Magna Carta: Tears of Blood

"Shadow Hearts+Final Fantasy+Star Ocean"

Wonder what would happen if those three games were combined? Well, here is the answer, Magna Carta! A game developed by Korean company, Softmax and localized by Banpresto which will be released on NA shortly by Atlus. If you can't wait any longer, just read this review.

Graphics = 9/10
Trust me, this game has the graphics that's comparable to Square's famous FF X. In fact, this game got so many similarities to FFX. The surroundings, environments, and people wearing traditional clothes. Plus, the FMV is superb!There is only one thing that I kinda hate, the lighting effects. The use of this effects is, for me, way too much that makes me feel dizzy sometimes. When you are about to enter a battle, a flash, when you are attacking, a flash again! Just imagine when you are executing six combos, the flashing will go until six times.

Sound = 9/10
Really nice tunes. Since this is still in Jpn version, there is no problem with the voice acting. Although so, some of the sound effects used here are often heard in some television shows. Well, I give an excuse for that since the developers are still fresh.

Story = 8/10
Alright, what should I say. Since I don't wanna spoil any single part of the story, I just can say you won't be disappointed. Fine then, I'm guessing you are wondering, what is Korean RPG's story like? Allow me to tell you one thing, Yason, a fancy name for monsters in this game. If in FFX we have Sin, then in Magna Carta we have this. They play major role.

Gameplay = 9/10
In the field, yu will be accompanied by a small map, you can draw your sword from the sheath by pressing R1, this allows you to avoid an ambush attack, and by swinging it to the enemy(yes, the enemy is visible), you will have the opportunity to attack first. In a battle, is the part where the fun starts, a combination of ATB, Judgment Ring and Star Ocean's active battle system. Prepare to experience a unique combat system.You can walk around in battle and switch your character with R1. Unlike Star Ocean, where your party will attack like crazy, you can only control one from 3 characters in battle. This goes for the foes too. When the gauge fills up, you or the enemies can act. When you do an action, your gauge will be reduced to zero. Using item will reduce your gauge by half. For attacking, this game has "Trinity Drive". This thing got three parts where you will have to press the button at the correct timing. The buttons are only X and O though .If you do it perfectly, the word "Great" will appear, and if you do it less good, the word "Good" will appear. But it will take some time to load the animation, and hopefully they will fix this in the NA version. Basically, you need to gather three "Great" to accumulate 5% of trinity bonus. Once you reach 30%-100%, you can press square button to increase your attack, and you will see your drive is burning in fire. Looks cool!

*Pros:
- Nice graphics and BGM
- Innovative battle system

*Cons:
- Too much lighting effects
- Loading time in battle

Final Score = 9/10

Buy it, you won't regret it. Don't judge this game just by the developers, that's just lame. Koreans are the developers, but it doesn't mean that the quality is lower than any other RPGs. Yes, to be honest, I was shocked too at the first time for I have underestimated them. Yup! A must-have for all RPG fans around the world! I'm warning you for the high value of addiction from this game!

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 07/25/05