dexterity, and Mind) with a few edges, the game already seems highly customizable. The story premise revolves around a magical sword sent down from the heavens during a boss fight, which concludes in a mysterious, foreboding man hoping to someday rule the world. After all of these events transpire, the major towns in the world are lit with a glowing ray of light, seemingly one of destruction. With a mana-imbalance being the culprit here, it’s your job to make sure that the world isn’t brought back to the devastating state that it had witnessed 10 years ago. You’ll meet plenty of people, including the elemental sprites we’ve all seen before, and take on the luscious world of Mana. Even talking with the various characters in the game brings up a nice close-up view of their persona with animated facial expressions to show bring out a better presentation of the much smaller sprites from afar.
Now that's a boss!
Generic Dungeon Crawl
Remember those super-long dungeons that required you to fight enemies to go to the next room, all the way leading up to a boss? Scratch all of that. Children of Mana truly pits the gamer in a multitude of things to do right from the start, whether it be continuing the story, performing a side-quest, or just looking for the best gem combinations possible. From a dungeon-standpoint, Children of Mana plays like a dungeon crawling arcade game of sorts. You’ll receive a letter grade, and score at the end of area major dungeon area, and after the boss as well, tallied by monster kills, time, and ability to find items. Some of these dungeons are even automatically created when you begin your quest, and they are totally randomized.
The fighting mechanics are extremely simple, and it’s a shame, considering that the past Mana portable game, Sword of Mana was called out for converting the famous action-RPG series into more of a hack-n-slash game. To an extent, this is indeed true, and even the spell system is simplistic in nature. Remember the time when each elemental had in excess of four spells minimum each? Well, Children of Mana only allow you to individually use an attack, and support spell for each elemental –- bringing the total amount of spells initially to 16. You will be able to switch between the spirits as you continue on (Yes, that’s only one elemental spirit equipped at a time), so at least you can vary your battle styles based on the variation of attacks, spells, and recovery techniques. The enemies, like most of the baddies in the series, vary from extremely easy, to extremely frustrating. With that already being said, somehow I feel that these creatures could be a bit buggy. They fly all over the place, due to the game’s highly odd “wall-bouncing” system, and a good number of them on-screen can cause slight slow-down occasionally. Thankfully, the bosses are as imaginative as ever, as evident by some of our screenshots.
Two sets of weapons are better than one.
The Gem System
As we previously mentioned, there’s already a ton of hero personalization in the game, which is based mostly around the game’s “gem frame” system. Similar to Final Fantasy VII’s “Materia” system, your hero will have equipped a shell, which can house any number of gem types. These gems provide statistical boosts to your stats, but they also create better effects for the elemental spirits’ spells. You’ll start with a 2 X 2 shell at first, but as time goes along, this will increase in size allowing for weapon combos. It’s only obvious that the gems will increase in size too; as some gems will require more than one open spot in your gem frame. In addition to this, you’re also able to upgrade your weapons and armor through shops and items found throughout Mana. Another gripe of mine is the continuous reluctance to put a large weapon selection in the game. There are only four (Sword, Flail, Bow/Arrow, and Hammer). Although the customization aspect holds its own at first, many players will get tired of switching around constantly. Moving everything around before entering a dungeon will be important, since you’ll only be able to equip two weapons at one time upon entering. You’re able to change once during each save point however, but that only occurs every four floors or so. The limitations can be annoying, especially during some of your quest’s most important times. And this is why Square-Enix probably decided upon adding the many non-story quests.
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February 8, 2010
