Magna Carta: Tears of Blood

"An amazingly well done game"

Magna Carta: Tears of Blood is one of those RPG's that manage to suck you in and keep you glued to the screen, despite having a few flaws that other games might not overcome. It looks beautiful and sounds beautiful (with a few sub-par voice actors) and has great characters and plot. It even comes with a wonderful artbook/mini strategy guide that can help you complete the game if you're having trouble, a definite plus.

Graphics: 9/10

The graphics in Magna Carta: Tears of Blood are fantastic, thanks to the wonderful art designs. The backgrounds are all vivid and the character designs are incredibly original. This game looks truly beautiful, and although it doesn't quite have the look of a Final Fantasy or a new-gen game, they're very adequate and the great designs more than make up for that. Not to mention, there are little to no graphical glitches in this game. Not a lot of slow down either.

Music: 10/10

A wonderful musical score perfectly sets the mood throughout the game. I don't think I've played a game in a long time with such a great overall score, and probably one of the top ones for the PS2. The only little thing I think they could have improved on was varying boss music, but the theme they did use was great so its not that big of a deal. There aren't any tunes that will make you want to mute the TV, and some are quite nice that you might even want to listen to for awhile.

Also, some of the voice actors in Magna Carta were inflicted with the overacting bug (or the not acting at all bug that the voice of Haren sometimes goes through), but overall its not so bad that it detracts anything from the story or game. In fact, the main characters were done quite well and I think the voice of the main character Calintz, was one of the better performances.

Gameplay: 7/10

The battles in Magna Carta were the one flaw. When you attack a monster, a set of three buttons will appear on the screen and rotate around a circle, You must then press the buttons at the right time for the attack to be successful. Not a bad premise, and fun at times, but the battles are too slow. They can take forever sometimes, even if they're lower level monsters.

The battle system, which is based on energy or "chi" levels that basically act like a modified MP/elemental system, is original and an interesting idea but bogged down by the fact that the action bars take awhile to fill and the actions constantly have to load in the form of the characters or monsters gathering their chi. What you get are battles that last about 1-2 minutes, no matter how weak the monsters are. Although thats not a problem for more old school fans who don't mind slower paced battles.

Also, sometimes if you need to escape, its very difficult to do so. The rate of successfully escaping battle in this game is pretty low, which can be a pain but nothing that would worry you.

However, the skill system is pretty fun, with each character having set styles and moves they can learn. Through the course of the game, you can get scrolls to teach certain characters new styles. As you perform the moves in battle, you can unlock more moves until you've mastered that style. The game also gives you an incentive to use and try out every character since you switch parties through out the game, which makes each character seem more useful and unique (something that is a very good thing that has been missing in many RPG's).

The game also has a little bit of challenge to it in the beginning but its not a very difficult game at all. The bosses aren't cheap, but if you make a bunch of mistakes, you'll likely pay for it.

Overall the battles were fun but nothing special due to the slow pace. If the battles were much more fast paced and didn't last quite as long, then the score would easily be an 8 or 9.

Story: 10/10

Amazing. The plot of this game was very well done, but the characters were even better. The way you see them grow throughout the course of the game is great. The story kicks in from beginning and doesn't slow down until the final credits roll, so you don't have to worry about any "slow parts" which has plagued many games.

The characters start off a little shallow but quickly grow the more you get to know them. Another nice thing is a friendship system which is effected by choices you make when you speak with them at a save point. The friendship levels aren't vital to anything, but some of the dialogue and character interaction you get really adds to the story and the characters. Its always great to see games where the characters don't just say something like they're talking to a wall or just speak to the hero. The characters definitely grow, but still have a distinct personality. Some of the characters take a while to get the player to care about them, but after awhile they'll completely grow on you.

There are quite a few good plot twists and the story itself moves pretty quickly, but not so quickly that it gets confusing. The story isn't overly complicated but at the same time its very deep. The game is very linear but in a good way. It gives you a sense of urgency and purpose in where you go and why you're doing a certain task.

This is easily one of the top 10 stories I've seen in an RPG, and I definitely think that any fan of a story driven game would enjoy this immensely. Not to mention it doesn't have a real disappointing ending. It has a well done ending that won't make you wonder why you spent the last few hours trying to beat it in a hurry to see how it all ends.

Overall: 10/10

Overall, this is easily the best RPG I've played this year and quite possibly one of the best, if not the best, on the PS2. Its a very high quality title that you most definitely won't be disappointed in. It is head and shoulders above a lot of the mediocre RPG's that have been released in recent times and that alone is reason to pick this game up. If you're a fan of RPG's, at the very least give this a try. You will not regret it.

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 12/05/05