Nerd Mentality

A few months back, Square Enix announced the World of Mana project, a concerted effort to pump some life back into the ailing Mana series (Seiken Densetsu in Japan). Children of Mana for Nintendo DS arrived this week overseas, marking the first result of this Mana revitalization project.

Based on a few hours of gameplay, Children of Mana may not measure up to the Super NES classics that built the series' reputation (Secret of Mana and Seiken Densetsu 3), but it's definitely a step in the right direction after recent PlayStation and GBA disappointments.

Children is likely to be a letdown for fans who have been hoping for a sweeping, world-spanning adventure like Secret, though. Like Legend of Mana, Children's overworld is reduced to a static map screen, and "traveling" consists of venturing forth from the hub town at the foot of the Mana Tree and moving from point to point.

Exploration and combat appear to be limited strictly to dungeons and similar closed areas, which so far seem to be linear in nature and narrow in scope. Players explore each dungeon floor-by-floor, hacking through foes and hunting for mana eggs, which they must carry to an exit portal. Treasure collected in dungeons can only be equipped in town and in certain rooms. It's a limiting design, reminiscent of the Shining Soul series.

However, that shouldn't be taken to mean that Children is a failure. Taken for what it is -- a Mana-themed dungeon crawler -- it's a tightly-designed piece of work. More importantly, it improves considerably over Legend of Mana. Combat sections are no longer limited to two-directional brawler-style fighting; the viewpoint has been raised, freeing players to battle in eight different directions.


Since combat is likely to be the major focus of the game, Square Enix has wisely polished the battle system to be flexible, responsive and varied. Characters can dual-wield weapons; initially, you begin with a sword but are soon given a flail. Each weapon has its own benefits: the sword is capable of combo attacks and can guard against projectile attacks (helpful when surrounded by archers and utterly vital against the first boss). The flail has a wider range and can knock back a swath of enemies in a circular motion, and when charged can be used as a grappling tool to clear gaps and grab enemies. The lower right-hand corner of the screen features a gemstone meter which slowly builds over the course of battle. When full, players can press Select to enter Fever mode, which enables charge attacks (similar to the weapon skills from Secret of Mana).

One of the most unusual elements of Children's combat is the recoil effect. Strike an enemy and it will stumble backwards from the impact -- and any other character it stumbles into, enemy or otherwise, will also be sent reeling. While this sort of collision doesn't seem to harm player characters, it can inflict a small amount of damage on enemies. More importantly, it causes them to drop their guard and smash nearby items. Sending a foe flying into its allies isn't just satisfying, it's strategically advantageous. Of course, being sent flying puts you at a similar disadvantage, so it's good to play cautiously.

Magic is also an element of combat, although it looks to be fairly limited in nature, at least at the outset of the game. Players select one of the eight Mana Spirits (Undine, Gnome, Luna, Salamando, etc.) to accompany them into the dungeon and summon the spirit to perform an elemental attack by pressing B. Unfortunately there's a significant delay between activating the spell and its actual casting thanks to a lengthy animation sequence that runs while combat continues uninterrupted, making it seem somewhat less useful than it could be.

Children is said to be based somewhat on Secret of Mana, and there's certainly no shortage of fan service: besides the returning spirits, the first dungeon alone is packed with familiar foes like Rabites, Chobin Hoods and Eye Spies. Furthermore, players can select one of four different characters who bear a strong resemblance to Secret's trio of Randi, Purim, Popoie. Flick, the male hero, offers an emphasis on physical power, while the sprite-like Pop has high magic stats and poor endurance. The female Tumble is the best-balanced character with a slight advantage for using magic, while the fourth character, Wanderer, resembles traveling merchant Neko and is effectively a tank. Players can choose one of four color schemes for their character -- presumably to differentiate themselves during four-player wi-fi matches. (Unfortunately, we weren't able to test Children's multiplayer, but the game does support up to four players.)

While Children of Mana isn't quite what we expected, and probably isn't what most fans are looking for, it feels like a well-crafted adventure that should work well in small bursts -- ideal for a portable RPG. Square Enix hasn't announced a U.S. release for the game, but given the popularity of the Mana franchise there's little doubt it'll make its way west sooner or later. In the meantime, download our new gameplay footage for all the enemy-colliding action you can handle.

1up.com

Mahatma Ghandi

I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ.

Brawl- 2320-5856-7241

Keazu

Screw 1up, I'm buying it.

Exactomundo
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Terranigma Freak

Famitsu is the Japanese version of GamePro.

Besides, if I'm correct, this game isn't even made by the team that made the old Mana games. The entire Mana left Squaresoft around 1999 I believe to form Brownie Brown, a Nintendo second party. If Brownie Brown is indeed the ones responsible for Mother 3--instead of Hal--then this game is definitely not made by the Mana guys.

Children of Mana was farmed out, correct. I hope Brownie Brown makes a Mana game for the Revolution. Maybe then we can have the true successor to Secret of Mana.

nenned

Children of Mana was farmed out, correct. I hope Brownie Brown makes a Mana game for the Revolution. Maybe then we can have the true successor to Secret of Mana.

I'm pretty sure BB is still making the Magical Vacaion DS game (be nice if they brought over the original on GBA). But after that, a REV title would be most welcomed from them.
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