Efren is G.O.A.T.
Member
Is it true that apparently a lot of content had to be cut from the original script?
Secrets of Mana was released 32 years ago today.
- Thread starter cyberheater
- Start date
SomeNorseGuy
Gold Member
Never got around to finishing this one, it's on the to-play list for my retro handheld. When I get around to it I'll start with the first one for the Gameboy. Patched my Rom with this rom hack Final Fantasy Adventure DX looks fun, then jump into the Snes games (Secret, Trails) after that.
Still undecided if any of the later games and spin-offs is worth adding to the list, guess I'll see after I'm done with the first three.
Still undecided if any of the later games and spin-offs is worth adding to the list, guess I'll see after I'm done with the first three.
Hmm, haven't heard too much about this one. Do you think it would fit into a - of Mana binge? Or better treated as it's own thing?
Unknown Soldier
Member
16 megabytes of memory was a lot in that day and age
Nonehxc
Member
It's like the love child of Chrono Trigger and Secret of Mana.
SomeNorseGuy
Gold Member
That IS high praise.
Dr. Suchong
Member
My second jrpg (after Mystic Quest)
Playing it on Christmas day is one of my fondest memories.
I was utterly awful at jrpgs then, (still am tbh) and it wouldn't be till years later I'd actually finish it properly.
I only remember the Mana beast(?) giving me any trouble.
Stun locking bosses was ridiculously easy.
Beautiful game.
I still find myself humming it's many amazing music pieces.
I'd let my character idle deliberately so I could hear the music properly.
Battle effects would cancel out parts of the music.
Playing it on Christmas day is one of my fondest memories.
I was utterly awful at jrpgs then, (still am tbh) and it wouldn't be till years later I'd actually finish it properly.
I only remember the Mana beast(?) giving me any trouble.
Stun locking bosses was ridiculously easy.
Beautiful game.
I still find myself humming it's many amazing music pieces.
I'd let my character idle deliberately so I could hear the music properly.
Battle effects would cancel out parts of the music.
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My very first JRPG and therefore special to me. I still play it every 2-3 years for nostalgic reasons.
On reddit its probably the number 1 jrpg that people absolutely love to shit on whenever it gets mentioned. Which is wild to me when Secret of Evermore is mentioned and suddenly every single commenter is madly in love with that game. They are clearly not the same, but share tons of similarities. It amazes me when people point out the ring menu as the 'worst menu system ever created' and I ask myself how 7-year old me didnt have issues navigating it.
Many people absolutely hate the fact that you have to wait a few seconds for your weapon to load up. To me it felt like Final Fantasy's ATB system, but instead of waiting for the bars to fill up, you control one character in between and have to navigate around in order not to get hit.
Game clearly has its flaws. Personally I think magic is very unbalanced. Most offensive spells get ridicilously OP quite fast and I always hated the fact that you can spam-kill every single boss once you receive magic. Even as a kid I thought the game needed a cooldown for magic. Most defensive magic felt useless or the spell duration for buffs was too short. Characters getting stuck can be annoying, but I think this is a bit overblown. Happens a handful of times if you pay attention to your surroundings. Still could have been handled way better.
Getting stunlocked by enemies can be super frustrating. If you do always buy best equipment, it shouldnt really happen (I think the werewolves are the biggest threat in the whole game).
There seems to be a misconception of hitboxes online. Apart from a few bosses I am extremely sure that hitboxes are fine. Some enemies do have high evasion and the game doesnt have a good indicator of a miss and somehow this leads to people thinking the hitboxes are broken.
On reddit its probably the number 1 jrpg that people absolutely love to shit on whenever it gets mentioned. Which is wild to me when Secret of Evermore is mentioned and suddenly every single commenter is madly in love with that game. They are clearly not the same, but share tons of similarities. It amazes me when people point out the ring menu as the 'worst menu system ever created' and I ask myself how 7-year old me didnt have issues navigating it.
Many people absolutely hate the fact that you have to wait a few seconds for your weapon to load up. To me it felt like Final Fantasy's ATB system, but instead of waiting for the bars to fill up, you control one character in between and have to navigate around in order not to get hit.
Game clearly has its flaws. Personally I think magic is very unbalanced. Most offensive spells get ridicilously OP quite fast and I always hated the fact that you can spam-kill every single boss once you receive magic. Even as a kid I thought the game needed a cooldown for magic. Most defensive magic felt useless or the spell duration for buffs was too short. Characters getting stuck can be annoying, but I think this is a bit overblown. Happens a handful of times if you pay attention to your surroundings. Still could have been handled way better.
Getting stunlocked by enemies can be super frustrating. If you do always buy best equipment, it shouldnt really happen (I think the werewolves are the biggest threat in the whole game).
There seems to be a misconception of hitboxes online. Apart from a few bosses I am extremely sure that hitboxes are fine. Some enemies do have high evasion and the game doesnt have a good indicator of a miss and somehow this leads to people thinking the hitboxes are broken.
TintoConCasera
I bought a sex doll, but I keep it inflated 100% of the time and use it like a regular wife
Sure! It plays more or less the same as Mana 1, but on a more western setting.
NeoIkaruGAF
Gold Member
Secret of Mana was kinda otherworldly for a European kid, because JRPGs were very few and far between here. This made the game all the more special. It is an incredibly simple, repetitive and bugged game in retrospect, but I didn't know better at the time, so I liked it immensely and it kept me busy for weeks. Its OST is also one of my most listened-to ever. I know virtually every note from it.
Fun fact: the only other true JRPG I had played before SoM was Mystic Quest on the Game Boy, which was called Final Fantasy Adventure in the US. Little did I know that it was actually the first game in the Mana series, and I never connected the dots at the time, even if both stories are all about the Mana Sword.
Fun fact: the only other true JRPG I had played before SoM was Mystic Quest on the Game Boy, which was called Final Fantasy Adventure in the US. Little did I know that it was actually the first game in the Mana series, and I never connected the dots at the time, even if both stories are all about the Mana Sword.
SupaComputa
Member
Apparently 40% ish due to snes-cd not happening. It makes a lot of sense when you think how rushed and bared the game is the farther you get into it.
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Nonehxc
Member
It is.
It's a very good game that didn't get much traction because it was done in the western world, by a fresh team in a fresh subsidiary and saw a limited release in USA and Europe. Came in a beautiful big box with guide and extras, picks things from those two and was a looker and had a lovely dark soundtrack. It's obviously not as good as Secret of Mana or Chrono Trigger but very close.
Those of us who played it when it released have it in high steem, I would say it's Terranigma level, just half a step down from FFVI, Chrono Trigger or Secret of Mana.
Obviousy, if someone is playing it nowadays and jugging FFVI, Terranigma, Illusion of Time, A Link to the Past, Chrono Trigger, Secrets of Mana or Trials of Mana one after the other, well, it's to one's own taste to put it above or below, but being half a step down from a chain of absolute legends isn't bad at all.
For me, the only bad thing about Secret of Evermore is that we got it INSTEAD of Chrono Trigger...but that was Square back then during those years. I always thought it was VERY RETARDED not releasing both Chrono Trigger AND FFVI/III in PAL territory, but probably there were bussiness decissions made about what to release where or not due to Nintendo pulling out of the SNES CD and fucking half the industry with projects already very deep into development, to which Sony happily came to the rescue, so I guess in all that fuckup they chose to concentrate on the upcoming Sony PSX system and fuck those PAL cartridges, fuck those Europeans and fuck Nintendo. We also didn't get Super Mario RPG in Spain.
Luckily, not much later, I was able to play everything with emulators or the PSX FF+CT collection
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SomeNorseGuy
Gold Member
Sounds like it does deserve a place on my must-play list, thanks for the mini review. Much appreciated.It is.
It's a very good game that didn't get much traction because it was done in the western world, by a fresh team in a fresh subsidiary and saw a limited release in USA and Europe. Came in a beautiful big box with guide and extras, picks things from those two and was a looker and had a lovely dark soundtrack. It's obviously not as good as Secret of Mana or Chrono Trigger but very close.
Those of us who played it when it released have it in high steem, I would say it's Terranigma level, just half a step down from FFVI, Chrono Trigger or Secret of Mana.
Obviousy, if someone is playing it nowadays and jugging FFVI, Terranigma, Illusion of Time, A Link to the Past, Chrono Trigger, Secrets of Mana or Trials of Mana one after the other, well, it's to one's own taste to put it above or below, but being half a step down from a chain of absolute legends isn't bad at all.
For me, the only bad thing about Secret of Evermore is that we got it INSTEAD of Chrono Trigger...but that was Square back then during those years. I always thought it was VERY RETARDED not releasing both Chrono Trigger AND FFVI/III in PAL territory, but probably there were bussiness decissions made about what to release where or not due to Nintendo pulling out of the SNES CD and fucking half the industry with projects already very deep into development, to which Sony happily came to the rescue, so I guess in all that fuckup they chose to concentrate on the upcoming Sony PSX system and fuck those PAL cartridges, fuck those Europeans and fuck Nintendo. We also didn't get Super Mario RPG in Spain.
Luckily, not much later, I was able to play everything with emulators or the PSX FF+CT collection
Yeah, I'm Scandinavian so I know all about how many games skipped Europe. And when you top that off with the fact that I was a Sega kid, I do have many holes in my game knowledge. But working my way through retro bangers that I missed at the time and having a blast. Emulators and retro handhelds have been a godsend. Now all I need is a great Dual screen handheld and start working on my NDS/3DD blindspot and I can finally call myself a gamer.
NeoIkaruGAF
Gold Member
It was 16 megaBITS, ie, 2 megabytes.
The largest SNES game to date was 6 megabytes.