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MagnaCarta 2 Review for Xbox 360

MagnaCarta 2 Review for Xbox 360

Beautifully Bland Adventure

Experiencing the rapture of getting lost in plots of turmoil set in a gripping, epic world of magic, fantasy, and machinery for the first time can be a wondrous event. The most masterful RPGs will draw you into their depths for many hours at a time and leave you not wanting to hit the power button at the end of the day. But having slain countless demons, grinded through thousands of dungeons, and cast more spells than I care to admit over the years, it’s increasingly difficult to recapture the sense of wonder those first tentative adventures evoked.

MagnaCarta 2 screenshot

Though MagnaCarta 2 weaves an entirely new plot that doesn’t require owning the previous games to get the gist of, many aspects of this lengthy JRPG smack of familiarity. The tale kicks off by introducing a young man named Juto who has lost his memory and inexplicably can’t bring himself to pick up a sword. How unfortunate, considering the small village he’s settled into is caught up in the middle of a massive civil war between opposing armies on the Lanzheim Continent. When the town is razed and ill befalls Juto’s sister-like mentor, he quickly overcomes his fear of weaponry and sets out for revenge. To this aim, he winds up joining a young princess and her special contingent of warriors who are leading the charge against the evil forces bent on conquering the land. In true JRPG fashion, the nitty-gritty details of the conflict are far more complex and thick to penetrate until you’ve spent some time in this fantasy world

It takes a little while to learn the ropes in the first stretch of the game, but soon after you’ll control Juto and his companions as they plow through their war-strewn lands in an attempt to gain the upper hand in the conflict and settle personal vendettas. Your party starts out with a mix of combat-heavy characters like the hulking, axe-wielding humanoid Argo and elemental magic users like the bratty fire wizard Crocell. Others also come and go during the adventure. You can switch between anyone in your party on the fly during battle, which plays very heavily into the game’s innovative combat system.

MagnaCarta 2 screenshot

The complexities of MagnaCarta 2’s battle system are initially tricky to grasp. However, once you get used to it, combat quickly stands out as one of the game’s selling points. While adventuring around the beautifully detailed map environments in third-person, other part members will tag along behind you. As you approach enemies, a single button tap sets your entire party into attack mode. This slows your movement and lets you lock onto enemies to deliver blows and fire off special abilities, although you can always tap L to stow your weapons and return to the adventuring mode for a haste retreat. The transition back and forth is seamless.

Attacking opponents drains your stamina, and pushing yourself too hard initiates an overdrive mode that lets you deliver another round of quick, power attacks before becoming exhausted and temporarily unable to function. Using a special move at the tail of the overdrive and then immediately switching to another character passes on the overdrive to them, and you can chain attacks together this way to create powerful combos. If your timing is off, you can also risk exhausting multiple party members at once, which can spell big trouble in the middle of a larger fight. In practice, the chaining and combo features really add to the dynamic nature of the battle system.

MagnaCarta 2 screenshot

Unfortunately, other areas of the gameplay don’t venture far off the beaten path of tried-and-true RPG tenets. Slotted weapons can be outfitted with gem-like Kamonds that boost stats and add other unique properties to your attacks, and skill points are spent on an ability tree to unlock special powers and bump up stats. Yes, more than a few of MagnaCarta 2’s tricks seem to be torn out of the pages of the good book of Final Fantasy. You’ll also find rote optional side-quests aplenty that send you out to kill a certain number of specific enemies, collecting random things, and deliver stuff to people, among other tedious tasks. It’s not that any of these elements are poorly implemented; like much of the mechanics and features found in the game, they’re just not particularly new or interesting.

Despite its often uninspiring plot and its clinginess to cut-and-paste RPG standards, this game is definitely a looker. Korean artist Hyung-Tae Kim’s character designs are spectacular, breathing a lot of visual life and personality into the protagonists and villains. Though they’re not quite as captivating, the environments vary nicely and locations are packed with some impressive design flourishes. Additionally, the cinematic cutscenes are absolutely gorgeous. You’ll have to put up with a bunch of spiky hair androgynous riffraff throughout the game, but these stunning animations almost make up for it.

MagnaCarta 2 screenshot

During important character dialogue sequences, the conversing characters appear in full detail in the foreground while the in-game scene is blurred out slightly in the background. This stylish approach is a big step up from simple text and talking heads that’s common in the genre. Dialogue is hit-or-miss. The voice work is tolerable at some moments, but it often comes across as over acted and awkwardly cheesy.

For all of its beauty and complexity, MagnaCarta 2 borrows so heavily from many overused RPG elements and clichés that the truly intriguing and fresh aspects of this grand journey don’t shine nearly as brightly as they should. A fulfilling combat system and slick visuals certainly make the experience more enjoyable, though they’re not enough to tip the scale.

All these niggling factors amount to a solid game that’s just nowhere near as exciting you want it to be. By failing to really set itself apart and stand out from other major RPGs, MagnaCarta 2 risks being lost in the shuffle. There are better RPGs out there and there are worse. That’s the problem.

RATING OUT OF 5 RATING DESCRIPTION 4.5 Graphics
Stunning cutscenes, excellent character designs, and varied environments make for some pretty adventuring. 3.7 Control
Juggling combat is tricky at first, but it gets easier with practice. 3.5 Music / Sound FX / Voice Acting
Nice musical score and atmosphere. Voice acting is overdramatic and irritating at times. 3.7 Play Value
A solid and lengthy RPG experience that just feels like it takes the well-worn path rather than trailblazing a better one. 3.8 Overall Rating – Good
Not an average. See Rating legend above for a final score breakdown.

Game Features:

  • Unparalleled graphics: Beautifully detailed graphics powered by the Unreal Engine 3.
  • Deep storyline: Original storyline driven by intense themes of love, war, politics, sacrifice and the ultimate question of choosing one’s own fate told through beautifully rendered CGI cut-scenes.
  • Dynamic battle system: A fresh twist on combat that combines strategic turn-based battle concepts and real time gameplay that seamlessly blends world navigation and fighting without any load times or interruptions.
  • Unique visual style: A stunning and distinctive photo-realistic manga style with character designs by famed Korean artist Hyung-Tae Kim.

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