A fairly solid game from the mana series for the Nintendo DS. Typical hack and slash action-adventure game. I found the magic mechanic a bit clumsy due to the activation time, as well as the weapon special attack activation time feeling too slow. The other issue is being on the DS itself, the small screen is unsatisfying for the size of the stages and how many monsters can be on the screen at once. Progression wise the difficulty curve is fairly flat, with stages getting longer as the game goes on being the only change. Any trouble in progression can be solved with some additonal grinding on an easier level and gear upgrading. The game was short enough that by the time I was getting bored of the gameplay it was over, although I passed on doing a number of the optional side dungeons for each of the magic spirits, so there was still plenty more content if I had felt like continuing. The story was decent, and was in line with the feel of other mana titles. The gem grid system was interesting, and allows for some interesting specialization of specific weapons or magic if so desired, so customizing into a preferred style is possible with some effort.