Mystic Heroes

"While a fun game, gets old quickly"

Gameplay - 10/10
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This is where the game shines, single player mode is both intuitive to learn as well as simply fun. The magic system is once again easy to understand and versatile enough to allow for different playing styles. The 4 playable characters each have differences to them more than just their element of magic (which can be changed with the rune system anyway).

Multiplayer mode is also a blast, 4 player support, good frame rates, and multiple modes all make for a good game to play with your friends.

Story - 6/10
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Well, it's nothing we haven't seen before. KOEI takes an ancient Chinese myth, and tells the standard good vs evil battle with cut scenes. On the other hand, the story isn't out and out bad, just fairly average.

Graphics - 8/10
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While not utterly beautiful or stunning the graphics are done well, and the animations of attacks and magic spells are all fluid. The frame rate is also consistently high, a very important consideration when fighting 20 enemies at a time. The game does use the ''fade out'' method to deal with hordes though., not showing everything at once. Also while the camera control is generally nice, it does get poor around the edge of the screen often making battles harder than needed.

Sound - 7/10
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The in game music is utterly forgettable. The voice acting is atrocious. The in battle vocals are repetitive and just annoying. So why a 7? The music is done well, the voices are clear, and the sound comes through. While forgettable, the music is *NOT* annoying, which is a very important thing in my book.

Replayability - 4/10
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This game is *NOT* Dynasty Warriors 3 (another similar KOEI title). Once you've beaten it, there isn't much else to see.

While the game brags 2 story paths, they share levels with minor variations, the only difference being some of the cut scenes. Furthermore, the two characters who share a story path don't only get ONE scene different (on the final level).

The multiplayer modes only boast 5 cooperative and 5 versus stages with no more to unlock. With no secret characters, and the only unlockable items more runes, which you don't need after having beaten the game, the only reason to play this game is the gameplay pure and simple.

Buy or Rent
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Rent it first, see if you like it (if you can find it). The gameplay can be quite fun, especially for multiplayer, but it is also repetitive.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 10/08/02, Updated 10/08/02