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Another great hit from Squaresoft

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 50 / 51
Date: June 10, 2000
Author: Amazon User

I played Secret of Mana many years ago on the SNES, and when I found out last fall that Legend of Mana would be produced and be coming to the US, I got very excited. For those of you who don't know, Secret of Mana is actually known as Seiken Densetsu 2 in Japan. US's Final Fantasy Adventure was Seiken Densetsu 1. Seiken Densetsu 3 never made it to the US, but SD 4 was titled Legend of Mana and was shipped to the US.

First of all, it's a very non-linear game. "Scenarios" are triggered by doing certain events or randomly. There are 69 scenarios in all. You start with either a male or female character, a choice of an initial weapon, and where on the map you want to play. A really original aspect of the game is the Landmake system. During the game you will find artifacts, and they can be used on your world map to make places to go such as cities or jungles or dungeons. A whole array of characters can be found during the game, and they can assist you in battle. The battle system is a new sort of action battle, where you run around the screen and either use a quick attack, a slow powerful attack, or a special move. A second player can join in by being an NPC (non-playable character) or they can import their own Legend of Mana character to play.

Another great addition to the game is the fact that you can make your own weapons and items and such. You can create golems to assist you in battle, or raise little monsters to help you from time to time.

In conclusion, Legend of Mana is a highly reccommended game. The watercolor backgrounds and lush graphics, even though they are 2D, are amazing. The music is phenominal and so is the sound. This is a great game.

Square's latest Gem proves to be vastly entertaining.

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 46 / 53
Date: July 07, 2000
Author: Amazon User

First of all, I'd like to say something to all those people who say "This isn't a sequel to Secret of Mana--it stinks." Of course it isn't a sequel! There is a game between Secret of Mana and Legend of Mana, it just didn't come out in America, it's called Seiken Denjetsu 3, Secret of Mana was 2, and Legend of Mana is 4--just to clear that up.

Second, I'm goin to have to say that this game has the most beautiful 2D graphics I've ever seen. They're hand-drawn, and they look something like those of Saga Frontier 2, but more detailed. For those of you who don't like 2D things, this game may very well change your mind.

The Storyline in this game is.... well, relatively non-existent. There are 69 sub-quests in this game which help determine the overall story which is buried deep inside somewhere. The game doesn't focus on any one concept, or any one villain. It is just made up of a lot of sub-quests. Depending on which Sub-quests you do, you'll meet new characters, find new artifacts, etc...

Legend of Mana uses the most innovative 'world creation' system i've seen yet. In the game, you find magical artifacts which when triggered, construct a city, dungeon, or new area... you decide where you put the new area, and you basically create everything in the game. Depending on where you use the artifact, the story will change. You also make your own weapons, and armor, which is unique.

The Battle System in Legend of Mana is kind of cool... There are no menus, and it is fought in real-time. You go to another screen for battle, but you can move your characters freely around the battlefield. Instead of menus, you assign different abilities to buttons. eg: strong attack, weak attack, special ability. I found this battle system needed a little getting used-to, but proved to be very successful and fun in the end.

The only flaw i see in this game is the fact that there is no main storyline, and this may disappoint some gamers--and it shares few similarities with Secret of Mana, which may also disappoint many gamers. But other than those flaws, I'd say that this is an excellent game with tons of replay value, because there are so many things you can do.

Weird story, but superb gameplay

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 23 / 24
Date: March 03, 2002
Author: Amazon User

To begin with, the mythology in this game is rather strange -- it's an odd mix of Buddhist, neo-pagan, and New Age theology that doesn't always hang together for me. Maybe that's because the game originated in Japan, and I'm just not as familiar with their folklore. Having said that, I will also say that this is one of the most complex, intuitive games I have ever played. You can program the controller buttons for skills that you choose, decide who to take with you on various quests, make your own customized armor and weapons, etc. Our family has logged many hours in three separate games, and we still have not solved all the scenarios. Definitely a challenge!

One of the neatest features is the "pets" you can grow, which are really monsters that fight as your allies. At various points in the game, you find "monster eggs" that you capture and put into your Monster Corral. You then feed them with foods that you win in the game. The various foods have different effects on the monsters' agressiveness, magic, etc. as the monster grows. You can keep up to five pets in the corral, and you get to choose which one to take with you on each quest. The pets level up in battles just like the RP characters, and some monsters are more powerful than others. As the game progesses, you have the option to sell ones you don't like to make room for new eggs. Part of the fun is seeing what they hatch into!

There are also magical trees where you grow the various seeds that you win in certain battles. The fruits that appear are hilarious -- Apricats, Cabadillos, FishyFruits, Rhinolopes, etc. These can be used as foods for your pets, or as ingredients to temper the weapons, musical instruments, or golems that you make in the workshops. You can sell extra items in the various shops to get money for materials to make more powerful weapons, too. So, it pays to harvest and re-plant your orchards regularly.

The storyline, as other reviewers have already pointed out, is flexible and non-linear -- a lot depends on how you solve the subplots. We found that, when family members each play their own versions, things occur in very different orders. How you answer the questions will also determine whether or not you get certain scenarios at all. The best strategy, I found, is to visit the different lands often, and talk to everyone you see there. When their conversations change or a new character appears, that usually signals the beginning of a new quest. (Hint: to find a couple subplots on the pirate ship, keep asking the helmsman to go in different directions in different orders.)

The overall goal is to heal the Mana Tree, which is like the Tree of Life. As you solve the various subplots, you will be given "artifacts" that you place on the World Map. The artifacts morph into new lands where you find more scenarios to solve. At some point you will receive the Sword of Mana, which grows into the Mana Tree. If you choose to climb the Tree and solve that scenario, you will beat the game. The first time through, I did that right away -- and the graphics for the finale are absolutely beautiful!

When I played a second time, I chose not to climb the Tree until I had found the scenarios that I missed the first time. BTW, when you play again, you can import your HP level and certain other attributes from the first game. I also discovered that I could import another player's character from their game, complete with his or her weapons, etc. (Before you do this, though, be sure each of you has a backup copy, in case you accidentally overwrite somebody's data.) In 2P mode, the second player can control their character in my game and join me on the quests. This can be very useful for defeating a powerful monster! But watch out -- some scenarios will send the second player home. When that happens, he or she will be prompted to save whatever points s/he has earned in your game.

One of the Best game I ever played

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 24 / 26
Date: May 13, 2000
Author: Amazon User

I have played the Japanese version of this game and it is one of the best game I've ever played. The game play is awesome, just like the previous Seiken Densetsu series. The special moves is a cool addition to the game. However, unlike the previous Seiken Densetsus, there really isn't any room for 2 player since all the NPC come and go with regard to the event you are on. All the other features also increases the fun of the game. Catching eggs and breeding monsters to be in your party, making your own weapon and armors, as well as forging it with special abilities. You can also make your own golems by filling a 6x6 box with pieces made from your weapons and armors. Linking the pieces can result in the golem having special combos and attacks. Magic is now in the form of instruments and each one have a different magic depending on what you made the instrument with and which element of magic you forged it with. Overall, I think this game is one of my favorite and would recommand it to all the RPG/Seiken Densetsu lovers.

Infinite Fun

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 11 / 11
Date: June 22, 2000
Author: Amazon User

This has to be the best game, much less, RPG I have ever played. Sure, some games are great, but then they get too hard or too boring. This is not that type of game. It has a scattered plot and many things about the game revolve around your choices. Many mysteries lie in this adventure.

Quests range from being as powerful as discontinuing a war waged by 2 powerful races to being as odd as helping a lovestruck centaur win the heart of a siren. Worried you might have missed getting a quest artifact? You can always get it later, usually. There are roughly 70 quests.

The world map takes place where you select your "Play Area" at the beginning of your game. Then you place your mailbox. This creates your home, you keep getting more items called Artifacts and placing them on the map, customizing your world as you please. And for areas where you fight monsters and things, the farther from your home you place things, the harder and more experience-giving the enemies will be.

The battles are not turn-based. You move freely using techniques to help you evade and defend, and even attack. Striking many ways and with many combos with your weapon, enabling special Synchro effects, and casting spells and special abilities.

There are beautiful spells of many elements, special moves depending on what weapon you specialize in, and techniques, like somersault, back-roll, and lunge. there are 15 moves for each weapon, and 26 techniques. I don't know how many spells, i can't count.

You can choose what gender, weapon (10 choices), and area at the beginning.

While the graphics aren't all 3D, they have gorgeous areas and some of the most impressive spells i've seen.

Side with dragoons, take young wizards as your apprentices, join a jumi knight, catch pets, build golems, and even bring a friend along from his or her on game! This is the best game I have seen, buy it!

A Dreamworld to lose yourself in

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 9 / 9
Date: July 13, 2000
Author: Amazon User

First off, this Mana game is *much* different than any of the previous ones. If you are expecting another Secret of Mana, you'll be shocked, and perhaps, dismayed. But wait- there is hope.

The beautiful, dreamy graphics and music are still there, and so are the odd characters. The locations are even more varied this time around, and some of them are quite unusual (like the Toy Junkyard). You can even chose between a female and a male main character (finally!) and what weapon she will start with. you also get to chose the vast majority of responses your character makes.

However, the storyline is non-linear. Yes, you heard me right- however, LoM manages to avoid Saga Frontier syndrome and the majority of the quests are fairly easy to run across. You don't even need to complete most of the 69 quests to complete the game, but completing as many as you can brings quite a lot of depth to the game. Some quests will make you laugh out loud, some will leave you scratching your head, and some will touch your heart. Best of all, the characters sound much more like real people than in any other RPG, and the typos are few. If you miss some quests, (or many) do not worry- you can start the game over again, ala Chrono Trigger, with all of your old items, your workshops, and your pets.

Yes, workshops and pets- you can make your own weapons, armor, magical instuments, and even golems to fight with you. You can also raise monster eggs that you find, and grow food for them to change their stats.

There are some flaws- the two player system is disappointing, as the second character can only be an NPC (none of which is with your permanently), or an friend's imported main character, and the character has little to no interaction with the world, and cannot change any weapons or armor. There is an advantage to importing another main character- your character learns their special skills- but it usually isn't worth it. LoM is definitely a one-player game.

Also, the weapon and armor creation system, as well as golem creation, is horribly vauge- after creating the object out of base metal, there is no way to tell what forging any other substance to it will do, or if it will do anything at all. Some items will only work with certain metals, which takes a lot of time, error, and resetting to figure out. Most annoying. Also, teh golems take a lot of money to build, and getting their logic systems to work is an exercise in patience . Fortunately, you do not need to master these skills to complete the game successfully.

Finally, the game is often quite easy. You are fully restored after each battle, and if you die, you can replay the battle until you win. And if your level is high enough (easy to do even if you aren't trying to level build) you can slice through bosses with ridiculous ease. However, after playing the game through once, you can make it more difficult...

All in all, this is a beautiful game, very dreamy and surreal, and very easy to lose oneself in. Even though the flaws can be frustrating, LoM has plenty to make up for it. The graphics are better than ever, the music is still quirky, and the characters are have incredible amounts of personality. Even if you were wishing for another Secret of Mana, if you approch this game with the attitude that it -is- different than its predecessors, don't mind too much the limited two player option, and keep your mind open about what it has to offer, you can get a lot of enjoyment out of it.

Long Live 2D Adventure games!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 8 / 8
Date: July 04, 2000
Author: Amazon User

I recently bought The Legend of Mana and it is by far the most enjoyable game I've played this year! I've bought six games this year so far and this is the best.

I've never played The Secret of Mana for the Super Nes until a few months ago. I fell in love with it immediately. I loved playing the 2D Adventure Secret of Mana and wanted a game similar to play. Then I found out only two week ago that the Legend of Mana would be available for Playstation. I looked at pictures and wondered how similar it was to the Secret of Mana.

Now after buying the Legend of Mana I realized it has all the best stuff from the Secret of Mana and a whole lot more! This is a really big game. It is worth every penny you spend on it. It allows you to create your own weapons, magical instruments, and golems to take on an adventure with you. One feature that caught my eye is that it allows you to play through the adventures multiplayer! Yup! A two-player single screen adventure just like in the old days! And unlike many RPG's The Legend of Mana has real-time battle! No more turn based fights with commands like fight, run, or use magic. All the battles are done by the hands of players. This game is sooo much fun! I hope Squaresoft will continue making games based on The Legend of Mana.

The games graphics are amazing! They are beautifully drawn and sparkle with bright colors. The graphics are 2D and resemble a cartoonish look. I think the video game industry should produce more games in 2D. The Legend of Mana proves that 2D games can be more elaborate and more fun than many of the 3D games on the market! 2D adventure games are what got the video game industry booming, so don't forget that!

Far to Cutesy for my tastes

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 16 / 25
Date: June 10, 2000
Author: Amazon User

I bought Legend of Mana in a joint venture with one of my firends because it had a 2-player sticker on the back. RPG's are our favorite genre and we thought it would be fun to try it out. We turned it on, started a new game, and found ourselves in the most (disgustingly) cutesy game. The backgrounds are all hand drawn and llok like something out of Care Bears. But down to the specifics about the game...

First there are FAR too few battles, and those that are there are no challenge whatsoever. And on the downside you are completley healed after a battle, which for me makes the game far less challenging.

Second, to progress in the game you must find Artifacts which are little objects that allow you to create towns, or the occasional (rather easy) dungeon.

Third, the towns themselves are annoying to navigate through. Each town has little 'zones' which when you try to leave you are brought to a map of the town, and must walk to the next 'zone'. It just gets frustrating when you have to go from place to place over and over.

And Finally there is the 2 player system. You can have it work 2 different ways. First you can have a 2nd player control the NPC's in the game (which goes from gaps from 10 minutes to an hour) or you can have the 2nd person import their character from a different save block. Both rather odd.

On the Plus side there is the option of a Pokémon-esque type of raising monsters to fight for you. This is one of the 'side-quests' along wiht forging your own weapons and creating Golems (which are just a bit more powerful than the monsters).

In all I AM going to finish this game but I think it would be better for a younger generation of RPG players, or first time RPG players.

Legend of Mana... RPG candy from SquareSoft.

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 7 / 7
Date: June 23, 2000
Author: Amazon User

To begin, Legend Of Mana is as close as we in the US will get to true sequel to Secret Of Mana. With this in mind, they are NOT the same type of game, rather, they are the same THEME. There are PROS and CONS in any game, and I will attempt to lay some out here...

The game is primarily 2D with watercolored backgrounds. The character is sprite-based, but the animation is more detailed than its' SNES counter-part. There is also the semi-subtle use of some rendered CGI characters. The music is rich. The movement is EXACTLY like the SNES version, with 'dash' feature and the like. At least in the PSX version they enabled the analog functions (though some purists may still enjoy the use of the digital buttons).

Much has been said about the LandMake system in use here, and for the most part, all is true. The system lends some depth to what could have been a VERY boring part of the game(the placement of the artifact affects the mana of the new land and adjacent old lands, etc). It is also possible that it could annoy someone who just wants to play the freakin' game.

The option to make weapons, instruments (read MAGIC ITEMS), and golems gives the casual or serious RPGer something to do. The actual capturing of the pets and the serenading of the elementals can be viewed as both blessing and curse. On one hand, YAY! mini-games are a must in most RPGs, and it is a nice low-level challenge to capture an egg or charm an elemental. On the other hand... CRAP! you mean I gotta waste my time and energy just to get the PARTS? To endlessly trek from land to land to get the components of whatever it is your are trying to build can become very tiresome and will cause gamers to just pass on it and finish the game without enhanced weapons, pets, or golems.

Next issue is the Battle Engine. In SofM it was possible to run willy-nilly from screen to screen without the necessity of engaging enemies, thus making SOME aspects more bareable. In LofM, the game places you in a set arena with the enemies once you have come within range for combat. This is not a separate screen or anything like that, don't get the wrong idea, it is simply that once engaged, ALL combats are like the BOSS combats of the older game, you HAVE TO fight these weenies. In one respect, this forces you to level-up. The main fault this has is the time consumed when dungeon-crawling back and forth through the same 3 or 4 screens to activate and deactivate switches. On the same subject, the combat AI of the NPCs is just atrocious. The menu in SofM allowed one to set the aggression of the NPCs to OFFENSIVE or DEFENSIVE and variations in between. No such luck here unless you want to fiddle with the 2player configs, and you can only do this at SAVE points. Cumbersome.

Legend of Mana functions well as a thematic sequel (you are STILL after the MANA SWORD), but it IS a tad disjointed (not nearly so as Saga Frontier). The music is FAR superior to previous installments (to be fair, the PSX is more capable in this department), and the art and graphics are a pleasant step up (if a little dated on the current platform). The gameplay is DEEP, but this is primarily to mask the fact that the game is short and relatively easy.

View this game for what it is... pleasant RPG fluff to tide you over until ChronoCross and FinalFantasy IX (the last FF we'll see on the current generation PSX, X and XI are being developed for PS2). This is the RPG equivalent of a Piers Anthony "Xanth" novel or any romance novel that is cranked out monthly by anonymous authors. At least with SquareSoft it is well-done fluff.

I pre-ordered the game, and unlike Saga Frontier, this game will stay in the library for those moments when I want a quick 'n easy RPG... come on, it's FUN!

Legend of Mana

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 7 / 7
Date: June 11, 2000
Author: Amazon User

I had really high hopes for this game, as the Secret of Mana was and is one of my all time favorites. Square did not dissapoint. The music alone is worth the price of entry. The system of the game is new to me, and I feel that it can only increase the replay value of the game. Don't miss this great game!

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