Hey, everybody, it's rant time! And yes, it's about Rise of Mana. Although, to be fair, it doesn't seem all bad. Just the vast majority of it.
First off, the logo. It's... hideous. Far too modern-looking with all its sharp angles and neon-coloured glow, it's practically the antithesis of the warm, pastoral Mana aesthetic. And I expected the actual "Rise of Mana" part to have enough effort put into it that one can't think it took about two minutes in Microsoft Paint!
And angels and demons? The only supernatural entities in the worlds of Mana are supposed to be the Goddess, the Sword, and Anise, none of which appeared in the trailer! Oh, but the tree's there, if only because without it, it literally couldn't be a Mana game. And the designs for Van and Rain (really?) look like they came out of a Ragnarok Online rip-off!
So what is good? Well, the music's nice, especially the theme song. First time a Mana game's had one. Just a shame it wasn't for a proper entry rather than this claptrap.
But all in all, it just doesn't feel like a true Mana game, and not just because it's free-to-play and on smartphones. Yes, Li'l Cactus and Niccolo and rabites are in, but it just seems... hollow. Probably so it can be filled with money. The soul isn't there.
[exasperated sigh followed by defeated sobbing]
Re: [exasperated sigh followed by defeated sobbing]
It doesn't look too bad. I would like to play it first before making a final judgement.
I wonder if Ishii had a hand in this? I'm not sure if he is still working with Square Enix after forming Grezzo.
I wonder if Ishii had a hand in this? I'm not sure if he is still working with Square Enix after forming Grezzo.
Re: [exasperated sigh followed by defeated sobbing]
I'm actually fairly optimistic. Is it just me or does it sound like Kikuta worked on at least one of the songs? And the gameplay looks pretty Mana to me.
However, there IS something awfully Crystal Chronicles-seeming about it. Could it be that this was developed by the Crystal Chronicles team now that Iishi is gone? That would make a lot of sense to me since Crystal Chronicles always seemed like it wanted to be early Mana anyway.
How did you get the names of the characters (and whose names are those anyway?) and the info that it was free-to-play?
I also wonder if they might eventually bring this to the 3DS or the Wii U? I think it would thrive on the 3DS myself.
I guess I just feel that at worse it could be basically a graphically superior version of Children of Mana, but I'm holding out hope that it will be better, that it will have designed dungeons and not randomly generated ones, that it will have multiple towns to visit, that it will have a controllable Flammie... basically that it will be a return to the glory days... or at least a step in that direction.
At least it's not a "Circle of Mana" or "Friends of Mana" sort of thing.
However, there IS something awfully Crystal Chronicles-seeming about it. Could it be that this was developed by the Crystal Chronicles team now that Iishi is gone? That would make a lot of sense to me since Crystal Chronicles always seemed like it wanted to be early Mana anyway.
How did you get the names of the characters (and whose names are those anyway?) and the info that it was free-to-play?
I also wonder if they might eventually bring this to the 3DS or the Wii U? I think it would thrive on the 3DS myself.
I guess I just feel that at worse it could be basically a graphically superior version of Children of Mana, but I'm holding out hope that it will be better, that it will have designed dungeons and not randomly generated ones, that it will have multiple towns to visit, that it will have a controllable Flammie... basically that it will be a return to the glory days... or at least a step in that direction.
At least it's not a "Circle of Mana" or "Friends of Mana" sort of thing.
Re: [exasperated sigh followed by defeated sobbing]
Ah yes, I was waiting for someone to mention Crystal Chronicles. I think it's right around 2:22 in the trailer.
Hmm, a Giant Enemy Crab. That does look familiar; now where could I have seen it before? Oh wait.
Now don't get me wrong, I love the Crystal Chronicles games (and typing of which, Squenix, get to work on a new one if you aren't already; the poor Wii U needs all the help it can get!), but unless this is an intentional "inspirational recursion" thing, which I highly doubt, they really need to try harder.
Hmm, a Giant Enemy Crab. That does look familiar; now where could I have seen it before? Oh wait.
Now don't get me wrong, I love the Crystal Chronicles games (and typing of which, Squenix, get to work on a new one if you aren't already; the poor Wii U needs all the help it can get!), but unless this is an intentional "inspirational recursion" thing, which I highly doubt, they really need to try harder.
Re: [exasperated sigh followed by defeated sobbing]
I'll probably give this game a try when it comes out (as a fanboy I have to right?).
When I saw the crab I instantly thought of the giant crab in SD3. I forgot it was in LoM too, I need to play that game again.
When I saw the crab I instantly thought of the giant crab in SD3. I forgot it was in LoM too, I need to play that game again.