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Many an odd game have I come across in my many years of gaming. I would categorize Legend of Mana as odd. The odd thing, however, is that the oddities of Legend of Mana are what make it an attractive game! The characters that inhabit the world of Fa'Diel are among the strangest ever. An Australian-accented teapot? An onion warrior? A fortune-telling fruit basket? Absurd!
Did I just completely miss the game's plot? Probably not, considering that Legend of Mana isn't concerned with a main plot or goal. It consists of dozens and dozens of little side stories and mini- quests. That's the idea behind Legend of Mana. You start out in a barren world and gradually build it by way of artifacts, which you choose to place on the game map and will become a new town or city or quest or environment. Soon enough, Fa'Diel transforms into a busy, populated world with many inhabitants. Creepy inhabitants, but inhabitants none the less. For this reason, one can expect the game to begin at a very slow pace, gradually increasing in momentum. You're sort of rushed into the uncanny world of Fa'Diel from the start without much direction.
The dialogue in Legend of Mana is simply vague. Sort of like Final Fantasy VII. There's seemingly no effort to localize the game for more understanding. You'll often hear something from a character you're interacting with and find it hard to understand. Characters will just say "BOOOM!" or something vague for no apparent reason.
The backdrops and sprites in Legend of Mana are fantastic. Characters, especially bosses and larger sprites like your Mana Tree, are awe-inspiring. The environments are done quite well, also. There's not much to say of the music... sound effects sometimes seem unfitting or 16 bit-ishy.
The bottom line is that Legend of Mana, though an attractive and fun game, is definitely not for all gamers. If you were expecting something wholesome similar to Secret of Mana or Seiken Densetsu III, think again. The truth is that Legend of Mana is far from similar to past games in the series. If you are not a deep RPG enthusiast, I doubt you'll appreciate the quirks of Legend of Mana. There are a lot of "what the hell!"s and "What the fuck does that mean"s that go hand and hand with this game. You'll have to learn to appreciate the oddities that comes along with Legend of Mana to truly enjoy it.