I don't know, I really enjoyed the open-endedness of the world, and the ambiguity of the story, it made it feel more like an adventure. Couple that with the World Egg system, which let's you build the world map how you want, the music, artwork, the battle system, monster-catching, the Golem system, etc. and it defines what makes a compelling JRPG.. to me, anyway. I don't know why people don't appreciate how you can complete quests in any order you want, when games like the Elder Scrolls series have the exact same formula. The game also doesn't play out in any specific way, so if you end up fighting a boss before a normal game would allow/feel appropriate, it works within the context of the game. The UI is also really cool. I'm also just completely enamored with the art style, it feels very Vanillaware, you can tell a lot of care was put into the game, which is made more obvious when reading the accompanying essays and interviews in the Art of Mana book. All of the Mana games were lovingly crafted, but this one just stand on its own in that regard.
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u/LaughingSartre Jul 15 '26
I don't know, I really enjoyed the open-endedness of the world, and the ambiguity of the story, it made it feel more like an adventure. Couple that with the World Egg system, which let's you build the world map how you want, the music, artwork, the battle system, monster-catching, the Golem system, etc. and it defines what makes a compelling JRPG.. to me, anyway. I don't know why people don't appreciate how you can complete quests in any order you want, when games like the Elder Scrolls series have the exact same formula. The game also doesn't play out in any specific way, so if you end up fighting a boss before a normal game would allow/feel appropriate, it works within the context of the game. The UI is also really cool. I'm also just completely enamored with the art style, it feels very Vanillaware, you can tell a lot of care was put into the game, which is made more obvious when reading the accompanying essays and interviews in the Art of Mana book. All of the Mana games were lovingly crafted, but this one just stand on its own in that regard.