For a new Mana game, it doesn't really grasp the charm like the old games use to do.
The Bad: Less not-much exploring, more dungeon crawling; monster battles are often too stressful; combat isn't all that tight; lack of use for the touch screen; pointless missions that are nothing but a waste of time.
Mana games are one of the so-interesting game series created by Squaresoft (which is now called Square Enix). The game series starts from Secret of Mana for the SNES, then Legend of Mana for the PSOne, and then finally Sword of Mana for the GBA. Those games attempt to capture the attention of Role-Playing Gaming fans with sucess, until Square Enix announced the plans of releasing more Mana games, which under the name of World of Mana compilation, starting with Children of Mana for the DS.
Children of Mana is the newest installment of the Mana series only exclusively for the Nintendo DS, and by the look of what players played, it's rather both a disapointment and a waste of time and money playing it for your DS. This is a first that the Mana series kinda went downhill when the first of the World of Mana compilation was released, and we would predict that the Mana series isn't going to be as smooth as the older games. In the game, you'll take role of one of the four playable characters, such as Ferrik, Tamber, Poppen, and Wanderer. Each has their own story which leds them all at the same path of all the dungeon crawling thoughtout the game. Speaking of that, the game is entirely about mostly going through dungeons or areas, reaching twords the goal of defeating a certin boss and moving on to another dungeon. Of course, if you get killed in the middle of battling rampaging monsters, you'll be forced to return to Mana Village and start the dungeon all over again. You won't find anything interesting about this game besides being challenged by the game itself, not even the side-quests could keep you playing the game for long hours.
The combat was as repetitive, but shallow, as either getting through the dungeon or starting it all over again. It's only interesting to beat up little critters, which they'll only come after you and try to prevent you from reaching the goal, only for 10 or fewer minutes. What's so frustrating about it is that when you hit an enemy with a hammer or flail, chances are that you'll get smucked back (think of it as a game of Pool just to clearify your mind). Also, there are sometimes too many enemies to defeat to handle unless you're a professional at the flail, otherwise you'll get attacked by an enemy without even know it. Finally, the aiming of the magic of your spritual parter is either good or bad (depending on how you handle the targeting syestem). For instance, if you summon your sprit while running away from a mob of monsters, it's magic targets at the wrong direction, so keep in mind that the targeting system is where you're facing. But sometimes, though, you don't use your spirit usually when focused about the combat. In conclusion for the combat system, it's not as tight as in the old Mana series.
What I think of Children of Mana after playing it is that it's not as good as the older Mana series and not worth being in the Mana series at all. It's like playing a game that is more different than the usual, so this ISN'T Mana at all. If you bought this game without reading the reviews here at Gamespot.com, you'll be as disapointed as I am when playing this game. In fact, for a new Mana game, it doesn't really grasp the charm like the old games use to do, and it's a beginning for another series to fall downhill like some old game series that we know of.