Legend of Mana takes place in the land of Fa'Diel, where life is nonexistent across the land. Everything has been barren ever since the Mana Tree disappeared and it's up to you to recreate the land and restore the Tree. LoM's premise is simple and might be the game's only glaring problem. With no underlying plot, the mini-stories that unfold don't tie into one another. This makes it hard to get emotionally wrapped up in the game. That being the main draw of the genre, many may look at Legend of Mana as disappointing.

The game flows through a number of self-contained stories or missions. Much like Tomba 2, players pick up tasks to accomplish in each area they visit. When a goal is reached 'The End' is generated on the screen, and artifacts are gained or items won. Artifacts are used to create areas (more on that in a sec), which in turn makes more missions available. Many of these offer an interesting story and well-written characters, but fail to make an impact emotionally. Yet Legend of Mana's appeal lies not in twisting tales of betrayal or underweight youths, but in its gameplay, visuals, and music.

There's a lot to LoM's gameplay, the biggest being the Land Make system. This allows you to create Fa'Diel as you see fit. At first all that exists is your house but soon harbors, caves, towns, deserts, and other landscapes fill the map. First I thought this was more of a gimmick feature but soon realized how ingenious it was. When an artifact is used to create a new area, the land's mana rating changes to reflect the location. Reading mana ratings for dungeons and fields are important, as it affects the strengths/weaknesses of enemies. If the cave you want to explore is strong in Udine essence, take a weapon with Salamander's power. The consideration you must have when in the Land Make system is deeper than I thought. Everything from the effectiveness of armor, to the items sold at towns all rest on where you place artifacts.

After that, all of Mana's different ins and outs really open up. As the game progresses, your house becomes a bustling hub. From here, you raise monsters, build golems, create weapons, forge armor, harvest produce, and make instruments. Home is also host to a set of encyclopedias, detailing everything from characters to item descriptions. After some trial and error, you'll soon be able to handle everything the house has to offer. Weapon/armor creation will appear to be the most critical, while monster rearing the most trivial. Fact of the matter is though, that everything Legend of Mana offers is deep and involving. Take weapon creation for example; about anything can be used on your existing arsenal, or you can build a new one. The metal you use is very important, as are the items you add onto it. Some can boost a weapon's physical strength, while others add an elemental essence. Then there are some items that weaken your bludgeoning tool, or do nothing at all. The same thing is applicable to armor and instruments. In fact think of this as Vagrant Story Lite since many things in Mana are much easier to grasp, and similar to Square's other RPG. What really helps is that each new feature added to the game comes complete with a tutorial mission. Overall, it would take a good-sized novel to cover item creation in the game, so I'll leave it up to you to find how engrossing and enjoyable all these extras are.

The depth of the game doesn't end with making items or placing land though. LoM's battles are just as complex. As you explore and come in contact with enemies, the game switches to a melee mode. With the X button for light attacks and square for strong, different combos can be used against foes. Yet Square isn't satisfied with just that, as special techniques, abilities, and magic can be mapped to the other buttons on the PSX pad. Abilities are used much like the strong/weak attacks, and can be stringed into combos. Unleashing special techs requires the bar below your health to be full. These moves are much stronger than the rest of your repertoire and equally impressive. Magic is used via instruments - depending on the instruments you equip, different magic attacks are available. As the game progresses, your hero will gain more abilities, which in turn allow you more STs. Add to the mix two other characters - a pet and a NPC - and many altercations are brimming with action. This engrossing fighting system had me in joy due to the fact it's a far cry from the many menu-driven battles I'm used to. Fighting enemies is always interesting, even though it may seem like 'button mashing' to some.

Legend of Mana's graphics are nothing short of awe-inspiring. There will be those who go no further than the box art of this game, due to it being 2D, but I'm sure you're not one of them, right? ;) Anyway, the visual cornerstone lies within the backgrounds. Undeniably remarkable, backdrops are done in a watercolor style that has to be seen to be believed. SaGa Frontier 2 used the same style, but Mana really accelerates in the 2D art form. All of the architecture, instead of being rigid and realistic, is bending and almost lifelike. The richness of the colors and the attention to detail are so astonishing, I had to do a double take to confirm what I was seeing. And just to show Square loves you, little nods to other Seiken Densetsu games are apparent. For example, drop by the mansion in Geo and see if you can't point out a few familiar statues. The complexity of a background is good enough, but magnified when you notice bits and pieces of scenery move. Then there are the character sprites; not the best in the world, but animated well enough. Top all this off with some 3D 'special effects' for spells and STs for what is easily one of the best looking 2D games on the Playstation.

The music fares just as well as the graphics. Although it was a bit disappointing to hear music tracks recycled too often, the selections were good enough to keep the volume up. A saving grace I found was the fact that every town had its own anthem, so the music never wore thin on me. Heavy battle beats accompany many dungeons whilst dreamy melomies play through the forests and towns. Special mention goes to Mana's opening and ending tracks, as well as the title music. Easily some of the best game music I've heard since Final Fantasy Tactics. Sadly the sound effects didn't evoke as much ranting joy as the music did. Most sounded generic and forgettable, but I wasn't fazed.

So after all this banter, I don't know what else to say. Legend of Mana may not live up to or surpass the watermark that Square set for RPGs way back when, but it's close. Full of color and imagination, the only reasons you could have not to like this are the lack of plot or a bias against 2D. Take your pick.

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