Sword of Mana - IGN (original) (raw)

Square's second GBA game isn't really all that stunning or epic.

A lot of people have the image that Square can do no wrong. True, when it comes to RPGs Square has one of the most highly regarded track records out there. But the company far from infallible, and Sword of Mana is a good indication that even a company like Square can create a not-so-stunning production. Sword of Mana is definitely not a bad RPG; it's an extensive, solid adventure on the Game Boy Advance. But it definitely just barely squeaks in there a little higher than the "above average" moniker, with a lot of little things that drag the experience.

Features

• Two playable characters
• Twenty hour quest
• Cartridge save (two slots)
• Link cable support to trade data Sword of Mana is not an entirely new product. Brownie Brown, Nintendo's second party development team, went back to the original Seiken Densetsu Game Boy design (the precursor to Secret of Mana released in the US as Final Fantasy Adventure) and reworked the story, levels, and gameplay to create a more contemporary game. It definitely shares similarities with Secret of Mana and Legend of Mana, and in fact the team added in a few familiar elements for this GBA remake.

The storyline is a little on the basic side, and has so many quirks to its plot that it's almost borderline silly, what with the lead characters attempting to overthrow and seek revenge on a dark lord named, get this, "Dark Lord" by acquiring the Sword of Mana. You'd think that his followers would know what's up with a name like "Dark Lord," but no. The tale branches every so often for each of the characters, but the levels don't really change between the male and female leads. The story itself follows the same situations, quests and subquests, but the focus in cutscenes is placed on whoever the player chose for his or her on-screen personal.

The game style, though, alters slightly depending on the player's choice for the lead, since the male lead is more of a warrior type, and the female wielding more of the magic stuffs. But with its RPG elements, players can level-up their character to utilize more The gameplay is focused more on Zelda-style action than the traditional Japanese RPG "random battle" design, with players hacking and slashing endless enemies with their own set of weaponry. Strategies change since some enemies are weaker against specific attacks, so players must continuously change up their weapons to take them out. Players can also collect and call upon elemental wisp creatures that will enhance their attacks with magical effects...many locations are locked by icons that can only be broken with the power of a specific elemental. At the very least the game features a good amount of strategy throughout its 20 hour quest.

But just because it's from Square doesn't instantly make it a great game, and Sword of Mana has a lot of little elements that add up to a somewhat quirky gaming experience. Each change in scene causes a slight three second pause simply to display the area they're in...which wouldn't be so bad if the areas weren't slightly larger than the screen itself. And boss battles are an absolute joke, lacking any real creativity in design or skill to defeat...definitely not of Square caliber here. And though the game features a day-to-night cycle to change up the enemies that show up, it's sloppily thrown together and creates an awkward situation where the time of day simply changes when moving from one part of an area to another...whenever there's a scene change, it's a different time of day. Uh, yeah.

Definitely the weakest aspect of Sword of Mana is its cooperative play with a computer-controlled character. In about 80 percent of the quest players work with the game's second character in the questing and battle. I'll be blunt and say it outright: the AI routines for the computer controlled player are the absolute pits. The partner follows some rather wonky paths that send him or her walking directly into trouble; the idea of their presence is to help, not hinder the player. Yes, you can simply switch control to that character with a press of the Select button, but this command is more used to get that character out of harm's way when he or she wanders like a lemming off a cliff or into an enemy.

This partnership also brings forth another downside to Sword of Mana: half-assed multiplayer. Yes, it's pretty clear that an interface to have one player control one hero and the other player, well, the other...would be a bit cumbersome since the two part ways several times during the adventure. But the Amigo system is not that great of a replacement. This essentially "records" a player's character to another person's cartridge, which can then be pulled up for a special attack...the more "Amigos" in a cartridge, the more powerful players can become. It's a nice try, but it's not a good substitute for direct link play. Someone needs to figure a way to enable an independent, second player on the GameCube's Game Boy Player peripheral, since this game would have been perfect for such a feature.

Verdict

But even with these negatives there's still enough in Sword of Mana to recommend a play through, especially for those who dig the old-school action RPG design. The game just doesn't have enough in its design to keep up with what's already been done on the Game Boy Advance by other RPG developers...and the fact that it was produced by a high-profile Japanese studio like Brownie Brown doesn't really help it along. Hopefully the team's next project will feature a lot more innovation and eliminate the little issues that bring this game down a few notches.

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Sword of Mana