Considered by many as one of the greatest action-orientated RPGs of all time, Secret of Mana was released to the public some 13 years ago. After some awkward semi-sequels, Children of Mana is the closest related Mana title to the original, but still isn’t the complete package fans were hoping for.
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After an original GameBoy title hidden under a Final Fantasy name, a sequel that was never released to US shores, a PSOne game that supported a new graphical art style and altered gameplay, and a remake of that first GB adventure, fans have been craving a new Mana title built in the shadow of the wickedly awesome SNES adventure. Following the SNES adventure’s format, Children of Mana is a direct sequel, but will disappoint hardcore fans.
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Using a real time Zelda inspired combat system, all Mana titles are more action based than normal RPGs, especially turned based ones. Children of Mana is a hack ‘n slash dungeon explorer. The usual, “use your sword and magic to kill evil creatures to level up and earn gold” is the main focus of the gameplay. However, this DS version is more action based than any other Mana title. While the game only contains four different weapons, fighting is always hectic and overwhelming due to the number of bad guys that can attack you all at the same time. It is not uncommon to be fighting 7-10 enemies at a given time. To help over come the odds, this game features a new rubber ball attack tactic. Whenever the player uses a big attack, like the third strike in your three hit sword combo or a swat from your hammer, enemies and other interactive elements of the environment will bounce around like a ball on a pinball table. The player can knock one enemy into two others, which in turn, will bash into 4 more enemies, each of them taking damage for every collision. Likewise, it is not uncommon to have the enemy that you just knocked away to come flying right back in your face. These extra collisions are a great way to defeat multiple enemies at once, however, there is really no penalty for carelessly knocking monsters around. Monsters lose hit points with every collision, but if a monster comes back and hits you, your character will simply fall to the ground and take a second to recover with no damage taken. Clearing out rooms full of enemies becomes far less intimidating since you can repeatedly use the flail to knock one monster into 8 others and not have to worry about them coming back to hit you. The rubber ball attack is a nice addition to the series, but without a penalty it actually dilutes the gameplay.
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Before the player can begin taking part in the adventure, an avatar must be chosen from four playable characters. All the usual video game stereotypes are here: there is the average main male character, the chick that is fast but weak, the little nerd who rocks a wand instead of a sword, and large rabbit that swings a mean stick but lacks intelligence. Since the game supports up to four players via local WiFi, each playable character comes in four different colors incase everyone picks the same character.
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Taking a side note from Final Fantasy Tactics Advance, Children of Mana takes a more opened approach. There are the main missions that advance the plot line, but there are also tons of side quests to take part in. The head dudbear in the village will offer these side quests for hire. Not only do the extra quests reward the player by usually offering some type of special weapon or gem, but it also allows your character to grow stronger, a definite must when venturing alone.
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Unlike the original Mana title where you had to work to earn new magic spells (Mana spirits) and items, Children of Mana gives everything to the player right off the bat. When you first set out on your adventure, the player can choose from any Mana spirit. However, the magic system is entirely new from the original SNES title. Each Mana spirit has two spells, one offensive and one supportive. When the “B” button is held down, your Mana elemental is summoned right in front of your character and will unleash its offensive attack. However, if the player walks onto the Mana spirit after it is summoned, its support spell will be cast. While this form of magic casting works in moderation, it can be quite difficult to cast a spell when surrounded by numerous enemies, the most ideal time to summon for help. If an enemy successfully hits you when you are trying to cast a magic spell, it is immediately canceled. It also seems a bit limiting to only be allowed to carry one Mana elemental at a time.
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Magic is not the only field of the game that is limiting. Changing and upgrading weapons and armor is treated quite unfairly. Let me explain. The game’s central hub takes place in your starting village. Here, players can find sides quests, shop for goodies, or embark on the main adventure. However, once you leave the town, the player is unable to change the equipment that is currently equipped until you return to the hub village. The same goes for the equipped Mana spirits. So say I am fighting swarms of monsters and one drops a brand new sword while I find some sweet new armor in remains of the buzzbee I just chopped down. Not only can I not equip these new pieces of hardware right away, I also have to be at a certain level to even be eligible to wear them. If I find new and rare items, why make me wait to equip them? I want to use them now, damn it!
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Very early in the game, the player is given the Flammie Drum, an item that was given towards the end of the game in the original SNES Mana. This item allows the player to ride on Flammie, a multi-winged white dragon, and go wherever you need to go in an instant. While this form of travel is quick and painless, it also removes the excitement of venturing from point A to point B. And since this item is given to the player so early in the game, there is no sense of accomplishment or pride when this item is obtained. The sense of exploration is totally eliminated in this game, especially since there is only town. Going back to the exact same town time and time again to buy new weapons and talk to the same townspeople fosters too much repetition, boredom, and disappoint to the game’s overall presentation. And what happened to the Cannon Travel cavemen?
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Fans will be pleased to know that that touch screen never has to be tapped with a stylus. The player has the option to use the stylus to select things from the menu screen, but it is in no way shape or form used for combat or any other main part of the play control. And that is a very good thing. The last thing we needed was a gimmick touch screen function that added hindrance to the gameplay.
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New to the Mana series is the gem system. Gems can be bought or found after defeating enemies. Players then take these gems and place them on a gem board. Once on this board, the player reaps the rewards and special powers of these games. For example, there is a gem that will increase your attack power while another one will allow the player to shoot multiple arrows in a single bow shot. Using this system is easy, but adds quite a bit of depth to the strategy and well being of your character.
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One gameplay element that really throws off the balance of the game is the lack of penalty when you die. When you fall in battle, the only negative aspect is that you are start back in the hub village. You do not lose any gold. You do not lose your items. Hell, you even get to keep the experience points you earned while on that current mission. When you die, you will feel guilty because the game did not punish you in anyway. I can even see some players taking advantage of this situation by killing a group of specific enemies to gain experience, items or gold just to die and be allowed to do it all over again for no cost. This just puts the overall balance of the game way out of whack.
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Instead of playing through one giant quest like in the SNES version, Children of Mana is level based. Once you venture out to complete the story, the player will be transported to a dungeon or cave, or whatever land that part of the story resides in. However, each level can only be completely chronologically, meaning once you move to second part of the stage, you cannot go back to the first part. Like having a central hub village, this completely removes any flavor of exploration since the game has to hold your hand through every stage.
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To get to the next part of the stage, the player finds a key (a glemdrop) and brings it to a portal which acts as the keyhole. Again, this form of level and story advancement brings the overall gameplay down by forcing the player to follow the game’s specific rules and level format. There is no way to backtrack, and finding the glemdrop or the exit portal can sometimes be more of chore. Why can’t I just go into a dungeon, work my way to the end at my own pace, and fight the boss?
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Through the course of the game, the player will obtain four weapons: a sword, a flail, a hammer, and a bow. Each weapon has its own specific uses like the flail can grab distance objects and enemies while the hammer can pound steaks into the ground. All weapons can be warmed up for a super attack if the attack button is held down, but it really does not add a whole lot to the combat scheme. It is nothing like how it was in Secret of Mana, where each weapon could be heated up to that weapon’s specific level, unleashing a devastating attack. In Children of Mana, warming up your attack weapon is usually to solve a weak puzzle, like bash the steaks into the ground to make a bridge pop up. The combat may be a little more active than a Link To The Past, but it is definitely no where near that game’s puzzle solving element.
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Stages sometime end in a boss battle. Some of these battles, however, are rather unexciting and even grow repetitive towards the end of the game. And one of the early boss battles was ripped directly from A Link to the Past, where you need to use your flail to grab orbs off the boss’s main body.
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The game allows for up to four players to co-op venture through local wireless link if everyone has there own copy of the game. This game is really best played with multiple people. Playing alone is alright, but devising co-op tactics with a friend is always more fun. If you can play this game with a friend or two, then [p]Children of Mana will definitely entertain your party for hours.
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Visually, the game looks great. The art style blends the detailed sprites of the SNES version with the fluid animation of the PSOne title. Everything looks bright and well detailed, especially on the DS Lite’s brighter screen. Wind blows on grassy hills and all characters move with fluidity. The visual detail is rather stunning.
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The same goes for the musical score. While not nearly as epic as the SNES title, Children of Mana does contain a well respected musical score. But I can’t help feel like the game could have greatly benefited from a few voiceover quips. I am not talking about a full blown voice over dialogue session for every conversation in the game, but rather if the character yelped when he takes a powerful blow to the face, and gasped when something sudden happen, like Link’s action in Ocarina of Time. Each character could have gained a little more personality from this subtle action.
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Is Children of Mana a decent game? The answer is yes. So then why so low of a score? Compared to the SNES version, this DS game just doesn’t cut the mustard. Perhaps I played through the SNES version too many times, but I do not think I am the only one expecting great things from the Mana series. If you never played a Mana title before, you will probably appreciate your time with this title more than hardcore fans of the series simply because they cannot compare it to the stellar SNES version. The hack’n’slash nature of the game can grow repetitive within time as well. This is because there are only four weapons, you cannot swap to a newer and better weapon when in the middle of a dungeon, and the magic system is kind of on the weaker side. But if you can gather a few friends for a local wireless gaming session, then this title will stay in your DS for quite sometime.