Mana Series continues: "Heroes of " released for DS: and it's good?

Deusfaux

Came out yesterday in the US, give it a couple days for Canada.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heroes_of_mana














http://ds.ign.com/articles/811/811824p1.html

IGN wrote:

Closing Comments
Heroes of Mana may not be the true Mana game you've been waiting for, but its obvious at this point that series creator Koichi Ishii has different plans for his franchise, and they include a grand, year-by-year evolution of the product. The creator teamed with developer Brownie Brown to create something truly unique on DS, and in a lot of ways this trail-blazing RTS is a huge success for the platform. The game still has a few issues, including some moronic A.I. at times and a lack of online play - something we wouldn't have dared ship the title without - but it also has a ton to offer players who haven't had the chance to dive into the genre yet on DS.
The presentation is great, the fully-animated sequences are simply beautiful, the music is captivating (not as much as something like Final Fantasy, but still pretty impressive), and for the most part the gameplay is intuitive and downright fun. For anyone willing to put up with a few annoyances Heroes of Mana delivers a great pocket RTS experience plain and simple, and with a deep story, diverse cast of characters, and a pretty remarkable amount of depth it's a no-brainer for strategy fanatics. It isn't the franchise you remember from over a decade ago, but Heroes of Mana proves one very important element of Koichi Ishii's philosophy: The gameplay may change, but the soul remains.

DoctorArch

I must say, a good Mana game....in this century, that's just plain weird. I'll wait for a couple more reviews.

taliosfalcon

The reviews seem really across the board..with the majority being in the 5-6/10 range , although ign did love it..this makes me rather hesitant to buy it

RonTheDM

I'm buying it either way. It's my duty.

FCD

The whole "a Japanese RTS game" angle fills me with worry. I'd rather they stick to what they do best, such as turn-based strategy or adventure gaming with RPG elements.

Retarded_Turkey

I'm gonna wait on this. After making the mistake of buying Children on day one I'm gonna wait on this. I still wanna rebuy Children down the line but at the price it was it just wasn't worth it.

RonTheDM

Children, like any dungeon crawler, is infinitely more fun with 1-2 more people. INFINITELY. On it's own, I managed to get through the game and use my playthrough as like, my own personal tutorial. The second time through it was go with the 'traveller' (Niccolo type guy) and play it pure style, there are so many gems in that game ... it be deep, yo - for a game with 'randomly generated' levels and what not that get tiresome alone, it's still great if you have the right hookups. Definetly a niche product, though.

I'll get Heroes and let da peoples know what I think.

Dr.Funkenstein

taliosfalcon wrote: »

The reviews seem really across the board..with the majority being in the 5-6/10 range , although ign did love it..this makes me rather hesitant to buy it

IGN giving a good review.......shocking.

Franko

Children of Mana sucked my scrotum, I hope this game is actually hot stuff
Man I wish theyd just shove SD 2 and 3 on a DS cart.

RandomKit

Franko wrote: »

Man I wish theyd just shove SD 2 and 3 on a DS cart.

I have been waiting for this for many years now.

Magic Pink

So how do the characters work? Can they change class or equip stuff? Do they learn skills and if so how?

deadonthestreet

Is this actually out? Or is it a myth? I haven't seen it anywhere.


Also they are charging $40 so I won't be buying it anyhow. But still, I'd like to know if it actually exists.

4rch3nemy

Magic Pink wrote: »

So how do the characters work? Can they change class or equip stuff? Do they learn skills and if so how?

KungFu

I saw this at the Gamestop I was at today while buying Rune Factory. My jaw dropped has I heard nothing about a new Mana game. Also, it was $40 at two different places, so that seems to be the price (why so high?).

I am surprised I had heard nothing of this game from this website or others until actually bumping into it at the store.

So is this an SRPG or an RTS? It looks like an SRPG. (Strategy RPG, think FFT, Tactics Ogre, Fire Emblem)

urahonky

I own the game guys. I've opened it, but yet to play it.

Why? (you ask) Because I have Rune Factory. I'm trying NOT to play two DS games at once. But if my fellow PAers would like me to take a crack and let you know if it's worth it, ask me... and I'll do it for you guys.

SaraLuna

for anyone turned off by the $40 price: it'll be 30 at best buy this upcoming week (19-25)

urahonky

So my early thoughts of the game (Only on chapter lik 4 or 5):

Good:
Music
Anime cutscenes
Touch screen action
Nice blend of RTS and RPG

Bad:
AI

Ugly:
AI

The main problem with the game is that the AI is pretty f'in stupid. If I select 4 units and tell them to attack another unit about 7 squares away, some of the selected units will take the longest route possible to get there.

Now usually if you click twice, it'll change their route (usually a lot shorter), but it's really annoying.

Otherwise it's a pretty strong game. I'd like to try the multiplayer sometime later, because I'm sure that's fun. I've not played a RTS game since Warcraft 3 and this game seems like a good one to play around with.

Buy it when it goes down to $30 at Best Buy next week, and it'll be worth the money. $40? Probably not (unless you're a die hard RTS fan).

KungFu

Thank you for playing!

Magic Pink

10$ off?

So bought'd. And with free shipping on the website.