Taking flexibility to a whole new level, Legend of Mana, sequel to the famed Secret of Mana, brings to the 
PlayStation the most innovative RPG ever. Featuring a non-linear, event driven story line, Legend of Mana 
lets the player create the story by taking on nearly seventy different scenarios triggered by actions performed 
in the game. 

As the story progresses, new locations in the form of artifacts are uncovered, giving players the ability to 
layout the world as they see fit. With a massive world to build, Legend of Mana plays out in a beautiful 
storybook-like backdrop, with whimsical backgrounds set in a 2D environment that will dazzle players with 
unsurpassed graphics and revolutionary gameplay. 

Raise your hands if the buttons on your pants busted when you found out that Square was doing Legend of 
Mana (another Seiken Densetsu title). Hey, we won't lie, we blew up, and although we haven't progressed 
too far into the game, we thought we'd just give you a heads up on what you can expect to see in Square's 
Legend of Mana.
Again, we haven't gotten too far into the game, but here's how the game starts out. You can choose between 
two characters, either a male or female munchkin, to begin your adventure. Once you pick your character, 
and both possess entirely different scenarios, you can then choose his/hers' weapon specialty (axes, swords, 
daggers, nunchaku, spears, etc.) and then start your quest.

Before I even begin on the graphics, the first thing that stands out right when you start is the sound. My 
goodness. The game's music alone is so epic -- it totally fits with the game's look. Having said that, the 
graphics, looking similar to SaGa Frontier II, consist of hand-drawn backgrounds. In fact, some of the 
backgrounds have interactive hot-points, meaning, that when you think you're walking past a tree, well, 
that bad-boy comes to life and you can chat with him -- and that's just one example. It's like, remember 
in that movie, The Never Ending Story, when that kid was talking to that huge wall rocks for the longest time, 
and then Rock-Biter appeared? ...never mind. To add, the character sprites are beautifully animated and make 
a nice fit on top of these lovely backgrounds.

Now here's where the game gets really interesting. Legend of Mana features a ""Landmake"" system and 
here's how it works. Tying in with the eight elements from the first run, you basically build the Legend of Mana 
world from scratch. Through your quests, you'll discover artifacts, which you can be combined with elements, 
and allows you to build new locations and add them to your vast and ever-growing world.

The battle system is somewhat similar to the previous Mana adventures, with weapons having their own charge 
attack, and the battles being in real-time with a few turn based features. But the in-battle effects, wow. If you've 
played Final Fantasy Tactics, the spell and weapons effects share some similarity. They all have that weird and 
wild filtered lighting effect, crossed with flashing glitters of joy and stuff... do you get what I'm saying. If not, rent 
FFTactics, you'll know what I mean. It's really late, gimme a break will ya?!.

This is the best looking Seiken Densetsu game to date, and although US gamers will have to wait almost an 
entire year for the english version, it's still good to see that Square Electronic Arts didn't overlook such a beautiful 
title.