Legend of Mana

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Legend of Mana

Developer(s)	Square Co., Ltd.
Publisher(s)	Square Co., Ltd.
Release date(s)	^JPN July 15, 1999 ^NA June 7, 2000
Genre(s)	Console role-playing game
Mode(s)	Single player, multiplayer
Rating(s)	ESRB: Teen
Platform(s)	PlayStation
Media	1x CD-ROM

Legend of Mana (聖剣伝説 LEGEND OF MANA, Seiken Densetsu LEGEND OF MANA^?) is the fourth game in the Seiken Densetsu series. While incorporating elements from the three games which preceded it, Legend of Mana has its own distinct style of gameplay. Most notably, it gives the player the ability to shape the game's world according to his or her desires, a system which was incorporated through the use of "artifacts", which are won as the player progresses through the game. The player uses the artifacts to create different towns, dungeons, etc., called "Lands", to venture to and explore. This creates a non-linear gameplay, since the game is driven by a series of what would be considered side-quests in other games. Legend of Mana features three different plots which occur simultaneously, and which do not necessarily need to be completed for the player to finish the game. Due to this fact the game is highly replayable; there are also different difficulty levels to make the playthrough more challenging.

While Legend of Mana is generally regarded as the fourth installment in the series, the next console-based Seiken Densetsu game is titled Seiken Densetsu 4. As such, Legend of Mana may be more accurately considered a side-story, or gaiden, to the series.

1 Gameplay
2 Plot branches
3 List of sidekicks
4 Screenshots
5 Manga
6 External links

[edit] Gameplay

[edit] World map and artifacts

Screenshot of the game

After the player chooses to play as either a male or female character and selects a starting weapon, the screen shifts to a world map, in which the player is asked to pick a square area as the game's play field. The selected area then becomes, for all purposes, the game's world. The game world is divided into a series of empty square plots of ground — from which there are 36 possible in total — and depending on the artifact which is placed on the plot, a different Land is generated on it. Each area placed on the map contains at least one side-quest within it, which upon completion rewards the player a new artifact, and so on. Due to the fact that there are limited squares to place areas on, and areas gain more powerful monsters and items the further away they are from the initial area, the starting square can have a large effect on gameplay itself.

Each Land has a certain level of strength in each Spirit of Mana on a points scale of zero (no presence) to three (strong presence). Should a land have two or three points in one particular Spirit, any adjacent land will receive one or two "bonus" points of that Spirit; this level of presence is important for a few quests and characters to appear.

[edit] Special Techniques

Referred to as "STs" in the games, these are the powerful attacks of the main characters and NPC sidekicks that can be used once the special move meter (displayed near the character's portrait at the top of the screen) is filled. Each weapon has a set number of special attacks to learn, ranging from single target to area and even the full field (there are a grand total of 178 techniques to learn collectively). At the beginning of the game, the Hero/Heroine starts out with one technique appropriate to the weapon the player selects as their starter. As the game goes on and battles are fought, the Hero/Heroine learns new attacks. Usually, the character can learn the simpler techniques from fighting a few battles. However, for the more advanced special techs, they need to fulfill certain requirements. These usually include using the extra support moves assigned to the triangle and circle buttons on the controller (such as Crouch and Spin) a certain number of times. One can also combine specific base support actions to use a new support move that the player has not yet learned (example, pressing the buttons for Crouch and Dash and the same time makes the character Slide, hence attempting to add Slide to their list). Special Techs are given attack stength readings starting from Minor to Extreme. The chart goes like this: Minor < Medium < Major < Extreme. Incidentally, each of the sidekicks (excluding Elle and Esmeralda) have a unique ST known only to them. There is no way for the Hero/Heroine to learn these moves.

Incidentally, certain techniques raise or lower one of your stats temporarily in battle. The only two negative examples are the Staff techniques, Paint It Black and Bubbles, which cause your Magic Defense to drop with each use. The final level technique with most of the weapons (such as Earthquake with the Gloves) usually boosts all your stats and can be repeatedly used to buff the Hero/Heroine in the same fight (a good strategy to use in the more difficult gameplay modes).

Additionally, once a ST is activated, the user cannot be interrupted or attacked until the move is finished and the character "cools down" from the action. Some techniques' graphics do not actually appear unless an enemy is being attacked by it. Other techniques' graphics occur regardless of a target being in range or not (usually the area effect or all-screen attacks).

[edit] Sidekicks

Legend of Mana offers the option for the player to have two sidekicks - characters which are controlled either by the game's AI or by another player using the second controller. These sidekicks serve the purpose of helping the main character while in battle, and also indirectly enhance the gaming experience if a human player takes control over the sidekick, as the game can become multiplayer to some degree. Sidekicks can be divided into two basic classes: NPCs and pets. The NPCs are usually one of the game's many characters, such as the Jumi Elazul and Pearl, or the elf twins who live in the main character's house. They may also be a hero loaded from another game file. Pets can be raised in-game or using the Sony PocketStation, a peripheral only released in Japan. Also notable are the golems, which cannot be controlled by a second player and which are built, rather than bred or found, as is the respective case with pets and non-player characters. After building the golem, the player gets access to its logic grid, which is a retangular grid designed along the lines of Tetris, or the Customization Program from the Megaman Battle Network series (which came later, but is very similar). By placing differently shaped color blocks on this grid, the golem acquires different skills and status levels. It is also possible to customise the golem's color and name.

[edit] Weapon tempering

While weapons may be bought from stores, the player also has the option of forging or improving them. The forged weapons are generated from raw materials, which may either be bought or found, and weapon improvement occurs when any of the game's items is combined with the weapon, cumulatively raising (or in certain cases lowering) its power. Armors and accessories may also be forged.

[edit] Elemental spirits

The eight Spirits of Mana— eight nature deities that balance the forces of the universe — are regulars in the Mana/Seiken Densetsu series. In Legend of Mana, however, they play a slightly different role. They still control the use of magic, though in this game spells are cast by playing certain musical instruments. However, they more prominently figure into the game's calendar and map placement functions. Like in Seiken Densetsu 3, the spirits — excluding Shade and Wisp — each represent a day on which the coordinating element becomes more powerful.

Also, placing locations in given places affects the spirit rating of that particular area. For example, placing a certain location next to a body of water makes that place's affiliation with Undine slightly higher. Each specific location also has its own internal charge of certain spirits, though the connections are not always logical. Domina, for example, has a particularly high Aura affiliation, but the actual town isn't all that rich.

Unlike in previous games, the eight spirits do not entirely work in four sets of opposing pairs; the only ones that do are Wisp and Shade, and Dryad and Aura respectively. Aura, the sprit of Gold, is what became of the moon spirit Luna. The character looks similar, but her affiliation was changed in order to better balance Dryad, the wood spirit. The other four spirits work in a complicated circle where one spirit is stronger than the one proceeding it, but weaker than the one before it.

[edit] Music

The game features music composed by Yoko Shimomura. It includes Song of Mana, sung by Swedish vocalist Annika Ljungberg.

[edit] Plot branches

Within the game there are three main plot branches. Each branch holds a series of related side-quests, which compose a part of Legend of Mana's story. Upon completion of any of these branches, the player is given the choice of finishing the game, even if quests from other branches have not yet been started or completed. There are 67 quests in total (Excluding the final quest).

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

[edit] Jumi Storyline

The story of the Jumi, a dying race of people who have external jewel hearts which are considered valuable. Jumis have apparently long been a persecuted people, as many magic characters in this game refer to them as "dirt" — a nasty comment on their jewel cores. This branch focuses on Elazul and Pearl, who are among the few survivors of the Jumi. Elazul is a Jumi Knight, and the mission of his life is to protect the Jumi Guardian Pearl at any cost, even in the face of the actions of the jewel collector Sandra.

As the hero adventures around the world, he meets other Jumis, like Emeralda and Rubens, both of whom die when Sandra pulls their heart stone from their body. Sandra seems determined to collect one thousand Jumi cores and feed them to a creature called the Lord of Jewels, who has the power to revive Florina, the Clarius Jumi of Flourite. In the end, the hero finds that Sandra is actually the same person as Alex — a gemist living in Geo — and Alexandra, the long-lost Lucidia Jumi Knight of Alexandrite. Alex/Sandra eventually sacrifices his/her core to the Lord of Jewels, whom the hero must fight in the Bejewelled City Etansel, the ancestral home of the Jumi. Ultimately, the Jumi are restored by the hero's tears of compassion, whom is turned to stone upon shedding tears for the sad fate of the race and thus revived by the legendary "Crystal Teardrops", the life force of the Jumi which can heal any anomaly or injury.

[edit] Dragon branch

The story of Larc and Sierra - brother and sister dragoons who serve different dragon masters and fight on opposite sides of the same war for power. Larc, who serves the dragon Drakonis, invites the game's protagonist to help him in his quest to kill the other three dragon masters, so that his own master may have his power unlocked and rule the world. Sierra, a dragoon for Vadise the White Dragon, wants to stop Drakonis without hurting Larc. In the end, Drakonis is defeated again, banished once more to the underworld.

[edit] Faerie branch

The complicated love story of four childhood friends: Matilda, Irwin, Daena and Escad. Irwin, a demon dissatisfied with the rules that society imposes on him which prevented him from being able to have a relationship with the holy leader Matilda, seeks to destroy the world in retribution, whilst Escad seeks to destroy him and Daena tries to act as a mediator between all parties. The conflict eventually escalates into a war between humans and faeries.

In the end, Irwin resurrects Lucemia, the Wyrm of Light, to destroy the human world. The hero and either Daena or Escad, depending on whom the main character sides with (the other one dies at their hands) walk the length of Lucemia's decayed body until they find Irwin and fight him. In the end, Matilda passes away the moment Irwin dies. In the underworld, Matilda regains her lost youth and becomes a new Wisdom. With Irwin gone, the faeries decide that war is a bad idea.

[edit] Optional branches

The remaining adventures concern the rest of the game's considerably large cast, including such stories as:

The adventures of the unscrupulous rabbit merchant Niccolo;
The melodrama of the troubadour centaur Gilbert who seeks love in mostly the wrong places;
The sisterhood of the two sirens and a mermaid: Elle, Monique and Flameshe (a story often in relation to Gilbert's);
Treasure hunting with boisterous pirate penguins and their walrus captain;
The escapades of Diddle and Capella, two itinerant entertainers.
The story of Rachel, an angsty teenager who resents her parents' treatment of her.
The studious journey of the young rascal Bud, who wishes to meet all of the "Seven Wisdoms".

[edit] The final chapter

Regardless of which path the hero decides to take, the game's final story is called "Legend of Mana." It concerns the re-appearance of the Mana Tree. As such, this story seems more fitting with the series than any other, as the Mana Tree is a central icon of the Seiken Densetsu games. Once the hero scales the Mana Tree, he or she must fight the Mana Goddess. The tree, quoting the game, is "rotten with evil." Nonetheless, a Sproutling, tiny plant creature, plants itself in the Mana Tree's rotten trunk after the Goddess falls. Calling upon the other Sproutlings, the Mana Tree is restored and what was wrong is righted. The player can then restart the game from the beginning (with any money, items, monsters, and player levels gained, but not NPC levels) with the option to make the enemies more difficult through the "Forbidden Tome".

[edit] List of sidekicks

Niccolo, a rotund cabbit merchant who enlists the hero character in various quests to gain more money. He believes he can bring happiness to customers through his transactions, but he can sometimes be unscrupulous in his dealings. Niccolo, whose name seems to be a reference to Neko, the merchant cat from Secret of Mana and Seiken Densetsu 3, fights with bare-fisted martial arts.
Daena, a catgirl soldier-in-training who protects her friend Matilda and lives in the holy cliff town of Gato. Daena loves Matilda like a sister and will not let anyone — even her former friends Escad and Irwin — put her in danger. She fights with a flail.
Escad is a valiant yet highly arrogant swordsman who was born into the Lioutte family of Holy Knights. He blames Irwin, a demon, for draining Matilda of her youth and vows to slay him. He and Daena frequently clash. In battle, he fights with a double-handed sword.
Elazul, a brash knight of the Jumi tribe — a people whose life energy comes from a gem embedded in their heart. Elazul is the lapis lazuli Jumi, and he is charged with protecting Pearl from such foes as the Jewel Eater and Sandra, the cold-hearted jewel thief. Elazul fights with a scimitar.
Pearl, also a Jumi, is an absent-minded woman who often becomes lost when she wanders away from Elazul, deep in thought. She is so kind that she does not fight — and frequently the hero character must protect her. However, she can help the hero out with healing.
Lady Blackpearl, in a sense, is Pearl's other self. She and Pearl are two halves of the same person. Blackpearl is a fierce and determined woman with a good plan to save the Jumi: that Pearl should take the place as the Jumi Clarius (the current Jumi with the power to cry and heal other Jumi). In effect, she's the force that balances Pearl's thoughtful emotion. Late in the game, Blackpearl becomes available as a partner. She fights with a hammer.
Bud is a young wizard who was expelled from the Magic Academy at Geo. An orphan, he has been surviving with his sister's protection. Bud requests that the hero accompany him on a quest to visit the six Wisdoms — a group of learned individuals whom Bud hopes can explain the ways of the world. Though he is more suited to casting spells, Bud fights with his mother's frying pan.
Lisa , Bud's older sister, is a bit more even-tempered. She also inherited her parents' skill at magic. In battle, she fights with her father's broom. In the Japanese version of the game, Lisa is called "Corona."
Larc is a dog-looking dragoon in service to Drakonis. Loyal to a fault, Larc followed Drakonis to the underworld, where he seeks revenge on other dragons. In battle, Larc fights with an axe.
Sierra is Larc's sister and a dragoon in service to the benevolent white dragon, Vadise. Though Sierra loves her brother, she is willing to fight him in order to stop the plans of his evil master. This canine fighter battles with a twin set of knives.
Elle, a beautiful siren who lives at the Birdcage Lighthouse, accidentally causes disaster whenever she sings. Still, she's agoraphobic but kind-hearted, so when the hero frees her from her cage — and the nasty plant beast Tropicallo, as well — Elle offers to join the quest. Though Elle does not fight physically, she's a powerful magic-user.
Esmeralda, the emerald Jumi, briefly accompanies the hero during a trip through the magic town Geo. Esmeralda needs to collect the jewels of her departed sisters. She succeeds, but not before Sandra snatches away her jewel - Esmeralda dies immediately. Esmeralda never engages in standard combat; no battles are fought in Geo while she's on the player's team and she refuses to leave Geo until her task is completed. The player however can force her to duel him in the battle arena below the city, in which she has no attacks, and is only about to use her "Crouch" ability.

Aside from these characters, the hero can also be accompanied by generic, minor monsters — the kind he or she would normally fight in their quest. Most of these have no set names and cannot speak. However, if the player meets certain conditions, the hero can meet demi-human monsters, who have names, personalities and are willing to join the quest. They only tend to appear if a particular Elemental Level in one land is at its maximum.

Tikkle is a Sahagin, a squat fish-like creature who attacks by throwing a forked javelin, found in Duma Desert. He lacks confidence and hopes adventuring will fix that.
Captain Dayang is a Mad Mallard, another popular enemy character in the series. Basically, he's a duck with a military personality and a knack for explosives.
Mambo is a Tomato Man, a strange tomato-headed imp-like creature who specializes in black magic and rides around in a magical floating pot.
Chitto the Chobin Hood looks like a pudgy humanoid rodent who wears a Robin Hood-like outfit and fights with a bow and arrow.
Guri is a Goblin, a squat demon who wields an axe and believes evil is his only way of life.
Elysia is a succubus, a race that in this game follows the dark Count Dovula. Elysia will join the party if the hero meets her in the Fieg Snowfields.
Fernando is a hulking Narcissos who joins in the Junkyard area; he joins because wishes to practice his martial arts.

[edit] Screenshots

Screenshot showing the player and Niccolo in the town of Domina

Screenshot of the player battling two Rabites

[edit] Manga

Shiro Amano, best known for his popular manga and novel adaptation of Kingdom Hearts and Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories, created a five volume manga adaptation of Legend of Mana. The main character in the story is named Toto, a very brave yet foolish hero who has a strange fetish with autographed pictures of Quistis Trepe of Final Fantasy VIII fame. Amano also included the female main character named Imu, though she was not involved in the first three volumes' story. The manga started in the year 2000 and ended in 2003.