My first Mana game ended up being a lot more fun than I expected. The gameplay was so much fun, luckily hard mode wasn't extremely annoying like most are. My party consisted of Kevin, Riesz, and Hawkeye. At first, I wasn't sure if I would enjoy playing them but as they got more and more abilities and stat upgrades they become more fun. Though I did use Kevin the most.

The story isn't really much to write home about, so I won't bother. But I definitely enjoyed Kevin's side for than the others. Probably because I get to see more of the deep turmoil with him, his father, and Goremand. Kinda wish they allowed you to do the same with your party members but I guess they have to be my MC for that to be possible. But I just felt so blue balled after seeing Riesz's and Hawkeye's dialogue with Belladonna just for it to end on a nothing note.

The OST is great but isn't one I'd listen to a bunch. The voice acting is awful, straight up. I still found the dialogue to be endearing but not as enjoyable to listen to like Kingdom Hearts or Star Ocean. The lock on system is also trash like geez it's bad, honestly better to never use it.

Either way, I'm all on for the Mana series. I'll most likely play the first one next to see how the series was originally.

As mixed a bag as bags can get, both when considering the original and judging it as it’s own game. Its 2D roots are masked brilliantly with a decent 3D base, with bright colours and fantastic art updates to the original characters, plus a decent remake of the original music. The new combat is alright, with a new degree of interactivity thanks to the jumping mechanic.

My biggest stickler is the story and design through. The game has six characters, of which you pick three as your permanent party, and the stories intertwine as you progress, with the primary character dictating which of three overarching narratives you play. This creates a sterile atmosphere in the party since there’s only three pairs that bounce off each other competently. The voice acting isn’t particularly good either and this makes the whole thing fall flat. The game also gets very grindy near the Mana Stone segments, forcing players to grind for hours to level up their characters in order to switch classes.