Children of Mana (Nintendo DS, 2006)

First the bad: I was expecting some more updated graphics, but the graphics are old fasioned. There are side quests, but work as returning to previous dungeons and make your way through to the end like you would do during the regular story line.

Now the good: Real-time battle system, multi-player, good story line, and summon spirits to aid you in battle!

The basic game play takes place on the top screen with the menu options on the touch screen. In dungeons, you will have to clear so many zones before reaching the end. You will have to attain a "gleamdrop" in the zone use it over the "gleamwell" to reach the next zone. The touch screen in dungeons will show a map, a hint on where the gleamdrop is hidden, and, depending on the dungeon, where the gleamwell is hidden.

Another good feature is the use of gems in the game. You can buy gems, find gems in dungeons, and fuse gems. Gems are placed on a gem framed and a player can use the gems to create specific stats and to gain special abilities (ex. Crystal of Defense add +4 to defense and Sword Expertise gives the sword attack +8, double damage, and three consecutive waves).

Also, while different weapons and armor increase stats, a character must be at a certain level before equiting a certai item. If you obtain the Diamond sword around level forty, you will have to till you reach level fifty before you can equipt it.

I think that about covers it.

Unlike other offshoots of the Mana franchise, this one keeps it fairly similar to the original. The added ability to duel wield two types of weapons, matched with occasionally frenetic gameplay makes this a fast paced game. In addition to duel wielding, there is also an added feature of using and fusing gems. While using the gems is less important for those using a melee combat character, the system works smoothly and intuitively. That is except for the severely limited number of gems you can use at any given time.
The magic system also works somewhat differently from what may be expected. You’ll have the ability to choose from all of the elementals you had in Secret of Mana, however you will only be able to have one with you at a time. What’s worse is that the elementals do not level up through use, but only by equipping a gem that will increase that specific elemental’s level. For those using a magic type character, this proves to be both costly and frustrating (especially during longer dungeons).
Overall, the run time goes to about 30 hours, but there isn’t much of a plot line to follow, and 98% of the game time ends up being spent on level grinding via taking odd jobs in dungeons you’ve already defeated. Despite those issues, fans of the Mana franchise are almost guaranteed to enjoy this game, but even they may get bored with the level grinding well before finally beating it.

Graphics – 8.9
Gameplay – 7.2
Story – 6.4
Overall – 8.3 (All ratings on a 10pt. Scale)

-Rev.

Yet another disappointing title being released in the Mana series. The first Mana title was called Seiken Densetsu. It was released in the U.S. as Final Fantasy for Game Boy. The game was decent for a game boy title. The second title in the series was Seiken Densetsu II in Japan, released in the U.S. as Secret of Mana for the Super Nintendo. In my humble opinion, Secret of Mana was, and still is, probably the best RPG released for that console. While others may not agree, that is irrelevant. What matters is that the Mana series seemed to be well on its way to achieving status among RPG fans as being right up there with everyone else's favorite RPG series, Final Fantasy. The unfortunate truth is that, EVERY GAME RELEASED IN THE MANA SERIES HAS TURNED OUT TO BE COMPLETELY AWFUL when compared to Secret of Mana (U.S.). I feel that Squaresoft has taken this series in the wrong direction, and that more people should start pushing Squaresoft to bring this series into its maturity.

As for the game itself, you should realize that it's a dungeon crawler. The game isn't very open ended, and quests are extremely repetitive. The main objective of every level, or "zone", is to find a "gleamdrop", carry it to the "gleamwell", and hit "A". But wait, there's more, You do this about 300-400 times throughout the course of the game.

Then you go back to town. Same old town every time. The storyline is standard.
While the combat system is fun for an RPG type game, it's nothing new. In fact, Secret of Mana for the Super Nintendo was more innovative, and that was almost 15 years ago.

This game is just as my rating says, "Average".

This game is a classic "A" button masher. The graphics are nice and themusic is good. A nice addition to the mana series. If you enjoy the Zelda type games or Shining Soul I & II then this game should suit you nicely. If you are looking for an rpg or tactical turn based style game then look elsewhere. The game is simple and straight forward yet easy to enjoy. You have a choice of four characters to play, basically Fighter, Mage, and variations of the two. It is easy to save your game and port of the various "dungeon" areas, so it is a good game to play when you have free time at appointments or while you wait for just about anything and it won't take you a minute to save your progress and get back to what you need to do.

I am a 'mana' fanatic so this game really appealed to me because of the similarities to past games (flammie, the same spirits, etc.). The story line is a little lame and there are some glitches but it's fun. I enjoy it so far! It's def not 'secret of mana' but it works for a portable form of entertainment. If you're not into the series you probably will just find this game boring with A LOT of dialogue.