Children of Mana Coming To Europe On January 12

We briefly mentioned this yesterday as part of the Q1 2007 line-up for the DS and Wii, but Nintendo felt the urge to release a more lenghty announcement today, for the upcoming release of Children of Mana in Europe. This latest saga from Square Enix's World of Mana universe will be released for the DS across Europe on January 12, 2007, after having launched in America not long ago. So far, the game hasn't enjoyed a very warm welcome in the West, despite the series' success in Japan - where it's better known as Seiken Densetsu.

The game is set on the island of Illusia where the legendary Mana Tree grows. Ten years ago, chaos almost took over the world of Mana. Legend says, however, that a boy and a girl saved the world using a legendary sword. Now the land is threatened with danger from a most unlikely source, and the "Children of Mana" must rise to defeat evil before it consumes the very heart of their world.

Players must select one of four different characters, Ferrik, Tamber, Poppen or Wanderer, who each have different strengths and weaknesses. Once a character is chosen, players equip them with weapons and magical gems to help them traverse treacherous battlefields and mysterious dungeons. When venturing out of Mana Village, players can be accompanied by one of eight elemental spirits. Each of these spirits have a unique magic power which can be used to assist players in battle. Players can take along Salamander to use blistering fire magic, or Luna to use the arcane powers of the moon - but choose wisely, as each spirit will have a different impact in battle.

One of the key features of Children of Mana is multiplayer mode, where up to four players can play together in the same game (although each player requires a copy of the game) via the Nintendo DS Wireless function. Players can cooperate with each other to defeat powerful enemies, or compete against each other to obtain rare items.

Some screenshots and wallpapers are available for viewing locally.

(N.B. Archive text, links removed)