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Review Legend of Mana, for all Mana fans, you probably already know Square got us half-assed out of their Mana series a long time ago, ever since they shoved Nintendo aside. Fans have been eager to see the results of Square's resurrection of the latest Mana sequel in 32-bit. Before you and me judge this game, don't even think of the original Secret of Mana. Everything has been re-designed. Many innovations have also been made, including Square's new "Land Make" system. Using acquired artifacts, the player must design his or her own map layout. Also, the battle system has been turned into a hack and slash, button-mashing fest, instead of the cool weapon and magic system used in Secret of Mana. The character must use a type of weapon and continually use action-oriented moves, mixing in instrument effects and "limit breaks." The game also includes a two-player system, while sounding cool, is only cool half of the time. The 2nd player must constantly follow the first. and may only interact in fights. The background is splashed with color, making the visuals breathtaking at the least. The music is interesting, the complex systems of building golems, instruments, and weapons is pretty deep, while the game is based on Tomba-like missions. This is where the game chokes me, the storyline. The story doesn't fit together too much at times, (So Larc is fighting a Dragoon, no wait, he's a Dragoon, huh? Why am I killing dragons? Damn it, what's wrong with you Larc, what? I've been uniting a brother and sister? What does that have to do with the Mana tree? Why is this girl so clumsy? ad nausea....etc) The main character has no personality (Side Note: He never says anything at all) forcing the player to rely on support characters to explain the story. For the conclusion, I'd say Legend of Mana has its perks like coffee, but only lasts so long. If you're into this kind of game, by all means, go out and snatch it from the local store. If you have lived off of Final Fantasy 7 and 8 for RPG pleasure, go pick up Chrono Cross. Final Rating: 84 out of 100 - Serge
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