 Squaresoft’s
first entry into their Summer of Adventure campaign is the
long-awaited Legend of Mana, the sequel to the popular Secret
of Mana on the SNES. This
is actually the fourth game in the series but only the third to come
out in the US. Unlike the
previous games, Legend of Mana is actually more of an
experiment then a real sequel.
If
you are looking for an epic adventure, you won’t find it here.
The entire game consists of small story segments that are
loosely connected via character interactions between adventures.
The world of Fa’diel starts off as an empty landmass that
must be filled with magical artifacts that contain locations, cities,
and dungeons. The player
starts with either a male or female character as well as a weapon of
choice. Then the first
Artifact is given, which creates the home base.
Once acquired and activated, new artifacts will appear.
Each artifact must be placed in an open location on the world
map. Placement will
reveal a town or dungeon area that has a certain mission or plot
point. The player
character can enter, converse with the inhabitants, or fight monsters. Each mini-mission ends with a fight against a huge boss.
Once defeated a new set of artifacts are obtained to reveal yet
more locations to explore. Some missions require nothing more then talking to a bunch of
people or solving a mystery. Others
involve exploring vast underground caves, mountains, forests, and
other exotic locations.
 Gameplay
involves active combat with either standard or special attacks.
The special attacks include techniques that are learned and
attached to button presses. Magic
is gained through constructing instruments and talking to elemental
spirits. Those familiar
with the earlier games will notice the same elementals appearing such
as the Gnome, Undine, and Salamander.
Once enemies are defeated, items and experience crystals appear
that must be gathered to advance the character.
An interesting quirk of combat is your health recharges while
idle or dodging bullet attacks. After
winning, your health goes back to max.
Since there is no healing during combat, this system makes
reasonable sense although it also makes the game overly easy.
Below the health bar is the special attack meter that, when
full, allows special attacks or magic. There
is also limited multiplayer during several missions when a sidekick
joins the main character. However,
controlling the second character is not a critical aspect of gameplay
and can be ignored altogether. Besides
the artifact location combats, the home base offers several options to
keep the player busy outside the main game.
Workshops allow the building of new weapons and instruments
depending on items acquired in the missions.
There is even a monster rancher area where the player can
capture and raise monsters for use in combat.
Graphics
are sprite based but very colorful and detailed. Environments are also highly varied and painted with
imagination. This world
is populated with a large variety of bizarre inhabitants ranging from
walrus people to teapots to unintelligible teddy bears.
Sound and music is also quite good.
I especially liked the tunes during boss combats. While the
music is not outstanding, it is appropriate to the backgrounds and
changes between locations.
 This
game is a strange one to describe because it is unlike anything that's
come before it. You will
either love it or hate it. Gameplay
is actually very fun, but the lack of a coherent plot caused me to
lose interest. To get the
most out of Legend of Mana, you should approach it as an
exploration of the magical world of Fa’diel.
Get to know the inhabitants and the locales but don’t expect
a world shattering plot to go along with it.
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