Sword of Mana is the second GBA
offering made possible by the holy alliance between Square-Enix and Nintendo.
Essentially a remake of the original Game Boy game Seiken Densetsu (known
stateside as Final Fantasy Adventure), Sword of Mana is the prequel to the
excellent Super Nintendo game Secret of Mana and Legend of Mana for the
PlayStation. While the game does come from a highly respected pedigree, a host
of flaws and problems keep the game from being a truly excellent game on par
with most of Square-Enix. However, Sword of Mana is still a pretty fun action
RPG that will provide many hours of entertainment.
Of course, Sword of Mana has
undergone a few key changes from the original version. The storyline, graphics
and some of the gameplay elements have been changed. Sword of Mana gives you
control of two different characters: a young man on a quest for revenge against
the man who killed his parents, or a young woman who is a member of a special
clan living on the run from the evil Dark Lord. You progress through your quest
searching for the Sword of Mana, a weapon with the ability to save the land from
the Dark Lord and his minions. Sword of Mana is a pretty long game, clocking in
at around twenty hours. Unfortunately, the story is not terribly interesting or
compelling, leaving it solely up to the gameplay to entice gamers to play
through.
The gameplay still falls in line
with the rest of the series; basically action gameplay wrapped up in some pretty
deep RPG elements with some nice bonuses. When you defeat enemies and gain
levels, you upgrade your character’s attributes by selecting from a list of
classes, like sage, magician, thief, warrior and so on. By mixing and matching
these lists as you level up, you can create new classes (like knight) that will
give you an added boost in attributes. This seems pretty simple at first, but it
is a pretty deep system, requiring a lot of thought from the player and the
direction they wish to steer their character. The weapons each have their own
particular traits, making each one important in its own right for progressing
through the game, so the player doesn’t get too used to using only one weapon
throughout the game. There is also a deep forging system that allows players to
add elemental effects to their weapons for an extra kick in their attacks, which
is a great touch.
However, the gameplay falls prey to
many tragic flaws. The controls are a bit clumsy, as combos (which are pretty
difficult to pull off) often fail to hit their mark, leaving the player wide
open to attacks. The spell casting system can be quite a pain, as well. There is
a pause that occurs right before a spell is cast. It seems that during this
brief window, enemies have been programmed to attack, thereby interrupting the
spell casting while still costing the character that much magic points.
Another noted irritation is the day
and night system. The time of day seems to change at random, with no real reason
other than your character has moved onto a different screen. This is annoying
given that many of the quests throughout the game are only available at certain
times of the day, leaving you to recheck areas that you’ve already explored over
and over again just to be sure that nothing new has been stuck in.
Probably the most notable flaw in
the game (in other words, the one that will cause the most frustration) is the
lousy teammate AI. Although you begin with control of only one of the two main
characters, you do gain the other one as a support character at certain points
in the game. However, these support characters tend to be more of a hindrance
than a help, as they waste magic, get stuck behind objects easily and make
stupid suicidal moves during battle. Too much time is spent recovering your
support character and getting them out of sticky situations, making the battles
more of a chore than is necessary.
The graphics in Sword of Mana are on
par with Secret of Mana, meaning that they are really good. The environments are
bright and colorful and the characters have a unique look to them. There are a
few instances of slowdown when the onscreen action gets a little too intense,
but these are pretty minimal.
The sound in Sword of Mana is pretty
good, but not a representation of what the Game Boy Advance is capable of. Lush
and atmospheric music is countered by tinny, 8-bit sounding sound effects,
making the sound a bit of a mixed bag.
Sword of Mana is certainly not a bad
game but the many flaws in the gameplay may turn off gamers looking for the next
epic game from Square-Enix. It has a lot of depth to offer RPG gamers looking
for a good RPG adventure on the Game Boy. However, there are many great GBA
adventure games that they should consider first.
Gameplay: 7.0
Sword of Mana has a surprising amount of depth for a GBA action RPG. The
leveling system is pretty unique and engaging and the forging system is very
deep. However, the controls are clumsy and frustrating and the teammate AI is
very lousy.
Graphics: 8.5
Sword of Mana’s lush, colorful graphics look great, and the characters and
environments are nicely brought to life. There are a few minor moments of
slowdown, however.
Sound: 7.5
The game’s sound is a mixed bag. The music sounds great and does well to
illustrate the feel and mood of the game. The sound effects are a little too
tinny and sound like they were created for the Game Boy Color.
Difficulty: Medium
Concept: 7.5
The storyline falls in line with other entries in the series, but the dialogue
and events are a little too bland to hold anyone’s interest for very long. While
the game is a remake, it does score some points for originality with its deep
gameplay additions and enhancements.
Multiplayer: 7.0
The Amigo system allows a fellow gamer to upload their data into your cartridge
and enable your character to perform a special Amigo attack. The more characters
you have uploaded into your cartridge, the stronger your Amigo attack will be.
While this is a pretty interesting addition to the gameplay, it’s no replacement
for a traditional two-player co-op mode.
Overall: 7.5
Sword of Mana has a lot to offer action RPG gamers with a GBA. Unfortunately, it
also has a lot of flaws that prevent it from being a truly worthy successor to
the excellent Secret of Mana. If you’re looking for a great GBA adventure RPG,
then be sure to check out the many other great offerings on the GBA before
dropping down your cash on Sword of Mana.
