ARG Stupid symbol errors!
{To those who actually read this, which game should I grade next, Wild ARMS 4 or Kingdom Hearts (1 not 2)}
Magna Carta: Crimson Stigmata game Review
Story & Playability
Magna Carta: Tears of Blood Review
Magna Carta: Tears of Blood is the prodigy game made by Hyung-Tae Kim and Softmax, that was originally release in 1999 (or at least I think so) in Korea on the PC and then later in Japan on the PC and the PS2. It took a couple of years before the jolly ships of ATLUS brought over and translated the game to entice the RPG Anime American audience.
Note that this game is NOT about the English Document....
Story:
The story of Magna Carta: Tears of blood, is about a place called Efferia, a land inhabited by two races, one being the humans and one being the Yasons (a humanlike race that not human ^-^). Without giving too much away, the humans hate the Yason and vice versa so they're having a war with each other. The story mainly focuses on a group of human mercenaries called coincidently enough "The Tears of Blood", who in return vowed revenge against the Yason for various reasons. The captain of the "Tears of Blood" is the swordsman named Calintz. His reason for being in the "Tears of Blood" is revenge (obviously) for his village, called Fuget, that got raided by a band of Yason soldiers known as The Blast Worms (...yea creative name). So one day out on a mission Calintz and the other members of the "Tears of Blood" engaged one of the leaders of The Blast Worms and Calintz ends up sacrificing himself and brings down the leader of The Blast Worms "pet", but in return falls into a deep cavern. Upon awakening he finds this girl (with big boobs) who apparently has no memory, all she remembers is her name...Reith... For purposes of not spoiling I shall not continue, and the storyline is a bit too complicated to expand any further.
There are only two things that work for the game of Magna Carta: Tears of Blood, the first is the story. The story itself is really interesting especially in the middle to later parts of the game. Having a simple but profound theme of "Love versus Revenge," this type of theme works really well with the cast of characters that in this story. The characters themselves are pretty much well placed within the story, each person, whether human or Yason has their own personal dilemma and challenges that they have to face. The character development in this game is actually well done if you ignore the robot toned voices and the simple dialogue. Each character has their own distinct personality and style, which shows in reaction to Calintz or Reith's doing. But over the long run in the game, all these characters are shaped and molded and show gradual change throughout the story.
This story also does a great job in hitting people hard with certain subjects especially betrayal, love and of course death. There are many twists and turns in this story as well, which in some places will make you say "WTF!" or make you say "OOOOHH!" This adds a lot of character to the story as well as shows great character development throughout the story of Reith and Calintz. (For me "WTF!" is mostly used)
But while the story may be good, the story at the first half of the game is really....really....really slow. Throughout the first half of the game, you're just doing missions, or helping people, or killing The Blast Worms, but no-one of the things you do in the first half helps develops the main story along, with exceptions of some cut-scenes here and there. But in the second half of the game, that when the story kicks into high gear. The game sends twist after twist into the story, while also naming some issues that are questioned here in this day and age.
The problem with having a storyline as complex and in depth as the in MC is that it force's the game to become very linear, almost like Grandia III from my last review.
But as what I said before, there are only two things working for Magna Carta and the story is definitely one of them. With a strong cast of characters with a wide range of personalities and styles, the later half of the game is rather enjoyable when it comes to the story (with exception of the ending GRRRRR). But the first half of Magna Carta is very slow, and to me rather pointless, other than to level your characters. The story is also way too linear for it's own good, with little room for side tracking and wandering it kind of forces the player to take routes and not expand the players horizons.
Mavericks Rating 1-10 (10 being the best)
7
Grade: C
Rating:
Graphics
Graphics:
The second thing that goes well for Magna Carta is the beautiful looking pictures that come with it. The graphics of Magna Carta is a nice looking package of good character designs and lush looking environments, which leave a pretty lasting impression on the players.
Hyung-Tae Kim really did a great job on the character designs for this game by making characters that match perfectly through his or her personality whether it may be through what they dress to the color of the clothes they wear. (What I also like about the character designs is that all the girls have BIG BOOBS.....^-^) The animations (attack movements, spells, etc.) of the characters are kind of a mixed bag, while most of the animations may look good on screen, there are only a few of them, and you see them again and again and in the same order as well, thus making the battles seem boring to watch in the later part of the game.
The environments of the game look really good as well. Highly detailed and well colored these environments usually follow the mood of the story creating a nice looking backdrop for the situation, as well as leaving a lasting impression on the player. But even though these environments are pretty they're really linear often at times forcing the player to take certain paths and junctions even though they want to go on a different course and expand their experience in Efferia.
Another great feature about this game is it's smoothness throughout. There are hardly any times when the game slows down due to graphics lag. Even when strong attacks with pretty pictures come into play, the animations are smooth and crystal clear. This is a big plus for any game that's on the weak PS2.
But while the graphics make look pretty, they're not very sharp. Compared to the Final Fantasy Series or even Grandia III, the game looks a bit blurred, often having the case of the jaggies. To the players playing on a small TV screen, these jagged edges are hardly noticeable. The color as well has some blurred issues as well, making a wash like affect on screen.
But other than these jagged issues, washed out colors and blah lightening affects, the graphics are really impressive especially if you considered that this game was made in 1999. Beautiful character designs and great but few animations display great personality and life to each specific character. The environments, although linear, have great designs with a great use of color, which sets the mood for most of the situations in the story. And with the help of the crystal smoothness, the graphics and art is definitely the trump card of this game.
Mavericks Rating 1-10 (10 being the best)
8 (originally 7 but because of big boobs + 1)
Grade: B
Rating:
Sound
Sound:
While the graphics and the story of Magna Carta are the plus sides, the sound is definitely the BIG minus. The music of Magna Carta is definitely a mixed bag. The music is well orchestrated and does a nice job in setting the mood for the story to follow. This works especially well in the environment themes, creating a nice atmosphere in most of the town sections, and a dark dreary feeling in some of the dark caverns. The battle theme is very catchy and often makes the player pumped up every time he/she is about to go into battle.
The main problem with the music is that it's repetitive, very repetitive. You'll probably listen to that battle them about a gazillion times by the time the game finishes, and most of the environment themes are recycled from some of the past scenes. Even in most of the boss battles, the same theme is used for every boss battle, making it seem as though you were fighting a past opponent.
Another big problem with the music is the HORRIBLE and I mean HORRIBLE opening song, which is a slow pop type of gig that just kills the entire mood of the game. Every time I started up the Magna Carta DVD I just start jamming on the start button to get past the dreadfulness of that opening song.
Probably the WORST feature about this game is the tremendously, horrific, dreadful, crappy voice acting that comes with it. All the characters in the story sound one dimensional almost to the point where they're almost like robots. No feeling and emotion is put into the voice acting of this game. To most people the main character, Calintz, sounds like the actor Matthew Broderick, who stared in the box office disaster, Godzilla, as well as The Producers, in which he just BUTCHERED his role. Probably the character with the best voice is Maya...it's probably because she can't talk!
The bottom line is that the game doesn't sound as good as it looks. The music maybe well orchestrate and may sound ok at first, but after listening to the same theme for about the one-hundredth thousand time the music, especially the battle theme, make every match a mute heaven. The slow pop song in the beginning of the game is a disaster, and the voice acting is probably on the top 10 WORST acting jobs I had ever listened to.
Mavericks Rating 1-10 (10 being the best)
4
Grade: F
Rating:
Fun
Gameplay and Fun Factor
The battle system of Magna Carta is known as the Trinity System, which is different than your typical normal RPG system. The entire battle field is a free roaming battle field, meaning to say that you can control your characters individually moving them to your desired location. You entire team has a stamina bar of sorts which has indicators to tell when you could approach your opponent and attack. When you get into range to unleash your attack the a circle the Trinity Circle will appear with a 3 button icons and by tapping the buttons at the right time you can commence the attack. A better way to describe this battle system is to compare it with the Shadow Hearts' Judgment Ring. But unlike the Judgment Ring system, where it's a turn based, stationary system. The Trinity Circle System in Magna Character is a free roam, time based system.
Also in every location is "Chi", the stuff that enables each and every character to pull off an attack. When there's not enough Chi in the area for your character to use then your character cannot pull off any attacks, making your character dead in the water.
The good part about this battle system is that it's different from most other RPG battle systems out there, so to the player it's a bit relieving to learn a system and not just follow the same old routine from previous games. This battle system is also easy to learn and fun for the first couple of matches.
But there are more bad parts to this battle system then good ones. First the battles are slow...very slow, due to mix of
the free roam system along side with the stamina regeneration bar, which stalls every time you want to move your
characters to a different location. So at first the battles may seem fun and great, but against stronger enemies the
battles could last as long as 10 minutes at a time.
Second, even though it's a free roaming map, all the characters are controlled by the player, so there's no AI
to move that other characters, like in Star Ocean: Till the End of Time. This too makes the battles drag out for long
periods of time as well as making the free roam system rather pointless to most players' minds.
Third, the AI is crap. The AI definitely doesn't pull off a challenge in this game, often at times they attack the
closest character to them. So the easiest way you can win is to send a tank up in front and let him take a beating while
the other characters beat up on the enemy and heal your tank. This brings no challenge to game, and often at times
boring the player especially if he has the rhythm of the circle down.
But beyond the battle system, there are STILL more problems with this game. First the game is far too linear. The environment maps are just as easy as following a simple path that is filled with monsters, just like Grandia III. The game also forces you to take certain routes to different locations, no if you want to go to one city, the game will say "No, I must do...blah blah..." and force you to go back and take a different route. Also like Grandia III, there are hardly any side quests to do, with exception of doing tasks for people to get weapons, in which the majority of it is getting items to make the weapons. There are no mini-games in this games as well to break the tension of the player when he/she is playing. Another bad thing about this game is it's healing, in the environment screen you can force a character to sit, thus replenishing his health bar at a incredibly fast rate....thus making the game way to easy for my taste.
Magna Carta does try it's best to be a different from all the other RPGs out there. The battle system is different then most RPGs, but it's heavily flawed, often at times making each and every battle takes out 10 minutes to do. And most of the features like the free roaming scheme just add to the length of the battle without adding any pluses to the game play. The AI doesn't help the game as well, stupid creatures often at times attacking the closest thing to it. This makes the game experience boring and without a challenge. Lastly the game is too linear for it's own good, often at times forcing the player to take routes and continue the story even though the player wants to freely roam and explore Efferia.
Probably the only good thing about this game play in this game is the length of the game itself. For one DVD the game lasts about 40-50 hours, depending on how many battles you encounter as well as if you pull through those horrendous cutscenes.
Mavericks Ration 1-10 (10 being the best)
5
Grade: D-
Conclusion:
Magna Carta had the potential of being a great game. The game had a great story, which caught my attention throughout the entire game, well orchestrated music, as well as beautiful art work and animations that can easily be mistake for a Final Fantasy game. But due to a not so great battle system, linear game play, repetitive music, and HORRIBLE voice acting the game falls short of the standards of the RPG world.
So I won't suggest buying this game, (yes I have bought this game...) at $54 USD this game isn't really worth it's weight. But that doesn't mean to say that you should avoid this game altogether, if you have a friend that has this game (I doubt most rent places have this game) then go ahead and borrow it and give it a shot. The story line in the game is good enough to keep the player interested.
PS: Also just like all other ATLUS games here in America, they often disappear and become rare after only being a few months out on the market, so if you're a rare game collector then you may want to get this game.
Maverick
Rating:
Final Verdict
6.0000 (average)
Reviewed by maverick007, Mar 26, 2006
Comments
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maverick007 Mar 26, 2006
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shoujoboy Mar 26, 2006
Magna Carta is one of the very few games I actually had so little fun with that I quit it outright. Normally I push through to the end but this was so linear, terribly slow and the fact that I could not adjust the camera in a game that wants you to sneak up on enemies... just put the nail in me finishing it.
As for your next review, you'll likely get more readers and comments on a KH review.
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maverick007 Mar 26, 2006
Yea I agree with you about the camera angles as well. It often makes me loose my sense of direction, especially in the cavern areas.
I'm probably going to do Kingdom Hearts next but I'm almost done with Tale of Legendia and Atelier Iris: Eternal Mana. Oh soo many games to choose....
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clubkid Mar 27, 2006
i love the art of magna carta never really have played the games though, sounds like fine as far as i've read at least
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Icewind Mar 27, 2006
the cam was OK, but it did take me some time to figure out the combo sys. also this is a diff one then the one from 1999. and do WA4 i have that game i just havent played it yet and i would like a review.
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Blu-Ray Mar 27, 2006
Thanks for the heads up, I've been thinking about buying the game, it's nice to get an opinion before hand.
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Jenemba Mar 27, 2006
I think that the game was rushed. Like they didn't have a time line to go on or they were behind schedule. but it was an awesome game and I completly agree with shoujo boy that I had to quit. I just stopped playing it and actually traded it in. I couldn't take it anymore. I like some wacked out things but for the love of christ this game was just not very good at all. Loved the artwork though. Awesome artwork, alot of fanservice in it. Actually I think thats why the game sold alittle bit. but just overall it reminded me of legend of dragoon a bit with the combo system though. But I hear that theirs a part two coming out for it some time. But I just hope it's better than the first...just a thought
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Osiris Retired Moderator Mar 27, 2006
The game was horribly done. I wished I didn't buy it..waste of money -_-
1. combat system gets boring fast
2. voice acting sucked, as well as the lip movement
3. booooring u_uthe only good thing was the artbook that came with it lol
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maverick007 Mar 27, 2006
Blu-Ray: Good to know that this review actually helped with your decision.
Jenemba: You are right about there being a Magna Carta 2. I'm not sure what date it's going to be released in but I DO know that it's going to be released on the Xbox 360 (PS3 is questionable. {Edit: More like doubtable})
Osiris: Yeah I agree with you, the art book was probably the ONLY thing I really enjoyed in this game.
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suddenstrike Mar 28, 2006
I agree...the only thing that is nice about magna carta are in its artworks....I have no idea about the goodness of the story because as soon as I started to enter the battle scenes...I suddenly lost interest in the game as it was REALLY CONFUSING and not to mention boring and slow paced.
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iggythefool Apr 02, 2006
Really? I want buy it.. but now...
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Angelbabi777 Jul 06, 2006
yea..the camera angles confused me and this is a game that i wont replay because it justs drags on and on and on and on =/ but i still like this game..a bit bland compared to the others
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Rhyme097 Sep 14, 2006
Umm it's not as good as i thought ... btw thnx for review ... ^^
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rukasu04 Mute Member Feb 08, 2010
Nice review
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