Genre: Action/RPG
Publisher: Nintendo
Developer: Square Enix
Release Date: December 1, 2003

Buy 'SWORD OF MANA': Game Boy Advance

Sword of Mana is the newest Square Enix Gameboy Advance title. It actually is a reworking of the Final Fantasy Adventures title for the original Gameboy. Do not be mistaken, this earlier title is not a Final Fantasy title, it is actually from the Seiken Densetsu series. Nintendo decided with Square Soft to bring this earlier title under the Final Fantasy series due to that series' popularity.

Sword of Mana is based in the Granz Realm, a duchy run by the ominously named Dark Lord. One of two characters, the Hero or the Heroine, is the center of game play. Either gives a slightly different perspective on game play and story. The Hero, a fighter-type character, is an escaped gladiator. He is strong in melee combat. The Heroine, a mage-type character, is an outlaw hiding from the Granz Realm because she is the heir to the Mana Clan, a group of people that specialize in the use of Mana Magic. She is strong in long-range magical combat. I played both characters, but favored the Heroine. No matter whom the player plays, the player has to learn magic in at least some minor capability. I found that it is easier to play the Heroine. Magic is very useful and since the player is usually paired up with either the Hero or some other powerful fighter, it is easy to just switch to that character when needs be.

The plot is involved and has quite a bit of Machiavellian maneuvering among the main characters in the game. I found the plot enjoyable, but not very unique. It centers on the persecution of the Mana Clan. The characters are semi-believable, and their reasons for the stances they take are realistic. It does have some pretty long cut scenes for the Gameboy Advance, which I believe is not the best idea; especially since the player has to hit the A button a lot in these scenes. Thankfully, they are mercifully sparse and separated.

Game play is a little awkward at first if the player is not familiar with the ring menu system from the SNES Secret of Mana Title. After 15 minutes, I found that it is intuitive and I became very quick at selecting different weapons. This is good because the player will have to change weapons a lot. Certain monsters are invulnerable to one or more types of damage. Items are several levels deep, but the game does pause when the ring menu is up. I actually used the ring system as a pause button. The game has a learning curve, but not a big one.

The NPC AI is not the best. The player often finds that part of the background has caught the NPC, or the NPC is hacking on a creature that is immune to the character's damage type. There is some control on spacing from the main character and tactics, but I usually kept the fighter I was with really close to the Heroine and set on melee. If push came to shove, the player can hit select to switch to the alternative character, which is nice. NPC shepherding can be annoying. I only used the alternative character when I needed something that could hack through a mass of creatures. The focus on my main character allowed for quick leveling of that character.

There is a notebook in the game. It keeps track of where the player has been (on a map), what monsters the player has fought, things the player has learned, and friends the player has linked to. I did not like the map at all. I found it confusing and hard to determine how to get from one place to another. I wandered around a lot until I got a feel for where things were. It is a good reference at times, but I mostly ignored it.

Some of the game hooks are nice. A house, called the 'Hot House', shows up in the middle of the game that the player can 'summon' by planting a special seed in plant pots through out the game, ilooks like a giant cactus. In this house, the player has the ability to grow some plants in the 'Orchard', forge or temper weapons in the Forge, or read what the 'Li'l Cactus', a small, artistic cactus, will make of the player's comings and goings. The Orchard helps to get the items needed for forging and tempering weapons, which give status boosts to the player's weapons.

The Sword of Mana, like many Gameboy Advance titles, allows for linking between two Gameboy Advances. This allows for saving 'Amigos' profiles. The upshot of this is that the player can use the 'Amigos Whistle' once per game day. All your Amigos come out and beat on your enemy.

Combat is straightforward. If the player walk up to something with a weapon that does damage, it (or the player) will eventually die. Where Sword of Mana really shines is in the magic. The weapon equipped controls the way the spell executes. My personal favorite is the staff. It, even though it is the starting weapon, fires of a bolt of energy that guides itself towards the closest monster. These are not spells, per say, but spirits. The Heroine starts with Wisp, a light spirit. By clicking the right button, Wisp heals the character. If the right button is held until Wisp shows up, the effect causes Light damage and may cause a charm effect on the target of the spell. Several more spirits show up throughout the game. The Ring Menu handles the switching between spirits, as it does everything else.

Experience points and skill advancement are the method of the title's character advancement. Leveling allows the player to choose what class that the main character advances. Skill advancement happens as the player uses certain weapons or spirits enough to make them better at it.

The title has a day and night cycle. Certain monsters come out only at night, while others are asleep. This can allow for a stealth type game. I never took advantage of this feature. I found it easier just to run past any opponent I could not kill. The screens are small enough to allow this. In addition, there is a day of the week system. The main upshot of this system is that certain spirits are more powerful on certain days.

NPCs hand out the quests in the game. There is nothing new in that. There are side quests, mostly fetch and deliver type. There is not too many of them and they are not overly complex.

The graphics are first rate for most of the sprites. I could not expect better for the Gameboy Advance. I found most of the characters and monsters cute, but a few of the sprites needed work, in my opinion. The backgrounds were usually good, but there were parts, usually those darn caves, where foreground elements covered up the sprites. This became annoying at times, but is sufferable.

The music is good for the GBA. Square Enix knows how to make a Gameboy Advance game, so I am not surprised it fit the fantasy element well.

The major issue I had was the fact that there is no ability to save right on the spot. The player has to find one of the two types of Mana Goddess Statues to pray at to save. The title has statues throughout it, but I did find myself having to replay sections because I had to stop playing due to some outside factor (I.E. My boss was coming) and was not able to save at that moment. This really is annoying for me, being one of my major pet peeves with most Gameboy Advance games that do not allow immediate saves. I play Gameboy Advance games during the breaks I can find in the day. It gives my game play style a feel like a hamster with ADD. Having to trudge around to find some statue just to save where I am gets very old quick. The only mitigating factor is that some of the statutes (the gold ones) also restore the player health and mana.

Sword of Mana is a fine game. I have enjoyed my time playing the title. The plot is enjoyable. The twists in the plot are very surprising. The graphics are nice. The problem with foreground elements does not show up much. The inability to save at will is the only real weakness in this title. It is one of the few immersive Gameboy Advanced titles out there.

Score : 8.4/10