Magna Carta 2's fun combat system and interesting story should be enjoyed by most JRPG fans.
GAMEPLAY (9.0) - Many players will agree that MC2's greatest attribute is its rather unique combat system. Battles are fought in real time, and while up to six characters can be in the party no more than three can be in a battle at one time, though characters can be switched out at any time during combat. Enemies are visible on screen at all times and clicking LT will switch from movement mode into combat mode. Standard strikes are mapped to the A button, and each one will fill up the character's stamina bar. Once the bar is full the character enters "Overdrive" mode, where attacks are more powerful - however only one attack is allowed before he goes into "Overheat" mode, where he can't attack or use an item for a short period of time. The trick is to use his special move - assigned to the X button - just as he enters Overdrive and he'll do an extra amount of damage to the enemy before Overheating. The idea behind this is that selecting another character instantly with a tap of the D-Pad will hopefully allow the player to execute the second character's special move while the first character is still in Overheat. This is referred to as a "Chain Break" and it not only causes a huge amount of damage but also empties the stamina bars of both characters, instantly taking them out of "Overheat" mode. It requires a certain amount of concentration and practice to get it right, but it's worth it in the end. Thankfully the controls are responsive and intuitive, making the larger battles fun, even during the latter stages when the game becomes considerably more challenging.
All special and magical attacks draw from a power source known as Kan. There are five types of Kan: fire, wind, water and lightning are used by the characters with magic abilities while naturally strength is used for physical attacks. Characters need to either attack or cast spells in order to build up their Kan, and then the Kan is used when special attacks or spells are unleashed, with the more powerful skills consuming more units of this resource. Kan can also be carried physically in jewels called Kamonds. These Kamonds have various attributes such as adding to attack or defense, or can make a character immune to certain status effects like poison and paralysis. They can be equipped onto the character's weapons to offer a nice boost to their abilities.
Characters can be further customized through their skill trees. Each character is able to use two different types of weapons which means they all have two skill paths. Skill points are gained each time a character levels up and the player can decide which path to spend skill points on, which will unlock both special attacks and provide more attribute boosts. If any of this sounds confusing, it should be noted that MC2 does a good job with providing tutorials and having the information easily accessed through the pause menu. In addition to completing the story there are approximately 100 side quests that can be completed. While many of these quests can be mundane (finding lost items, clearing an area of monsters, etc.) it does provide a more interesting way in which to build up the characters as opposed to mindless level grinding, as well as occasionally providing useful items.
GRAPHICS (8.0) - Compared to most other games in this genre Magna Carta 2 has relatively few cut scenes, with most of the conversations unfortunately taking place in somewhat static dialogue boxes. The few cut scenes that are present look impressive, as well as the character's special attacks. The characters are nicely detailed but the mostly non-interactive environments tend to be dull.
AUDIO (8.0) - The voicework is definitely a mixed bag, with some characters (Juto and his huge companion Argo) enjoyable to listen to while others (fire caster Crocell and elf-like Celestine) are simply annoying. Unfortunately there is no option to use the original voice track with subtitles, which is almost always superior to the English actors. The score is pleasant enough, each area has its own theme and some of them were quite memorable.
VALUE (8.5) - Magna Carta 2 should take most gamers anywhere from 40 to 50 hours to complete, depending on how involved they get in the side quests. Personally I recommend doing any side quest that is offered as the characters will need to be highly leveled and have their top special attacks available in order to have a realistic chance against the later Boss battles. For those interested in achievements, I ended up with 650 points after my first play through, with I believe 445 automatically occurring by completing the main story.
SUMMARY - While the game starts on a somewhat slow pace it does pick up after a few hours. Though there are plenty of cliches, the story has enough twists and turns to keep players interested and wanting to see what will happen next. Also, the more advanced the characters become the more depth will be discovered in the combat. While the battles are fun to play from the start, once the chaining techniques are mastered and the high level special attacks are unlocked combat becomes even more enjoyable as the player controls a cast of almost unstoppable warriors. Recommended to fans of the genre.