MagnaCarta II Review
MagnaCarta II is another in the long line of Xbox 360 exclusive role-playing games that have eminated from the Far East. This time, the development has been done by a Korean company, Softmax, and they're looking to set their game apart as the one that fans of the genre must have in their collection. Does this game stand out from the crowd, or does it get lost in the sea of role-playing titles?
The story is centered around a young man named Juto who has completely lost his memory. He awoke one day on Highwind Island, and was looked after by the villagers. However, when the village is attacked by the Northern Forces, and Juto's mentor, Melissa, is seemingly killed, his world is enveloped by turmoil. He vows to join the Southern Forces so that he can avenge her death, and in doing so, joins the Counter Sentinel Unit, which is lead by the true heir to the Lanzheim throne, Princess Zephie.
It's a story with a few twists and turns, and the cast is varied enough to create a good dynamic. The banter between the different characters is definitely one of the high points, and helps to really convey the sense of 'team spirit'. However, there isn't anything necessarily ground-breaking with the story and for the most part, it's generally quite straight forward. It would have been nice to see more dialogue associated with the plot, than dialogue revolving around the main character having emotional moments. Many of the antagonists are barely even heard from throughout the game.
The gameplay focuses on an open world model, which has become fairly common with RPGs. This means that there are no random battles, and it's a system that works pretty well. When outside of towns, the playable character is accompanied by two AI controlled characters and once combat is intiated (by using the left trigger), the AI characters will follow set play-types. Every character can do normal attacks, perform special moves and use items. The array of commands is actually quite limiting and makes the game relatively simple. There is also no MP present, but there is an equivalent in Kan. By performing normal attacks, players build up Kan which can be used to perform special moves. However, it works differently for mages and melee types. When a mage attacks, the Kan for their element is actually visible in the world. So, if they move from that location, the Kan can no longer be used, whereas melee types can store it for later use.
It does make it sound like the combat is relatively bland, as there isn't really much variation. There are a few special moves to perform, and as players level up, they can perform more attacks in a row, but overall there isn't much there. The ability to create chains does help to aleviate this slightly though. Characters have stamina meters, and if they max this out, they go into an Overdrive state. In this mode, they do more damage, but they also get burned out and can't perform a move until their stamina bar is empty again. However, if the last move they performed was a special attack, it's then possible to change characters, and perform a chain. It makes the combat a lot more tactical, and things like chain breaks help to further this.
