Welcome to the beginnings of Mana.

Speed Run Rules:

• Completed from a clean save
• Easy Difficulty
• Segmented
• Takes Damage to Save Time

Dawn of Mana (aka Seiken Densetsu 4) is the tellings of the beginning of Mana, as well as the birth of the Mana Goddess. The story is divided into 8 chapters (with a prologue), following a young boy named Keldric (aka Keldy) as he becomes the Hero of Mana. The game features the HAVOK engine, used in other notable games like Kingdom Hearts and Half-Life.

Dawn of Mana is 1 of 3 games in the 'World of Mana' series, which also included Children of Mana and Heroes of Mana for the DS. This game received a lot of scrutany by people (even to the point of calling the game the worst of the World of Mana games), but a lot I feel is unfounded. Personally, I thought Children was the worst of the three, but that's my opinion.

I played starting with a clean memcard, due to fact that medal counts can carry over between games, which would allow me to get extra emblems faster. This is to adhere to SDA's 'Out of the Box' rules.

To assist in verifying, at the beginning and end of every segment (except the end of Chapter 8) I display my current medal count totals to verify I'm not doing anything outside of the run to improve my emblem earning progress. For anybody who's casually watching this run, you can typically skip about the first and last 20-30 seconds of every segment.

Game Information
This section is mainly aimed at those who haven't played Dawn of Mana. In the game, you start out at a set HP, MP, and Strength/Whip Level at the start of every chapter. Medals collected in the prior chapter don't carry over from chapter to chapter, outside of a global count. This global count doesn't boost your stats, but works you towards a goal of certain emblems.

In the game, there are a total of 60 emblems, earned by various means. Most of them require S ranks in various feats, such as kills, overall ranks in the battle arenas, and others. For a first time gamer, the easiest three to get are the three acquired in this run. While all emblems can be acquired by doing a certain task, they can also be bought in the battle arena store (for outrageous prices) and a few can be acquired by getting it as a drop from defeating a rare monster.

Also, you can only equip 2 emblems at the start, but after getting certain amounts of medals, you can eventually be able to equip 5. Emblems give you bonus abilities, ranging from more HP, to breaking through enemy blocks, to being able to hold more hexorbs.

Speaking of hexorbs, there are 8 different hexorbs in the game, one for each of the elemental spirits. Each one has a different element and has a different effect on the enemy. Wisp can blind an enemy, shade can poison them, Luna can confuse them, etc. While pebbles can be fired several in a row (3 to start, more as the whip level increases), hexorbs can only be fired one at a time, and there is a waiting time between shots for the prior hexorb's effect to fade away.

And now...witness the telling of the Dawn of Mana...

Prologue - More Than Friends

The prologue is interesting as it's the only chapter you can't replay, and whose standings aren't recorded in the record stats (Easy as a whole isn't put in the record stats, but prologue isn't listed on any difficulty).

The goal of the prologue is simple: follow a dumb little rabite named Buju, which happens to be Ritzia's pet. Strangely, Keldy is pretty stupid and while being able to outrun him, he doesn't ever seem to make a serious attempt to catch him. Instead, at every stop I simply have to beat up a Mushboom that scares poor Buju. Upon beating it up, Buju makes a happy heart and runs away (again).

Time: 00:02:59

Chapter 1 - A Spirit and a Maiden

1-1
This chapter introduces a technique that I found to give Keldy a boost of speed. I call it the 'Slope Roll Technique' (SRT for short). How it works is that if Keldric is on the edge of a cliff, or a slope moving down, if you execute a roll (L1 + X) at the proper distance, when you roll off the cliff, you'll be thrown forward a short distance at a faster velocity. Sometimes the positioning is picky though, but you'll be seeing (and hearing) this technique a lot in the run.

1-2
Keldy is upgraded from his little stick, to a special sword, sprouted from a seed of the Mana Tree. It also gives him a slingshot, allowing the spitting of unlimited pebbles, and also when found, spirit hexorbs. While the former just does damage, the latter is important as each type of hexorb has special abilities. Interestingly, this is the only time I've been able to get 2 different Elemental Spirit dialogues to overlap (Jinn and Undine).

1-3
Introducted in this section is the young spirit child, Faye. With her appearance, two things can be done. One is magic. Initially at Level 1 magic you can only use Power Up and Aegis, but as you collect MP Medals, her level can increase, allowing for more spells. Also, Faye can communicate with the Mana Spirits, allowing for the first collections of Spirit Hexorbs. Ritzia goes off in a different direction and that path collapses if I go near it, which is why she is no longer following me through this section. I use the Downword Strike technique a lot on long distances (like you see here) for two reasons. One, it makes me fall considerably faster. Two, it prevents Faye from trying to 'save' Keldy after he walks off the ledge.

1-4
As we approach the deepest parts of the level, Ritzia and Keldy finally reunite. But not before Keldy gets dizzy on circular platforms that are controlled by the wind. Luckily the radar keeps me on task. After beating the Du'Bam, I grab an Angel's Grail and head off to the boss.

1-5
Grim Mortifer
Ritzia, being the poor maiden she is, stays up and out of the battlefield (she sits up in the high center section and can be seen under proper conditions). The boss has two primary sections of vulnerability: The tail, and the belly. The easist way to attack him is to hit him with a Gnome Hexorb near the back half of the body, then hitting the tail. I do have to pause once as he becomes invulnerable and dives under the surface of the ground. Otherwise, he falls quickly.

Time: 00:06:54
Current Total Time: 00:09:53

Chapter 2 - Lord of the Forest

2-1
There's one spot early on that, if you play the game, looks like a HUGE shortcut. You see a tree and what looks like a short wall, which behind it leads a path to 2-4. Unfortunately, there seems to be an invisible barrier preventing you from jumping over the wall. Stupid Square Enix. :(

2-2
The demo of this game shows Keldy using the SRT to cross the broken bridge to get to the other side. I have yet to be able to duplicate the technique, so I take the next fastest route, the bridge to the left. There's a third way across, accessible from the river, and while it's more direct then the left bridge (it's just to the right of the broken bridge) it's much more difficult to perform, and also slower due to the number of vertical jumps you need to make. There's a dam to the right of the whole section, which if it was accessable would allow for a great skip straight to 2-4, but alas...Square Enix hates speedrunners taking shortcuts.

2-3
Pretty straight forward, until the end. There are two routes near the end. The lower route leads you through the dam (back in 2-2) to head to 2-4. Or you can slide a large object over and take the upper route, leading to a more direct path to 2-4 (also skipping a cutscene). In comparison, the upper route is considerably shorter, even for the time it takes to drag an object over and make the slightly tricky jump up.

2-4
Since I've taken the upper route in 2-3, I've skipped about one-third of this portion of the chapter. At this point it's pretty much go through the tree fort to reach Treant.

2-5
Ritzia is here, talking with Treant until the Sword of Mana, which is locked inside him, causes him to go mad. Keldy directs Chobee (a Chobin Hood) to take her away from the battle field.

Grim Treant
As expected from a tree, it's very weak to fire. My Salamander Hexorbs, as well as the various Bumpkins floating around, do great damage, but also open up his mouth, allowing me to hit his vulnerable spot. Occasionally, I need to back off from the mouth and hit his roots, as his mouth can become invulnerable to the previous mentioned fire items (why, I don't exactly get). Though I don't like the delay, destroying the roots does allow for more Bumpkins to appear.

Time: 00:07:51
Current Total Time: 00:17:44
New Emblem Acquired: Apprentice Sorcerer (125+ MP Medals) - Boosts staring MP level, and raises it so it always starts on Lv 2 (giving me Purify and Healing Light)

Chapter 3 - The Guardian and Gaia

3-1
Introduced here is the Spirit Wisp (aka Lumina, in past games). Her power here is very helpful for fighting the boss of this level. Shortly after, if you walk around the cliff correctly, it's possible to skip the first dialogue (though skipping it doesn't save time, but it's interesting to pull off). Trying to dodge all the flying objects (which all come from off screen) is difficult to do, since most of the time you don't know they're coming until it's too late. This is the major annoyance of this section. The most common place to get nailed as at the spot where I use the lift stone. I tried to take a difficult shortcut by the Orangepus, but once I fell, I settled for a slightly modified version of it.

3-2
This section requires you to press 4 large switches. This triggers the door to go on to 3-3 (sending a Goblin flying in the process. No, this cutscene isn't skippable). The big dot you see on the radar is actually the boss. You can't kill him, but if you fire a cannon at him and connect, you can earn an Angel's Grail.

3-3
The visit to Shade is required to complete this section. After that, it's an annoying run up the mountainside to reach the mine cart. I need to hit 4 Gob Targets in order to get the special key, but I can't just run down the ride and hit them. They are only vulnerable when the mine cart is around them. I also set the track to take the 'Yellow Route' which puts me closest to the space where the special key is used. The boss reappears here, but can't be hit at all (except by pebbles, but they don't do damage).

3-4
This section is, undoubtably, one of the most confusing sections in the game, due to the level design. Many travelers have gotten lost here. But the key to getting through is to look for the purple stagmites throughout the level. If you find them, you're on track. The Golem Friar near the end has my special key.

3-5
Finally, we've found Gaia. In case you're not familiar with who he is, he's the large stone face and hands that are built into the mountain summit, and also he's protecting the Guardian Beast. He appeared in Legend of Mana under the name Gaeus.

Wyvern
At first I pause, as Gaia always gets the first hit off. The panic time is small, but I get a few hits off and also get my lock established. After that, it's pretty simple on this difficulty: hit with Wisp when he's in the air, let him fall, use Full Tilt (Lv 3 magic spell) for fast, massive damage, rince and repeat. I ended up needing less hexorbs then I expected, due to getting enough MP medals to reach MP Level 4 (refilling my MP level so I can use Full Tilt some more).

Time: 00:16:45
Current Total Time: 00:34:29

Chapter 4 - Ritzia

4-1
I take some time out to attack the bonfires in a couple places in the level, as they give me Salamander Hexorbs, which are very important for the boss fight.

4-2
I take advantage of a VERY difficult shortcut in the beginning of this section. It requires a perfectly performed double jump to the top of a lantern, then jumping off of it to the left across the way. Even if I miss a few times though, it's still faster then taking the normal route through the rear of the ship.

4-3
This section is long, time consuming, and very VERY annoying. The worst section is by far the engine room, which feature Golem Archers on both sides of the room, all aiming for you (with stun-inducing arrows). There's a lot of battling here before I finally rescue Ritzia.

4-4
It's time for everybody's favorite game...ESCORT MISSION! Ritzia, who's gone completely loco (VOICES IN MY HEAD!), is the slowest walker ever. At least she ducks, instead of doing the typical 'since I'm being escorted I have the right to be stupid' mode. The one room early on induces a LOT of lag, and only one enemy carries the key and 15 of them are attacking you at the same time. Lovely. At least at certain points, Ritzia is automatically shoved forward so she doesn't get too far behind. The only time I need to wait is around the elevators. To make matters more interesting, I go around the level in figure-8s. Yes, I'm going around in circles. Lovely level, isn't it? I do stop and take out some of the rations, giving me some Gnome Hexorbs, also important for the boss fight.

4-5
Having reached the boat's deck, Ritzia finally gets smart and returns to the world of sanity. Just in time for her to go run and hide (again).

Stroud
For the first time Dawn of Mana player, this will be probably the hardest fight and first real challenge of the game. Stroud has a very high defense and will block your attacks if you take him head-on (apply directly to the forehead!). So this battle consists of mainly running around, throwing everything including the kitchen sink at him. His primary weakness is fire, which makes stopping to get those Salamander Hexorbs earlier a very smart thing. To make this boss fight more interesting, near the end he decides to clone himself. The clones are more susecptable to fire then the original, which makes them less annoying, at least. Note that the hits to blow up those blue Energy Orbs is intentional, as they put him into a panic for a short time. The damage I take is simply a small sacrifice to be able to hit him.

After the battle in the cutscenes, Keldy is thrown far far away, and Ritzia makes the very irrational 'I'll do anything so please don't kill him' plea. Yeah, I know you're having very naughty thoughts right now. Shame on you.

Time: 00:23:20
Current Total Time: 00:57:49

Chapter 5 - Of Deserts and Friends

5-1
After viewing the title (which includes Lil' Cactus from Legend of Mana) I wander through the desert, running past now Thanatosed versions of monsters you've seen throughout the run so far, as the world has now been consumed with darkness (following the events of the cutscenes at the end of Chapter 4, not shown in this speed run).

5-2
The courtyard has two ways of going through it. One is by getting two standard keys, the other is by getting the special key. Getting the special key is considerably faster and easier. After getting through, I head inside where I wait for the damn doors to open.

5-3
The interior of the castle is a confusing (and annoying) maze. To get through, I need to have that giant thanatos sphere destroyed. To do that, I must find the thanatos cores spread throughout the area, destroy them, then destroy the smaller cores that appear on the ground floor. Once I destroy them all, the lift to continue on is available.

5-4
Nomad District is probably the 2nd most confusing area to navigate in this run.
Much like 5-3, you have to destroy several thanatos cores spread throughout the level. There are no additional smaller cores to destroy though. Trying to find 4 of of the 5 is easy. The last one is tucked away, and the radar is no help at all, with everything smashed together and no indication of height (this would be the first one I destroyed). After that, I simply take the elevators up and go battle the boss.

5-5
Grim Lekius
My once former friend has been possessed by Thanatos and is now my enemy. This fight is difficult because he's extremely fast, and for a portion of the battle he can go invisible (which also removes him from the radar). On higher difficulties, Keldy has a harder time staying locked on when he goes invisible.
However with a good set of ears, you can follow his footsteps. You can also see his shadow too to try to keep him in front of you.

Time: 00:14:36
Current Total Time: 01:12:25
New Emblem Acquired: Novice Swordsman (300+ STR Medals). Boosts attack power.
New Emblem Acquired: Ogre Knight (300+ HP Medals). Boosts starting HP. In order to equip 3 emblems, I need 1000 total medals (HP+MP+STR) which I make...by 14 medals.

Chapter 6 - A Fool and a Sword

6-1
Despite what the strategy guide tells you, the collapsing bridge is very much crossable, if you pay attention. And since it's the fastest route, I take it. After making it across, I have to fight 4 monsters to get 4 keys.

6-2
Now that we've been locked in, it's time to run these bizare gadgets. The only one I really need to activate is the wind panels, via a switch in the basement.
Throughout this section, you may see me stop to destory red flicker clovers. These earn me precious Salamander Hexorbs, one of the two types I need for the boss.

6-3
Now I get to play around on the ferris wheels. Lovely.

6-4
This section will also be the focus of the boss fight later, after we clear out the enemies, which luckily I don't have to do by fighting. I stop often to use my Salamander and Undine Hexorbs on the various vitachokes, which by doing so and then smashing them, earns me precious hexorbs.

6-5
Masked Guru
This battle can be severly dragged out, depending on how well he cooperates, and how much of the floor gets smashed throughout the battle. All the other enemies in 6-4 are gone (hurrah!). Primarily, the battle consists of hitting him with the element opposite his barrier and hitting him when he's vulnerable.
Like Stroud, he is also good at blocking, so chucking garbage at him is a good technique, especially at the final stage of the battle when you return to the summit of the tower.

Time: 00:16:27
Current Total Time: 01:28:52

Chapter 7 - Warriors of Hope

The end of Chapter 6 brought some startling revelations (not shown here due to skipping the cutscenes), and also gave Keldy a new weapon. His sword was enhanced by the sword that the Masked Guru carried, creating a new Sword of Mana. With this, my whip level starts at 2, allowing me to chuck heavier things.

7-1
I wander through a swamp. What, you expect something more detailed? Ok, I jump because walking through water is slow.

7-2
A new type of escort misssion begins here. During 7-2 and 7-3, I'm escorting Watts through the level, fighting tons of monsters. The objective is to defeat all the monsters so Watts stops shooting at them and goes after his real target, the giant walls. So I'm stuck moving to a crawl here. The bridge collapsing slowed me down some, but I got across ahead of Watts.

7-3
At the start, I'm able to get well ahead of Watts to start clearing some of the junk out of the level, but I can't stay ahead of Watts...too much crap here to deal with. The last room in 7-3 is an absolute nightmare as all the enemies cause lag like you wouldn't believe. It's worse on higher difficulties as they throw in even MORE enemies. What was Square Enix thinking?

7-4
7-4 is probably the toughest section here, mainly due to the Thanatos Orcadactyls. You have to beat them to get the keys and they like to sit JUST out of reach. The worst spot is the NW quadrant of the last section where I have to fight two of them, both by jumping off the ledge to get them. Even though I fell once, being able to get each one in one pass is difficult to do in an OOTB speedrun, since I need to get two hits on them.

7-5
Grim Golem Generalissimo
For a big bad tank, this guy is a total pushover compared to the prior bosses. Technically his weakness is Jinn (and the big giant landmines scattered about the area) but Wisp Hexorbs does a damn good job, especially at the start when I use them to take the bridge out. With lots of hexorbs and a well placed Full Tilt, he falls quickly.

Time: 00:33:05
Current Total Time: 02:01:57

Chater 8 - The Great Tree

8-1
Normally to get through this area, all I need is to beat the Grim Golem Centurion to get the special key. However, I detour to get two ordinary keys to use later on. One is aimed for 8-2, the other for 8-5. However, first I'm faced with a mysterious void. Destroying the generator first is key, otherwise enemies just respawn.

8-2
This area has 3 routes: left, right, center. The center is the easiest and shortest route, except for the 'expected' path of getting to the entrance. Luckily, due to my SRT and some button mashing on X to get some extra jumping in, I take a major shortcut by crossing the gap. Getting the keys in 8-1 saves me time by not having to fight a hoard of Golems near the left entrance. Heading through the beehive hallway, the void is required to allow me to open the 2nd gate, and breaking the generator in the 3rd room is required to fully open the 3rd gates to the side rooms. Either one will open the gate to move on, but you only need to do one or the other (these rooms are where you wind up in if you take the left or right entrances in the earlier area).

8-3
While there are several ways through 8-3, the best way is to find up in the center of floor B3. Ending up there allows you to skip the thanatos void that you'd wind up in if you go through the B3 floor in a different location. Then it's simply beating the Gorgon's Eye to get the key, then moving down down DOWWWWWNNNN.

8-4
After beating up a few Golem soldiers, I come face to face with...

Grim Stroud.
While he has new techniques, the basic battle idea has remained the same - chuck the kitchen sink at him. Luckily, I have one additional tool - the lantern. Firing a pebble at it causes it to temporarily blow out - sending Grim Stroud into a panic. Wondering why I wait until the end to grab that Honey Brew? That's because after I beat him, I have to face...

Grim Stroud, Thanatos Version
He's bigger, he's badder, he's determined to kick my ass. The basic strategy to beat him is very simple. Attack him until he draws energy from the 4 Night Towers. At this point, he's invincible. Then work your way up to one of the towers and destroy it (dodging his attacks, primarily Flying Blades). At this point, he goes into panic for 30-60 seconds. After you attack him for a while, he'll draw energy again. After the 3rd tower, he'll remain vulnerable for a longer period of time, though he'll move about the room. Then he'll draw energy from the 4th. One attack that appears near the last part of the battle is Energy Sphere, a very powerful attack that's nearly impossible to avoid. During the last portions of the battle, using Wisp sends him into a panic.

Think the game is over? Not a chance. Notice earlier I mentioned 8-5. I also have that extra key. Well, the REAL final boss appears and I have to go take her on.

8-5
This area is filled with twisted corridors that are hard to walk on. Tack on those giant rolling spheres and you have one fun area. During this section, I need 3 ordinary keys. Getting the first two are easy. The 3rd requires more fighting, however I have that nice leftover extra key from 8-1 and I finally put it to use. Yes, I've had to sit on it the entire level just for this moment. After some conversation, I run into Buju! Yes, that damn little rabite isn't completely worthless plot material after all.

8-6
Does this place look familiar? It should. Yes, I'm wandering back in the area of the game that I started in. I'm even wandering nearly the same exact PATH even. Ironic, isn't it? That I play this game for over 2 hours to end up right back where I started. Though the normal enemies are gone, a lot of grim monsters spawn throughout the level. Each of them only take one hit, and even though I don't have to kill them, I get extra medals (and more importantly, hexorbs), plus I avoid potential damage. After a long journey, we're here...

MEDUSA - THE FINAL BOSS
Yes, the long triumphant journey has reached its peak. Medusa is a boss composed of 3 parts - Blood Serpent, Frost Serpent, and Medusa herself. Medusa intially has a barrier, protecting her from almost all damage. First, you need to take out the serpents by hitting them with the proper elements to panic them. Luckily for us, there's plenty of blue and red crystals around the room. Chucking them (and occasionally using hexorbs) brings them down so I can lay the smackdown on Medusa herself. After an engaging battle, I come out victorious.

Time: 00:30:40
Final Time: 02:32:37

And sadly, per SDA rules all cutscenes that are skippable must be skipped...which cuts out a fantastic ending, including hearing Medusa's dying screams (what you hear right after I beat her is nothing. You should hear the one in the cutscenes when I destroy her).

And now, Mana and the Goddess have been born. So what's in store for me now? New Game+ and the 32 battle arenas.

This run is Copyright (C) 2007 Nicholas 'Sir VG' Hoppe and is allowed for downloading and private viewing. Permissions for hosting this run have been granted to Radix and Speed Demos Archive. Public viewing of this run is prohibited without prior permission from the creator. The selling or distribution of this run for profit in any way, shape, or form including (but not limited to) selling on eBay and television for profit is prohibited without prior permission from the author. The posting of this video on video hosting sites (i.e. YouTube, Google Video, etc) is permitted as long as the video is unmodified and credit is given to the creator. Any violation of the above listed may result in legal action. Dawn of Mana/Seiken Densetsu 4 is Copyright (C) 2007 Square Enix.

Sir VG, signing out.

FIN