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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Second best RPG ever made., July 4, 2001
This game is one of the best ever, on any platform, from NES all the way to PS2, surpassed only by Chrono Trigger. Unfortunately, the sequels to this game absolutely butchered it, removing all the features that made it great. However, despite what happened to future versions, gamers can still enjoy the original and best.The graphics of this game are good, looking very colorful, stylized, and very rich, as if they were drawn and painted by hand, and your adventures take place in a wide, diverse range of environments, from caves to deserts to lush green wilderness and waterfalls. The music is wonderful, always inspiring and fitting the mood, from the eerie and strange song of Thanatos' castle, to the slow, wintry theme of the Ice Palace, to the heroic theme of the battle with the Mana Beast. The story is great with all of its plot twists, and it manages to be linear and coherent without dragging you along by the nose. The three characters are very likeable, especially that quirky little Sprite. But, the gameplay! Despite all else, this is where the game really excels. Secret of Mana has been compared to Zelda because of its real-time battle system, but I believe it surpasses Zelda in all sorts of ways. Instead of one character, you now have three, and they can fight extremely well because of a wonderful feature known as the Action Grid. This allowed you to set all actions of a character, including whether they should fight aggressively, stand back and defend themselves, or use hit-and-run tactics (this works EXTREMELY well--watch your allies step in, whack the enemy, then deftly back-flip out of range before he can counterattack), and you can even set whether they will use their stronger special moves and what level of special move they should charge up to. This is the best idea for computer AI that I've ever seen in an RPG, and it was absolutely STUPID of Squaresoft to remove it from the later games. In Seiken Densetsu 3 (Secret of Mana 2, Japan only), your allies all mindlessly rush in and attack, even if the enemy is much stronger than they are, resulting in healers and mages in your party getting creamed in battles. In Legend of Mana, your allies are absolutely brainless, simply staggering around the battlefield like drunkards, only bothering to fight if the enemy happens cross paths with them. Another example of Squaresoft throwing away what was perfectly good in an attempt to be "new" and "original." The saying, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it," comes to mind when I think of Squaresoft's latest games. You have 8 different weapons to choose from, so there is a weapon for everyone's taste. Weapons are upgraded, and as they are upgraded, new special attacks can be learned. For your allies, their mana powers can also be made more powerful by use. Some complain about the time delay between attacks, having to wait for the meter to recharge, but I think this is a good feature. It adds some strategy to the game and maintains its status as an RPG and not a beat-'em-up. You can also use your quick, weak attacks to simply distract an enemy while your allies hit them with mana power. And, by far, one of the best features of this game is the multiplayer aspect. Three players can get together and control the three characters, and the fun never ends. Simply put, among action or adventure RPGs, this is the best, no contest. Among RPGs as a whole, this is second only to Chrono Trigger.
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