Square Enix's upcoming action RPG was alive and completely playable in English on the show floor. The game, as you may or may not already know, is a complete remake, and I want to emphasize "complete," of the original Seiken Densetsu, aka Final Fantasy Adventure.

From the time you turn on the GBA and see the beautiful Sword of Mana logo and hear the incredibly remade opening theme, you get a sense that you're in for quite a ride. Once the game begins, you get to sit back and hear about 10 minutes worth of backstory, something entirely lacking in the original. New characters are introduced, and all of the existing characters are greatly expanded upon. The Dark Lord is a great orator in this game, and his speeches are fully insinuated with evil. In this game, the empire is after what they call the "Mana Cultists," and they desire to destroy, not protect, the Mana Goddess.

The gameplay is just as modified as the story. The ring system that has become a staple in the Mana series has been implemented in the game. Comparatively to Final Fantasy Adventure, there are many times more weapons available to the player, from claws to swords to javelins. Magic is expanded, as well. No longer is the player limited to a tiny library of spells; in this version the Mana Spirit system of the other Seiken Densetsu games has been added.

Las but not least, I want to talk about the music. I've always been a fan of Kenji Ito, and I loved the original Game Boy music for Final Fantasy Adventure. The music in Sword of Mana is exponentially better, and I could not prevent the absolute nostalgia that overtook me once I was finished playing the unfortunately short demo they had available. Look forward to the game being released in English by the end of the year.