What do you think of Legend of Mana?

[Aziamuth]

A friend of mine gifted me the Steam version of the remaster of Legend of Mana. We started playing it (it has co-op) and... we ended up quitting. I don't think it's a bad game, and in fact I plan on coming back to it (on my own) in the future, but it's... too weird? It's like it tries to emulate Romancing SaGa (same director and all), but fails espectacularly. It has a lot of systems and mechanics that don't even matter because the combat is so braindead.

Are there fans of this game here? If so, what do you like so much about it?

 

[χKai]

I love that underrated classic! It's many tunes by Yoko Shimomura live 8n my head rent-free, and the gameplay is phenomenal, above and beyond all the other great games in the series up to that point. My one complaint would have to be the lack of very functional 2-Player on the original PlayStation version, but I haven't gotten to try it with someone on one of the later releases.

Easily, one of my favorite games.

 

[Waffles's iconWaffles]

I could never get into it, but I'm not sure it's entirely the game's fault.

It's weird, but I feel a disconnect the second it boots up and it becomes an unsurmountable wall.

 

[MajesticSiN]

It's an amazing game!
I had hours of fun playing the PSX version before I got the remaster.

 

[Adrastia]

I didn't care for it. I played for a few hours and there's not much to it and it was a total slog. The game is very bland. And I didn't really like placing stuff on the map. I didn't know where to put anything and I don't think there was an auto option. I had the same issue with Dark Cloud. No matter where I put stuff it never looked "right" to me. At least Soul Blazer's towns built themselves when you found the parts. It's just extra busy work I'm not into. It always feels like I'm doing it wrong.

 

[χKai]

I like the way the abilities work, the triangle and circle button ones, not the attack techniques. Like how you have to use crouch and jump together to learn High Jump and all the other interesting combinations in tandem with different attacks.

I like that if you're good enough, you can just sit and spam quick attacks until everything dies, as long as nothing comes up behind you. It may seem cheap, but it's better than getting beat up and getting a Game Over.

Most of all, I think I love this game for it's atmosphere. The strange creatures and inhabitants of the land of Fa'Diel can range from peculiar to outrageously bizarre, and there's so much mood to take in throughout the story, as you build the world itself.

 

[PSVitaForever]

I played it on psp, with a guide to get everything in one playthrough (and there's a dungeon later on that isn't easy to navigate): I LOVED the graphics, that alone made me want to play the game, but if your first impression hasn't been good I think you should look at some gameplay and then simply follow your instinct.

 

[SpcDaicon]

I played a lot when I was younger with a cousin and really like it. We never actually finished back in the day but always had a blast.

Some years ago I finally decided to play till completion for the first time. It's a solid game. Crafiting is quite in-depth but combat is kinda dull.

I still rate it 8/10 but I can see how its flaws can you make you quit

 

[bubbyrude]

i tried to play it various years since it came out and could never stick to it until the remastered version
very cool game but very puzzling at times. only finished it once, failed to finish several storylines sadly. do recommend.

 

[Danieru-Emanyueru]

Legend of Mana is a critically divisive but unique and beloved classic. It's praised for its charm and beauty but criticized for its unconventional structure and poor explanations.

 

[Nickakyoin]

I was very tempted to open a thread about Seiken Densetsu/Mana tbh, but I'll go with the flow for this.
Honestly? I tried the original PS1 version (which looked much better) and the more recent remaster and...god, in my opinion it looks horrid. Especially for the UI. The game isn't half bad, but starting it can take a little patience.

If you want to start with other (and better) Mana games, go for Secret of Mana (SNES, not that "remake") or Trials of Mana (both remake and og are good, but the remake is perfect for newcomers). If you already played those, uh...Visions of Mana is great, but only single player. :(

 

[χKai]

I was very tempted to open a thread about Seiken Densetsu/Mana tbh, but I'll go with the flow for this.
Honestly? I tried the original PS1 version (which looked much better) and the more recent remaster and...god, in my opinion it looks horrid. Especially for the UI. The game isn't half bad, but starting it can take a little patience.

If you want to start with other (and better) Mana games, go for Secret of Mana (SNES, not that "remake") or Trials of Mana (both remake and og are good, but the remake is perfect for newcomers). If you already played those, uh...Visions of Mana is great, but only single player. :(

I'd love to see a thread about the Seiken Densetsu series. It's about as underrated as it is celebrated.

 

[Turbo Kid]

I loved it. It doesn't stand out when compared to the more well known PS1 classics, but I definitely enjoyed my time with it.

 

[Nickakyoin]

I'd love to see a thread about the Seiken Densetsu series. It's about as underrated as it is celebrated.

Done.

Seiken Densetsu Manathread

(ok, technically almost 34 years) Well, this is, a thread to one of the most underrated Square Enix franchises (alongside Star Ocean, I suppose). I got into the series by trying Secret of Mana on Wii Virtual Console but got stuck and then got distracted to return on FF to finally beat the main...

retrogametalk.com

 

[nobitakun]

Legend of Mana is my 2nd favourite in the series. I consider it the most beautiful one art wise, but I understand the game's mechanics aren't easy for everyone. The first time I tried to finish the game was a real mess because it was so different from Seiken Densetsu, but after I understood well how to play I had a lot of fun. The co-op mode is something I feel it was kind of weak, as the 2nd character is unimportant, it's only there to have a co-op mode, but anyways it was greatly appreciated.

One of the things I liked most were the battles against the bosses, they were usually huge and very intense with the wonderful OST playing along.

 

[gwardojones]

Love it. One of my all-time favorite RPGs. Everything is so strange and exotic; the music is fantastic (Shimomura is the GOAT); and the art is so god dang beautiful. It is obtuse, but it feels fun to figure out how things work and how to get the most out of it.

Plus, learning to speak Dudbear will always be one of my favorite gaming memories.

 

[Aziamuth]

I didn't care for it. I played for a few hours and there's not much to it and it was a total slog. The game is very bland. And I didn't really like placing stuff on the map. I didn't know where to put anything and I don't think there was an auto option. I had the same issue with Dark Cloud. No matter where I put stuff it never looked "right" to me. At least Soul Blazer's towns built themselves when you found the parts. It's just extra busy work I'm not into. It always feels like I'm doing it wrong.

I don't know about Dark Cloud, but in Legend of Mana there's an efficient way of placing the dungeons and cities, as you can get more quests (or less!) depending on placement

Post automatically merged: Friday at 9:51 PM

I was very tempted to open a thread about Seiken Densetsu/Mana tbh, but I'll go with the flow for this.
Honestly? I tried the original PS1 version (which looked much better) and the more recent remaster and...god, in my opinion it looks horrid. Especially for the UI. The game isn't half bad, but starting it can take a little patience.

If you want to start with other (and better) Mana games, go for Secret of Mana (SNES, not that "remake") or Trials of Mana (both remake and og are good, but the remake is perfect for newcomers). If you already played those, uh...Visions of Mana is great, but only single player. :(

Secret of Mana is amongst my least favorite games of all times for every single thing the game has to offer. Yes, I played the original.

I didn't care too much about Trials, but at least I can say that it's a game that was designed and I like the class system.

 

[gwardojones]

I don't know about Dark Cloud, but in Legend of Mana there's an efficient way of placing the dungeons and cities, as you can get more quests (or less!) depending on placement

Post automatically merged: Friday at 9:51 PM

Secret of Mana is amongst my least favorite games of all times for every single thing the game has to offer. Yes, I played the original.

I didn't care too much about Trials, but at least I can say that it's a game that was designed and I like the class system.

Honestly, I can't disagree. I rented it for a weekend as a kid and thought it was magical, but when I bought my own copy, I couldn't finish it for how bored I got. It just keeps going and going with no real changes to combat. I think I was close to the end before I finally said, "Holy damn this is boring! I'm done!"

 

[90snomad]

Good game