Children of Mana for the NDS - New Details!

Japanese gaming magazine Famitsu reveals a ton of new details on the upcoming DS Mana game.

Set on the island of Illuja around the last remaining Mana tree, the game begins with the island suffering a terrible natural disaster. Afterwards, three children, our heroes Frick, Tumble, and Pop gather at the Mana Tree to discover they are the only three survivors.

Frick is a happy young who is no stranger to danger. A couple of years prior to the events of the game, his life is saved by a nomadic swordsman. Influenced by this act, the boy is in training to become a swordsman himself.

Tumble is a young traveling circus girl, who has learnt the complicated arts of dance and tumbling. Both her brother and parents have been killed in the disaster. Pop, meanwhile is a native to the island, though his mother died during childbirth. Living with his father, Pop has grown up to become an impetuous child yearning for adventure.

Children of Mana will retain the Action RPG elements of the previous games in the series, with plenty of different weapons available - including swords, bows, and flails.

Despite a constant flurry of information about the game, Square-Enix are adamant the game is still only 60 percent complete, and won't see a release until Winter 2006 in Japan. When complete, the main game will apparently last between 25 and 30 hours, though there will be several side quests on top of this.