"Ambition"

Introduction
I remember stumbling upon this game many years ago. I was amazed by the screenshots and the art for it. I hoped one day, to actually be able to play it. Eventually I got my chance. Unfortunately at the time the version I had was very buggy and nearly unplayable.

As time passed, I still wanted to get into it trying the game on and off. Then I found out there were other people who were into Magna Carta.. or so I thought. While there are many cosplayers, and people who use icons and wallpapers based on the game. Not many of them are really interested in the game. They just got caught up in the artwork, and thought it looked "cool" or made them stand out. Despite not really knowing much about it, or care to.

I then started to lose interest in Magna Carta in general because of it. Even when the ps2 game was announced. Then, a friend offered me to sell me the limited edition. He managed to have an extra copy and I was sold for a small reasonable price. I took it, and started playing it again. Strangely it wasn't as buggy and it almost never crashed. After a few weeks, and just a few minutes ago.. I beat it.

Gameplay 6
This is definitely something.. different. I'll start with the battle system.

The battle system is turn based with a bit of strategy involved. When it is your characters turn you have the choice of moving, attacking, or casting an ability. Your turn points limit you as to how much you can do in one turn. You also only have three turn points. An example of a characters turn would go

move a few steps to enemy (one turn point)
attack enemy now in range (one turn point)
move a few steps away from enemy(one turn point)

You can also use all three turn points just to move or attack. Abilities usually cost 2 to 3 points. If you end your turn with unused points you gain a little HP back (same with enemies). As your character grows you can move more each turn point, as well as your range. There is also no MP, or items. So you are unlimited to how many abilities you can cast. The only downside (which i'm not 100% on) is you may get less carta points after battle. Also, unlike most rpgs no one ever misses if you attack or are attacked. The only problem is random battles can go on a bit too long for my taste.

The way you attack is also unique. To attack normally you have to hit the space bar, but you can do combos by hitting it rhythmicly. If you hit manage it to get a 4 hit combo, your character will do an attack called final crash. Which ends up being a rather devastating super attack. If you manage to get 3 final crashs in a row your character goes into crazy mode. In crazy mode when its your next turn you have to hit the space bar 3x faster than you normally do. If you are successful your character performs a overcrash attack. Which is basically an even more exaggerated attack like your final crash attack.

Instead of using exp and gaining levels. This game uses what it calls a carta system. You gain carta points which distribute to different attributes such as HP, Defense, Strength, etc.. There are 7 different types of carta points. Each carta distributes differently to each character. So say this one type of carta will raise your HP, to another character it will raise their strength. An interesting factor is the fact you can actually take back some of your carta. So say you are maxed out in a a certain attribute and you have a new character with low stats that joined you. You can take a few points away from that attribute and then redistribute it to your new character. Different types of armor you find can also add points to attributes.

When you start out you are set at a max limit of how much you can have for each attribute. As you progress in the game you will see these stones which will ask you a question. Depending on how you answered it certain max levels of attributes will be raised so you can distribute more carta to them.

The game is pretty straight forward. When I first started it, it almost felt in the same vein as FFX. When you start out you have a green dot on your compass. Anytime you see a green dot, it is your destination. You then go to a city (which will be the only city you ever go to in the game) and talk to people. Eventually you go to a dungeon that is also pretty straight forward and not labyrinth like. Afterwards the game pretty much goes like this

Find dungeon
Go through Dungeon
Beat Boss
Alot of cutscenes, usually ending with you talking to Gilbert in the end
Repeat

That's litterly how it is 90% of the time. Most of the dungeons are caves, and occasionally outside areas. They are pretty simple to go through. You just have to keep your eye on the compass and try to follow one direction. I only found myself a few times going in circles. Only because I lost track on where I was going after a lengthy battle.

The difficulty on this game for me started out really tough. From the first to the third boss seemed almost impossible at times. Then it started getting rather easy. I realized how you can manipulate the AI. Any enemy (including bosses) will 99% of the time try to attack whoever is closest to them. So my key strategy to just about every boss and battle was like this.

Ability with high range
Walk away a few steps

It worked everytime, unless I got careless. I did have fun through with the battles. I just wish they aren't as long. You don't need to know much, or any Korean to play through it as most of the menus are in english. The game took me roughly 30 hours to beat.

Sound/Music 8
While this isn't a huge 2-4 disc soundtrack like alot of rpgs, that doesn't it ain't bad. The music in the very enchanting, and fits the atmosphere of the game. I also like the fact that there is multiple battle themes and boss themes. They each fit a position you may be in or what you are fighitng. The ending song alone bumps this up a point of two.

The sound is pretty standard for most rpgs. Foot steps, Sword slashes, explosions all sound fine. Nothing too special, but could of had more work on.

Graphics 7
The score might be a bit too kind, but bear in mind this was a 2001 game and a 3D Korean one at that. While most of the character models look nice, as the game progress you will see alot of strange clipping. Like hair waving in and out through someones body, or an object going through someone and out of someone. You will also see alot of textures streching in and out. Some of the smaller supporting cast have down right hideous character models which do not do its character design justice. A fine example of this is Clive. The games graphics engine consists of real time enviroments, mixed occasionally mixed in prerendered backgrounds. So sometimes it will be like you will be walking through a forest with a picture of a forest right behind you. This game could of actually been done on dreamcast with few or little changes. Actually you could work quite a few improvements on the graphics if it were to of been ported.

The abilities at first looks like nothing special, but some of the later attacks are pretty nifty. One characters ability is they summon a dragon that breathes fire at enemies. Another shoots out rays. The Jokers abilities are especially cool to watch. Also you know in the intro where Calintz stabs his sword in the ground and then theres a big explosion? Well you get that too by the way.

As for as the design go, the character designs as you imagine are very nice. Definately not much out there like it. The monsters also look fine and rather unique. Some are a bit... odd, although I really liked the samurai snowman.

Story
I really can't judge this fairly due to my lack of Korean. While I understood the basic premise, and plot twists. I'm sure there are a few things I didn't understand. Unfortunately for me, it seems the story was suppose to be the high point of the game. Cutscenes are very, very, very, long and happen constantly. I remember some that felt like they ran more than an hour. They are all done in real time and voice acted. There isn't much action in them, and while there are fmvs they are short and few. The voice acting seemed rather well done as far as I could tell. Nothing sounded silly, or overdone. I really liked Calintz's voice. Although the after credits cutscene has got me rather confused.....

Overall 7
Magna Carta must have been a really big thing for Korean games. Alot of work obviously went into it. Alot of hope, time, ideas. Softmax had alot of ambition for it. Though it might of not completely lived up to it, it managed to succeed in being different. As well as enjoyable.

Some people may get lost in the art, while i'm one who always wants to explore the source. While the game isn't the greatest, I found it fun and worth my time. I felt proud beating it. I wouldn't recommend this game to just anyone though, as it requires a bit of patience to play and get into. If you do like the art, I would atleast suggest trying it. Even if you end up hating it, you can atleast say you played it.

I'm now looking foward to the ps2 Magna Carta. Which by the way, judging from the screens it's not a remake at all. It's an entirely new game. While this one never made it to the US shores, as my friend says atleast we're getting the ps2 one. That is an accomplishment.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 08/16/05