Magna Carta: Tears of Blood for PlayStation 2 Reviews by Gamers

Short Version: Nice looking game, bad gameplay mechanics.

Longer Explanation: As a long time fan of Sqaure and Atlus games, I will grant that Magna Carta is a very nice looking game, and clearly lots of time was spent in the development. Even the storyline is not that bad (if you can overlook the American / Native American references viewed through the skewed Japanese telescope). The play, on the other hand, is why I had to put the game down after two hours of play.

Two things stick out (sorely): First, that even though you have three players active on your team, only one (the one you control) is doing anything in combat -- the other two, regardless of how many enemies there are, just sit there until you do something with them. Since Magna Carta uses a battle system similar to the Active Battle systems found in FF games and Star Ocean series, this does not work at all. The reason for having only one character at a time fight revolves around a "chi system" they implemented to encourage, but ultimately, force you to use more than one character per battle. As you use up a character's abilities, all of the surrounded "chi energy" of that style of fighting gets used up and you have to switch to another character who uses another form of chi, otherwise you will run out of attacks very quickly.

The second major flaw in the gameplay comes from the Leadership system that is based off of your Friendship Rating with each person in your party. That's right, it's not enough that they have chosen to fight along your side, you will spend the rest of the game (at every save spot) talking to, and bribing! (with gifts from your inventory) party members so that they will like you!!! With high friendship ratings, your leadership bar is more functional in combat. With lower friendship ratings, you suffer longer wait times in combat unable to attack (with your one character). A poorly chosen way to get you to learn more about each character's background story :(

The developers of this game attempted to do something different by making the game play mechanics of this RPG, button press attacks and spells. If an attack is not timed correctly then you will lose your turn in battle. I enjoyed the game because it was not the typical RPG experience. I did however, at times, find the game play monotonous and boring. i still recommend the game for those who want to try something a little different.