clydearowny's Full Review: Legend of Mana for PlayStation 1
Thinking back to the golden age of SNES, many titles stand out- one being Secret of Mana. The unforgettable gameplay and story was only matched by its sequel, which was never released in the US (legally). So when Square announced that Legend of Mana, or Seiken Densetsu 4, would be part of their "Summer of Square" sales blitz, I was thrilled. And yet, a dark cloud quickly hovered over the release as I began to hear word of the game being sub-par.
All Its Own
The main complaint players have about Legend of Mana is that it doesn't carry on a lot of the aspects of the first three games. Well, that's true, but some are still there. And, with many new and interesting additions, such as golem creation, a land system, and pet raising- the game makes a mark all its own. The game stands on its own feet, and doesn't use its predecessors as a base. Another common complaint was my only complaint- the game has no real central plot- something sacrificed for the sake of the games outstanding lack of linearity. Now, I know there are gamers out there who don't know what linear means. Linear games make the player follow a path, where they must do this, and will likely follow the same course of events if they were to replay the game. Non-linear games, however, let the player have more control over the events that happen, and let the player choose their own path. Legend of Mana is the latter, and perhaps the best example of what a non-linear game is.
No Plot Doesn't Mean No Fun
Pacman had very little plot. Neither did Space-Invaders. Now before you point out those are both "old school" games, consider this- a lot of games today have very little plot and yet are very addictive, like Frogger. Legend of Mana is like having a bunch of sub-plots, side-quests, and such thrown together to create one big game. Most of the quests take about an hour to complete, but the game offers a lot more than just these quests.
The golem creation system was very interesting to me. I liked this because it was something I hadn't seen since the good old days of Robotrek, a game which I liked. Of course, Square had to sponge off the Pokemon craze- and thus comes... the pet system. It's this new innovative idea that you raise a pet to fight alongside you (yes, a step above Pokemon) in battle. The pets are found by obtaining monster's eggs (which reminds me of Azure Dreams) and hatching them. However, there are only a few pets, which evolve (yes, another senseless Pokemon rip-off) into bigger, better pets. Also, players create instruments. Now before you go off the sell your MTV Music Generator, chill one second and hear me out- you don't get to play Motzart- all these musical instruments do is teach your characters magic (and how Square came up with that, I have no clue). Players also grow their own garden of vegetables, flowers, and bizzare creations, all under watch of a talking tree (Wizard of Oz meets Dark Cloud) These vegetables can be used to alter stats, but also come in handy as paint for your golems, or food for your pets. I didn't spend too much time planting and cropping, I'd had my share back in the days of Harvest Moon.
Finally, there is an aspect which was meant to make the player feel as though they were creating a world, and yet fell somewhere closer to being annoying. The land creation system... players place artifacts on a world map and these artifacts create new locations for the player to explore. This Sim-City idea really made me angry- because sometimes you need a watery area or you need other certain attributes of the surrounding landscape in order to put an artifact in the location. Well, see sometimes things don't work out, and you can't place your artifact at all. One interesting thing though, holding down the L and R buttons on the controller will access a mini-game which is much like the old "Mole Bopper" game on Super-Scope 6.
Alack Alack I Cannot Attack!
The battle system... it wasn't too poorly done with a few exceptions. One is that the player only has the ability to move up and down and rarely side-to side while fighting, and its usually a matter of hacking away at your enemies. Sometimes, skills can be used, which are triggered through the L1, L2, R1, and R2 buttons, and these skills are very numerous. However, most have about the same effect in battle, doing very little of anything at all. There is an array of weapons, yet they all tend to be similar in actual battle, with only a few differences in range, and attack power.
Your comrades, your war buddies, your allies- the become your worst enemies. No, I'm not spoiling some of the plot-line, but the NPCs on your team will inevitably drive you mad. Most of them get in your way, do very little to help, and require too much maintence to be worth their company (most notably, Pearl, who I wish I had here beside me so I could strangle her). Also, your pets will often be cowardly, unless you "train" them to be a fighter. Golems malfunction all too much, as well, making them less attractive than they at first appeared to be.
Other Oddities
One thing that was "all too cute" were the 'Cactus Diaries'. These diary entries are made by your Lil' Cactus pal, who writes in his diary after every event you complete. I suppose this is another aspect of the game which they are attempting to make players "collect 'em all"- the collection being one of a cactus's thoughts. How unique. Ultimately, your cactus runs off, and yes, you can go and find him, and bring him back. I didn't though.
The biggest dissapointment of the game for me came when I reached the final boss. First, the boss is someone who had nothing to do with the entire game, and has nothing to do with anything. In fact, there is no logical reason for the heroes and the final boss to even be fighting, but heck, things happen. Secondly, the final boss is incredibly EASY. The game does redeem itself in this area though, (no, not the ending, the ending was just as awful) with several "fake" endings, which come upon completing various quests for the NPCs. The bosses at the ends of those quests are also a bit more tough.
So in the end, I liked the game, and plan to play it again some day- but that day is not today. It is not tommorow. That day is the day I am bored enough of heavy plots and incredible battle systems to once again venture into the lukewarm waters of Legend of Mana.
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