Legend of Mana

"A bland entry in the mana series"

Legend of Mana is yet another sequel to my favorite SNES RPG, Secret of Mana. Which was one of my favorite SNES games and is easily one of my top 10 games of all time. The game between Secret of Mana and Legend of Mana never came to the states so Legend of Mana was a much anticipated title for me. Is Legend of Mana worth playing or just another tired try at bringing this series back to life? Read on for the answer!

I really don't remember much about the story in this game. I've been playing it since it was released and just recently beat it. I do remember that it doesn't have an overall plot and it's more about side quests and interactions with the world itself. There is some mild character development but not a lot. Not saying the other games in the series had much of a plot but this one feels to random and the quests really aren't all that interesting.

The graphics in the game are 2d and look like a watercolor painting. Very nice on the eyes and I do like the character designs, even if some are a bit odd. This is maybe one of the better things about this game. The locations in the game really had a lot of work put into them and some are really amazing.

The sound in the game is kind of eh... It really didn't excite me at all. Sound effects are bland and the music, while decent, was nothing all that special. The music itself sounded distorted and jumpy like on my Playstation 2 so make sure you play this one the original Playstation.

Control in the game is simple. Running, guarding and attacking are all very easy to get the hang of. No problems with control at all. It should only take a few minutes for any gamer to get the hang of the controls.

Legend of Mana plays nothing like the previous entries. The world map is best thought of as a game board. You select the image of the town or area you want to go to. You can get a little mini map and walk into each area. Then paths branch and all of that. It sounds confusing but it isn't after a little while. Just think of it as a mild 2d maze where one path leads to a dead end while the other doesn't.

The game play itself is interesting. You can get team mates to fight with you. Find eggs to have them join once they hatch. You can use items and all of the other typical RPG stuff. That aspect of the game is pretty right on with the series and the genre itself.

The difference to this than the previous entries is the way combat is done. The game stutters for a second when enemies appear, as if you have just entered a random fight but it doesn't feel random. Now you run up to the enemies and button mash your way like in the previous games. Throw in some magic or whatever you want. Once an enemy dies it drops coins and gems. The gems work as experience and then the fight will end when all enemies are dead and you have collected the gems and coins before they have vanished.

There really isn't much depth to the game and the game only has 24 quests to offer. That being said, some of the quests are so absurd and complex that it can make your head hurt and some won't trigger unless you trigger something else. It gets a bit messy and complex and it really shouldn't be. One quest has you hunting for a cactus and you need to talk to people to find out where it went. Okay, that's fine. Except once you go to the next area you need to hunt for someone with information and they tell you the next area to go to. Now imagine doing this about 6 or 7 times and you can see how some of the quests can become rather tedious. Did I mention that one is a plot point quest so it isn't skipable like some.
Once you beat the game there really isn't much more to do. The game is really lacking in side quests since the game only has those 24 quests and most are considered the side quests in the game. No secret endings or harder difficulties either to make the game last longer.

I can't recommend this game to any one. Not even Mana fans. While the art direction is top notch, nothing else seems focused. The plot is almost not there. The combat feels weird and lame with the loading and stuff. The old way was much better and felt natural. The complexity of getting and doing quests is a bit much and it almost requires a guide to get through the game. This game is rather hard to find these days and I stumbled upon a new copy after selling my own when the Dreamcast came out. It was in the buy 1 get 1 free sale at Game Stop and I got Legend of Mana and Rhapsody for a grand total of $20. Not bad but really, the game isn't worth more than $10 in my book.

Story - 3/10
Graphics - 10/10
Sound - 7/10
Control - 8/10
Game Play - 5/10
Replay Value - 2/10
Final Score - 5/10

Reviewer's Score: 5/10, Originally Posted: 05/30/07