Post by Richard El Britannia on Aug 23, 2008 15:55:26 GMT
Gameplay:
Well, this is the first game of the Mana series I've played and from what I've heard, this isn't one of the best ones out of the series. Probably because this is a pretty easy button masher game, whereas the other Mana games had more depth. Again, not totally sure of this since I've never played them, but if we were to compare, it would seem that most people think the previous Mana games are better. That being said, it's not a bad game, but then again, it's not exactly amazing, either.
Basically, the game consists of 'quests' you have to do. Some of them are ones that you must to do continue on the story and others are optional which are there basically to get better items, more money or just to level up. Before each quest, you have the option to buy items, weapons and gems before heading out in the village. You can also talk to other villagers, although nothing really happens. You'll find yourself in the shop most of the time.
Items and weapons are pretty much the usual stuff you'd expect to find in an RPG; items that heal health, cure status aliments, etc. The gems, however, are what make the game unique in it's own way. You begin with a small gem frame, which allows you to add gems. Gems give positive effects. For example, you could equip a gem which increases your attack power by five. As you progress through the game, you find better gems and your gem frame gets bigger allowing you to add more gems and bigger gems which take up more space. Because of how easy the game is, though, I found myself rarely changing the gem frame. If the game was a little more difficult and made you think about strategy and how to use the gem frame effectively, this feature would've been a lot better.
As for the 'quests' ... basically, in every zone, you have to find a Gleamwell and a Gleamdrop. They can be hidden, sometimes not. To clear that zone, you have to take the Gleamdrop which you aquire - be it by cutting down a bush or killing a monster - and take it to the Gleamwell. With this, you are teleported to the next zone, in which you do the same thing again until you finish the quest. Some quests have more zones than others. Now, since the game is incredibly easy, this can get very repetitive. What I found was that in short bursts - say half an hour or so - the game was fun, albeit, a bit easy. If I started playing much longer, it just started to get tedious.
Gameplay Score - 6.5/10
Graphics:
The graphics were quite nice, but didn't really push the DS's capabilities. The graphics aren't much better than what you see on some GBA games. In any case, the graphics are done nicely, don't get me wrong.
The cut scenes are quite good, though, which isn't really surprising since the game comes from Square Enix. The cut scenes are all in a nice, anime style and the quality of animation is quite nice.
Graphics Score - 7/10
Story:
This was probably the most disappointing aspect of Children of Mana: the story sucked. It just seemed to be "a bad guy is here. Oh noes, we must destroy him!" The characters had no depth, either. You had the typical good guy, the helpless girl and the big, evil man. And that was it. That being said, the game played well enough and wasn't really story dependent because of it being an Action RPG, rather than a typical RPG.
Story Score - 5/10
Sound:
The quality of the sounds were good. Everything from the sword strikes to the game's music was good. Music wasn't exactly memorable, though. Basically, it was good, but not really awesome.
Sound Score - 6.5/10
Overall:
Overall, it's not a bad game, but then again, it's not an amazing one, either. Fairly average, really. If the game was given a little more depth in ... well, all areas, it could be a lot better, I reckon.
Overall Score (Average) - 6.25/10
Well, this is the first game of the Mana series I've played and from what I've heard, this isn't one of the best ones out of the series. Probably because this is a pretty easy button masher game, whereas the other Mana games had more depth. Again, not totally sure of this since I've never played them, but if we were to compare, it would seem that most people think the previous Mana games are better. That being said, it's not a bad game, but then again, it's not exactly amazing, either.
Basically, the game consists of 'quests' you have to do. Some of them are ones that you must to do continue on the story and others are optional which are there basically to get better items, more money or just to level up. Before each quest, you have the option to buy items, weapons and gems before heading out in the village. You can also talk to other villagers, although nothing really happens. You'll find yourself in the shop most of the time.
Items and weapons are pretty much the usual stuff you'd expect to find in an RPG; items that heal health, cure status aliments, etc. The gems, however, are what make the game unique in it's own way. You begin with a small gem frame, which allows you to add gems. Gems give positive effects. For example, you could equip a gem which increases your attack power by five. As you progress through the game, you find better gems and your gem frame gets bigger allowing you to add more gems and bigger gems which take up more space. Because of how easy the game is, though, I found myself rarely changing the gem frame. If the game was a little more difficult and made you think about strategy and how to use the gem frame effectively, this feature would've been a lot better.
As for the 'quests' ... basically, in every zone, you have to find a Gleamwell and a Gleamdrop. They can be hidden, sometimes not. To clear that zone, you have to take the Gleamdrop which you aquire - be it by cutting down a bush or killing a monster - and take it to the Gleamwell. With this, you are teleported to the next zone, in which you do the same thing again until you finish the quest. Some quests have more zones than others. Now, since the game is incredibly easy, this can get very repetitive. What I found was that in short bursts - say half an hour or so - the game was fun, albeit, a bit easy. If I started playing much longer, it just started to get tedious.
Gameplay Score - 6.5/10
Graphics:
The graphics were quite nice, but didn't really push the DS's capabilities. The graphics aren't much better than what you see on some GBA games. In any case, the graphics are done nicely, don't get me wrong.
The cut scenes are quite good, though, which isn't really surprising since the game comes from Square Enix. The cut scenes are all in a nice, anime style and the quality of animation is quite nice.
Graphics Score - 7/10
Story:
This was probably the most disappointing aspect of Children of Mana: the story sucked. It just seemed to be "a bad guy is here. Oh noes, we must destroy him!" The characters had no depth, either. You had the typical good guy, the helpless girl and the big, evil man. And that was it. That being said, the game played well enough and wasn't really story dependent because of it being an Action RPG, rather than a typical RPG.
Story Score - 5/10
Sound:
The quality of the sounds were good. Everything from the sword strikes to the game's music was good. Music wasn't exactly memorable, though. Basically, it was good, but not really awesome.
Sound Score - 6.5/10
Overall:
Overall, it's not a bad game, but then again, it's not an amazing one, either. Fairly average, really. If the game was given a little more depth in ... well, all areas, it could be a lot better, I reckon.
Overall Score (Average) - 6.25/10
