I want to begin and state I’m disappointed with MagnaCarta 2. As an avid critic of story-lines and plot structure for video games, it’s truly sad to see the final results of MagnaCarta 2. In one fell swoop, Softmax, the developer, included every role-playing game cliché in one package. It’s as if they went down the checklist and crossed every cliché they could. Is there an amnesiac lead-character, check. Lead character is off to extract revenge after the death of their mentor, check. Over time, the lead character finds out that only they have the special power to claim victory? Check. Let me introduce you to Juto, our hero for MagnaCarta 2 who unknowingly has been cast in one of the most trivial RPGs of 2009. The original MagnaCarta wasn’t the popular kid its class from the PlayStation 2 era; no, it was somewhat of a misfit that had a small following of fans. Now, back for a second go-around, Softmax has delivered a shallow cookie-cutter RPG for the Xbox 360 that has odd design choices and art.
The side-quests usually revolved around simple fetch quests or killing a set amount of enemies. The main purpose of the side-quests is to tirelessly level up the party. That’s right, players better be prepared to level grind their way till the end of the MagnaCarta 2. This shouldn’t be a problem for role-playing veterans, but when presented with such a sloppy storyline and poor quests, it’s a large setback. There are also mini-games involved for the six party members that join the journey, but they aren’t entertaining by any standards – even if they do expand the background of their pasts. Placed on two discs for the Xbox 360, MagnaCarta 2 is an enduring test of patience. It would’ve been a much more enjoyable title if it was shorter and the twists weren’t as predictable as they were. But not everything is all gloom and doom throughout the 40-hour journey. The combat system is in real-time and it’s to a satisfactory level in comparison to the plot.
Three party members on the battlefield join players as they control one character at a time during their battles. The AI for the teammates is passable – they’ll contribute a good amount of damage in times of need. Players must beware of overheating their characters after attacking too quickly. The best tactic to overcome the heating is to switch between the characters on the fly; powerful combos are easily executed by switching amongst the characters. In addition, players are able to switch up fighting styles by equipping different weapon sets. The visuals of MagnaCarta 2 are an odd beast. The environments are large but lack detail. The characters look all right, but the art style is abnormal with bad proportions for the majority of the characters. Melissa has the shoulders of Brock Lesnar, the breasts of Anna Nicole Smith and the waist of Nicole Ritchie; not necessarily a winning combination of attributes. The enemies that are thrown at the player are repeated too often – so be prepared to fight the same battle but in different instance.
Many of the CGI sequences were blurry to the point that it was difficult to recognize the characters. The camera was a pain as it cut all around the place and shed weird angles on the battlefield. It goes without saying too much that the list of downfalls for the technical department is extensive and utterly inadequate. Lastly, comparable to Final Fantasy 8, the cutscenes for the summons can’t be skipped. At least the loading times are bearable, right? Well, not so fast; that doesn’t make up for the audio. The dialogue is repetitious and doesn’t evoke any emotions to create any concern for the player. So overall, MagnaCarta 2 delivers mixed results all around. The best thing to have coming into MagnaCarta 2 is a lot of patience. There’s an average game behind all the ugly coats of paint slapped onto it. It’s definitely not the best role-playing game for the Xbox 360 nor is it the best eastern RPG on the console. Though, in a time of scarcity, MagnaCarta 2 should find a safe home with a RPG fanatic.
