The Mana Chronicles

Well, Secret of Mana was absolutely awesome, great, innovate, spectacular, and a whole throng of other good words.

SD3 was really good as well. The werewolf pwnz ass.

Sword of Mana, I'm sad to say, isn't anywhere good as either of them. Here's why:

One of my worst problems with the Mana games was the NPC pathing. They would alwalys get stuck on a damned tree and not follow you. Then you had to wait on them to get around the tree to advance. Well, in Sword of Mana, you don't have to wait for your ally, but s/he still doesn't follow you as well as a drunken monkey could.

The storyline... *sigh* Has anyone ever played... *sigh again*
(I can't remember the name of the game. It's an old RPGMaker 2000 game in which the storyline is so absolutely typical for an RPG that it's funny. The sidekick makes fun of the hero for being so sterotypical. I was going to look up the game, but the website where I used to download RM2k games is down...) ~insert name of laughably sterotypical RPG here~ ? While playing Sword of Mana, I was actually reminded strongly of this *gestures* game. The plot is horribly predictable. I don't usually whine about these things, but on several occasions, I actually called what was about to happen.

He's gonna fall off the bridge. Just you wait. He's gonna... Oh there he goes!

Oh it's obviously the girl from his childhood... No doubt about that.

(I said these things out loud while playing... omfg)



Reasons why I like Sword of Mana:
1. The level system is pretty cool. There are lots of classes you can go into.
2. The alternate storylines (similar of course, but still different) of the male and female hero.


Anyhow, I knew the storyline was typical when I bought it. I had read reviews. Anyone who isn't particularly fond of live action RPGs should stay away from this game. You won't like the playstyle, adn you definately won't stick around for the storyline. To any Mana fan, I would reccomend Sword of Mana. If you've played any of the games before, head on it. It's pretty fun.





p.s. You're right Raz. You are the only person that has ever liked Legend of Mana. I couldn't stand it. I didn't like the fighting style, and the fact that you could plant DUNGEONS to explore really pissed me off.