Dawn of Mana (PS2)

Welcome back, and let's begin with today's review of Dawn of Mana :D

Story: It all began when the elementals started telling each other the story of the world and the mana tree, though they had lived through it already. They tell of the boy who possessed the mana sword and the girl who became the mana goddess. You take on the role of Keldric, or as he's annoyingly known as, Keldy. Yes, he is the boy with the mana sword. He and his friend Ritzia wander the forest when their village is attacked. Deciding to go find the sacred beast that protects the petrified mana tree, they wander into a dungeon. Stuff happens, Kelpy fights monsters. They find a weird seed that attaches itself to Kelpy and turns into a sword. They fight a monster that is not the sacred beast, and Ritzia is taken prisoner by the invading force. So Keldy goes on a journey to save his little friend. Of course you are aided by a magical fairy who will cast spells for you when you need them. The story has some interesting aspects, and there's certain appeal to the background of the mana series. 4/5

Audio: The voice acting isn't bad, but I found the accents for all the mana spirits a bit unnecessary. Apparently the mana spirits all emmigrated from Europe. The music is also nice. Nothing outstanding, but soothingly beautiful. 3/5

Graphics: The graphics are 3d and manage to look good. The characters are well detailed as is the interactive world. Almost everything on the map can be messed with in some way (usually destroying or throwing) and the graphics seem to have accurate physics on it all. 4/5

Gameplay: And this is where it all comes crumbling down. As I mentioned the world is interactive, and you're expected to make use of it all. Use your somewhat awkward to control whip to grab objects and throw them at monsters. Push logs down hills, though they seem to turn before hitting the monsters more often than not. Besides your sword turning into a whip, you can shoot seeds from your hand, and when you meet some of the mana spirits, they'll give you more seed types to help hurt monsters. Finally you can fight with the sword, which is really just spamming the attack button. Each dungeon is laid out like a stage, so your accomplishments in each don't really carry over. You're expected to panic monsters but hurting them with the environment. This way you get medal drops that restore hp/mp or increase stats. The camera is awkward and it's hard to get good views sometimes. After each dungeon you're rated. To get prizes you must do really well on the stages. I found the whip horrible to control, and the panic mechanism annoying. It was almsot always easier to just attack than to try and send rocks at the enemies. 2/5

Replay: No thanks. Awkwardly making my through the first time was enough. 2/5

Overall: The plot of the game is somewhat interesting, at least the parts where the mana spirits are talking. Keldy isn't interesting and neither is Ritzia. The music is decent as is the voice acting (again...foreign spirits). The visuals aren't necessarily impressive but definitely appealing. But as said before, the gameplay kills it. If you like it, more power to you, but I wouldn't recommend it. 2/5