Announced to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the Legend of Mana, LoM The Teardrop Crystal is based on an episode from a game released in 1999. It is a popular series by Square (now Square Enix) and is treated as a spin-off work. Now that it has been made into an anime, I would like to introduce and explain what kind of game LoM is!
Overview of the Legend of Mana
Leom was released by Square in 1999 as a PlayStation software. The genre is an action RPG like the previous Secret of Mana series, but the world view has been completely renewed, and although common races and monsters appear, pure humans rarely appear in a world where various races coexist. The scenario is not a one-way story like the conventional one, but a free scenario RPG with a high degree of freedom in which the player progresses while exploring the places they can go.
A novel RPG that sets it apart from previous Secret of Mana
The feature is "Land Make", where you can use items called artifacts to increase the number of places you can go on the world map, based in your home. If you place it in the latter half or move away from your home, the lineup of stores and the strength of enemies will change. In addition, there are slow-life elements such as creating weapons, armor, and instruments, making monsters your allies at the pet farm, and cultivating fruit at the orchard, which are not present in previous games, making this game a great experience.
About the three main scenarios of Secret of Mana
LoM is a free scenario, and events will start when certain conditions are met in each area. Many stories are completed in one episode, but some continue over multiple episodes. Among them, the three episodes "Jewel Thief Arc", "Dragon Killer Arc", and "Escade Arc" are particularly long events and are positioned as the main scenarios in LoM. The episode "Jewel Thief Arc" will be animated, and it is the longest scenario of the three. Clearing any of them will unlock the last dungeon episode.
Jewel Thief Arc
The story revolves around the "Tamame", a race whose core is gemstones. The protagonist is drawn into the story of two Tamame, "Ruri" and "Shinjuhime", who he meets at the beginning of the story. For some reason, the number of "Tamame", a race whose core is gemstones, has decreased and they live quietly in various places, but then Sandra, a jewel thief who is after the core gemstones, appears and kills the Tamame in various places one after another. And the three people, Ruri, Shinjuhime, and the protagonist, who are caught up in the turmoil, learn the fate of the Tamame race.
"Dragon Killer"
The protagonist, who has fallen into the depths of hell, meets the beast warrior L'Arc there. L'Arc guides him to the Dragon Emperor Tiamat, who has lost his powers. In order to be resurrected, the protagonist, who has fallen into the abyss, must defeat the dragons that protect the world order together with L'Arc.
"Escade"
The story of four childhood friends: Matilda, who serves as a priest at the temple in the cliff town of Gato; Erwin, a half-demon child who stole Matilda's spiritual power; Erwin, a beastman woman who serves as a warrior monk at the temple; and Escade, a swordsman who hates demons and fairies. It all started when Escade, enraged by Erwin's robbery of Matilda's spiritual power, tried to kill Erwin. Matilda, who lost her spiritual power, began to age rapidly, and Danae rushed to restore Matilda to her original state, while Escade, who returned from the abyss, rushed to kill Erwin. However, Erwin's actions were done for Matilda's sake, and Matilda did not resent Erwin. The story of four people who will never cross paths.
The world of Fa' Diel, the setting of LoM
In a world where various races live together, pure humans rarely appear. There are beast-like "beastmen", "jewel demons" whose core is gems, "fairies" who have a clear hostility towards humans, and "dragons" who protect the order of the world. There are also races that are not clearly classified, such as "badgers" with unique languages and cultures, "penguins" who are pirates, and "walruses". There are countless races living here, including mermaids and sirens.
There are 6 Mana days and 8 attributes
A week is made up of 6 days, named after the spirits of the day, in the order of water, fire, gold, earth, wind, and wood. In addition to the 6 attributes, there are also darkness (shade) and light (wisp), and there are events that only occur on each day of the week, elemental attacks are strengthened on certain days of the week, and crops grow in the orchard.
About the various systems in this game
Battle system
When you approach an enemy symbol, you will enter combat and it is impossible to escape. There are normal attacks (quick attacks) and strong attacks (power attacks), and you can perform combo attacks by pressing them at the right time. There are also special attacks that are combined with specific key inputs. When the gauge is full, you can use the special move you set, and you can learn special moves by fighting with the ability equipped. Hit points are displayed as 100%, and if they reach 0, you are unable to fight. However, if your allies are alive, they will be revived after a certain period of time. After the battle, you will be fully recovered.
NPC System
A system where you can take along characters that become your allies when certain conditions are met and fight together. NPCs act automatically and use magic and special moves. You can also control them in 2P mode. In addition to NPCs, there are also human slots for companions, so you can take along golems you've made yourself or pets you've raised. Ally characters often become ornaments because they don't act very proactively, but while they're overlapping with a character, they're in a synchronized state and you can receive benefits according to that character.
Replayability
The biggest addictive element of this game is weapon creation and modification, but the system is too complicated. If you make it carelessly, you won't get much effect, but if you understand the specifications and modify it, you can sell easily obtained materials for a super high price and max out the attack power of your weapon.
About the remastered version of LoM
A remastered version of LoM has been released. The graphic resolution has been increased, the font has been changed, and some text has been added and modified, but there are no episodes added and it is basically a port of the original.
Introduction to the elements added in the remastered version
Save anywhere
You can now save anywhere, with some exceptions. It also supports auto-save. You can also change the 2P settings at any time. However, you can no longer bring in player characters from other data.
Zero Encounters
A godly feature added in the remastered version. You can turn off normal encounters. Although the map of LoM is not that large, there is no map, and the structure is very easy to get lost in. If you change the map, the encounters will come back, which was very annoying, but by turning off the encounters, it is much less stressful.
BGM is also remastered
A variety of BGM composed by Yoko Shimomura has been arranged. If you don't like it, you can revert to the original version, and you can listen to the music at any time in music mode.
Get limited items linked to play data in Ring Ring Land
In the PS version, you can play a mini-game that you couldn't play without the Pocket Station. This is a mini-game where you can get rare items by completing a sugoroku mini-game, and you can get materials that are difficult to get in the main game relatively easily. The difficulty is very high, and it seems that you need luck and a number of attempts, but since the order of your reels is fixed, if you remember the sequence of numbers, you can manage it by pressing the buttons by eye, so you can clear it stably. In addition, in the PS version, you can get items that you can't get unless you have specific data on the memory card.
Changes to the weapon modification system
The complex weapon creation system that has existed since the PS version is still alive and well, but some specifications have been changed. On the PS, you can create weapons with an attack power of over 2000, but in the remastered version, it is capped at 999.
[League of Mana The Teardrop Crystal] Original Game Summary
I've put together a summary of LoM, the original game of the anime version of the game, LoM The Teardrop Crystal! I was very surprised to see this title being made into an anime, but the remake of the recently released Legend of Mana 3 was very well received, so there may be more new developments in the Legend of Mana series! The remastered version of LoM has been released, making it much easier to play, and it is still a fun game to play, so if you're interested in the anime, I think it's worth giving it a try!
