Dawn of Mana
8.8
10
15
15
Overall....
Okay. So, I've never had the pleasure of playing a Mana game. Think I owned one once but sold it, don't throw stones at me please. I was young and not into gaming then. Off the subject. I can honestly tell you this. This game is really good. It is unique with the graphics and the characters. The main menu even offers some things that you can do off the game, talking about the "Pet Eggs" you collect. The characters that you do actually get to meet touch your heart. Fae made me laugh a lot in the beginning. Biju..... Bju..... The small bunny thing. Yeah, he irritated me in the beginning.... All of the characters helped to adept to the story into something truly unique. The graphics are great, bordering on the lines of a childs anime, but hey.... So was Kingdom Hearts and people like that game too. The events of the game take you to an ending that you never would have expected.... And angered me and then made me cry. Yes. I have read some people complaining about the leveling system. Like Kingdom Hearts 365/2 Days, it's unique. Irritating, yes. Makes you want to scream, yes.But, you can't really change it. However, it doesn't truly reset as everybody thinks. I proudly got my magic to level 2. Don't ask how because I don't know.
Moral of the story: Don't judge a book by its cover. This game is really good and I hope you give it a try.
3/15/13
Simply beautiful...
Being a huge fan of the Mana series, I was ecstatic when I finally got this game. The controls become easily intuitive, even though the whip control takes a measure of practice. The visuals are stunning, and the music is excellent and perfectly used. The mechanics and layout of terrain allows each player to find their own way around the levels, and through the enemies. Increasing difficulty levels, along with a power-up collection system, and expansive secret passages in every level practically demands replay. With that said, the true beauty lies in the characters and story. It's basically a love story that evolves around cataclysmic events. Even though the characters don't verbally recognize their emotions, they are played out through their actions, making the cutscenes somewhat theatrical. The story also has something that is so very rare in games, nuance. For story driven players, this is a must own.
8/16/12
This game is AMAZING.
Not many people realize this but the game has an amazing plot. From beginning to end, the graphics are amazing and this scenes are so cute. The sound is great. The plot of the game is freaking awesome and I can't believe this amazing game has such low reviews! People really must be hating on the ending scene that much? I was raging at first. But, the whole game is freaking worth it and the plot twists leave you with your mouth opened and eye twitching.
11/20/11
Casual Game Plays Like Kingdon Hearts
This game isn't half bad, despite all the bad reviews about the game being childish and too easy. If you're thinking this will be like a traditional 2D Mana game, think again. This game plays more like a spiritual successor to Kingdom Heart than something from the world of Mana. Graphics are in vein of Zelda Windwaker as opposed to realistic, but it just adds charm to the game. Sounds and music are great, but the characters seem a little shallow, I'm sure there must be more character development later in the game, but I haven't seen it yet. The game environments are beautiful and interactive, maybe a little too interactive. In order to score things like items, HP and magic bonuses, you'll have to use rocks and barrels and throw or push them into enemies to startle them. It become obnoxious quickly, so this isn't a game you can sit down and play for hours. Overall, give this game a shot, but don't expect it to a Mana game, that's where everyone goes wrong.
8/30/11
Decent story, but too childish and linear
Dawn of mana is a very interesting action/adventure. The combat system can get very confusing at times- it takes a while to master using the whip and it took me a very long time to actually understand and get good at starting enemies, making them easier to kill. Instead of a free, open world, you are forced to follow one storyline, one path, and do all of the same objectives. There are multiple decently long worlds to fight through, including an old ruin as the first level, a forest, a mine and crystal cave, a boat, a desert, and your homeland. I am not saying that this game isn't fun; lobbing creates and beating up on your enemies takes awhile to get boring. And even though the game may seem to be sort of childish due to its gimpy monsters in the first few worlds, there are many creative, well designed monsters that take strategy to overcome. As far as challenge goes, the game will seem quite hard until you get used to all of the controls and fighting strategy. There are some parts of levels that take a VERY long time to figure out where to go and how to get there, which almost caused me to quit the game myself. The most challenging parts of the game are a couple of the last bosses, which will especially test your gaming skills. One of the things that I personally didn't enjoy about the game was that it NEVER SEEMED TO END. When I finally thought it was over it turned out to be half way though. I don't think the game is actually too long, but it just seems to drag on and on until it just can't go on anymore. Lastly, one of the things that I think that could've helped give the game some more detail is that, even though the story is actually spread over a decent amount of years, only one of the charecters shows age progression, and everyone else seems to be timeless. The game Dawn of Mana comes down to personal preference. It has been ignored by most people since it came out in 2007, when most people had moved on to the newer systems. I bought this game because at the time, I hadnt moved on yet, but if anyone ever wants to go a little old school, I would reccomend this game to people who love games with deep storylines and hard bosses.
12/11/08
hmmm
Did you play Legand of Mana? Probably the best out of the mana series if you ask me, and that one came out on playstation 1. And Dawn of mana won't be coming out on gamecube, because the last games to be made on the gamecube and xbox is Ratoullie and madden 08!
4/1/07
mana games rock
i love the mana games sword of mana, children of mana, secret of mana, secret of mana 2, i hope they make this game for gamecube and if they dont that will suck because all the mana games were on nintendo systems i realy do hope they make it for gamecube
3/22/07
can't wait until this comes out
This looks like an awesome role playing game. I will definitely get this when it comes out. I think it also looks better than the final fantasy games and a lot of other square-enix games out there. So this is a must buy for all square-enix fans.
3/8/07
I heard this game was terrible...
Play Magazine reviewed this game, and they bluntly state that it could possibly be the end of the series. The maps are annoyingly big, and you don't keep your levels gained. You gain levels on the specific "level" that your going through, then reset when you leave. The story is apparently boring as all hell as well, and I believe you only play as the main character. They said, however, the graphics and musical score were stunning. What a pity =(
3/4/07
A good one this time?
I agree, the other Mana games are no where near as good as Secret of Mana or Legend of Mana. I hope that this one has at least some aspect of those two.
3/1/07