![]() ![]() The path to getting there, though, is probably different for everyone. Crystal Chronicles has a similarly fragmentary plot that eventually culminates in one true ending. I immediately drew comparisons to Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles because of the deep-seated loneliness pointed out in Gamespot’s review, but this was more of an “in” for me than a turn-off. I never played Legend of Mana as a kid, but the game does highly remind me of some of my favorite gaming experiences. Gamespot referred to the game’s greatest downfall as an “overbearing sense of fragmentation and isolation” fostered by the Artifact system, while Gamepro derided the game as being “obscured by overabundance of subplots.” Despite its saccharine presentation, Legend of Mana is pretty inaccessible by modern standards, and was even pretty divisive upon its initial release in 2000. There are many different mechanics that are underexplained, such as blacksmithing, monster raising, magic, and even leveling. This is the type of game that, without a guide, you can easily get lost in. Unlike many RPGs, the main character is decentralized, and there’s no true overarching story that keeps the game moving in a streamlined manner. You take the role of a recorder, and can return to your house after each event is finished to have your cactus write it down in a diary. Right next to the junkyard you might place Lake Kilma, where a legion of penguin pirates seek treasure but are slowly petrified by invisible faeries, which only you are able to see.įor most of the game, you act as a quiet observer like this. The toys have grown bitter and cling to their pride as soldiers, but slowly rot away because of their lack of will. One moment, you’re in a junkyard of discarded toys, where you learn they’re actually former soldiers used in a proxy war hundreds of years ago by humans. ![]() It’s the main source of the childlike wonder Legend of Mana is known for. The game’s progression typically has you placing an Artifact then immediately becoming embroiled in a fairytale-like event that involves one or more of the game’s expansive cast. They’re also people with bigger problems than pondering on whether the world is real or imagined. To them, the world exists because they’ve explored it-they’re people with rich histories and lots of stories to tell. It certainly implies that something magical is happening, that a great font of mana is released when you restore the world through this system.Įveryone else in the world, however, seems to believe the Sproutlings are liars. When placed on the map, they writhe and contort, sometimes summoning great splashes of flame or a legion of bubbles. These Artifacts are ancient looking objects like wrought medallions and tattered old dolls. The game’s Artifact Placement system seems to support this Cartesian outlook on Fa’Diel-unlike the other Mana games, Legend of Mana is a fully nonlinear experience where you wander from locale to locale looking for Artifacts to place on the map. The Sproutlings firmly believe that the world is “fake,” and that places and people only exist because we imagine them into existence. There’s a Sproutling outside (something of a little grass fairy, but if the fairies all shared a hive mind and wandered the earth muttering cryptic things about the world being an illusion) who gives you your first artifact, a set of children’s blocks that hold the memories of a trade outpost named Domina. When you awaken, you’re at home-a serene but otherwise empty hut made into the facade of a tree. Legend of Mana opens with a story about the burning of the Mana Tree over 900 years ago, which led to the entirety of the world being compacted tightly into artifacts that preserved the last vestiges of the tree’s power. ![]()
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