Children of Mana - thoughts?

[Aegix Drakan]

Also, anyone play Magical Starsign? That game is made by Brownie Brown (whose team made the original Secret of Mana when they worked for Squaresoft), but that has received last luster reviews too

I just beat Magical starsign today, actually. It's very good, but I just wish they'd STICK TO THE FREAKING THEME. The beginning is all lighthearted and fluffy, and then, suddenly *BAM!* It's all deep and stuff. >_> Aside from that, It's AMAZING.

And about Children of Mana, I'll just see if one of my friends is getting it. If nobody gets it, then I'll pass on it too.

[EDIT]BTW Vegeta1215, I'm sorry I never posted about Contact. It's just that no store near my house ever got it...And seeing as it's been a month...I doubt I'll ever get it...

[Warlock]

I just beat Magical starsign today, actually. It's very good, but I just wish they'd STICK TO THE FREAKING THEME. The beginning is all lighthearted and fluffy, and then, suddenly *BAM!* It's all deep and stuff. >_> Aside from that, It's AMAZING.

And about Children of Mana, I'll just see if one of my friends is getting it. If nobody gets it, then I'll pass on it too.

[EDIT]BTW Vegeta1215, I'm sorry I never posted about Contact. It's just that no store near my house ever got it...And seeing as it's been a month...I doubt I'll ever get it...

Good to hear. Only reason I didn't pick it up yet is it's on my Christmas list I love Brownie Brown (the *real* makers of the Mana series.. seems like whenever Square puts a different team on it they screw it up - look at Legend, the first non-Brownie Brown Mana game) and I'm sure it will be excellent.

[vegeta1215]

I know this is an old topic, but my friend is letting me borrow his copy of Children of Mana, so I wanted to say a few things.

Warlock pretty much described how the game plays. I've only played through 3 dungeons (which advance the story), and as far as I know there are only 6-8. The side-quests are very similar to those in Legend of Mana. Basically you'll be revisiting the same areas over and over again, just fighting monsters.

It does get a little tedious, but I am having fun upgrading my weapons and trying out new gem combinations. After a little while you can pay someone to fuse gems together to create some really powerful ones. For instance there is one fusion that will give you double damage with your sword, which I'm sure will make the game even easier. With all the restraints on the game (ie one magic spirit at a time, only being able to change items between dungeons or part-way through dungeons), there is a decent challenge, and the gem stone stuff adds some variety to how you play. I'm anxious to try multiplayer, as I'm sure it will make the dungeons not so boring. It's a shame it's not online though.

I still may pick the game up, esp if I can find it cheap.

[Thunderbird]

Multi is pretty good. I had the opportunity to try it on New Years Eve, helping a friend get through a dungeon about 2 before where I was at (I forget which one). Hitting each other carries no penalty, though your partner(s) may still get shoved around by your attacks. Though there appears to be no way to trade items...at least we couldn't find one (which was a shame because I had a crapton of stuff I couldn't use or didn't need that she could have used).

I agree with you on the shame that there's no online.

[Mak-X]

I played through the first dungeon and boss and got bored and quit. I think I'd rather play through Sword of Mana again.

I didn't like the simple combat of A, A, A, and the proportions of the animations. And the text! They keep talking in the town, and then you get in the dungeon and they don't shutup and let you play.

The menus are too clunky and slow. Secret of Mana had a simple ring menu for everything, and it was quick. In Children, every time you go to buy something, the game has to transition the screens to a close up of the store keeper, and bring up a list of choices on the other screen. It's just needlessly slow. The ring menu is one of the unique features of the Mana series.

Maybe I should give it one more try but I just didn't want to play anymore. I don't remember even Sword of Mana being that bad. It has a good soundtrack by Kenji Ito though.

I've heard SD4 isn't like a traditional Mana game either even though its officially "Seiken Densetsu 4". I'm hearing it bombed in Japan, its kinda like Children of Mana with it being stage based, and its coming this Spring in the U.S.
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthre...eiken+densetsu
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthre...eiken+densetsu
http://youtube.com/watch?v=iDm6H1I2H...elated&search=

Looks a little too much like Kingdom Hearts for me. I hope it turns out decent when it comes out.

[vegeta1215]

It's disappointing to hear that Dawn of Mana has gotten bad reviews thus far. I'm starting to think we're never going to get a "real" Mana game again. And to think I was contemplating getting a PS2 to play it (and other assorted games)

btw, Children of Mana gets a little more fun once you get the hammer. It knocks enemies around like crazy, and it's fury attack does a lot of damage. I'm also at the point now where I'm getting a lot more money, so I can fuse some killer gems. There's one called Soul of Gemma which gives you +25 attack and +10 defense. Only bad thing is it takes up a 3x2 space. Still pretty sweet though. For being a dungeon crawler, it is fun. I guess if you had different hopes, you'll be let down no matter what.

[Warlock]

Honestly, if you want a *real* Mana game get Magical Starsign. It's turn-based, so it's not exactly the same. But the feel is *so much* like Secret of Mana that it's awesome anyways. I get a distinct "Mana" vibe while playing it, to the point where if I didn't know I'd have been able to tell it was the same team. It just has so much charm.

[vegeta1215]

Well, Magical Starsign is made by the orignal Mana team (now Brownie Brown) ...so that's why it may feel like that. I was thinking about checking that out, but no one has mentioned anything about it here on AGN

[Warlock]

Well, Magical Starsign is made by the orignal Mana team (now Brownie Brown) ...so that's why it may feel like that. I was thinking about checking that out, but no one has mentioned anything about it here on AGN

Yeah definately get it. It's very fun and it feels just like Secret of Mana despite not really having the same control scheme (it's turn-based).

[Orion]

Aw, I had such high hopes that SD4 would be a good game. I had no idea that it was released overseas already and that it was so horrible.

Makes me hope they never do a Chrono sequel simply because you know they will screw it up.

I'm also curious to see if FF13 will tank or do really well. There's a lot of people who are willing to drop the $650 just to play that game.