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 in Other :: ( No comments )
Under the influence.
I'll admit it. I have an addiction and it's getting worse as time passes. This addiction has cost me over $300 and I've been on for over a year. I started out as short burst. Just a little bit every now and then in two months time. Now I seem to do it everyday. I can't go a day without spending at least 2 or 3 hours on it. The more I indulge the worse it gets. It's really taking what little time I have from work and what not. I fantasize about it all the time.
This addiction is none other than World of Warcraft.
It seems the more I play the better it gets and the better it gets the more I like it. I've also learned a lot in this past month of playing than I have ever learned in my year of playing World of Warcraft. I spend my time working on my professions, leveling, questing, or collecting raw material to sell at the Auction House. I am in a guild but I haven't spent much time getting honor in raids or anything. I mostly try to get money or level my character up. I've also found ways to make some serious gold quick an easy.
Let me get to the point. I'm planning to make a World of Warcraft guide site. I'm planning to have leveling and gold guides, maps, forums, and tips and tricks. I mean the works on this baby. I think I'll make this my summer web project.
Now this is where you come in. First, I need a good domain name. I'm open to any suggestions. Second, I don't know if I should charge people or not. I think I'll have basic stuff free and have Insider accounts where they pay a small fee, $5 or $10, to gain access to everything and anything juicy.
Feel free to give me any ideas.
Posted At 2007-06-22 00:05:30 by DeadWolf in Geekdom :: ( 3 comments )
Remembering A.J.
The dreadful day is here. Only 4 hours into it but it's here. Now this isn't easy for me... Yes it's good to remember but memories bring emotions which in my opinion are very hard to control. I can only drown out a little bit with ACDC and buckets of crystal light 
. I'm almost afraid to go to school... But I'm sure everything will be fine as soon as I wipe the tears away and blow my nose... I'll finish this when I get home... I can't do it now.
Posted At 2007-06-05 04:41:16 by DeadWolf in Other :: ( No comments )
Dawn of Mana
I got my copy of Dawn of Mana. It was a little better than I had expected. So I'll break it down for you.
Basic Gist
The buttons are a little hard to get use to unless you've played God of War. The camera controls are horrible but I guess that's what you get for the first 3D game in the series. The graphics are pretty great for it being on the PS2. The sound is completely amazing and probably the games major pro. My copy came with the "Breath of Mana" soundtrack that's equipped with 5 really good songs. The story is pretty in depth and it sticks to some of it's mana roots.
Story
You start out as a guy named Keldy looking for a Rabite named Buju. You're accompanied by Keldy's childhood friend named Ritzia who is a Maiden of The Great Tree(My guess the Mana Tree). When you find soldiers from Lorimar taking over Illusia which is lead by Stroud(not sure if there is any relation to Dark Lord on FFA/SwOM). This is where I stopped playing but it's building up and it should have a good storyline.
Gameplay
It put me in the mind of a 3D Children of Mana rather than my expectations of SD4. There's no overlying map which really stinks. You play from chapter to chapter. The chapters last from 20 minutes to an hour. Your weapon is a pretty kick tail sword. You can do normal hack and slash with it. You can shoot magic sling shots(varies depending on spirit). Or you can use the sword as a whip and grab items or enemies with it and sling them around. You also have magic in this one. But this time it's useful! So far I've only seen 2 ways to use it. One way is by healing yourself and the other is an elemental attack. With it being 3D there is a targeting system in it. It's a little shabby but it gets the job done. There are two targeting buttons. One targets enemies and the other targets objects(objects WTF?). Enemies have what is called panic(and the game relies a lot on it.) Pretty much the enemy gets scared and you are able to do more damage to them. You can get more emblems, which raise stats, by killing a monster while it's panicking. To make a monster panic you must knock an object on or near it. Some objects have health in them.
My Score
Graphics: 8/10
They're really good for PS2 but not spectacular.
Sound: 10/10
As I said before. The sound is the best part of this game.
Gameplay: 7/10
I'm being a little generous on this one. The gameplay is good but it could really have been better.
Originality: 7/10
There were a few things that I've never seen in a game before. The stroy is one of a kind.
Story: 8/10
My opinion on this can easily change as I have not completed the game. But from what I have played it seems to bee really great. I think that I may change this part after I finish playing. I believe that this number will go up.
FINAL SCORE: 7.8
The game is good but it could really use some fine tuning. I think if the World of Mana project keeps working on it we may have a ground breaking game.
Comparison to other Mana Games it's not so great. Here's my list:
Seiken Densetsu 3
Secret of Mana
Sword of Mana
Legend of Mana
Dawn of Mana
Final Fantasy Adventure
Children of Mana
Posted At 2007-05-23 23:00:23 by DeadWolf in Other :: ( No comments )
Farewell to Falwell
LYNCHBURG, Va. - The Rev. Jerry Falwell, the television evangelist who founded the Moral Majority and used it to mold the religious right into a political force, died Tuesday shortly after being found unconscious in his office at Liberty University. He was 73
~MSNBC
I'm sure you already know about this but my intentions with this is not tell people about his death but to tell people about the possible effects this can have.
He was a great vocalist against the libs. A strong conservative who wasn't afraid to speak his mind. He was great at stopping the onslaught of liberal perversion in America. Now that he has passed who will take his place? Who will be the active conservative? Will our nation fall prey to the leftest ideologies? These were the questions that flooded and plagued my mind when I first heard the news.
The liberals are taking over. The Democrats have taken over congress and now that Falwell is gone there's no telling what they will attempts next. The Gay Mafia's already celebrating his death. Just listen to this lisper:
Matt Foreman, executive director of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, extended condolences to those close to Falwell, but added: "Unfortunately, we will always remember him as a founder and leader of America's anti-gay industry, someone who exacerbated the nation's appalling response to the onslaught of the AIDS epidemic, someone who demonized and vilified us for political gain and someone who used religion to divide rather than unite our nation."
~MSNBC
He did a good job covering up the fact that he hated Falwell! Yet he still pushed his tainted message in there.
The liberals are coming and Falwell being out of the picture is putting them one step closer. Arm yourselves! Don't let the Democrats take the White House in 08. Help stop the leftest invasion.
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Posted At 2007-05-15 22:27:52 by DeadWolf in Politics :: ( No comments )