Echoes of Mana: The way forward for Square Enix?
By Aditya Deshbandhu This review comes amidst the unique transformations at Square Enix, a production house known for games like Tomb Raider, Hitman, Avengers, and Deus Ex and for studios like Eidos, Crystal Dynamics, and IO Interactive; as it chose to sell its western studios last week in the pursuit of blockchain and NFT gaming. […]
By Aditya Deshbandhu
This review comes amidst the unique transformations at Square Enix, a production house known for games like Tomb Raider, Hitman, Avengers, and Deus Ex and for studios like Eidos, Crystal Dynamics, and IO Interactive; as it chose to sell its western studios last week in the pursuit of blockchain and NFT gaming.
In a deal worth 300 million dollars, Square Enix has parted with Crystal Dynamics, Eidos Montreal, and its own Montreal studio. Thus, as these transactions and their consequences begin to manifest, this week’s game Echoes of Mana is important to review as it shows us not just what the game can do but also the possible trajectory that Square Enix wishes to take in the future.
Echoes of Mana is a continuation in the Mana franchise of games that was announced at the franchise’s 30-year celebrations in 2021. A game built to tap into its players’ nostalgia, Echoes of Mana offers the franchise’s most popular characters to play through its narrative. It also incorporates a classical gacha mechanic where players can draw heroes and characters to augment their teams during the combat sequences.
In terms of gameplay, the combat is simplistic and can actually be automated in parts or entirety if you wish to sit back and just take in the experience. However, for those willing to battle it out, the game offers unique mechanics and a classic Pokémon style strength/weakness system for you to strategize and fend off waves of enemies in a classic 2D left-to-right combat system. The game prioritizes and rewards for efficiently killing the enemies and thus unless you want to spend actual money, the best rewards aren’t achievable through automatic combat.
Just like any modern free-to-play game, Echoes of Mana offers daily rewards for login and play; along with daily missions and objectives. The game offers an endless grind if you are up for it as characters, gear, and abilities all need to be constantly leveled up. However, I found that the narrative is too heavy in the early parts of the game and first-time players of the Mana franchise may not have the patience to sit through hours of dialogue.
The sound, visuals, and gameplay are at a level that does justice to the Square Enix name. With a solid plot accompanied by robust gameplay dynamics, Echoes of Mana is a good game but it doesn’t offer us any insights into Square Enix’s blockchain and NFT plans. In my twenty hours with the game, all I could witness were F2P constants like in-game purchases and micro-transactions. Not much that stands out here.
The nostalgia is strong with this one though. Give it a try if the mana franchise is something you like.
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