Heroes of Mana: Review
Before I got the game I couldn’t wait to start hating it because it was released under the World of Mana project. After the failed attempt at a mana game known as Dawn of Mana I was reluctant to purchase Heroes. As to my surprise Heroes proved itself as a great game. I fell in love with it and couldn’t stop playing. Yes! Third time is the charm! So let me start the drill.
Graphics 8/10
The graphics are surprisingly good. The land layout is all 3D adding a nice terrain to appeal to the eye (and add a little strategy). The characters are well designed and unique but when on the field they are 2D and a little choppy in certain situations. There are some pretty anime scenes to make some of the character action and what not better.
The graphics are amazing but I feel that the 2D characters don’t fit in well with the 3D environment. I would expect something like that on the SNES or GBA but not the DS.
Sound 10/10
I haven’t found a mana game yet that I didn’t like the sound track to. This one I think has all original songs. If there are remakes they did a good job covering them up. The songs in this game really capture the mood. What ever is going on the music makes it feel even better.
Story (spoiler warning!!!) 10/10
The game starts out as a group of people on a ship called the Nightswan. These people are on a Top secret mission to Ferolian, The Beast Kingdom. During this trek the crew finds that the beastmen aren’t too happy with their visit. After a crash landing and a little skirmish they find out that their country, Peddan, is attacking the beast kingdom. They find that General Baxilios, general of Peddan, is starting a war with the world. The crew, Roget the main character, Commander Yurchael, Qucas, Gemiere, and D’kelli, try to stop the Peddan invasion on the world and warn the other countries of the Peddan strike.
Okay if you read that then you realize that the story is effing amazing! A heroic war story with mana twists… Can’t get much better than that!
Dialogue 9/10
Yes I’m making this a separate section. The dialogue is almost as good as Sword of Mana’s. There are a few jokes thrown in to lighten up the mood a bit but it doesn’t stray away from the at hand problem (like other games tend to do). It’s also not fake. I say that because what is said doesn’t seem scripted. It comes out naturally and seems like it would be what someone would say. Another thing I like is that they don’t state the obvious… Much. The only draw back is that some things are really stupid and could have been cut out. I was going to drop the score back more for making D’Kelli look retarded but after playing more I think that she is meant to be retarded.
Game play 9/10
The last RTS I played on the DS was Lost Magic so I didn’t think Heroes would do any better. Well wrong again. Lost Magic just sucked. So the controls in this game are fairly easy once you get the swing of it. Everything is pretty much done with the stylus. The Dpad is used to pan across the map, A and B can be used but aren’t really needed because of the stylus. L and R rotate the map. You pretty much tap the unit you want to use and the area you want it to go/attack. There is a circle thing you can tap to select multiple units. Unlike Lost Magic it stops game play long enough to do so. The game starts off a little slow but it picks up once it teaches you everything. You have your ship that is anchored to the ground. It can move but you can’t use anything unless it is anchored at an anchor spot. All units come from the ship. The ship creates or summons all your creatures. In order to summon creatures you must build the appropriate summon station, which cost Gaia shards, and have Treant berries as the cost for the creature. You will find Treant and Gaia on the map to get the funds from. Rabites are the basic gatherers pretty much the SCV in Starcraft. You have four basic unit types which are heavy, ground, missile, and flying. They all have their strengths and weaknesses. There are special units which have high attack and what not but aren’t resistant to any type of unit. After all of that you have your leaders. Leaders are the main characters such as Roget. They are strong in attack and defense. If any unit gets weak you can build a heal station and heal them at the ship. The last thing is the equipment. You can make your leaders stronger from the spoils at the end of chapters. The only drawbacks to the game play are that it’s slow paced and it has a bit of a confusing UI. It’s not a game that anyone can pick up and play right away. It takes a bit of getting use to. It’s also not something you can play while waiting for the bus (But that’s the Mana in general).
Final Score 9.2
Amazing game! It’s something that anyone should definitely have weather a fan of the series or not.
My list again:
Seiken Densetsu 3
Secret of Mana
Sword of Mana
Heroes of Mana
Legend of Mana
Final Fantasy Adventure
Children of Mana
Dawn of Mana
Posted At 2007-08-26 16:40:13 by DeadWolf
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