Re: Manamon, worth playing or not? definitely worth the time!
Dark,
I'm not labelling manamon a clone as a means of dismissing it. I'm labelling it a clone because that's what it is. Observe the overwhelming list of similarities, and I'm just scratching the surface.
1. Many attacks are ripped straight out of pokemon (Sing, Earthquake, Fly, Slam, Growl, just to name five right off the top of my head).
2. Many more attacks are simple pallet-swaps of pokemon attacks (too numerous to list them all, but Stagnant Goo vs. String Shot, Sneer vs. Leer, Scratch vs. Claw Swipe, Torch vs. Flamethrower, Rock and Roll vs. Rollout, just to name five again, and there are many, many more)
3. Most of the types are borrowed from pokemon (standard = normal, flame/fire, plant/grass, insect/bug, ice, dragon, steel, ghost, earth/ground, stone/rock, air/flying, poison, fighting) with only sound, undead, shadow, holy and magic being actually unique to manamon.
4. The story type/journey type is the same. Wanting to be th
e best, an adolescent goes on a journey of self-discovery, toppling an evil organization in the process and facing a number of powerful leaders in order to reach his goal.
5. The battle type is essentially the same. Manamon uses six-on-six battles in a way that pokemon doesn't, and the sheer chaos that results is probably the reason why pokemon wisely stayed away from this. Otherwise though, the potential for having more than two types is a slight refresher, but even the term "super-effective damage" is ripped straight out of pokemon.
6. The way you catch manamon is the same as the way you catch pokemon. There are mystical/mythical creatures in both games. Both games have strikingly similar item lists. Both games have a nearly identical afflictions list (except that in manamon, attract is basically replaced with horrify, and in manamon, being paralyzed does nothing to your speed stat, while being scorched is more deadly but doesn't cut your attack.
I have played pokemon games, beaten almost ten of them with minimal sighted assistance, and I know what I'm talking about. The similarities are really quite staggering.
I didn't buy this game because it's new under the sun. It isn't. I didn't buy this game because it was going to blow my head off as far as balancing and development goes. It hasn't, and I knew it wouldn't when I bought the thing. I bought it because I am, or at least was, quite the pokemon fan, and this was a pokemon clone I knew I could happily sink my teeth into. And I did. I had fun for a couple of months. I wrote a guide. I know more about the game than most players, I'd warrant. But I have no illusions. I was playing a pokemon clone, and that's why I enjoyed it. That's why I griped at the scaled battles, the Irroadium fight, and a couple of other mechanics I still don't much care for. The game is so, so pokemon-like, that when it occasionally throws a curve ball someplace, it's jarring.
This does not mean manamon is a bad game. It's all up to taste. If you don't know whether it's worth buying, ask yourself if you want to play a pokemon clone. If you don't, then don't buy manamon. If you do, then you'll probably love it. Iffy balance questions aside, the game is really quite good, considering where it came from.
I am not challenging anyone's right to enjoy the game. I am not trying to tear down VG Storm in the slightest. I'm just calling a spade a spade. When something looks like a duck, walks like a duck, quacks like a duck, and in almost every way imaginable behaves like a duck...well, comparisons to ducks are going to be made, and they're going to be accurate. Instead of trying ineffectually to rail against them, just accept them for what they are and enjoy the game. That's what I did.
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