Children of Mana.

[Eric]

I'm a little cautious when it comes to Mana games. I loved the first one, enjoyed the 2nd one for the most part(As well as you could enjoy it on as a ROM), and everyone after that has been blah.

If any of you are picking this one up can you post how you like it here?

[Julius Seeker]

As a single player game, I enjoyed Sword of Mana more than Secret of Mana. Though, Secret of Mana had multiplayer which made it a better game overall. Without the multiplayer I found Secret of Evermore to be way better, and Terranigma and Illusions of Gaia in a whole different league (though those two games are, perhaps, much more suited towards me since they both have themes based on history and pre-history of the Earth, which is a subject I am interested in). As far as I have heard, Children of Mana also lacks multiplayer, so don't expect a great deal from it, it wasn't getting the greatest reviews from Japan either.

[M'k'n'zy]

If Children is the one for the DS it does have multiplayer.

[Eric]

Yeah I heard is has 4(?) player multi wi-fi.

[Lox]

Yeah I heard is has 4(?) player multi wi-fi.

Oooooooh. Now if I had 3 (or even 1) more friend who wanted this game. D'oh!

[Julius Seeker]

Well, if it is 4 player over WiFi, I think that 4 of us here could easily get our hands on it and just play over WiFi.

[Lox]

Over the Internet or via the ad-hoc network?

[Julius Seeker]

Actually, unfortunately, there isn't any WiFi multiplayer:

"Children of Mana takes advantage of the DS's multiplayer capabilities, supporting up to 4 players at once. The game only uses local wireless, and does not support Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection online services. Multiplayer is broken down into Cooperative and Competitive modes."

-Wikipedia

Although, it does not specify if you need multiple cartridges, or if just a single cartridge will do (I would imagine just one is fine).

[Eric]

What a waste.

[Julius Seeker]

They should have put it in, I guess the game was rushed. The translation sure as hell wasn't, it seemed like they had the time to stick that in.

The game seems to be getting fairly good reviews from the North American press. By the sounds and looks of the game, it seems to be one that Secret of Mana fans will like, unless they are one of those Secret of Mana fans who haven't played Secret of Mana in over 12 years and wouldn't actually like the game at all if they played it now.

[Lox]

That's like GTA:Liberty City Stories. The multiplayer was a lot of fun but it only supported ad hoc networks instead of Wifi, which basically made it worthless to me.

[Julius Seeker]

I am now 4.5 hours in. I do not like the game very much. Sword of Mana was better in my opinion. Essentially, it is one town, you talk to people, get your quest, and then use Flammie to go to the part of the world where the quest is. There is almost no story involved with the game. Now, I am hoping that this is just for the beginning of the game, like Final Fantasy Tactics Advance (if what I hear about it is true), because Sword of Mana/Final Fantasy Adventure were both heavily story driven games. This game does not feel story driven at all.

For the record, the game takes place in the Final Fantasy Adventure world, only there is just one town. THat one town is one that you return to after each mission accomplished.

Graphics are very easily the best the series has seen though.

[Kupek]

I read that Children of Mana is a dungeon grind, so I'm afraid you're in for that for the rest of the game.

[Julius Seeker]

I read that Children of Mana is a dungeon grind, so I'm afraid you're in for that for the rest of the game.

Arrgh, don't get me wrong, I do love gameplay/exploration sequences that tell a story: Legend of Zelda and Castlevania often did this. This game just does not seem to be one of those games.

[Kupek]

That's not what I meant by "dungeon grind." I don't consider Zelda a dungeon grind because, hey, it's actually fun. I meant a game that is basically a string of dungeons with little motivation.

[Julius Seeker]

That's not what I meant by "dungeon grind." I don't consider Zelda a dungeon grind because, hey, it's actually fun. I meant a game that is basically a string of dungeons with little motivation.

I have never actually played a game like that before. They kind of suck. This game is probably my least favourite of the series. Though people who are only interested in graphics, this game easily has the best of the series.

[Julius Seeker]

Well, the game is certainly a lot of fun when playing multiplayer. Though, without multiplayer, the game is REALLY boring. Two player was fairly good, I'll see if I can get 4 player going and then give my opinions on that (in a much more full form).

It's like Secret of Mana in how multiplayer really adds a lot to it. Though as a single player game, Secret of Mana is still a lot better, Secret of Mana actually has that adventure feel to it that Children of Mana lacks.

[Zeus]

What a waste.

Pretty much describes the series as a whole :-)