Sword of Mana

"An overview of The Sword of Mana."

The Sword of Mana is another decent entry in the Mana series. I don't think it will deliver the same experience veterans have seen in The Secret of Mana, but overall, it's a great game!

Story: 7/10

The story starts off very similar to Final Fantasy Adventure, which shouldn't surprise anyone, since that name was put on that game just to generate better sales (it was actually a part of the Seiken Densetsu series). You get the option to start as the female heroine, or the male hero. The male hero is the physical-oriented character (of course), and the female heroine is the magic-oriented character. The story does differ in several key areas, depending on who you choose. With the male, you start off as a gladiator in an arena, fighting to entertain the crowds. You also have some friends there with you, that you will meet later on, who play a very big part in the story. To be honest, when I first got this game, I played it for a day or two, than lost my interest in it (at about the halfway mark). Than the day came that I needed some portable games to play, so I brought it along, and it hooked me again. I don't know if it was all that time in between before I beat the game, but it seemed that the story was pretty confusing, and hard to grasp the entire picture. Your main enemy is the Dark Lord, who is trying to use the Mana tree's powers for his own purposes. You, being the righteous character that you are, try to stop him. It is essentially the same thing you've heard before in previous Mana tales.

Game play: 9/10

The game is played in a top-down perspective, like The Legend of Zelda, only your using hit points and magic points instead of hearts and a green bar. Throughout the game, you will receive several different kinds of weapons to use, and you will have a "skill mastery" of each one of them which gauges how much damage you can do with them. The same applies for magic, you will come across several different spirits which will lend you their aid (even if they're doing it unwillingly). You can also level up your magic levels as well. To use magic you can either hit "R" for a support spell, or hold "R" for an attack spell. Now, holding "R" takes time, and as I've found, in the same amount of time, my sword will have already killed whatever it is I'm fighting. So I really didn't use magic too much (there are SOME enemies you have to use it for), as it didn't prove too useful. Besides, the enemies in the game are all fairly easy, even the bosses.

Also, you can jump in this game to reach ledges you couldn't normally reach. You are also able to sit down and rest to restore magic points (very useful). But the best addition to game play, in my opinion, is the leveling-up process. For each level up, you can choose to level up a profession, such as a warrior, a monk, a thief, a sage, and so on. Choosing a pre-determined level in certain professions puts you on the path of becoming a completely different profession. For example, so many levels in the thief class, and you have the ability to become a ranger, doing more damage with your bow. This whole idea was a joy to explore, and allowed you to customize your playing style, though it is hard to attain what you want without first knowing the steps to get there (You'll have to look at a guide for that, since there isn't anything in the game to help you).

One last thing to note about game play is the way you attain stronger weapons. Enemies will drop different items, like fruits and vegetables, which you use to temper your armor and weapons with, or use to forge entirely new armor or weapons. They can also drop seeds, which you can use to plant and grow your own fruits and vegetables.

Graphics: 9/10

The graphics are really well done, everything has an artistic flair to it that is bound to impress you. Personally, I found the graphics here to be on an equal standard, and often times surpassing, the series newest game, Children of Mana (I played both games at roughly the same time). You will not be disappointed with the graphics in The Sword of Mana.

Music/Sound effects: 7/10

The music is done very well. You'll notice some songs returning from the Mana series, classic tunes which were a treat to hear. The rest of the music I could do without. I don't think anything was out of place, but there's only a couple of songs that I wanted to make sure the volume was turned up for. The sound effects were also done well, each weapon sounding like it should. The magic system could have used some more variety in the sounds, however. Overall, not bad.

Re-playability/Multi-player: 7/10

As I mentioned earlier, you do have the choice to play as either the hero or the heroine, as this changes the perspective in which you see the story. Once I beat the game, though, I didn't really feel the need to play through as the heroine, but the option is there. There's also a multi-player function to add friends to your list, and this lets you get a few new items, I believe (nothing you can't beat the game without, though, as I completely ignored it).

Overall: 8/10

Overall this is a great game that any rpg or action fan should enjoy, especially if you like the Mana series. The graphics and game play are truly the shining features here. The story and music are not bad, either. I would try to find this title used, if I could, rather than buying it brand new. Have fun & keep playing! Later...

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 03/08/07