Re: Return to the world of Manamon in Manamon 2: The Eternal Requiem
There are some huge spoilers for everything from the beginning to mid-late-ish game in this post. Read at your own peril.
First of all, color me impressed. Manamon II feels like an objective improvement from manamon i. The mechanics are familiar but play more smoothly, there are more tools to make everything more convenient. The point distribution plan, for example, and the easier access to tonics, and the simplification of training point earning were all very satisfying to the munchkin in me.
Many of the manamon I’ve experimented so far appear to be--if not always amazing--at least usable with a little work, items, and sometimes some compromise. It’s clear more thought went into the balancing of movesets and types the second time around. Moves especially: eclipse rocket, geocombat, terramagma, elemental assault, combat sonata, etc. are pretty cool and different.
Sure maybe the game could do with some basic grammar checking, but there are parts that actually read surprisingly well. The simulation arc was a little tropey, but still a coherent exploration into the ideas of life, loss, and mortality during which your character isn’t a cringingly insensitive jerk. Even at its worst it reads better than Manamon.
Mechanically and content wise I’ve been having a blast. There’s so much to do: side areas and side quests, every boss fight so far has had its own unique twists, and some of the puzzles are really fun and creative. And sometimes frustrating, but that’s part of the experience, so it’s great.
Still, it’s true some grammar checking could be nice and maybe more dialogue trees. I don’t always like playing the good guy, but sometimes, giving players the ability to respond to situations differently can help enrich a story. I’m specifically referring to the Mamia detective stuff. It could be a matter of agency, but it’s always very jarring for me to play a game and have my character do something without my input. That’s great for reading stories, because none of them are the character I’m playing as an interacting in the world in, but not so much for a video game. I could be playing as Blake, the angry manamon trainer, or John, the humble wannabe master chef who’s off on a manamon adventure to learn about cooking customs across the land. It’s a little weird that both would respond to every situation the same way.
An example of where this was done well is at the dark gym. You have options of how to explain your original withdrawal, and that was great.
A smaller level cap, or more moves about level 50-ish would be really nice. I haven’t found many manamon that learn moves beyond that point. Though I did enjoy finding the last evolution of the music spider. That was very neat.
Lastly, some questions:
Does symphonid ever learn that cool move its hyper form uses in the jungle? Not the web weaving gimmick. I can't remember what it's called, but the sound for it was something like a piano riff and then a clap of thunder.
And is there a better way to disable the machines binding artisoul at the heart? The game seems to imply the thermos is suboptimal, but will work because you have nothing else, but I’ve looked everywhere in the snow and underground areas and haven’t found anything that might work better. Is that really the only solution?
Thanks!
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