ORIGIN STORY of Mana - Dawn of Mana Retrospective

[@littleboatvids]

This is exactly the video this game needed. I've never managed to finish it, despite playing it on release. I love it for its experimentation (the series has always been experimental), but it came from a time when 3D cameras and environments needed a lot more experimentation.

[@DreadandSolace]

this is like a full fantasy book! the story is wild, thank you for breaking it down in a easy to understand way

[@DreadandSolace]

also re: your first dread point... this is where I applaud Twilight Princess in its slow start, because it makes you care about where you came from and those characters. this game could have used that a bit

[@SolaceAndDread]

I appreciate the compliment but not even walking someone step by step through this story makes it easy to follow

[@danielramsey6141]

Yeah! I can see how Dawn leads into Sword of Mana, and then Secret of Mana as all three have this sense of Continuity between them! So I now can see why Visions of Mana’s takes this Continuity and further expands upon it! The Pilgrimage that starts, the Demo of the MC’s Friend telling us about the Story of the Maiden and The Mana Sword along with the man that wields it. And how it all has been turned into a kind of Generational Ritual. I’ve played these games. I still need to play Trials! But there alot of Connections here.

[@poyopotpie]

The potential of what this game could have been has always been on my mind. I didn’t think about the release windows of the other games as a possible hindrance. One thing that is interesting though, is how Kingdom Hearts was originally gonna be a new Mana game. With this knowledge it’s interesting to see the multiple similarities in both games. And another big hindrance was how Koichi Ishii got so blown away by the physics engine in one of the Half-Life games that he wanted to do something with it: hence the whip mechanic was born for this game.

[@SolaceAndDread]

Yeah, I failed to deliver on the obvious close feel of kingdom hearts in this game, because in the very beginning of the game it feels identical in your hands. It quickly devolves into something else, but still, lol. Thanks for watching btw. I still think this is my favorite Mana game, even if the others are better. It could be the feeling of finding something everyone else hated and taking it for my own... but I really think it's knowing this game could have been best in class.

[@poyopotpie]

@@SolaceAndDread well I see the appeal in that they tried several things that were good ideas. It really did bring so much of the series to life when it did things right. Given the series has always handled its lore and “repeated” some characters similarly to a blend of Zelda and FF, I REALLY appreciated how those aspects were in this game: Dark Lord/Stroud, Granz, Anise/Medusa, Thanatos & Mavolia, Watts, etc. And then cool new additions like Lekius and was the first real take on the relationship between “the Mana clan warrior” & “the Maiden” given the first game was a simple Game Boy story. And even further how Granz and Anise’s tragic story mirrored Keldrick and Ritzia was just a nice touch. Plus amazing reworks of some Mana songs and some amazing new ones like “Burning Spirits”. And while it didn’t feel as polished as KH, it was also during the PS2 era where many games were still experimenting with optimal controls, button layout, etc.

[@KorenLesthe]

I started Visions of Mana today and Stroud looks a lot like a character we see in the opening credits animation :o

[@SolaceAndDread]

Stroud/Keldric being related to one of them would make my head melt lmao

[@MoosieSingh]

Thanks for covering this! Even as much as I loved other mana games, from my fuzzy memory of buying this originally, I think I only played the first level... Once I i realized that your level resets each time I think I put it down and just never picked it back up. Been getting back into the mana games since the Trials remake released, playing some Legend of Mana this week while waiting on Visions. :)

[@SolaceAndDread]

Yeah, the leveling thing can be very deflating. I have visions now and I'm gonna pump it straight into my bloodstream

[@MoosieSingh]

@@SolaceAndDread I'm going to get into it tomorrow after I'm done with work!! So hyped. :D

[@OurHeroXero]

Rawr

[@SolaceAndDread]

Well said

[@danielramsey6141]

41:21 I’m sorry. But I DO NOT AGREE WITH THIS GAMEPLAY LOOP! It doesn’t Just sound like Busy-Work! It Also Sounds like Pullung Teeth?! Cause this can be really be Bad when you Die! Having to RESET after getting your Ass Destroyed by a JANK Enemy or a Hard Boss really SUCKS!!! So As neat as the story is. This Level Up Mechanic is a BAD IDEA even if it’s short!

[@michaeldeleon6673]

I think it's mean to just make it more difficult on purpose. You're meant to use resources smart and use the mechanics of the game to your advantage. I dunno, just weird how I as a child was able to damn near 100% this game with little issue other than losing memory cards when it was so hated.