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PS2
Seiken Densetsu 4
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NCS
Game Synopsis
«©NCSX»
Thirteen years after Seiken Densetsu 2 was
released on the Super Famicom, director Koichi
Ishii and creative staff craft the latest game in
full-fledged 3D. The story focuses on a hero named
Eldy who travels with a friend named Ritzia and
her pet Rabite who answers to "Pukku." At the
outset of the game, Pukku is bounding across the
forest and is eventually reunited with its
mistress who greets it with cheerful abandon. It
runs off again later on and Eldy chases after it.
Along the way, he picks up a wooden stick on the
ground and eventually encounters a group of easily
agitated Mushbooms. Smack them around with the
stick and each one is dispatched with three hits
each.
The game's first level is a "follow the Rabite" mission where the
little beast leads Eldy to different parts of the
forest in a seek and destroy mission. Pukku bounds
to areas where Mushbooms and birds dwell and
Eldy's job is to attack them and clear the
wilderness of their presence. Upon completion,
follow Pukku again to exit the level and proceed
further to new adventures. The game is broken up
into mission-based levels where objectives are
presented to the player and fulfillment is
contingent on meeting the tasks at hand.
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NCS
Game Notes
» A
nifty World of Mana animation appears immediately
after booting followed by a movie-like Square Enix
cinema which is voice-overed by an old dude. He
tells the history of the Mana series as the camera
swoops over a map and the important land masses
contained upon it with their names in script. A
land mass appears with eight fairy-like creatures
above it - afterwards in-game action sequences and
interaction are shown on a tilted window against a
backdrop of the Mana forest and the Mana Tree. The
windowed cut scenes are shown with full voice
action to give players a feel for the drama ahead.
After a while, the window disappears and we're
treated to a full view of the massive Mana tree.
Leave the controller alone and silhouettes of red
storks seemingly flap their wings in stilted
sequences.
» Leave the controller alone some more and the
game title screen eventually appears with START
and OPTIONS selections. Scrolling Japanese text
may be read below the two options.
» In the OPTIONS menu, the following may be viewed
and configured:
EMBLEMS........... [View 60 emblems that
have been collected - must be unlocked]
PETS COLLECTION... [View 196 pets in the
game - all must be unlocked]
RESULTS........... [View game play stats
for various difficulty levels]
MEDIA PLAYER...... [Sound disc BGM samples
and Cinema Film clips]
CONTROLLER........ [Set controller button
functions]
CAMERA............ [Toggle game camera
settings through multiple variables]
OTHER SETTINGS.... [Toggle Dual Shock
vibration, set sound volumes, Stereo]
» Upon starting a NEW GAME, players may opt for
the EASY or NORMAL mode. The camera opens up on a
lake where eight fairies and entities are flying
around on one corner. Someone speaks - the
firebrand Salamander who carries a spear addresses
a bearded Gnome with a jingle bell on his hat.
Other beings come into view including a Shade
which looks like a big eye with bat wings who
speaks with a thundering voice and a beautiful
Dryad girl with green plant hair chimes in. The
other creatures that make an appearance include
Undine, Jinn, Luna, and Wisp. The banter continues
while sparkly things drift from each being's body.
The creatures continue to chat (with full voice
acting) and then a full moon appears and a voice
over relays the tale of Mana which is accompanied
with full screen artwork panels. Next, the text
"Koichi Ishii presents" appears and movie-like
credits appear slowly upon an animation of a
yellow-bodied Rabite named Pukku that's hopping
along - it has floppy ears and a pink tail. A girl
named Ritzia is chasing the Rabite and she's
joined by a blonde guy named Eldy who stretches
and then races after the wee beastie. The
animation and credits continue with Eldy still
running until he reaches a point with wooden
barrels strewn around. At this point, control is
handed over to the player.
» CONTROLS
L-Analog.......... Movement
R-Analog.......... Camera swivel
X-Button.......... Jump. Press again for a double
jump
SQUARE........... Attack
TRIANGLE........ Throw out tether (usable once
equipped with tree-sword)
CIRCLE............ Shoot arrows (usable once
equipped with tree-sword)
L1.................... Block
L2 or R2.......... Activate targeting cursor
» After moving Eldy forward, the game pops up with
text about MONO and how the world of MANA features
objects that have weight and may be knocked around
to cause damage or other effects. The barrels may
be destroyed with six hits a piece and the
mushroom-like creatures known as Mushbooms are
destroyed with three whacks of Eldy's staff. After
dispatching the first group of Mushbooms, follow
Pukku to the next area to destroy some more Mushbooms and knock a big rock around. Continue
onto a field where pieces of fruit are lying about
and a cart holding fruit may be smacked downhill.
Birds with iridescent wingtips also appear in this
area that attack with projectile blasts. The goal
in this area is to follow Pukku around (the Rabite
appears as a yellow dot on the overhead map) and
it'll lead you to more enemies that appear as red
dots in the overhead map. Once they are destroyed,
wee beastie will lead you to even more enemies.
When Pukku runs around, a little music note appears
above its head. When it sees you destroying
enemies, a heart appears. After destroying all of
the enemies, follow Pukku to the end of the field
and you'll be ranked on your skills and a letter
grade is assigned for overall performance.
» In the next scene, Eldy is holding Pukku when Ritzia runs up to them and takes hold of the beast
which has 1 big tooth poking out of its mouth like
a rabbit. The two walk and talk until Ritzia
reaches a tree and puts her hand on it. Ritzia is
a priestess who has a special bond with nature. As
she stands there, butterflies flap above and
sparkly things rise up towards the trees. Amidst
the peaceful setting, a discordant rumbling is
heard in the distance and the two go to
investigate. As they hide behind a tree, they
watch an army of armored soldiers goose-stepping
through the forest while some soldiers loft a guy
in a carriage. A voice over which explains the
army's goal and what is happening in the world of
Mana. After this point, the player is prompted to
save progress to memory card.
» Afterwards, another cinema plays which focuses
on a ruins of some sort where Eldy and Ritzia are
outside. Guide him in and the wind may be heard
echoing through the stone hallway that they just
entered and a hum may be heard in the background.
Once you reach a clearing, strike at the floating
arrow and the floor will collapse which leading to
an underground passageway. Later in the level,
acorns may be smacked to trigger their explosive
effects. Different colored acorns have different
destructive results. To open the door at the end
of the clearing, step on the pedestal and as it
slowly descends, the door will be triggered open.
» A save point later in the second area is
indicated by a gnarled tree limb that rises from
the ground and is lit with green light and sparkly
things that glisten upon it. After going through a
door, the two adventurers happen upon an altar
where a stone slab etched with an imprint of the
tree of Mana is shown with three torches arrayed
in front of it. One of the torches is positioned
directly in front of it which is bad feng shui but
maybe Square knows better. Something shines
brightly and the two shield their eyes until Eldy
invesigates and finds something on the ground. He
pulls it up and looks at the item which appears to
be a shell or seed of some sort. He holds it in
his hand and panics when the object grasps his arm
and green tendrils and light burst forth from it.
Eldy screams and the camera shifts away. When we
next see Eldy, his right arm is covered with
coiling tree branches that go from his shoulder to
his wrist. It looks a fright but Eldy turns his
arm to and fro to check it out and seems to admire
it.
» After the cinema sequence, the player is granted
control once again and the Eldy's green-arm is now
a powerful weapon. In addition to the new
concussive force, Eldy can also shoot arrows and
ride on his arm like a snowboard. Eldy and Ritzia
eventually wander into an area where they're
circled by glowing orbs. The cower but eventually
one of the creatures from earlier greets them -
the bearded gnome. Eldy and Ritzia also find a
cute little fairy named Faye who wakes up, yawns
and stretches. Faye wears gossamer clothing and
has a little green clover on her hair. She also
trails a little sash behind her and flies around
like Tinkerbell where pixie dust drops all over
the place. The heroes talk to her and she responds
in kind. Faye speaks with a squeaky voice and she
later gives a flower to the Ritzia who responds
with "Arigato."
» Control is handed over to the player again and
the fairy Faye is now a familiar that flies close
to the hero. Go through the rest of the area and
you'll eventually meet all of the fairies and
elementals from the introduction of the game and
they introduce themselves to your new fairy
friend. There's a sort of mid-level boss in the
area that's imposing but he's easily defeated as
long as you trigger the power of the bombastic
acorns against him.
» After climbing some stairs, the party of three
walk into a blue-tinged cavern where Eldy yells
out for anyone who might be waiting for them.
Ritzia yells at Eldy and a gruff sounding voice
speaks out. A red thorny crustacean drops down
with a thud and charges at Eldy. It looks like an
enormous spiny crab and it haunches up on its legs
to look at Ritzia who has sought higher space to
avoid the creature. Eldy is angry and unleashes
the power of his arm. A lenghthy battle commences
where Eldy and the crab face off. The best tactic
for defeating the crab is hit and run. Smack it a
few times and then vamoose to avoid its powerful
spin attacks and running charges where it barrels
into Eldy's general location. The crab also has a
move where it leaps up and then lands upside down
in an attempt to gore Eldy with its spiny needles.
The crab will also bury itself into the ground
often and then rise up elsewhere. It occasionally
burrows directly below Eldy to knock him out. Once
defeated, the crab falters to the ground and
speaks with its gruff voice before spinning
upwards and landing down. With the level over,
you're ranked on your performance.
» In the next scene, the crab speaks again and
dies soon afterwards. Eldy's arm spins with the
tree sword and he falls to the ground exhausted.
Ritzia runs up to check on him and the crab may be
seen in the distance with its eyes are dark and
dead. The two talk and Ritzia approaches a tree
and some energy appears from her hands. An
explosion ensures and Ritzia is knocked
unconscious. As Eldy is tending to her, the
armored knights from earlier appear behind them
and one of the soldiers pushes a sword on Eldy.
After this point, an automatic save prompt pops
up.
» The game runs and flows smoothly but the camera
can get in the way of the action at times - it
sometimes can't keep up with the flow of Eldy's
movements. If Eldy falls into a crevice or get
knocked into a wall, the camera gets all
disjointed and you'll see black space.
» Pots of honey that are banded like bees will
recover all your HP and MP if grabbed.
» Save points are plentiful and may be found in
each subsequent area.
» Seiken Densetsu 4 is a visually beautiful game
that is otherwise a fairly routine
action-adventure. The MONO system adds physics and
physical attributes to objects in the Mana world
for an interesting way to interact with objects
since Eldy can tether items or enemies and then
swing them around. Ritzia doesn't do much at the
outset but she's integral to the adventure later
on.
» The voice actors for the characters in the game
are as follows:
Eldy................... [ Tetsuya Kakihara ]
Ritzia................. [ Jun Sagawa ]
Stroud............... [ Takashi Kondo ]
Lekius............... [ Hiroki Ishihara ]
Faye................. [ Yurika Ochiai ]
Masked Guru.... [Toru Ohkawa ]
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From the publisher
Dawn of Mana, the first true Mana sequel in a
decade, reveals the origins of the legend behind the
Mana Tree and the Sword of Mana.
A 3D World
Breaking the series' 2D mold, Dawn of Mana brings
the world of Mana to three-dimensional life while
preserving the atmosphere that fans have come to
know and love. See for yourself how vividly
characters and monsters move about these new yet
familiar surroundings.
An Action-Adventure
This installment in the Mana series is a true
action-adventure, with sweeping plains and mountains
stretching as far as the eye can see. It's a world
ripe for adventure!
A World of Sensation
"Touch" is the theme of Dawn of Mana's world. You
can virtually feel realistically rendered, lifelike
objects.
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This document is ©NCSX 2006. All rights
reserved. No reproduction in whole or in part of
this document may be made without express written
consent of National Console Support, Inc. |
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