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[Bulzeeb]

the F2P mobile game rise of mana is now comming to ps vita

Seiken Densetsu: Rise of Mana is the latest game in the Seiken Densetsu (Legendary Sacred Sword) series of role-playing games. Square Enix originally released Rise of Mana as a free-to-play game for smartphones in March 2014.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=La3DMtcApRk

http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/daily-briefs/2015-05-08/seiken-densetsu-rise-of-mana-ps-vita-game-slated-for-may-14/.87957

 

[Hugstable]

Is it any good?

 

[InfiniteNine]

I like that trailer song quite a bit.

 

[Seda]

A F2P Vita version was announced at TGS last year, we seemingly have the release date now though.

 

[Bulzeeb]

Is it any good?

I don't know as the game haven't been released in the west, but in my opinion, it looks bland as almost all the F2P mobile games

 

[Hesemonni]

Next step: Seiken Densetsu collection on 3DS and Vita. Pretty please?

 

[Vylash]

Is it any good?

it's pretty fun, yes

 

[Ryan95]

Any chance this and Agito + will come to the West?

 

[AkelisRain]

I miss the Snes versions the mana series, I may have to give this a shot.

 

[Dunkley]

Wait I thought this was already announced a while ago.

Good to know that we're getting it on the 14th. Hope it makes it to the states.

 

[Vylash]

Any chance this and Agito + will come to the West?

i believe agito was already announced for the west

 

[Hugstable]

it's pretty fun, yes

Sweet, love the Mana series and haven't seen or played a mana game since Sword of Mana on GBA

 

[GifGafIsTheBestGaf]

i know this is ot but holy crap, thank you op now i remember the singer was named Kokia

 

[Sword Familiar]

Wait I thought this was already announced a while ago.

Good to know that we're getting it on the 14th. Hope it makes it to the states.

Yeah, I could have sworn I've heard it being announced as well.

Well, I hope I get to try it eventually. Doesn't look like what you'd expect from a Seiken Densetsu game, but it doesn't look half bad.

 

[HypnoDarkrai]

I hope it gets localized so that I could play 4-player co-op with VitaGAF

 

[duckroll]

Any chance this and Agito + will come to the West?

First Agito+ needs to be released. They ran into development problems and delayed it indefinitely in Japan. Rise of Mana also ran into development issues, but apparently recent Unity updates helped them push through it. So Agito+ is probably next.

Although, given the market in the west right now, I would say it is far more likely that Square Enix will simply release Agito on Smartphones rather than bother with Agito+ on the Vita. The Vita audience is completely insignificant in comparison, and either way it will be a F2P service game they have to keep running. So might as well run it for the platforms where audiences are actually on.

 

[Bulzeeb]

haha sorry if it was reposted, I did a search and only found the mobile thread

 

[Arzehn]

Has F2P even done well on Vita? With the exception of PSO2 I haven't heard any games have success. Only hear about games closing down...

 

[18-Volt]

Any chance this and Agito + will come to the West?

They have recently released Deadman's Cross Vita in west all of a sudden so they are both possible. They need to release them on mobile first I think.

 

[GayForMaster]

Natively mobile game ported to Vita? Eh, I'm skeptical. Also that horrid retina style look.

 

[SolVanderlyn]

Be better than Children of Mana, and I will play you.

 

[CamHostage]

First Agito+ needs to be released. They ran into development problems and delayed it indefinitely in Japan. Rise of Mana also ran into development issues, but apparently recent Unity updates helped them push through it. So Agito+ is probably next.

Yeah, I was a little worried when Sony was promoting Unity engine as Vita's great hope, yet clear trends quickly emerged when titles using it started being announced. (Basically, a ton of 2D games quickly jumped on-board, but fully 3D games were slow in coming, and games like Oddworld New & Tasty or Assault Android Cactus either were delayed or reported difficulties.) (You can see a list of Vita Unity Engine games on the Unity site, and of those actually shipped, I think only Counterspy is 3D and it didn't run so hot. Deadman's Cross also apparently had some tech issues.)

If Sony is going to lay off of producing AAAs for its own platform and instead push for acquiring a base of indie/3rd Party support, that's one thing. But if that's the path, and if Unity Engine is the key, they need to provide some assistance to Unity in making that thing run as well as possible on Vita.

Square doesn't seem swayed by FF X/IX Vita sales to bring other top titles such as FF Type-0 HD to the portable, but it has quietly upped its support of Vita with conversions of its cellphone line (Chaos Rings, Deadman's Cross, Agito+ and Rise of Mana.) There's some decent product in that catalog, and more and more is on Unity (including big stuff like Mobius Final Fantasy and the DQ VII port, plus SE-UK stuff like Hitman Go and Deus Ex: The Fall, albeit some maybe too big to consider for Vita at this point) so Sony, Unity, get together.

The Vita audience is completely insignificant in comparison, and either way it will be a F2P service game they have to keep running. So might as well run it for the platforms where audiences are actually on.

F2P seemed to work a bit on Vita with Toro's Friend Network, there were a lot of people playing it and buying costumes when I played it, though that was a long time ago. There's certainly a ton of product trying F2P on Vita (even if a percentage is cellphone ports or cross-platform console releases) so somebody thinks it's a way to make something of this tricky market. I suppose it'll depend on how easy it would be to convert the translation script from Agito mobile to Agito+ (if Agito ever does get that localization) as to whether Square will release that version outside Japan.

 

[Bomber Bob]

will download

 

[Projectjustice]

This is what's left of my beloved Secret of Mana Series. *Vomits in mouth.

 

[BarrettW]

F2P

Mobile

 

[hongcha]

I have been looking forward to this. Can't wait to give it a try.

 

[Links_fantasy]

I really want the Chaos Rings trilogy on Vita released in the West and of course the Dragon Quest 3DS games. Square-Enix is really good about home console and PC games and mobile in the West, Handheld not so much.

 

[SolVanderlyn]

I really want the Chaos Rings trilogy on Vita released in the West and of course the Dragon Quest 3DS games. Square-Enix is really good about home console and PC games and mobile in the West, Handheld not so much.

What does this have to do with Mana, at all?

 

[AuthenticM]

I wish Square would simply rerelease Seiken Densetsu 3.

 

[Links_fantasy]

What does this have to do with Mana, at all?

The Mana Game is a Vita port of an iOS game like the Chaos Rings Games. The only iOS ports to Vita we've got are Deadmans Cross and a PlayStation mobile port of the first Chaos Rings game.

 

[hongcha]

I downloaded this today and played for a bit. I then deleted it with a frown on my face. Very disappointing experience. Really bad framerate (20fps or less), long load times (some ridiculously long), and very frequent loading screens.

 

[duckroll]

Ouch. Sounds like the bonus Unity support that made the port possible wasn't enough to make it a decent port!

 

[adversesolutions]

How are the D-pad controls? I could see them patching it to make it more playable, I'm more concerned about how it controls in action areas.

 

[Jotamide]

I wish Square would simply rerelease Seiken Densetsu 3.

Well get a remake don't worry.

Spoiler

For the region-locked 3DS, please understand.

 

[hongcha]

How are the D-pad controls? I could see them patching it to make it more playable, I'm more concerned about how it controls in action areas.

I thought the controls were OK; they felt responsive enough. The battles are alright, but the choppy framerate just kills the game for me. Started giving me a headache after a few minutes.

I think the music was the best part. Very nostalgic stuff.

 

[Deleted member 13876]

Am I crazy or was there also a Mana thing announced after this?

 

[threelights]

That's a shame. Possibly the only F2P game from Square that I was interested.

The iOS version plays better? Or is that one just as bad?

Am I crazy or was there also a Mana thing announced after this?

I think you're referring to the director saying that there would be a new announcement at the series anniversary (next year I think).

 

[Deleted member 13876]

That's a shame. Possibly the only F2P game from Square that I was interested.

The iOS version plays better? Or is that one just as bad?



I think you're referring to the director saying that there would be a new announcement at the series anniversary (next year I think).

Yeah, that's it. Hope we get a tease at E3 or something.

 

[Vanille]

I'm having a lot of fun with it, despite how sloppy the port is. There's a ton of content, and the game is super generous with loot. I've yet to pay anything.

 

[adversesolutions]

So I spent some time with it today, and yeah this game has problems. Really though my issues with it are different from Hongcha's comments.

• The scenario is total shit. Every single quest is almost like a sarcastic take on the RPG quest formula. "Go kill this monster! Why would I do that? You just have to! Sheesh, OK." None of the love you could feel in the original SoM games is present in the story at all.
• That said, the battle system is fun enough. You can choose from Swords, Spears and Bows, and you have lots of summons to choose from and level up. The combat is more or less well done.
• Yeah but one problem. There's an option called "Auto-battle" on the HUD which sends your characters across the map from battle to battle, and guess what? It pretty much fights them better than you can. Constant and smart use of your skills, aggressive play, some dodging. Basically better than a human can do. And there's basically no incentive (at least at this stage) to actually manually fight the battles. Certainly a design choice that makes sense for mobile, but hardly for a handheld gaming device where the action would be the focus here.
• The flip between light and dark mechanic doesn't seem to mean a whole lot, though I'm intrigued if it will as the game proceeds.
• There are load times everywhere. I guess this is to sync your progress with the game server, which is ultimately a good thing in case you uh, die. But you never do. So it's pretty much just obnoxious.

All the above said, I am sort of enjoying this plays-itself-automatically "action" RPG. With the full realization that really this is the best we're going to get out of Square-Enix for SoM nowadays.

 

[duckroll]

Yeah but one problem. There's an option called "Auto-battle" on the HUD which sends your characters across the map from battle to battle, and guess what? It pretty much fights them better than you can. Constant and smart use of your skills, aggressive play, some dodging. Basically better than a human can do. And there's basically no incentive (at least at this stage) to actually manually fight the battles. Certainly a design choice that makes sense for mobile, but hardly for a handheld gaming device where the action would be the focus here.

Is this really all that different from Bayonetta's Easy Automatic difficulty though? If the combat is fun, the incentive to manually fight would be because it's fun. Just because you can automate victory doesn't mean it is satisfying right?

 

[EricB]

The scenario is total shit. Every single quest is almost like a sarcastic take on the RPG quest formula. "Go kill this monster! Why would I do that? You just have to! Sheesh, OK." None of the love you could feel in the original SoM games is present in the story at all.

This kind of thing is so disappointing to me. I know it has become something of a cliche to say 'lazy devs,' but if that is not an example of lazy development, I don't know what is. Who are these game designers that are so incapable of thinking up a motive for the battles in a game that they literally have to avoid the topic altogether? I feel like Grandpa Simpson here, but I really liked games a lot better when they didn't feel so self conscious about being games that they had to constantly break the 4th wall in order to justify their stories.

 

[adversesolutions]

Is this really all that different from Bayonetta's Easy Automatic difficulty though? If the combat is fun, the incentive to manually fight would be because it's fun. Just because you can automate victory doesn't mean it is satisfying right?

It's kind of like the old argument about whether there should be continues in console versions of shooting games or not, with one side arguing for and the other against. Really, Ikaruga had a decent implementation: no continues at first, then expanding that after gameplay time.

In this case, you have an input-heavy game designed for a poorly responsive touch-based device. To make it easier on people they allowed them to automate battles on iOS. Understandable there. What they could have done with the Vita version is provide disincentive to do that: i.e. make your characters' battle AI just a little stupid so that you're like "oh shit better step in otherwise these kids are gonna get killed". But they didn't do that, which is bizarre to me. Because an FTP action RPG with endless DLC expansions could do well on the Vita. But at the moment, this is a press Auto and watch TV game. Hell, I just cleared a level while typing this. I'm reading a Natsume Soseki novel while grinding. We're in a new generation of games.

 

[Sinople]

So I played for about an hour, it's pretty bad...
It runs like poop, there are loading screens for everything, the maps are ridiculously small, the battle system doesn't feel right, the non-battle game system is just a rehash of the basic uninspired F2P mechanics, which in turn make it super repetitive. It's just a chore to play.
On a plus side, the art style is in line with what I expect from a Mana game and what little music I heard was pretty good.

 

[Vanille]

It's kind of like the old argument about whether there should be continues in console versions of shooting games or not, with one side arguing for and the other against. Really, Ikaruga had a decent implementation: no continues at first, then expanding that after gameplay time.

In this case, you have an input-heavy game designed for a poorly responsive touch-based device. To make it easier on people they allowed them to automate battles on iOS. Understandable there. What they could have done with the Vita version is provide disincentive to do that: i.e. make your characters' battle AI just a little stupid so that you're like "oh shit better step in otherwise these kids are gonna get killed". But they didn't do that, which is bizarre to me. Because an FTP action RPG with endless DLC expansions could do well on the Vita. But at the moment, this is a press Auto and watch TV game. Hell, I just cleared a level while typing this. I'm reading a Natsume Soseki novel while grinding. We're in a new generation of games.

I'm guessing you're still in the early parts of the game. There's a pretty huge difficulty spike around chapter 10, and auto battle will start to get you killed really fast if you don't constantly intervene. I only ever use it now for grinding out the events.

 

[adversesolutions]

So I am currently on Chapter 13 here. I've used auto-battle the whole way through, and haven't paid a dime to SQE. My goal is to make it to the end of Chapter 20 without paying anything.

However that is probably easier said than done. Like Vanille said, there is a significant difficulty spike around Chapter 10, and that's when you need to have evolved your weapons at least once. I've hit another road block in Chapter 13. I have an evolved summon creature (not fully leveled but pretty strong), and two evolved weapons at max level. However, I can't make it through the recent story missions without getting iced by some of the harder enemies deep into the stage.

The problem is that there isn't another level to my weapons. They are both SR, but they top off at level 60, and can't be evolved further.

I do have room to level my summon, but the non-paid summons really aren't THAT strong to begin with. Some of the paid ones though are clearly really cool looking and effective. Tempting to pay money, but I shall resist.

I guess what I'm going to do is just wait for the next time they hand out the purple gems due to a bug with the game or whatever, then use those to retry on some of the stages I'm getting murdered on at the moment. In general, if you have one gem you can definitely get through the story stages, even the harder ones.

So yeah, bookmarking this for awhile.

For the record, I still hate this game lol. I'm only playing it because the trophies are on my system now. It has literally the worst story I've ever read in a video game. Name of quest: "Present" NPC Dialogue: "I want you to deliver this present for me" "What, again!?" "Yes" "OK" QUEST START
I mean at the very least with bad mobile games you have some 20-something planner on the company side pouring his creative powers into a script that no one will probably care about, and you'll get something passable just because whoever wrote was at least trying to look good to their superior. Not for this game. It literally reads like it was written by a kindergartner.

 

[SporeCrawler]

oh its out? time to open up the japanese psn store on my pstv