![]() Special attacks, or Waza, can be assigned to the four shoulder buttons and there are about ten to twenty available for each weapon type. They include Dash, Guard, Jump, and my personal favorite, Somersault, among with many others. You start with eight of them in the beginning of the game and eventually can learn several dozen through mastering combinations of them. The X and square buttons are reserved for Abilities, special battle techniques that are highly valuable. This, of course, only applies those who use the sword as primary weapon. For example, performing a Hadoken motion (down, down-forward, forward) prior to striking with the triangle button will result in a leaping uppercut slash that can knock the enemy back and potentially stun him. How you strike the enemy also depends on D-Pad movement. In battle, you have a choice to perform a quick, light hit with the circle button, or a slow, but heavy hit with the triangle button. Battles are unavoidable in Legend of Mana and you cannot escape from them. Many quests tend to follow a basic pattern of initiation in town, then traveling to an area and battling to the boss at the end of it. It is not necessary to complete all of the quests to finish the game only several major quest threads, such as the ones mentioned above, are required, and the player can choose which paths to follow. Quests such as this are serious and dramatic, but others are lighthearted and comical, such as the war between the Penguins and the Anagumas, a race of dogs who live deep under the Wakuran Mines. Another set revolves around the mysterious swordsman Escade, his ambitions and his past. A personal favorite of mine, it involves the hero meeting with Lark, a Dragon Killer seeking the power of the Mana Stones to defeat the King of the Dragons, Tiamat, and the conflict that arises between him and his sister Shela, Princess of the Dragons. Many of them are as simple as helping out a person in town, but some become as complex as the Dragon Killer series of five quests. Rather, it is a collection of 68 small quests of which you can complete any or all as you choose, in any order that you would like. Legend of Mana is not a traditional RPG with a continuous, linear storyline. As you can see, a great deal of strategy is involved in how you choose to manipulate the Landmake system. However, towns and cities close to My Home tend to carry fairly cheap and weak equipment in shops, while those placed far away have powerful weapons, armor and magic for sale. For example, the closer you place an enemy-infested battle area to My Home, the weaker the enemies and bosses in that area will be, and they increase in strength the farther away you place their respective artifact. With My Home being your character’s main headquarters, the relative locations at which you place other artifacts factor heavily into the gameplay experience. Artifacts are items that create locations on the world map and are obtained through completing specific quests. ![]() You then receive your first artifact, “My Home”. Different areas of the world are infused with varying concentrations of the Mana Elementals, so picking a naturally balanced area is also highly important to successful gameplay. In Legend of Mana, you select a small area of the world to develop and explore. Next, the player is taken to an overhead view of a large map and introduced to the Landmake system. Choosing a Staff, Lance, or Daggers will result in the opposite effect. However, other weapons, such as a Broad Sword or Battle Axe will result in the character becoming dominant in strength and power, and lacking in agility and magic skill. In other words, each individual parameter will increase equally with all theothers. For example, if you choose a Sword as the primary weapon, each level gained will yield perfectly balanced statistical growth. ![]() There are eleven to choose from, and the weapon you select becomes a highly influential force in the development of the main character, statistically. ![]() From there, you are allowed to select a primary weapon to become proficient in using. This only affects minor statistical adjustments. Upon starting the game, Legend of Mana allows the player to choose either a male or female main character. Legend of Mana is a unique and intricate game that draws you into the world of Fa-dil and never lets you go. The fourth installment of the popular Seiken Densetsu action RPG series has arrived, but has taken a different turn from the rest of its predecessors. Note: This review is based on the Japanese version of the game.
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