Magna Carta 2 Review

Written by: Steve Martin Posted: 3rd November 2009

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Magna Carta 2 Details:

	RPG
	Xbox 360
	SoftMax
	Namco Bandai

16+

Out Now

JRPG's are now an established breed in Europe thanks to the risky decision by Squaresoft (or Square-Enix nowadays) to release the excellent Final Fantasy VII back in 1997. This was the first JRPG to break into the mainstream gaming market in the west, and the twisting, emotional storylines with its lovable and over-the-top characters took gamers on an exciting, challenging and epic adventure. Since then there has been an influx of JRPG's following in their footsteps trying to prove their worth, it has unfortunately started to get to the point where it is now very clinched, a bit stale and is in danger of losing its appeal. Magna Carta 2 is a Korean RPG (or KRPG) but does it have what it takes to rejuvenate this genre?

The previous Magna Carta games were released on the PlayStation some time ago and I have to admit not having played them. However, this is the first version to be released on the new generation of consoles, and it is a typical JRPG, through and through! Lots of gameplay time, lots of fighting and lots of dialogue, along with characters with magical powers, strange hairstyles and weird names! Of course, there is no harm in that, although some of the characters are a tad clinched, such as our main sword wielding hero, Juto, who has amnesia and there are hints that his past is a dark one. Then there are your usual type’s healers and magic users as well as the big bruiser character. The story starts off very slow and never really gets going, the majority of the story is told through a screen depicting two character models speaking to each other, with one being replaced by the other as they come in and out of conversation remittent of Snake’s codec conversations in the Metal Gear Solid games. I would have much preferred a proper cut-scene rather than the unremarkable and unresponsive character models yakking. The cutscenes in the game are well animated and occasionally brilliant but short and sparse, which just adds to the slow pacing of the game. The story involves our Juto joining forces with the Princess and her group of rebel forces to reclaim her lost throne from the evil prime minister, and restore rhyme and reason to the mythical land of Lanzheim. As you can see it is hardly original stuff, and as such it never really inspires. There is a rather in-depth back story about how the world was ravaged by the Carta’s and saved by the Hero Strauss, if you are interested in all that, but I have to admit a lot of it seemed unimportant and as such went over my head! The locations you visit are reused and revisited a little too much as well as feeling a little empty at times, although they look quite spacious and like they offer the chance for exploration, clever placement of objects means that this is all but an illusion!

Moving onto the battling front, JRPG’s are renowned for their turn-based, stat-building, skill gaining, experience building random fights, however Magna Carta 2 has employed the same battle system as Final Fantasy XII, where battles happen in real time and in the current environment. I have to admit the system is one of the highlights of the game, it is a good mixture of action and strategy as you are able to switch control easily between the 3 characters in your party with the direction pad, as well as change your skills or party member’s mid-battle effortlessly. A stamina bar replaces the common action time bar, which becomes filled as you perform standard attacks or skills, once filled your character goes into overdrive where their attacks are more powerful but once they start attacking they are in overheat mode and cannot move or perform actions, making this a risky business. To help to balance this risk, once you go into overdrive mode you can start a chain attack, by selecting to use a skill attack just before you overheat, then you need to switch characters to initiate the chain. Doing so will pass on the attack bonus of the previous characters overdrive state to the new fighter, if with this new leader you are able to get them into an overdrive state and use a skill before the original character snaps out of their overheat status then you are rewarded as both character’s stamina bars are emptied, allowing them to attack once again! This chain system is initially confusing but becomes ultimately straightforward after a while, and offers the chance to score some huge damage against bosses.

Skills are learnt through a primitive tech tree, where you have to spend skill points that you earn every time you level up to learn the next skill or stat augmentation which in turn opens up the ability to learn the next upgrade. Each character has two styles to choose from which are changed depending on which weapon type they are using, for example, Juto has the choice of using a 1-handed sword or a 2-handed sword, and each style has its own unique skills and attacks. Every weapon in the game can also be enhanced by placing Kamonds, which are crystals of power obtained in chests and by defeating enemies, into slots in the weapons Kamond board. More powerful weapons have more Kamond slots and so allow more upgrades to be done. These come in different varieties that boost different stats such as strength, stamina and spirit. This allows some customisation of each characters weapon and fighting style, which is very much welcomed even though it feels a little too much like the material system used in the before mentioned Final Fantasy VII.

Graphically, it is nicely animated with some good boss battles to enjoy, but the characters themselves aren’t amazingly detailed and neither are the locations and the lack of cutscenes really doesn’t help. Overall, it is good but not great.

Another big disappointment was the soundtrack, I expected a powerful, stirring, orchestra-led ambience, instead the music never really goes above timid, even the battle music is tranquil! The voice acting is commendable, however the script hinders this, and the battle cries by your players can also get a little irritating after a short while!

Other than the ingenuous battle system there is little else to warrant praise in the game. The characters as mentioned previously are the typical JRPG stereotypes, and the story is pretty average with some uninspired and occasionally irritating dialogue. The voice acting itself is fine, but the script feels a bit half-baked and has a tendency to repeat itself. With a slightly disappointing storyline and predictable characters, it is hard to become immersed in the game and the world it creates, which is vital for a 40 hour plus RPG. Although it cannot be deemed terrible, as it is very playable and occasionally enjoyable, and so therefore will satisfy those people waiting for the new Final Fantasy, even though it never reaches quite to the same level of quality. It’s short on new ideas, which ultimately makes it more of an evolution than a revolution.