Dawn of Mana PlayStation 2
Dawn of Mana Image
Metascore
57

Mixed or average reviews - based on 27 Critics What's this?

User Score
6.1

Mixed or average reviews- based on 8 Ratings

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  • Summary: Dawn of Mana, the first true Mana sequel in a decade, reveals the origins of the legend behind the Mana Tree and the Sword of Mana. Breaking the series' 2D mould, Dawn of Mana brings the world of Mana to three-dimensional life while preserving the atmosphere that fans have come to know and love. Players can see for themselves how vividly characters and monsters move about these new yet familiar surroundings. This instalment of the Mana is a true action-adventure, with sweeping plains and mountains stretching as far as the eye can see. It's a world ripe for adventure! A World of Sensation: "Touch" is the theme of Dawn of Mana's world. You can virtually feel realistically rendered, lifelike objects. [Square Enix]… Expand

Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 2 out of 27
  2. Mixed: 16 out of 27
  3. Negative: 9 out of 27
  1. Play Magazine
    80
    Generally speaking, if you like exploration, platforming, physics-based action and a good puzzle, this is as fresh an action-adventure as you're going to find, and the character designs are nothing short of perfection. [June 2007, p.79]
    All this publication's reviews
  2. TotalPlayStation
    70
    Dawn of Mana isn't a complete failure as a game, it's just not what most people were hoping for from a proper 3D update. The concepts here were novel, but the execution of the main game still leaves something to be desired.
  3. GameZone
    67
    Dawn of Mana tries to bring something fresh and interesting but fails to recapture the magic of the classic that lit up our old Super NES consoles.
  4. GameShark
    58
    Dawn of Mana is an interesting action role-playing game that suffers from the same problems that Square Enix's Brave Fencer Musashi for the PS2 had - an unruly camera that is counter-productive to what the player is trying to accomplish.
  5. GamePro
    55
    Hardcore franchise fans will no doubt want to play it because the story line does fill in some interesting gaps in the Mana universe's history, but this one's a rental at best. [June 2007, p.85]
  6. GameCritics
    45
    Plunder-by-panic and slippery experience points are intriguing, but these innovations fall flat without solid, bug-free foundations to support them.
  7. GamesRadar
    30
    Nostalgic music and consistent art direction can't save a game from crippled controls, a mulish camera, and painfully tiresome reptition. Dawn of Mana is ultimately remarkable only for being such a bitter disappointment.

See all 27 Critic Reviews

User Reviews

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Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 1 out of 3
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 3
  3. Negative: 2 out of 3
  1. JamesT.
    Sep 14, 2008
    10
    Severely underrated and needlessly bashed by incomprehensive reviewers and infuriated series fans alike, Dawn of Mana is one of those games you have to invest all your love on to be able to crack the "bad reviews" armos and see it for what it actually is: a good platform game.… Expand
  2. TheQuietGamer
    Feb 20, 2011
    3
    The problems with this game are the terrible controls, and the awful camera, the graphics are ok, the sound effects are ok, but the voice acting is terrible, and the story is crappy, and to top it all off it has a flawed leveling up system which can make this a pain, this is one I would recommend avoiding.… Expand
  3. NicholasF
    May 30, 2009
    0
    Stay Away! Worse game in the series, bar none! This is not a Mana game despite them numbering it so in Japan.