Support NeoGAF

[Duki]

sd3 is one of the best games ever made

 

[The Return of]

I sadly cannot fucking stand the gameplay of mana games. It always seems like hit detection is off in the games or something.

 

[Dash Kappei]

Awesome OP.
You might want to mention that Secret of Mana has an iPhone port available worldwide.
Btw, I've never played SD3 or any of the Playstation/NDS games, am I missing out?

 

[suikodan]

Played SoMana back in the days, loved it especially when playing 3P at the same time.

I like SD3 but gaming has come a long way since it first came out. The music and gfx are awesome though...

Played Legend when it came out. Found it boring as hell. Never played it again.

Played Sword a bit but it never clicked.

Is the iPhone version of SoM playable with other players?

 

[randomkid]

I have such a fondness for this series, nice thread. Most surprising part is the relative lack of vitriol towards Legend of Mana, usually the way it goes is that Mana fans screech about how it's an affront to the series and Secret of Mana should have been the template and so on. It's only the SUPER DISCERNING GENIUSES like me and Stump who understand it's one of the greatest games ever made.

 

[ReaperXL7]

I have such a fondness for this series, nice thread. Most surprising part is the relative lack of vitriol towards Legend of Mana, usually the way it goes is that Mana fans screech about how it's an affront to the series and Secret of Mana should have been the template and so on. It's only the SUPER DISCERNING GENIUSES like me and Stump who understand it's one of the greatest games ever made.

heh, well Legend of Mana is one of the main reasons I want PS1 support on PSV. I love the first three, but Legend has always been my favorite. I really loved the world building aspect especially, and the music, and the art direction, and many other things about it.

 

[Phat Michael]

Thank you for this thread. Secret of mana is my fave.game in the world and to this day has.the best combination of.gfx, music and gameplay.

The battle system was so much fun and no rpg will ever compete. Ive been clamouring for a 2d hd remake of seiken 2 and 3 with bastion style art...would be incredible.

 

[Ra1den]

I never get far in Secret of Mana whenever I play it. It just doesn't keep my interest. And I normally complete every game I start, even if I'm not overly fond of it. I loved Legend of Mana though.

 

[Mister Zimbu]

Final Fantasy Adventure was really the only game in the series that I liked, but it itself was magnificent. Great (though depressing) story and awesome soundtrack, and gameplay that holds up pretty well for a Zeldalike.

I couldn't get into Secret of Mana or anything after it. The controls and general gameplay of SoM were pretty poor to me.

The game hasn't aged well at all, whereas I could probably fire up FFA today and still have fun playing it.

 

[creid]

Yep,
what was so wrong about SoW to make you hate them so much?

It's not a faithful remake as for example OoT3D but I thought it was quite a nice game when I played it a few years ago.

Dunno why you hate them, most games from them which I played were actually pretty good (never played Sword of Mana).

I found SwoM ugly and not fun. Nostalgia was not coloring my memories of the original, as I had only played the original a couple years before. After that I thought Heroes of Mana & Magical Starsign looked like garbage. London Life was an awfully boring addition to Layton. It also sounds like they did most of the levels for Mario 3D Land, which I thought was mostly boring.

Haven't played Mother 3, but I'm sure it's good because of Itoi, not BB.

 

[thechristoph]

I remember not enjoying Legend of Mana too much... Wasn't it super easy? Like the goal of each stage was to collect a certain number of different fruits?

Sword for GBA was decent, but Children for DS was poor. It could have been better, but (again, if I remember right...) dumping to menus to change your weapons didn't make any sense at all.

 

[Tex117]

Pour one out for Secret of Mana

 

[beril]

Awesome OP.
You might want to mention that Secret of Mana has an iPhone port available worldwide.
Btw, I've never played SD3 or any of the Playstation/NDS games, am I missing out?

It's probably best to mention that version as little as possible; from what I've seen it's a really shoddy port

 

[Orin GA]

WHERE'S MY NINTH SWORD ORB SQUARE?!?!?!

 

[Man God]

Thread went from iOS SoM screenshot to SNES and iOS to now only show SNES. Good idea!

It's still hard to believe that in the era of Mana revival last gen they didn't port over SD3 to something. Would have been incredible on the DS for example with the menus on the bottom screen for easy spell/ability casting.

 

[Orin GA]

Thread went from iOS SoM screenshot to SNES and iOS to now only show SNES. Good idea!

It's still hard to believe that in the era of Mana revival last gen they didn't port over SD3 to something. Would have been incredible on the DS for example with the menus on the bottom screen for easy spell/ability casting.

Id be cool with that if they gave spells cooldowns. That shit was overpowered. (SoM)

 

[SkylineRKR]

I do think SoM and SD3 are better, but I greatly enjoyed LoM.

LoM was ridiculously easy, I really don't think I ever died in that game. But I liked the atmosphere, world building etc. The soundtrack by Shimomura is one of the best out there imho. I felt the story (its in there) was rather good, I thought the Jumi arc was interesting. What LoM could use was somewhat better battle gameplay. I remember it wasn't all that smooth.

 

[ReaperXL7]

Glad to see people are getting enjoyment from the thread.

I'm actually currently contemplating on doing another Retrospective thread for the Saga Series aswell. I know Mana, and Saga are not quite as popular as the larger franchises in the genre(or from Squaresoft), but honestly I always appreciated many of Squares other series just as much, if not more so than the big boys (with some entries).

I wish Square would go back to making JRPGS for the fanbase, rather than chasing groups that don't really seem to care about what they do to begin with. I'm fine with change, but when I look games like LOM with it's non-linear style, or the Saga games in which you could choose between multiple characters, all with their own stories, quests, abilities, etc. It just makes the flaws in games like FF XIII even more noticeable. I don't hate XIII personally, it just does not feel like Final Fantasy to me, I would have even been ok had they just improved about their ideas for XII.

 

[t26]

never play SD3 but spent countless hours with secret of Mana

 

[blanco21]

Sword of Mana is a lot more fun if you never level up your character (you do it manually in the game). Otherwise, its easy and stupid.

 

[PepsimanVsJoe]

May as well leave this here: http://www.extraguy.com/2011/03/legend-of-mana/

There is a point in Legend of Mana when you visit a city where all of the students have boycotted school. The professors continued to teach an empty classroom while all of the children wandered the city, each with their own reasons for truancy. One student in particular put it the most succinctly by saying “When I have a good dream I like to skip school and go for a walk.” Legend of Mana is one of those games where I feel it is better to let the game lead you along, leaving yourself free to make your own adventure.

When somebody picks up an older game (especially an RPG), they feel obligated all too often to sift through mountains of guides in order to complete every last sidequest, own every piece of equipment, and master every ability and tactic. At this point the player is probably better off making a shopping list or finding tasks around the house they can put that surplus of productive energy towards. I won’t dare mention the possibility that the player will miss some item or bit of dialogue that would render their game “incomplete”. This behavior is ultimately self-destructive – why is it videogames should somehow become ruined because the player wasn’t following a guide to the letter?

Legend of Mana is a challenging case because the storyline is not something we have come to expect. It should be seen as any good adventure is, as more about the journey and not the destination. It is little wonder then that players will find themselves disappointed if all they want to know is what happens in the end. In the beginning the Mana tree, the source of all power and emotion, is destroyed and its remnants lost to time and war. As a hero or heroine the player recreates the world and eventually restores the Mana tree to its former glory. That’s the extent of it really. In fact it’s fair to say I just spoiled the ending for everyone who hasn’t played the game. The motives of the hero are never explained, there are no discussions involving the heroine’s past or how much she loved her daddy, and you can bet that the protagonists will play third-party to almost every situation. They’re also not very talkative so don’t expect much in the way of conversation.

The storylines in Legend of Mana are found throughout the game’s 67 quests. New quests are commonly discovered when new lands have been created. These new lands are created through the use of artifacts, which are typically awarded upon completion of quests. It’s a cycle that has been a part of the RPG genre since the dawn of time but it’s not usually so blatant. In other games, killing all of the monsters in a cave would likely cause the guard at the bridge to move away, leaving the path open for the player to reach a new land with new tasks. In this game somebody hands you an object, you place it on the world map, and suddenly you have a new town or dungeon to explore. The stories are best described as poignant. Some are sweet, others bittersweet, and some are just plain sour. There are those times when a quest is resolved and all that is gained is a feeling of emptiness. “Why did things go this way? Did it really matter? Should I have even bothered?” Chances are good that you’ll find yourself dissatisfied with the results of a number of quests and in a way it adds to the appeal of this game. Some quests are part of a larger storyline and it’s up to the player whether they want to continue forward or leave things as they are. There are three main storyline paths to follow and once at least one of those is finished the way opens to the final dungeon.

The game itself is an action-RPG which…well…let me just break it down. All you really need to do is hit the X button until the enemy you’re hitting keels over and coughs up experience gems or items. It’s perfectly possible to beat this game with the absolute bare minimum of strategy, even if that means ignoring the hundreds of skills and weapons that can be attained. There are probably some explanations on how to attain the best weapon or which abilities are the most useful in a guide somewhere but that sort of thing is really only necessary for the two harder difficulties that unlock upon completion. The default setting of this game is so easy that the player should have no problems experimenting with every weapon and ability to find something that suits their style of play.

I can’t stress enough that this game will become a lot less entertaining if the player spends their first time through buried in a guide to figure out the tons of subsystems that go into this game. The combat is exceedingly simplistic but weapon-creation, animal-raising, golem-building, tree-farming, and even the placement of artifacts on the world-map have a guide or three tied to them. A playthrough that doesn’t involve any of the optional aspects of the game will probably run just north of ten hours. At this point the only difference that comes from a guide-based playthrough will be that all of the numbers will be higher.

There is satisfaction to be found in exploring the depths of Legend of Mana but it’s wholly unnecessary. There is the New Game Plus feature which will make for an easy jump into an advanced game so I wouldn’t worry so much about whether or not you’re adequately prepared. One thing to keep in mind is that there is a Little Cactus sitting by your bed. Be sure to talk to him after finishing each quest so he can update his diary. While his notes won’t lead to the discovery of an ultimate weapon, the little green guy will have something remarkable to say once in a while.

This is all tempered by the possibility that the player can easily miss some important quests. Legend of Mana isn’t very good at pointing out when quests are available and sometimes giving the wrong answer in certain situations will lock the player out of a world-changing event. This is a very bad thing as it means the player is all but required to consult a guide as the potential for getting stuck is fairly high. It’s like sneaking a peak inside Pandora’s Box. In the worst-case scenario, the spoiler-free guide that tells the player where to go next to trigger a quest will tempt a player to read a complete explanation of the weapon-building system. Before you know it the entire game is laid bare.

Underneath the gorgeous hand-painted backgrounds and the whimsical and surreal characters lies one of the most infuriatingly complex games in Squaresoft’s library and the people who tamed this beast and lived to write a guide about it probably climbed mountains in their spare time. I can not stress this enough: Ignore the machinations that hold the game together and do your best to enjoy what lies on the surface during your initial adventure.

 

[Dash Kappei]

It's probably best to mention that version as little as possible; from what I've seen it's a really shoddy port

I wouldn't know that, I played the game way back then on my SFC.
Can't be worse than Chrono Trigger's PSX version tho (or is it?) and many played it there for the first time.

 

[ReaperXL7]

So now that the slight drought has begun on PS4 I decided to catch up on some games for my Vita. I started playing through Legend of Mana, and all I can say is this game(thanks to some fantastic art direction) has aged very well. The hit detection is not always the best but other then that Legend remains probably my favorite game in the series.

Its really depressing knowing all of the fantastic games SE brought us in the past, and then watching them turn into the destroyers of dreams.