24th May 2005, 7:32 PM
Time for another review from me.
Recently, I managed to get this game I lost from years ago again, and I played it from start to finish. The game is actually a spiritual successor to Secret of Mana, but with a totally different and unrelated storyline. It was made by Square USA, an illl-fated offshoot of Square that also gave us the rather embarressing tgame of "Final Fantasy Mystic Quest".
So, you may wonder after that bit of info if this game measures up to the Mana legacy or if it is no better than the game where you could kill every enemy with cure spells.
The visuals of the game are very nice. I'll get the one complaint I can think of out of the way from the start. There is a bit of a stylistic clash in the game. That is to say, they have 3 different visual styles more or less fighting for dominance. Some things are prerendered CG sprites. Some things are brightly colored with exxagerated features. And finally, the majority of the game is the backgrounds, consisting of more darkly colored and somewhat more realistic locals, but at the same time very expressive. With brightly colored sprites wandering on darkly colored backgrounds, it makes for the clash I spoke of. However, it's really not that bad at all, and in some instances actually makes an interesting statement. Judging the visuals outside of the clash, everything looks simply gorgeous. The style is NOT like Secret of Mana, but it is VERY lovely in it's own right. It really does make it look like you are in another world with science as the ruling force.
The audio... Well first I will tell you this. There is not much in the way of music in the game. There is enough there, but a lot of the areas you will be in have forgone music for the sake of ambient sound. This isn't a bad choice at all though, as the ambiance really helps set the mood of the game very well. From the jungle you start in to the underground caves you wander around to the forest you will crawl through, the ambient sound effects really draw you in. The jungle for example is host to the sounds of ruffling leaves, birds singing off in the distance, and the occasional roar of some prehistoric beast. The sound effects for the actual battles are passable at best. A slash sounds like a slash, a gun sounds...well decent enough. They get the job done, but it's clear they put most of the work into the ambient noises. They did do one thing for the sound effects. The various alchemy formulas you use take their visual effects and sound effects straight from Secret of Mana, meaning they sound (and look) appropriatly magical enough and are very well done.
I should note the combat system. They didn't break the mold when it came to combat. You press the button to attack the enemy. Different weapons have different attack methods, like a wide sweep, a forward lunge, or something unorthodox. However, there are only 4 weapon types (swords, spears, axes, and one bazooka with 3 types of ammo). There are 4 different weapons in each catagory though (except bazooka), but that doesn't give much variation. You'll end up just using the strongest one you have in any given situation. Each weapon does have an extra feature. Spears can be thrown to trigger switches. Axes can break down barriers. Swords can... be swords.... um I got nothing for that, but they do swing the fastest. Just as in Mana, you can level up your skill with any weapon you have (not just for catagory, each individual weapon must be levelled up seperatly, annoyingly enough). For each level, you can hold down the B button to charge up for an increasinly powerful charge attack. Even with individual level up meters for individual weapons, the charged attacks are the same in each catagory (ie; all swords use the same 3 charge attacks).
Moving along, there is another character. The boy's best friend, his faithful dog. Due to the dog's physical form nearly being lost when he chewed on some cables, his body is permanently linked to the world, probably due to some alchemy, and so every major region you go to, your dog will change appearence and will have different capabilities. You'll see your dog be a prehistoric beastly hound in one place, a sleek, quick, and jumpy greyhound in another, and later a pink poodle and eventually even a funky looking robot dog that looks to be somewhere between Aibo and a toaster (in fact, it's standing animation shows it cooking toast). The dog's weapons are just the teeth and claws (and laser cannon eventually :D), and the only equipment it has is it's collar. The dog also isn't capable of enough intelligent though to use alchemy, so he's there basically as the physical might. Keep in mind that if the boy dies, game over, but the dog "dying" just means he'll walk around exxhausted behind you unable to fight.
The main battle "gimic" of this game is the magic system. It's actually not magic but the "science" of alchemy. From the moment you enter the world you'll start learning all manner of alchemic formulas and collecting ingredients. Alchemy works by combining various basic components to produce all sorts of effects. For example, you can turn lead into gold, or in this game, turn one part granite and two parts sulfer into a giant fist that crushes an enemy, or two parts crude oil and one part sulfer into an explosion of flames. To heal yourself, one part water, and one part clay, boom, you recover. MP does not exist in the game, instead you'll find yourself always refilling your ingredients. You can only equip so many "formulas" at a time by the way, so you'll need to think of what you can need before setting out to whatever combat zone you are heading to next. This system is actually pretty fun. As you roam around, your dog has a special ability that allows it to sniff out all sorts of secrets. Just hold L or R and follow it if it starts walking. Examine where it stops and you'll usually find some ingrediants. This all sounds great, in theory, but they messed up the execution. Namely, as in Secret of Mana, you can level up your spells. Unfortunatly, rather than have catagories (for example, alchemy comes in either light and dark, you could have levelled up each of those catagories), you actually level up each individual formula. This is not a good thing. Considering you need alchemy ingrediants just to use each formula, it makes levelling up cost WAY too much money. You'll end up really just levelling up a few basic spells when you have the money to throw around on it. For example, curing. As a result, you will likely end up ignoring the majority of attack alchemy, loading yourself up with a lot more buffing and curing alchemy. You'll still use alchemy all the time, but the attack formulas will likely end up off your list, as you will see that you do a lot more damage with your weapons than any of your unlevelled attack formulas. Had they changed this whole thing it could have been a lot better.
As an aside, if they ever make a successor, I would really like to experiment with ingredients to make my own formulas. As it is, you have to find alchemy masters all over the world to teach you new formulas. It would be nice if you had a little lab to yourself where you could mix ingrediants of your choosing to make your own spells. Like, ingrediants like sulfer and oil create combustion effects, and ingrediants like water have a healing effect. Maybe mixing a part oil, salt, and water produces a formula that sets an enemy on fire, restoring your health for each bit of damage their immolation does to them? Well, back to the review.
All in all, it's Mana gameplay, with alchemy for magic, and for the most part it's done well, thus making for a fun game.
Story, well, that's all interesting... Really, it's a shame what they ended up with. It all comes off like they couldn't decide if they wanted a serious story or a comedy. There are very strong elements of both in this game, and the end result just seems... poorly written. The jokes, well, some of them are pretty funny, though some are just lame. For example, the main character has always wanted to be the star of a cheesy 1940's sci-fi movie and so he takes every opportunity to compare every situation he's in with made up movies. Some stuff is pretty funny though, but even those, a lot of them are done at the most inappropriate times, when the story is trying to be serious.
About the serious stuff. There seems to be some goal of trying to make serious elements of the story, like what the nature of "real" is, or the effects outsiders can have on a world, even if that world is created by those very outsiders, and the typical stuff regarding "balance", the consequences of free will, basically stuff you might imagine is the case when a core gameplay element is alchemy. There are 4 "leaders" of the 4 worlds within this world, each of them having an incredible amount of alchemic power. They even created concentrated beads filled with alchemy that let you summon them at any time to use their various skills. Near the end you even learn a formula to make these "call beads" yourself. However, an evil force is in the works (well duh, there's no point in a combat system without someone to fight) which has created 4 evil twin versions of the leaders to replace them. Now, that's where the flaws in their storytelling really show. Sometimes it's actually pretty serious, for example in the dark ages world where you meet everyone being oppressed by their previously generous queen and they seem to really be questining things. In fact, here you even meet Cecil from Final Fantasy IV (he runs a weapon shop and gives you his bazooka). But other times, it's just comedy. Now, that's fine and all, but the way they did it leaves it lacking. There are some places where how they did it was just very awkward or ruined the moment outright. With some work though, the story could have been done very well and the comedy could be done at the right moments too.
The controls are exactly what you would expect. A button for fighting, one to "dash", direct control of the character, and the need to pause in order to cast spells by selecting them from a menu.
In summery, the gameplay is a fair copy of Secret of Mana but with alchemy. It is only single player unfortunatly. The world isn't as large, but large enough. In the end, the game is very fun, and you may find yourself addicted, but it's just not as good as Secret of Mana. A game that is worth owning if you want something new, but it could have been better.
Recently, I managed to get this game I lost from years ago again, and I played it from start to finish. The game is actually a spiritual successor to Secret of Mana, but with a totally different and unrelated storyline. It was made by Square USA, an illl-fated offshoot of Square that also gave us the rather embarressing tgame of "Final Fantasy Mystic Quest".
So, you may wonder after that bit of info if this game measures up to the Mana legacy or if it is no better than the game where you could kill every enemy with cure spells.
The visuals of the game are very nice. I'll get the one complaint I can think of out of the way from the start. There is a bit of a stylistic clash in the game. That is to say, they have 3 different visual styles more or less fighting for dominance. Some things are prerendered CG sprites. Some things are brightly colored with exxagerated features. And finally, the majority of the game is the backgrounds, consisting of more darkly colored and somewhat more realistic locals, but at the same time very expressive. With brightly colored sprites wandering on darkly colored backgrounds, it makes for the clash I spoke of. However, it's really not that bad at all, and in some instances actually makes an interesting statement. Judging the visuals outside of the clash, everything looks simply gorgeous. The style is NOT like Secret of Mana, but it is VERY lovely in it's own right. It really does make it look like you are in another world with science as the ruling force.
The audio... Well first I will tell you this. There is not much in the way of music in the game. There is enough there, but a lot of the areas you will be in have forgone music for the sake of ambient sound. This isn't a bad choice at all though, as the ambiance really helps set the mood of the game very well. From the jungle you start in to the underground caves you wander around to the forest you will crawl through, the ambient sound effects really draw you in. The jungle for example is host to the sounds of ruffling leaves, birds singing off in the distance, and the occasional roar of some prehistoric beast. The sound effects for the actual battles are passable at best. A slash sounds like a slash, a gun sounds...well decent enough. They get the job done, but it's clear they put most of the work into the ambient noises. They did do one thing for the sound effects. The various alchemy formulas you use take their visual effects and sound effects straight from Secret of Mana, meaning they sound (and look) appropriatly magical enough and are very well done.
I should note the combat system. They didn't break the mold when it came to combat. You press the button to attack the enemy. Different weapons have different attack methods, like a wide sweep, a forward lunge, or something unorthodox. However, there are only 4 weapon types (swords, spears, axes, and one bazooka with 3 types of ammo). There are 4 different weapons in each catagory though (except bazooka), but that doesn't give much variation. You'll end up just using the strongest one you have in any given situation. Each weapon does have an extra feature. Spears can be thrown to trigger switches. Axes can break down barriers. Swords can... be swords.... um I got nothing for that, but they do swing the fastest. Just as in Mana, you can level up your skill with any weapon you have (not just for catagory, each individual weapon must be levelled up seperatly, annoyingly enough). For each level, you can hold down the B button to charge up for an increasinly powerful charge attack. Even with individual level up meters for individual weapons, the charged attacks are the same in each catagory (ie; all swords use the same 3 charge attacks).
Moving along, there is another character. The boy's best friend, his faithful dog. Due to the dog's physical form nearly being lost when he chewed on some cables, his body is permanently linked to the world, probably due to some alchemy, and so every major region you go to, your dog will change appearence and will have different capabilities. You'll see your dog be a prehistoric beastly hound in one place, a sleek, quick, and jumpy greyhound in another, and later a pink poodle and eventually even a funky looking robot dog that looks to be somewhere between Aibo and a toaster (in fact, it's standing animation shows it cooking toast). The dog's weapons are just the teeth and claws (and laser cannon eventually :D), and the only equipment it has is it's collar. The dog also isn't capable of enough intelligent though to use alchemy, so he's there basically as the physical might. Keep in mind that if the boy dies, game over, but the dog "dying" just means he'll walk around exxhausted behind you unable to fight.
The main battle "gimic" of this game is the magic system. It's actually not magic but the "science" of alchemy. From the moment you enter the world you'll start learning all manner of alchemic formulas and collecting ingredients. Alchemy works by combining various basic components to produce all sorts of effects. For example, you can turn lead into gold, or in this game, turn one part granite and two parts sulfer into a giant fist that crushes an enemy, or two parts crude oil and one part sulfer into an explosion of flames. To heal yourself, one part water, and one part clay, boom, you recover. MP does not exist in the game, instead you'll find yourself always refilling your ingredients. You can only equip so many "formulas" at a time by the way, so you'll need to think of what you can need before setting out to whatever combat zone you are heading to next. This system is actually pretty fun. As you roam around, your dog has a special ability that allows it to sniff out all sorts of secrets. Just hold L or R and follow it if it starts walking. Examine where it stops and you'll usually find some ingrediants. This all sounds great, in theory, but they messed up the execution. Namely, as in Secret of Mana, you can level up your spells. Unfortunatly, rather than have catagories (for example, alchemy comes in either light and dark, you could have levelled up each of those catagories), you actually level up each individual formula. This is not a good thing. Considering you need alchemy ingrediants just to use each formula, it makes levelling up cost WAY too much money. You'll end up really just levelling up a few basic spells when you have the money to throw around on it. For example, curing. As a result, you will likely end up ignoring the majority of attack alchemy, loading yourself up with a lot more buffing and curing alchemy. You'll still use alchemy all the time, but the attack formulas will likely end up off your list, as you will see that you do a lot more damage with your weapons than any of your unlevelled attack formulas. Had they changed this whole thing it could have been a lot better.
As an aside, if they ever make a successor, I would really like to experiment with ingredients to make my own formulas. As it is, you have to find alchemy masters all over the world to teach you new formulas. It would be nice if you had a little lab to yourself where you could mix ingrediants of your choosing to make your own spells. Like, ingrediants like sulfer and oil create combustion effects, and ingrediants like water have a healing effect. Maybe mixing a part oil, salt, and water produces a formula that sets an enemy on fire, restoring your health for each bit of damage their immolation does to them? Well, back to the review.
All in all, it's Mana gameplay, with alchemy for magic, and for the most part it's done well, thus making for a fun game.
Story, well, that's all interesting... Really, it's a shame what they ended up with. It all comes off like they couldn't decide if they wanted a serious story or a comedy. There are very strong elements of both in this game, and the end result just seems... poorly written. The jokes, well, some of them are pretty funny, though some are just lame. For example, the main character has always wanted to be the star of a cheesy 1940's sci-fi movie and so he takes every opportunity to compare every situation he's in with made up movies. Some stuff is pretty funny though, but even those, a lot of them are done at the most inappropriate times, when the story is trying to be serious.
About the serious stuff. There seems to be some goal of trying to make serious elements of the story, like what the nature of "real" is, or the effects outsiders can have on a world, even if that world is created by those very outsiders, and the typical stuff regarding "balance", the consequences of free will, basically stuff you might imagine is the case when a core gameplay element is alchemy. There are 4 "leaders" of the 4 worlds within this world, each of them having an incredible amount of alchemic power. They even created concentrated beads filled with alchemy that let you summon them at any time to use their various skills. Near the end you even learn a formula to make these "call beads" yourself. However, an evil force is in the works (well duh, there's no point in a combat system without someone to fight) which has created 4 evil twin versions of the leaders to replace them. Now, that's where the flaws in their storytelling really show. Sometimes it's actually pretty serious, for example in the dark ages world where you meet everyone being oppressed by their previously generous queen and they seem to really be questining things. In fact, here you even meet Cecil from Final Fantasy IV (he runs a weapon shop and gives you his bazooka). But other times, it's just comedy. Now, that's fine and all, but the way they did it leaves it lacking. There are some places where how they did it was just very awkward or ruined the moment outright. With some work though, the story could have been done very well and the comedy could be done at the right moments too.
The controls are exactly what you would expect. A button for fighting, one to "dash", direct control of the character, and the need to pause in order to cast spells by selecting them from a menu.
In summery, the gameplay is a fair copy of Secret of Mana but with alchemy. It is only single player unfortunatly. The world isn't as large, but large enough. In the end, the game is very fun, and you may find yourself addicted, but it's just not as good as Secret of Mana. A game that is worth owning if you want something new, but it could have been better.