| Legend Of Mana |
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| 2000 video games | |
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''Legend of Mana'' (originally released as '''''聖剣伝説 LEGEND OF MANA/Seiken Densetsu LEGEND OF MANA''''' in Japan ) is the fourth game in the '' Seiken Densetsu '' series. While incorporating elements from the three games which preceded it, ''Legend of Mana'' has its own distinct style of gameplay. Most notably, it gives the player the ability to shape the game's world according to his or her desires, a system which was incorporated through the use of "artifacts", which are won as the player progresses through the game. The player uses the artifacts to create different towns, dungeons, etc., called "Lands", to venture to and explore. This creates a non-linear gameplay, since the game is driven by a series of what would be considered Side-quest s in other games. ''Legend of Mana'' features three different plots which occur simultaneously, and which do not necessarily need to be completed for the player to finish the game. Due to this fact the game is highly replayable; there are also different difficulty levels to make the playthrough more challenging. While ''Legend of Mana'' is generally regarded as the fourth installment in the series, the next console-based ''Seiken Densetsu'' game is titled ''Seiken Densetsu 4''. As such, ''Legend of Mana'' may be more accurately considered a side-story, or Gaiden , to the series. GAMEPLAY World map and artifacts After the player chooses to play as either a male or female character and selects a starting Weapon , the screen shifts to a world map, in which the player is asked to pick a square area as the game's play field. The selected area then becomes, for all purposes, the game's world. The game world is divided into a series of empty square plots of ground — from which there are 36 possible in total — and depending on the artifact which is placed on the plot, a different Land is generated on it. Each area placed on the map contains at least one side-quest within it, which upon completion rewards the player a new artifact, and so on. Due to the fact that there are limited squares to place areas on, and areas gain more powerful monsters and items the further away they are from the initial area, the starting square can have a large effect on gameplay itself. Each Land has a certain level of strength in each Spirit Of Mana on a points scale of zero (no presence) to three (strong presence). Should a land have two or three points in one particular Spirit, any adjacent land will receive one or two "bonus" points of that Spirit; this level of presence is important for a few quests and characters to appear. Sidekicks ''Legend of Mana'' offers the option for the player to have two sidekicks - characters which are controlled either by the game's and Pet s. The NPCs are usually one of the games many characters, such as the Jumi Elazul and Pearl, or the elf twins who live in your house. They may also be a hero loaded from another game file. Pets can be raised in-game or using the Sony PocketStation , a peripheral only released in Japan. Also notable are the Golem s, which cannot be controlled by a second player and which are built, rather than bred or found, as is the respective case with pets and non-player characters. After building the golem, the player gets access to its ''logic grid'', which is a retangular grid designed along the lines of Tetris . By placing differently shaped color blocks on this grid, the golem acquires different skills and status levels. It is also possible to customise the golem's color and name. Weapon tempering While weapons may be bought from stores, the player also has the option of Forging or improving them. The forged weapons are generated from raw materials, which may either be bought or found, and weapon improvement occurs when any of the game's items is combined with the weapon, cumulatively raising (or in certain cases lowering) its power. Armors and accessories may also be forged. Elemental spirits The eight Spirits Of Mana — eight nature deities that balance the forces of the universe — are regulars in the Mana/Seiken Densetsu series. In ''Legend of Mana'', however, they play a slightly different role. They still control the use of magic, though in this game spells are cast by playing certain musical instruments. However, they more prominently figure into the game's calendar and map placement functions. Like in Seiken Densetsu 3 , the spirits — excluding Shade and Wisp — each represent a day on which the coordinating element becomes more powerful. Also, placing locations in given places affects the spirit rating of that particular area. For example, placing a certain location next to a body of water makes that place's affiliation with Undine slightly higher. Each specific location also has its own internal charge of certain spirits, though the connections are not always logical. Domina, for example, has a particularly high Jinn affiliation, but the actual town isn't all that windy. Unlike in previous games, the eight spirits do not entirely work in four sets of opposing pairs; the only ones that do are Wisp and Shade, and Dryad and Aura respectively. Aura, the sprit of Gold, is what became of the moon spirit Luna. The character looks similar, but her affiliation was changed in order to better balance Dryad, the wood spirit. The other four spirits work in a complicated circle where one spirit is stronger than the one proceeding it, but weaker than the one before it. PLOT BRANCHES Within the game there are three main plot branches. Each branch holds a series of related side-quests, which compose a part of ''Legend of Mana'''s story. Upon completion of any of these branches, the player is given the choice of finishing the game, even if quests from other branches have not yet been started or completed. There are 67 quests in total. Jumi branch The story of the Jumi, a dying race of people who have external jewel hearts which are considered valuable. Jumis have apparently long been a persecuted people, as many magic characters in this game refer to them as "dirt" — a nasty comment on their jewel cores. This branch focuses on Elazul and Pearl, who are amongst the few survivors of the Jumi. Elazul is a Jumi Knight, and the mission of his life is to protect the Jumi Guardian Pearl at any cost, even in the face of the actions of the jewel collector Sandra. As the hero adventures around the world, he meets other Jumis, like Esmeralda and Rubens, both of whom die when Sandra pulls their heart stone from their body. Sandra seems determined to collect one thousand Jumi cores and feed them to a creature called the Lord of Jewels, who has the power to revive Florina, the Fluorite Jumi. In the end, the hero finds that Sandra is actually the same person as Alex — a gemist living in Geo — and Alexandra, the long-lost Alexandrite Jumi. Alex/Sandra/Alexandra eventually sacrifices her core to the Lord of Jewels, whom the hero must fight in the Bejewelled City, the ancestral home of the Jumi. Ultimately, the Jumi are restored by the hero's tears of compassion. Dragon branch The story of Larc and Sierra - brother and sister Dragoon s who serve different dragon masters and fight on opposite sides of the same war for power. Larc, who serves the dragon Drakonis, invites the game's protagonist to help him in his quest to kill the other three dragon masters, so that his own master may have his power unlocked and rule the world. Sierra, a dragoon for Vadise the White Dragon, wants to stop Drakonis without hurting Larc. In the end, Drakonis is defeated again, banished once more to the underworld. Faerie branch The complicated love story of four childhood friends: Matilda, Irwin, Daena and Escad. Irwin, a Demon dissatisfied with the rules that society imposes on him which prevented him from being able to have a relationship with the holy leader Matilda, seeks to destroy the world in retribution, whilst Escad seeks to destroy him and Daena tries to act as a Mediator between all parties. The conflict eventually escalates into a war between humans and Faeries . In the end, Irwin resurrects Lucemia, the Wyrm of Light, to destroy the human world. The hero and either Daena or Escad, depending on whom the main character sides with (the other one dies at their hands) walk the length of Lucemia's decayed body until they find Irwin and fight him. In the end, Matilda passes away the moment Irwin dies. In the underworld, Matilda regains her lost youth and becomes a new Wisdom. With Irwin gone, the faeries decide that war is a bad idea. Optional branches The remaining adventures concern the rest of the game's considerably large cast, including such stories as:
The final chapter Regardless of which path the hero decides to take, the game's final story is called "Legend of Mana." It concerns the re-appearance of the Mana Tree. As such, this story seems more fitting with the series than any other, as the Mana Tree is a central icon of the Seiken Densetsu games. Once the hero scales the Mana Tree, he or she must fight the Mana Goddess. The tree, quoting the game, is "rotten with evil." Nonetheless, a Sproutling, tiny plant creature, plants itself in the Mana Tree's rotten trunk after the Goddess falls. Calling upon the other Sproutlings, the Mana Tree is restored and what was wrong is righted. The player can then Restart The Game From The Beginning (with any money, items, monsters, and player levels gained, but not NPC levels) with the option to make the enemies more difficult through the "Forbidden Tome". LIST OF SIDEKICKS
Aside from these characters, the hero can also be accompanied by generic, minor monsters — the kind he or she would normally fight in their quest. Most of these have no set names and cannot speak. However, if the player meets certain conditions, the hero can meet Demi-human monsters, who have names, personalities and are willing to join the quest. They only tend to appear if a particular Elemental Level in one land is at its maximum.
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Image:Legend Of Mana - Battle 1pngScreenshot Of The Player Battling Two
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