This isn’t a huge problem, unless you’re stuck in a sprawling, repetitive location with multiple branching paths. When you’ve started a quest, you will generally be pointed in the direction of the land you need to explore, but once there you may be a little aimless for a bit. On the plus side, there’s no real lack of content, there are a ton of optional quests and lands to unlock, so if you’re wanting to see 100% of what Legend of Mana has to offer, you’ll certainly be able to spend quite a few hours with the game. There are “main” quests and an overall ending in the game, but you’re more likely to stumble into those things if you’re not using a guide. Each quest is virtually it’s own mini-story as well, and it can be difficult early on to understand how anything is connected, if they are connected at all. Not all NPC’s give quests, and there’s nothing to indicate which NPC will trigger any given quest. That aspect of the game is fairly easy to understand, but when it comes to how you actually progress forward or upgrade your character and equipment, that’s where I think Legend of Mana could do a better overall job of things.įor quests you’ll mostly be exploring lands and talking to NPC’s. Each artifact represents a new land, and placing it on the map will unlock that land which can consist of small dungeon areas or new cities with NPC’s, shops, and so on. From there you’re given an artifact, which is how you’ll unlock new areas to explore throughout the game. As such, it will likely be a frustrating experience at first, unless you’re willing to follow a guide, which I would certainly recommend.Īt the onset of Legend of Mana you’re given the option to choose between a male or female protagonist, a beginning weapon, and then you’re given a big map with which to plop down your starting location. And while this port is an excellent remaster, it’s not a remake, and doesn’t take great strides to onboard modern players. Yes, there are definite differences between say, Secret of Mana and Trials of Mana, but Legend of Mana really tries to do a lot of new things, while at the same time doing a poor job of explaining virtually anything to new players. While the Mana games that preceded this have mostly been straight forward action-RPG’s, Legend of Mana changes up the formula quite a bit. For everyone else, maybe read on a bit more before making that decision. M2, the developer behind this port, continues to impress with another excellent release of an older, but maybe not beloved, classic game.ĭon’t get me wrong, I have no doubt that there are people out there that absolutely love Legend of Mana, and if that person is you, then I’d just stop reading this review and go ahead and plan on picking this up when it drops this week. The upscaled resolution loses none of the detail from the original game, the new 16×9 aspect ratio actually works out well, and a couple modern conveniences like a new Quick Save feature are certainly appreciated. The remastered version of Legend of Mana, dropping this week for the Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, and PC, just helps to emphasize how good the game looks. Legend of Mana instead focused on 2D character sprites, with vibrant colors, and gorgeous backdrops for the multiple locations featured throughout. Released in 1999/2000 for the original PlayStation, it was an extremely nice looking 2D game in an era that was mostly focused on 3D, polygonal characters and worlds. Your battle team consists of the main character, the characters involved in the current quest, and monsters turned to pets – enemies such as the Rabite were recruitable for the first time. But the innovations don’t stop there: the “Land Make” system enables you to create the world map by earning and placing locations before you visit them.While Legend of Mana might not be the most loved game in the long running Square Enix series, it’s certainly one of the more unique. While it’s still a 2D game in the series’ trademark angled top-down style, the backgrounds have a depth that makes them appear almost 2.5D in places. It was the first Mana game to be developed for PS1, and to mark the occasion series creator Koichi Ishii and his team introduced some changes. The fourth game in the series, it’s something of a quiet revolutionary. Following the success of Trials Of Mana, Playstation owners will be treated to a remaster of Legend Of Mana – the first time the game’s made it to Europe. M any of the Mana RPGs are considered classics in Japan, but not every fan in the West got to experience them when they were first released.
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