Magna Carta: The Tears of Blood Review

Visuals 8/10
Gameplay 6/10
Control 5/10
Sound 6/10
Replay Value  7/10
Impact Rating 7/10
Overall Rating 64/100

Many people have been playing traditional RPG’s for ages using the same old tried and true menu based battle system.  Of course after years and years, sometimes an RPG needs a little bit more flavor, something we have been seeing more and more of in today’s RPG’s.  Magna Carta is the latest attempt at creating a new and unique battle system in the RPG genre.  The big question, does it pay off, or should we stick to what we know, the basics.

The story of Magna Carta revolves around a band of soldiers called The Tears of Blood who are thrust into a war between their race (the humans) and the Yason, a humanoid race with pointy ears.  The Tears of Blood are charged with protecting a group of magi as they cast the forbidden magic to thrust a fatal blow against the Yason, something the group’s leader Calintz would be all too happy to see.  Of course as your journey is just beginning, the forbidden magic fails, and you are almost struck down.  A mysterious woman named Reith who has lost her memory saves your life and the game progresses as you attempt to aid Reith as well as eliminate the Yason and any other threats that may come into view.

As previously mentioned, the game features a brand new style of battle system.  Essentially there is a meter referred to as the leadership bar which will fill up as the battle progresses.  When this bar fills up to the marker, you are able to perform an attack.  Parties consist of a maximum of 3 characters which you can switch between at any time using the L1 and R1 buttons.  Now, attacking is done in a real-time mode in which you can run up to your enemies and then take your swing.  Of course real-time battle systems are nothing new so there is something more.  Once you are ready to attack, you will see a triangle displaying three symbols using a combination of the circle and x icons.  You must then press those keys as they spin and enter the top point.  It sounds fairly complicated but it’s fairly simple once you see it in action.  If you hit all three button presses perfectly you will charge your trinity which can then be used to pump up one attack.

Now to use your moves you require Chi, which is around you in the atmosphere.  There are eight different types which depending on your environment will vary in levels.  As the Chi decreases your attack power will lessen, and if a particular type of Chi is completely drained, you cannot use an attack of that type.  Throughout the world you will find lanterns which you can cast talismans into though which will help you balance the Chi to your favor.

One particularly interesting element is how you unleash new moves.  Essentially to learn new moves you must perform your button presses perfectly.  Once you have done so a few times a new move will be unlocked within your style which can then be used.  Of course each move can only be used once the preceding move has been used from that point forward.  You can also learn a variety of styles through scrolls which you will find throughout your adventures.  A maximum of 4 can be active, but you can equip many and activate and deactivate them as you please.

So that is the battle system in a nutshell.  Sound pretty complicated?  Well not quite as much as it may seem, although it is a little bit overwhelming at first.  The largest issue with the battle system though is that there’s just too much going on.  You have to take Chi into account which is far different than taking care of MP levels in other RPG’s.  You have to make sure you time your button presses correctly or you waste a portion of your leadership bar, completely deplete your trinity, and miss your attack.  That’s a lot to beat you over the head with for pressing x half a second early.

In the end the battle system is a mixed affair which offers some interesting new elements but penalizes you too heavily for your misdeeds and often times isn’t rewarding enough such as a fully charged trinity which will only double your attack power for one attack despite taking 20 perfect attacks to perform without missing a single time.  A little bit of polish, a bit more Chi floating throughout the environment and the battle system could take shape quite nicely.

When traversing the outside world the game also has its share of issues.  There are two different stances you can take a running stance and a detection stance.  When in detection you have a wide field of vision and when you approach an enemy can strike your sword at it for the preemptive strike in battle.  The downside is that you movie slowly when on the field…VERY slowly.  In the run mode, your field of vision is miniscule and enemies can surprise attack you at any time.  Basically the end result is a game that forces you to use the detection mode, traversing the world extremely slowly as to avoid getting taken out by weak enemies.  One nice feature of world travel though is the ability to rest.  You can press the square button to kneel which will slowly rejuvenate the party’s health levels.  Of course if an enemy is around and encounters you, a surprise attack will be made.

Graphically the game is quite stunning.  Environments are lush and detailed, with lots going on when you enter areas such as towns.  What doesn’t make a lot of sense graphically though are the character models.  They are decently detailed, but the fashion choices are completely baffling.  For the first portion of the game until I heard the Calintz speak I was convinced he was a girl.  Other characters will offer this same feeling of confusion.  The only way to really tell in the end is those well endowed in the chest area are the women in the game.  Of course as long as you can get over this somewhat distracting issue, the games graphics offer a solid look at what a realistic RPG can be on the PS2.

Control in the game is fairly weak for a couple of reasons.  When on the world map, the game does not give you any form of camera system, instead relying on preset camera angles which just don’t always work.  Oftentimes you will fight with your controller as you pop in and out of the same screen because in one camera angle you walk upwards and the next downwards.  The battle control is just as bad if for a worse reason.  Once again there is no camera control in battle.  What’s worse is the enemies are completely off screen when the battle begins.  Generally you can just run in the direction your party is looking, but sometimes the enemies just won’t be around and you will find yourself wondering where they are until they take a few strikes at your party.  Although the general control of your characters when you aren’t dealing with the camera is decent, the camera issues really do create a huge set of problems and completely pulls you out of the experience Magna Carta is trying to pull you into.

When looking at the sound in Magna Carta you have both good and bad.  The actual music in the game is fairly fresh and can actually be invigorating at times during battle.  The music could use a bit more variation throughout areas, but overall the compositions do a good job of making you feel you are in this world at war.  The other side of things is the voice work which is absolutely terrible especially in the many flashback scenes you will encounter.  A couple of the voice actors aren’t too bad but they are hard to spot appreciate when you have to deal with the horrid voices of others.

Magna Carta is yet again another RPG with tons of potential, but a few rather large issues prevent it from being great.  Tag on the fact that the game takes quite a while to really get itself going and you end up with a product you really wish was going to be great yet the more you nurture it, the less you really seem to get back.  In the end, I think I’ll take my RPG’s plain, menu based, and simple.  Hopefully the next installment of the series can change my mind.

BEST FEATURE – An attempt at a new battle system which may eventually be great

WORST FEATURE – The lack of a good camera system

Paul Nunes, Gaming-Media Staff