Mana Gets A Release Date In Japan

Square Enix today announced that the latest chapter in their long-running Seiken Densetsu series (known better as Secret of Mana in the US) titled, Seiken Densetsu DS: Children of Mana will be ready for release early next year on February 23 at a price of 4800 yen (about $42).

Its been around two years since the last installment in the series was released in Japan, so there has definately been some heavy coverage of this game in magazines like Famitsu and others. While Children of Mana is an all new installment, it apparently does have a relation with the original Game Boy title (released in the US as Final Fantasy Adventure and later remade for the Game Boy Advance as Sword of Mana), though what exactly is not clear at this moment.

The games’ storyline will naturally be similar to others in the series as there will of course be a giant tree of the ever-powerful life force “Mana” and some plot to use that power for evil and so on. The game will take place on the island of Illusia and will star three characters. The young swordsman Frick, a boy named Pop, and a girl dancer named Tumble.

Fans of the series can be reassured that some top talent is hard at work developing this title, such as Producer Kouichi Ishii, who has worked on previous Seiken Densetsu titles, as well as Final Fantasy I, II, III, and XI. The game’s scenario is being handled by Masahito Katou (Chrono Trigger, Chrono Cross, Xenogears), with character designs by Nao Ikeda (Seiken Densetsu: Legend of Mana, Final Fantasy Tactics Advance). Kenji Ito (Romancing Saga series) will be serving as the game’s music producer, with assistance provided by Masaharu Iwata (Fantasy Zone, Ogre Battle) and Takayuki Aihara (Ridge Racer series, Soul Edge).

Another nice detail about the game is that it will include some animated sequences produced by the very prestigious Production IG who, in addition to working on film and TV properties such as Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex and Quentin Tarantino’s Kill Bill Vol. 1, has developed many sequences for other high profile games such as Tales of Symphonia and Namco x Capcom.

There is no word yet on a US release of this title, but it should be pretty much assured given the popularity of the franchise over here. It’s also very likely that Square Enix will wish to show off a demo of the game at next years E3 in May. Whenever we hear more about the game, you can be assured that Advanced Media will keep you informed.you