Dawn of Mana

"Not all that bad, but the tree has withered..."

I've overlooked Dawn of Mana many times before finally getting it. Just a quick look at reviews around the net is enough to conclude that it's not a very good game. Or rather, that it's not very liked. However, the most disappointed of all are fans of the Mana series. There is one point on which most will agree: Dawn of Mana is the worst of the series, along with Children of Mana. Now if we take it as a stand alone game and forget the other Mana games, it's actually not that bad. I'd even go as far as saying it's a fairly good game. Sadly, it plays poorly.

You play as Keldric, a fresh young man who steps into an adventure that is beyond him. His best friend Ritzia, the beautiful tree maiden, is not to be your party member, but she's a big plot device in the storyline. Instead, you're accompanied in your quest by Faye, a tiny fairy who follows Keldric like Navi follows Link. Prologue to the Mana series, Dawn of Mana's storyline is nothing out of the usual. The bad guy, motivated by evil ever since he lost the girl he loved, wants to open the portal to the dark world, and thus take control of Illusia. Keldric is obviously the only one to save it. Yawn? Everything is just so cliched that even the twists left me with no reaction whatsoever. It gets to a point you don't really care what's happening, but you keep watching because the FMVs and cutscenes are pretty.

Square Enix's mistake with Dawn of Mana is to have divided the game into eight chapters. If it wasn't of that, there would have been a possibility for a much better game. A 3D incarnation of Secret of Mana would be heaven-like for a lot of fans. Unfortunately, it's been a while the Mana series has turned away from its roots. Instead of roaming through a giant open world a la Zelda, you'll go through a series of levels inside each chapter. Your goal? Defeat the enemies. Dawn of Mana is neither an RPG, neither an adventure game. It's hack 'n slash in its most simplistic form. And what a waste.

The 3D world of Illusia Square Enix created is simply gorgeous. This is the best aspect of the game, and perhaps it's only good point. It's a pretty game, there is no denying. It has the Mana atmosphere, with little touches of magic, the beauty and style of it, the lush fantasy landscapes, the flawless 3D models, the soft color palette... it really is a looker. Imagining a better game taking place in that same stunning 3D world gives me shivers. Wasting such an artful work into a simple hack 'n slash is a shame.

I have nothing against this particular genre, but Dawn of Mana makes it unpleasing because it's handled poorly. Some levels require a few leaps here and there to climb, and Keldric controls like he's under the influence of gravity. This makes for very loose controls, and some very hazardous jumps. Half of the time, you'll land everywhere except at the right spot. Rule of the day: If you can't make proper platforming, then don't try to implement it in a non-platformer game. Add to this the stubborn camera that you constantly have to move around because it's too close to your character and you get some pretty horrid control issues.

Now introduce the Panic system. To level-up your character in Dawn of Mana, EXP won't do. Just defeating enemies is useless. You'll need to collect medals, which can only be obtained when beating up enemies in Panic state. Apart from his sword, Keldric will later gain a whip that will become just as useful as the sword, if not more. With the whip, you can grab enemies and objects, and knock them against each other. This is how the Panic mode is activated. Knock enemies together, or knock objects against them, and they will be panicked for a short while. During that time, slash the enemy to collect some medals that will raise your stats, and eventually level you up. This is the whole objective of the game. The gameplay only consists of that. There is no exploration, no character interaction, no villages to buy items, no nothing. All you do is work your way through area after area, knock objects and enemies with the whip, then slash the enemies, and so on. Needless to say, leveling up in this game is a pain in the neck.

When I first started playing, I hated it. I could endure the hack 'n slash, but the Panic system was annoying and burdensome. What was Square Enix thinking? However, about half-way through the game, as I forced myself to keep going, I eventually got the hang of it and started sort of enjoying it. A little bit. It's obvious that had the game not looked stunning, I wouldn't have stood going through it, but motivated by the pretty graphics, I kept on playing and getting better, and it became fun near the end of the game. Unfortunately, the bad controls killed the enjoyment more than once. The targeting system is some of the worst I've seen. It never targets the right enemy or object, and there is no way to select what to target. Often when you want to target the enemy that is the closest to you, the game will just target a faraway object. There is also no way to aim where you're throwing off an object when you want to hit an enemy, so you'll just have to rely on luck. Way to go.

Even though you fight alone in the game, your fairy Faye will help you with spells. She can level-up too, and will gain some spells like healing and stats increasement. You can also collect Mana spirits hidden around the levels and use them for some powerful magic against enemies. Although the hack 'n slash gets tiresome pretty quickly, the levels are quite varied. Some are linear and action-packed, others more open-ended with some slight exploring to do, or simple tasks like finding a key or destroying some specific items. Sadly, the open-ended levels have some very bad level design. It's very hard to get around the areas without getting lost and the game gives poor indications as to where to go or what to do.

Since there is no village to shop in the game, you don't have any armor to equip. Instead, you'll gain badges from completing certain objectives. These will get you some power-ups, but you can only equip a limited number. I would hope this to be all, but I kept the worst for the end: you can't level-up beyond Level 4, which is the max level. Every time you complete a chapter, your Level will reset to 1. This means you have to level-up all over again to re-obtain Faye's spells. This is very annoying as she only gets the much needed healing spell at Level 2, and sometimes leveling-up can take quite a while. If there is one thing I hate in games, it's losing progress and having to start over.

In the end, I'm not too sure what to think of Dawn of Mana. I hate it, I love it; it's all very confusing. Honestly, I have no idea where Square Enix is trying to bring the series. It started as an epic adventure, now it's been reduced to a mere beat 'em up with almost no RPG elements. The Mana series was always strong on beating up enemies, but it also expanded on the quest, the exploration, the character building; now there is nothing of all that except the hack and slash. It just doesn't have a lot going for it anymore. Nothing that will make you remember the game, except for the pretty graphics and music. The design is superb; it's such a beautiful Mana game, in look and feel, but what happened to the gameplay?

Dawn of Mana is not a very long game, but it's not short either. Actually, with all the grinding and enemies to defeat, the game feels a lot longer that it really is. Although the Panic system can be fun at times, it's also extremely tedious, and as a whole, the game is redundant. The music, which gives the game all of its charm, and the lush graphics that stay true to the Mana atmosphere and artwork, are not enough to redeem the game's many flaws and shortcoming. The few dungeon-crawler fans who may get a blast out of the game will be rewarded by a very strong replay value. There are indeed various difficulty levels to replay the game on, a lot of items to unlock, and pet eggs that can be collected to battle in the arena. The sad truth is that most people will give up on the game before it's even over, so the replay has little value.

Even though Seiken Densetsu is a favorite of most gamers, Dawn of Mana can't be recommended. Its weak controls, poor targeting and aim, irksome focus on fighting, confusing level design, and monotony just don't work out in its favor at all. I did have some enjoyment out of the game -- I enjoyed running through the gorgeous world of Illusia in all its glory, and while I will keep it in my collection, I know I'll probably never touch it again. It's easy to understand why people hate the game; it has too many drawbacks, but it's not as awful as it first appears. It's simply not executed properly, and an example of wasted potential.

It could have been so much more. Now I'll be dreaming about the Mana game that will never be. Square Enix proves once again that they know how to produce the best graphics and music on the system, but that they don't always make the best games.

Pros:
+ Beautiful, stunning music and graphics
+ Great artistic transition from 2D to 3D
+ Decent length, good replay value

Cons:
- Awful controls, camera, and targeting
- Panic mode could be fun, but is annoying
- Game gets very repetitive and tedious
- Generic, uninteresting storyline

Reviewer's Score: 6/10, Originally Posted: 04/02/08

Game Release: Dawn of Mana (US, 05/24/07)