Children of Mana

I made my wife buy me a new video game on Sunday (I threw a fit in the store), and decided on Children of Mana. I had read mixed reviews of the game, but the general gameplay intrigued me. It’s created by Square Enix, too, which gives it some cred in my book. I’ve played it for a couple of hours, and I like it so far. It’s an interesting mix of The Legend of Zelda and Final Fantasy. You hit buttons to swing various weapons you can acquire (a sword, of course, or a flail or a bow) or use magic to kill the many monsters on the screen. Your character also goes up levels, being able to equip better items and doing more damage while taking less. You can also acquire gems that boost various stats; you can only equip so many, so you have to mix and match depending on what you want boosted more. The few dungeons I’ve been in are a bit repetitive in level structuring, and it looks like each dungeon can/must be done a couple of times to get the best stuff, which of course I want. Still, it’s an enjoyable game that does a good job of combining hack-and-slash with legitimately customizable RPG elements.