I played this game very briefly back in the day, but had forgotten most things about it.
As far as I know, this is a loose remake of Seiken Densetsu, the first one, updated to have the presentation of the later games in the series. And it sure feels like it! The art, world, and music all have that trademark Mana whimsy, and it plays as smoothly as any Mana/Seiken game does. In fact, the combat feels smoother due to being made much later than the others.
This game is never talked about, or even derided, it seems. But this is a legit Mana game through and through. The story, map design, combat and magic all feel much better than even the most lauded game in the series, Seiken Densetsu 3. There's no spell pauses, you can do light combos, and the charge system doesn't feel slow or clunky at all. You can jump and sit to recover MP. You can choose which stats to level up. It's got old school charm and feels like the first legit Mana sequel since SD3, since Legend was so different in design, and since its additions and revamps make it so different from its original incarnation.
Why is this game never talked about? I personally really like it so far. I just finished the "haunted manor" segment. As a pretty big fan of the classic Mana games, this is hitting all the right notes, and is pretty good looking for a GBA game, to boot.
As far as I know, this is a loose remake of Seiken Densetsu, the first one, updated to have the presentation of the later games in the series. And it sure feels like it! The art, world, and music all have that trademark Mana whimsy, and it plays as smoothly as any Mana/Seiken game does. In fact, the combat feels smoother due to being made much later than the others.
This game is never talked about, or even derided, it seems. But this is a legit Mana game through and through. The story, map design, combat and magic all feel much better than even the most lauded game in the series, Seiken Densetsu 3. There's no spell pauses, you can do light combos, and the charge system doesn't feel slow or clunky at all. You can jump and sit to recover MP. You can choose which stats to level up. It's got old school charm and feels like the first legit Mana sequel since SD3, since Legend was so different in design, and since its additions and revamps make it so different from its original incarnation.
Why is this game never talked about? I personally really like it so far. I just finished the "haunted manor" segment. As a pretty big fan of the classic Mana games, this is hitting all the right notes, and is pretty good looking for a GBA game, to boot.