This is a game I mostly play for completion’s sake nowadays, because its plot is so frustratingly vague.
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After the three incredibly depressing story arcs, and the Final Boss Battle
the Sproutlings fix the Mana Tree, and everything starts over.
I’ve played other games with a New Game Plus feature (most notably, Chrono Trigger, Chrono Cross, and Disgaea), but so far LoM is the only one that has left me with an awful pit in my stomach. I felt like the game didn’t resolve anything at all.
Although, I guess, as a game to show how much reincarnation would suck, it succeeded pretty well…
What did Legend of Mana mean? It meant that the developers didn’t spend enough time making sure that the game was cohesive and played well.
I liked the game, but it’s definitely flawed. I can only fight horizontally?! Give me a break!
There was a fan page devoted to Legend of Mana at www.spores.net, but it seems to be down now. I agree with whoever made that page that “Legend of Mana was, in some ways, a failure, but it is a beautiful failure.” Legend of Mana had lush art and great music, going for it, but without good controls and more involving plots the whole package couldn’t stay together.
I also agree with the above person that
the Jumi storyline was the most compelling one, followed by the Larc and Sierra one, and that the Matilda/Irwin one was blah.
and that
if the game had concentrated on the Jumi storyline, maybe it would have been better overall.
Oh, and if you haven’t heard of this game before, it was released for the PlayStation 1. Scott Plaid is thining of Secret of Mana (or possibly Seiken Densetsu 3, Secret of Mana’s sequel, which was never released commercially in the US).
sigh Yeah, the game overall felt like it was only partly done. All the plot arcs seemed to be missing a load of backstory (like what exactly Diana did or didn’t do to make Alexandra hate her, how Larc ended up in the Underworld in the first place, or why Matilda refused to take part in the relationship polygon of doom until after nearly everybody involved died).
So disappointing, considering how much potential this game had. (The gameplay was kind of meh, though. And tempering…ugh. shudders)
I admit I liked the gameplay. There’s something hypnotic about pushing the attack button and watching the gorgeous enemies blow up. I satill have the game, although I never could figure out what was going on and gave up.
