Beautiful and unique style, I derived inexplicable fun from this quirky little game- despite its massive failings.
Usually I start off with the little things like graphics and sound, but here I feel that gameplay is important to mention first. That is because gameplay is both horrible and great. For me it was largely good, for others it could be a total waste of time.
First the bad- this game is brainlessly easy. There is no AI. Both enemies and allies alike are total idiots. But this makes this an outstanding game for entry-level players. It really doesn't get much easier than this. But for everyone else, the lack of actual skill to get from point a to point b will ruin the game.
That brings us to the next bad point- what does it take to get from point a to point b? RPGs are known for being pretty linear- sometimes for better, and other times for worse. You watch story scenes, you go to a dungeon, beat a boss, onto a town, on and on until the end of time maybe with some diversions along the way.
But in Legend Of Mana it is all diversions- you're just kinda thrown out there to the dogs (assuming the metaphorical dogs in question are running on low AI- thus totally leaving you in very little danger.) and the only real struggle is wondering where on earth you have to go in order to get things moving.
This usually involves going through tedious and maze-like dungeons that are too often similar in set-up (not in design though- I'll get into that in the graphics section of this review) collecting items that are strangely useless since you're automatically healed all the time, and trying to run back and forth and all over the place in towns trying to trigger a scene. This lack of direction will encourage many a gamer to quit rather quickly.
Now for the good aspect of the gameplay- the battle system isn't boring. Brainlessly easy, but with real-time active hacking and slashing there are little to no menu navigation- and it just goes so fast. I mentioned before about "allies". There are alot of various characters that can travel alongside you. Only a few of them are permanent, most will leave after a short while. They all operate the same.
Next is one of my favorite features that I wish was in more games- one major part of the game itself is the quest log. You the hero (or heroine, you can choose to be either male or female at the beginning of the game. No difference other than appearance) have a variety of quests to undertake, all kept in a handy log. Completing quests will often unlock more worlds and more quests to be had. There are 67 in all and collecting every single one is kind of like collecting the characters in Suikoden- many are just given to you, some you have to go out of your way to find.
The next section of gameplay that is kind of a strong point are the minor trimmings. You have your own house. In fact it isn't long until you have your own pet ranch, your own weapon synthesis and golem-creating hut, a tree with which you can collect fruit, and a collection of books detailing the worlds/characters you've uncovered thusfar. This is nice and I wish more games would have these sort of features and expand upon them- but here, beyond filling out lists- which I love to do, but I figure most gamers won't find it all that fulfilling, and admittably, it isn't nearly as rewarding as it could be.
With the lack of difficulty, the only incentive to digging in the complex weapon customization, golems to create, and fruit to harvest is just to reach that 100%. It won't actually help you out in battle because there is no need for help.
As for the pet farm- this sounds good but ends up failing. The good- you can collect almost ANY enemy you come across. And there are as many enemies as in any other rpg, dozens upon dozens. You can recruit the enemy to fight alongside you. You can level them up and keep them on a ranch to feed them and help them grow stronger. But this is no Pokemon. You are only allowed to have five pets on the ranch. This brings would could be an encompassing and fun gotta-catch-em-all side quest down to almost nothing.
Anyway back to the aforementioned quests, the major saving grace of this game IMO. The quests are quick so it I never really got bored with the game (with the exception of those times where the faulty design left me barking up wrong trees) each quest tells a little story, sometimes these quests are strung together to form a more important central storyline. Trying to collect them all (and attaining your pet cactus's witty diary entry for each quest) was fun for me. G
etting 94% of the quests completed and dabbling in the mini-games resulted in an endgame time of 107 hours. That doesn't include the New Game+. But don't get excited about the New Game+.. all it does is add some additional difficulty modes. They aren't really genuine difficulty either, just upgrading of stats. The enemies are still stupid as can be, it just takes a bit longer to fell them.
Also as for my end-game time of 107 hours.. most will be able to complete everything from 40-55 hours. Or less if they're not completists. The only reason why I took so long is because at the time I was a lame noob and this was one of my first rpgs. Trying to unlock quests and complete them was very addictive though, and even now makes the less savory portions of this game easier to stomach.
One thing I've got to mention are the worlds. The game has a weird way of exploration. Being the unusual humanish/god-like creature you are in this game, you have the ability to take an object and plant it on a map- where it will bloom immediately into a town or dungeon. In these towns and dungeons you'll get quests, useless items, fight those largely brainless battles, and get more collectable worlds. There are also the unnecessarily complicated issue of mana levels of your object and the world map that influence one another (urgh..)- to be blunt, it's really not even worth giving a glance and you should really just put towns and dungeons wherever you want. It only comes into play once when the completion of a quest depends upon having a certain town under a certain mana level.
(Storyline & Graphics)
(The reason why I lop these together will make sense soon..)
If you look really close, there is a storyline in Legend Of Mana. It just has very little to do with the main character. Let me explain- since I played as a girl and named my character Sevorina, I'll just use that name when indicating the character. Sevorina is a bystander in a myriad of situations. Sometimes these situations are high-tension conflicts that endanger an entire race, and other times they involve learning the language of stuffed bears in a city of glimmering lights. Then other times she's exploring a vast ship, a dream world, hell, a mine, an outdoor dungeon of old scary toys, or talking to a bunch of students in a thriving city adorned with gold. This is where the graphics come into play, or rather, the art direction- which I found to be stellar in the sheer variety of unique places you can traverse. Even the more usual surroundings (ice lands, greenery, a jungle. Well.. maybe not a jungle..) have their own distinct look. The coloring, lighting, and shades only served to make it look very near perfect.Even though the graphics are in 2D they are highly detailed right down the colorful sprites. The character art is highly unusual- but in a more narrow way. In other words you'll love it or hate it. I fall very much on the side of loving it, as I found the costumes (which define a period that I can't quite mark.) and refreshing different character designs to be attractive. The monsters are also a notch above the average ilk of rpg monsters.
Anyway back to the storyline- so what does Sevorina do? Sometimes she saves lives, other times she just plays around. Her life is simple. There is a little threat near the end but it oddly comes with no explanation and just leaves the gamer puzzled. That is probably because it matters so little in the scheme of things. As quickly as Sevorina finds each sprawlingly diverse world- she leaves them in search of more. So you get a devastatingly vague view of many different places and stories. There are three slightly more substantial stories that pop up, the Jumi one in particular was quite good, but they are unfortunately vague in the long run. The tone of scenes are often weird, and at times confusing, mature, surprising, or amusing. So I enjoyed the text that is here, even if it feels too fragmented to be stand on it's own legs as a storyline.
(Music)
The music really does deserve it's own category. This is easily among my five favorite soundtracks ever. This is the sort of music that was so good that I felt compelled to stay in areas long enough to hear each composition to it's end. So often rpg music fades into the background of generic if passable fare.. in Legend Of Mana it always seemed to spring into the foreground, and perfectly compliment- maybe even multiply the effect of whatever was going on at the moment and make it all for the better. It seets a great atmosphere- what atmosphere exactly? There are too many to count. Whether it be serene, tragic, cheerful, energetic, or mysterious- basically you could insert any adjective here and at some point in the game you'll encounter music that embodies it, maybe even exaggerates it. In the end I was compelled to try to find the soundtrack, find more works by the composer, and there is little else needed in order to net this area a 10.
(Last Note)
Now my last note- this is the third rpg I'd ever played. The first two were Harvest Moon titles (whether they are really as rpgish as LoM is up to debate) so when I played this game I had no expectations. I had incredible stamina for what I didn't know were very flawed design choices. I became entrenched in a story that I didn't know was barely a story. If I'd played Chrono Trigger, Final Fantasy VI, and Secret Of Mana beforehand this game could've very well been a lackluster experience. Instead it was incredible joy. Weird how things work out.
But I do sincerely believe that there are some good ideas in this title. The non-linear questing, a world map you make yourself, being an outsider in your own game and exploring strange worlds of unimaginable concepts- perfect audio and visual aspects- a masterpiece would be the result if everything else was not so heavily flawed. But if only out of nostalgia, I look back on this game quite fondly.
(+ Pros) (- Cons)
+ Lots of quests to complete for the obsessive-compulsive gamer.
+ Amazing graphics and sound.. though you might not agree.
- The battle system. It's so easy you could probably do it with your eyes closed.
+ However, the fast hacking and slashing is somehow not all that boring.
+ Some very unique features- like having your own base of operations, being able to make golems, weapons, collect monsters, having a database of everything you've encountered- the weird pace and exploration
- The above sounds nice, and it is entertaining for awhile. But the overall execution of each of these features is severely lacking.
+ The storyline. I like the characters- I like the ideas, the settings..
- But the tiny scope of each small tale and overall vagueness of all but three arcs make for a storyline approach that is unconventional but not very good.
- It is the follow-up to Secret Of Mana. It can't be all that easy to survive such grand expectations.