Great for the fans...
Graphics:
This game was beautifully made. A pure masterpiece. Every one and everything in this game is animated to add an anime-ish look to the game. The way they blended 2-D sprites with 3-D CG backdrops is excellent, not to mention that the cinematic scenes are awesome. I gotta hand it to Square on that one. Gameplay: This game is crammed with a lot of cool stuff. For example, when you start a new game, you can select a male or female hero which is great for female gamers. You then select one of 11 weapons , depending on your play style, ranging from 1 handed weapons like a traditonal sword and hand-Axe, to 2-handed weapons like a bigger sword ( ) and spear. You are given a blank map and a few artifacts, to place onto that map, which will turn into a stage.
As you progress, there are a lot of special things you can earn, like the ability to forge your own weapons, create your own spells, and even raise monsters to fight alongside you.
The battle system is a lot more fast paced than its Seiken predecessors. The battle layout has also changed. Insead of using traditional hit-points. You're given a standard health gauge as well as a smaller power gauge below (For techniques). The magic system has also changed. With the absence of MP now adds a new "instrument" system. As you play through the game you'll find instruments being sold in shops. Thats your magic! Each instrument has their own elemental power, and attack range and as you progress, you'll be able to craft your own spells. Once you have a spell assigned to a certain button, you'll see range markers, showing where the spells will hit. These require precision timing as your spells will only work if you catch a monster in your spell's range. The longer you hold it, the greater the range.
As you enter each stage, you may trigger a quest. Only by completing quests can you progress in the game, as you are given materials and even more artifacts. Among these quests, a select number are arranged into one 3 major story arcs: Jumi, Fairy, and Dragon. Only by completing at least 1 of these arcs, can you be given the final artifact needed to complete the game.
The upsides is that the game is a lot of fun and it gives you a hell of a lot to do. Well, first is being able to craft your own equipment and instruments (used for spells). Secondly, you can find monster eggs scattered throughout the battle stages, which you can hatch and raise as your animal partner, or if monsters arent your thing, you can also build your own golem as your partner. Along with that, there is also gardening, which you can grow various fruits and vegetable used for not just feeding pets, but for painting golems and tempering equipment. To top that off there are up to 70 possible quests to complete at your choice, aside from mastering all techniques for your weaponn not to mention hunting for Spirit coins, used to add elemental powers for both your equipment and instuments.
The downsides, are obvious. First off, the game is WAY too open, not to mention the fact that certain events can be overlapped. This means that if you don't know what you're doing, you can get lost very easilly. Also, Exp, Gold, and Monster Treasure must be collected manually and if not collected within a certain time, they'll fade away. This can be a major pain when collecting your hard earned spoils, especially if theres a monster coming between you and your prize(s).
Overall:
While the game is pretty satisfactory to most mana fans, its not as bad as I originally made it out to be. While the game is a nice addition to anyones Mana collection, it still could have been better.