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"We Could Be Heroes..."

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 17 / 19
Date: August 14, 2007
Author: Amazon User

The Mana series has definitely been a roller coaster recently. They've had games that have been good and games that have been bad. A big mixed bag of sorts. Now Mana takes its gameplay over to the sights of RTS (Real Time Strategy). As far as being a RTS, Heroes of Mana isn't really all that bad. It succeeds in terms of bringing RTS to the DS, but there are a couple of glaring issues that could definitely use some attention.

The story in Heroes of Mana is as simplistic as you can get. In the region of Peddas something has gone awry. Peddas is not exactly the most friendly nation in the world. They're a powerful nation, but not one that gets along with everyone. Roget and his allies come together to discover the secrets of Peddas and fight for justice. It's a basic simplistic story, but for the most part, at least it shows promise in its execution. It's surprisingly deep and emotional.

It's the gameplay with Heroes of Mana. This is where the game succeeds and at the same time doesn't. In terms of controlling combat, Heroes of Mana is done the way you'd expect it to be done on the DS. Almost entirely through the touch screen. You tap on a unit and then tap on who you want that unit to attack. You can also tap icons to select entire types of units, or draw a circle around all the units you want to select and then send them all off to attack an enemy. In reality, the control scheme works really well. It takes a moment to adjust to, but it works. The touch screen make everything simple.

The problems in Heroes of Mana's gameplay, however, are glaring. The first major problem is simple, the AI of your units is absolutely terrible, and Heroes of Mana suffers pretty badly from this issue. First off, there's the possibility that they won't attack the unit you send them to attack, but attack a unit that's near the unit you sent them to attack. This probably won't bother you too badly unless you're in a crucial situation. However, commonly, the enemy unit that happens to be "near" the target you wanted them to attack... happens to be stronger, and so your unit gets wiped out because he decided to attack the wrong enemy. There are also moments when they'll finally reach an enemy... and then just stand there and get wailed on. Some of the maps are big enough that you won't notice this happening, but when you do its annoying.

However, aside from that, there's also the simple fact that your units almost never walk the simple direct route to an enemy. It could be a straight line, but for some odd reason they have to veer off path and take a less direct route, and this is annoying because the battles don't go fast.

Battles are irritatingly slow. You'll more than likely be stuck with Heroes of Mana for a long time. Nothing could be worse than being stuck with a game where battles move at the pace of a snail, and that's certainly true in Heroes of Mana. At first it's alright because you're learning the game. But after you get the basics down you wish things would speed up, and unfortunately they don't. Patience is a requirement here.

Gameplay issues aside, Heroes of Mana doesn't look half bad for a DS game. The art style of Mana is still fairly unique, and you'll recognize a lot of the sprites and such used for your enemies and allies alike. It's also pretty colorful. Some of it looks pixelated, but at least it doesn't look bad overall. The music is also quite memorable, although not as good as other Mana games, it is better than your average game.

The only other problem with this game, and it isn't really a major one, is that the game has no wi-fi capabilities. Heroes of Mana is perfect for online competition. At least you can battle a friend, though. Still, some will be questioning why a game like Heroes of Mana has no online versus mode. The option should at least be there.

Heroes of Mana isn't really a bad game. Its issues stand out, but good controls and a deep storyline could keep a player interested. The problem is having to deal with the other gameplay elements like the bad AI. If you can muster through that, Heroes of Mana can be a blast. It's a good attempt, but it just needed some work.

The Good

+For the most part, a deep storyline
+Good Graphics
+Good Soundtrack
+Intuitive controls

The Bad

-Bad AI overall: Units that take indirect paths or don't attack and enemy or just attack a close by enemy... it'll take a long time to get used to that
-Battles pace incredibly slow
-No online versus mode

Disappointing

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 8 / 8
Date: August 17, 2007
Author: Amazon User

Square's Mana series is probably only second to Final Fantasy in terms of popularity, with a few games already on the DS. Heroes of Mana attempts to bring a PC style RTS to the DS with disappointing results to say the least. The structure of Heroes of Mana is what kills the game, with some horrendous unit path finding and an incredibly slow pace to the overall gameplay. Not to mention that the multiplayer aspects are incredibly unbalanced and force both players to finish the single player campaign first to achieve any sort of balanced playing field. All the negatives aside though, Heroes of Mana does have a few things going for it. The game's interface is easy for newcomers to the genre to pick up and great for veterans to navigate as well, which is about the only real plus there is to Heroes of Mana. The unit balancing is nicely done as well and simple enough to get a hold of, but other than that, the rest of Heroes of Mana is a boring and tired excursion. All in all, Heroes of Mana is worth a look for fans of the Mana series or RTS fans that own a DS, but all others should avoid and are better off looking elsewhere.

Nice but needs work

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: February 22, 2008
Author: Amazon User

I am playing this game and im not so much as impressed with it. everthing seems a bit complicated, the controls are a bit awkward, and I'm starting to get bored with it really quickly. its no so much as the graphics but it seems like this game was meant more for a PC than a DS system. it kinda reminds me of Lunar Dragon Song. (and I know how much that game got on my nerves)

Pretty fun, if you liked FF Tactics...

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: May 10, 2008
Author: Amazon User

I thought this game was fun. It's not like other "Mana" games that I've played, as far as gameplay is concerned, but if you don't have any expectations of what it will be like before you play it, then you probably won't be disappointed. Some of my friends were disappointed because they were expecting a Secret of Mana sequel, which this really is not. Fans of Final Fantasy Tactics will probably like this game, as it has a lot of similarities to the FF classic which also wasn't an actual sequal to it's namesake. Overall, I'd say that this game is not perfect, but very entertaining in it's own right, and it deserves a little more credit than most people have given it. Give it a try!

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