Game 3 of 7, possibly the best of the series…
I have to say, this is a really beautiful BG
Hmm, I will go with a party of Lise (who I’m calling Luna), Kevin, and Hawk. The story changes depending on who you pick.
You start off in a battle, pretty much. And wow that is a gorgeous view. Great way to start off a game!
They’re pretty expressive too. Characters don’t use facesets really, they use sprite animations and names instead.
And soon after the initial scenes, you’re off fighting to get to your father.
The story changes up a bit depending on who you’re taking as the main character. So you have 6 potential stories. Talk about replay value!
Heelllloooo Angela.
Here is where the fairy is. I’ve come just in time.
Running out of time on the playthrough, and I got my second character. He briefly in a flashback tells about why he’s going on his journey. If you pick him as the lead, his intro will be a more elaborate version of that.

Stats: (At the beginning of the game –> Where I ended)
HP: 87 –> 93
MP: 9 –> 10
PWR: 5 –> 6
Attack: 17 –> 19
DEF: 4 –> 4
WIS: 4 –> 4
AGI: 5 –> 5
Lucre: 110
Ending Level: 2

Spells learned:
None (They don’t until Level 18 anyway)

Party:
Lise, Hawk, did not get far enough to get Kevin

Equipment gained:
None (Rushed past a spear upgrade because I couldn’t afford it)

Went through these areas:
Rolante, Rabite Forest, beginning of the Cave to Wendel
Last goal before time ran out:
Get in the cave of Wendel (just barely made)

Bosses:
Didn’t get far enough

Story learned:
As Lise, you are fighting monsters that are increasing each time. You haven’t seen your brother around, so you go to look. He is deceived by 2 Ninjas, acting as travelling magicians. They use him to turn off the Wind Barrier so the Ninjas invade Rolante and take over. Your father is killed, and Elliot (your brother) is taken by the ninjas. As you have no other place to turn to, you seek answers from the Priest of Wendel. Arriving near Wendel, you find the Beast Kingdom has taken over Jadd. You fall asleep in an Inn in a nearby town, but are awakened by a bright light. This turns out to be a fairy, who is running out of power and needs to get to Wendel. She takes over, and you head to the barrier of Wendel to remove it so you can go in. You meet Hawk, who is also upset at Isabella who took over the Ninjas and placed a curse on his girlfriend.

Notes:
The intro is interactive mostly, unlike Sword of Mana, making it more interesting to go through. The biggest problem is having to wait for the credits in the intro, which is the biggest turnoff for me replaying the game (not that I haven’t replayed it a bunch already). This can’t be skipped, which is silly as the credits can (and do) appear at the end instead. This game had me reaching to screenshot a lot of it, but I had to resist as that’s not what I was playing it for.