Legend of Mana

"It was so close to getting a higher score..."

Introduction
SquareSoft has always been my favorite video game company, and I will admit that they have made a few bad decisions and released a few disappointing games over the years. Legend of Mana seemed to be one of these games when I first played it. First off, the battle system was totally hacked and different from the original Secret of Mana. I preferred the combat style of Secret of Mana, even though the combat in this game is also pretty good. Also, I never really understand the land building format at first. It seemed really complicated at first, but once I sat down and really played this game I noticed that it was very fun, and had great storyline and gameplay.

Storyline (8/10)
The storyline in the game is not the greatest, but it is not that bad either. The thing about it is that it is spread across a lot of different missions, so you never really get a feel for one storyline. However, each of the mini storylines in the game are great, but I wish they would have somehow came together. Overall, the storyline in the game is decent but not perfect, it would have been better had their been one basic storyline instead of sixty or so different ones spread out over missions.

Graphics (9/10)
Call me insane or whatever you like, but I prefer the hand drawn 2D graphics of a Legend of Mana much better than the type of graphics found in a Final Fantasy 8. The main reason for this is that the whole pastel and watercolor look really adds a lot of brightness to the game, and makes it seem like a true fantasy game. The character designs in the game are fairly interesting and well done, as are the enemy designs. The backgrounds are vareied, as there are everything from canyons to volcanoes to forests featured throughout the game. I especially like the boss designs and stage designs featured in the game. Overall, the graphics in the game use the pastel watercolor look very effectively.

Music and Sound Effects (9/10)
The music in the game is simply awesome and SquareSoft definitely delivered to their high standards in this game. The music sounds fantastic and is well varied. My favorite themes in the game are the themes that play when you enter battle (no matter what stage and theme it is, they all sounds great). The boss theme in the game is simply awesome, as well. I loved the boss theme in the game, it was probably the best boss theme I have ever heard. Add to this the outstanding music featured in towns, and the great variety of tunes, and you have a soundtrack well worth buying. In addition to the great music, the sound effects are awesome, especially some of the sound effects featured during battle. Overall, the music and sound effects in the game are great.

Gameplay and Control (8/10)
The game seems to be a lot like its predecessors at first, but soon you realize it is a lot different. First off, the traditional ''ring menus'' are gone and replaced with a new, Final Fantasy like menu screens. This is a bad thing in my opinion because I loved the ''ring menus'' of the old Secret of Mana. The battle system has changed a lot too. First off, you walk and you enter battle with a few creatures. When you kill an enemy, it exploded and things pop out of it. This thing can be 1 of 5 things: a harp, a candy piece, a diamond, a coin, and an item bag. You can do all sorts of moves during battle, but a few things annoy me. One, your energy recharges after every battle. Two, you sort of walk into battles like Chrono Trigger, and it is a big deal when you enter battle, not like in Secret of Mana. The two other major changes are the addition of mission based storylines and an innovative land building system. Usually after mission, you will get a AF. Using these AFs on the world map gain you new towns, etc. Overall, the game is fun and the control is great, but I don't like some of the new changes SquareSoft implemented.

Replay Value: Medium
You will definitely want to play through this game, as it is very fun and you will want to see the great ending. However, once beating it, you may not want to go through all of that again, unless you want to beat the game with the second character (yes, there are two characters in the game, you have a choice of going through the game with one of the two at start, sort of like Star Ocean Second Story). Overall, the game has medium replay value.

Challenge: Challenging
I always find the non linear games to be quite challenging, because there is no set path for you to go on, so you may become very lost and confused at times. Fortunately, you can never be TOO lost in Legend of Mana, mainly because all of the important places are bunched together (well if you are smart like me, you will bunch all of them together). Some of the boss battles can get to be quite tough also. Overall, this can get to be quite a challenging game.

Overall (8/10)
This is a great game, in the reins of one of my all time favorites, Secret of Mana. However, I still prefer the original, mainly because of the battle system and menu systems are so much better, in my opinion. Fortunately, SquareSoft didn't totally screw up a series with a game with new ideas like they did with Final Fantasy 8.

Would TerraBranford buy this game?
I already did. ^_^

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 07/12/00, Updated 07/12/00