Secret of Mana (SNES)

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VideoGameCritic
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Secret of Mana (SNES)

Postby VideoGameCritic » April 11th, 2018, 9:15 pm

Per the recommendation of readers, I got a copy of the Secret of Mana off ebay! Just started playing it. Charming game. Really pretty graphics with a lot of flowers that's perfect for Spring. Love that Water Palace. The music is quite good too. Still getting acquainted with the user interface. The game is a lot more Zelda-esque with more live action than I expected. Guess I'll be playing this over the next few weeks/months.

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ptdebate
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Re: Secret of Mana (SNES)

Postby ptdebate » April 25th, 2018, 9:00 pm

Secret of Mana is such a beautiful and charming game. The remake on PS4 unfortunately is a bit dull. Glad you're enjoying the original. If you still wanna try the remake for comparison's sake, I'd recommend "renting" it from Gamestop to see how you like it first.

Sonicx9
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Re: Secret of Mana (SNES)

Postby Sonicx9 » April 26th, 2018, 8:27 pm

ptdebate wrote:Secret of Mana is such a beautiful and charming game. The remake on PS4 unfortunately is a bit dull. Glad you're enjoying the original. If you still wanna try the remake for comparison's sake, I'd recommend "renting" it from Gamestop to see how you like it first.

Or for critics case wait till a Switch port comes out as the PS4 version also includes PC and Vita have bugs at launch. And the late switch version will be all fixed up along with the costume DLC baked in.

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Retrology
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Re: Secret of Mana (SNES)

Postby Retrology » March 15th, 2020, 1:31 am

Just started playing this game for the first time in a while. Never got around to making much progress before but this time I’ve gotten past that annoyingly hard tiger boss. Took a while to get used to the interface but I like it a lot.

I’m not the biggest fan of the limited amount of health/cups of wishes (revival), but perhaps that’s because I’ve been spoiled by Chrono Trigger. Collision detection isn’t perfect either. But so far this is really addicting and I really enjoy seeing what happens next. Graphics are great, music is sensational, and the game just has a nice balance of RPG action where you must use patience to increase your attacks.

Zack Burner
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Re: Secret of Mana (SNES)

Postby Zack Burner » March 15th, 2020, 7:42 am

Glad you got a copy Critic! You'll love it, guaranteed! I'm even grateful it got included on the SNES Classic Edition too! The coop mode along with Zelda style gameplay was what made it so great, the music was beautifully orchestrated (Thank the always great Nobuo Uematsu for that). Without revealing anything, I will say you get hooked on the storyline though the ending might have you tears a bit.

Lucifixion
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Re: Secret of Mana (SNES)

Postby Lucifixion » March 15th, 2020, 11:03 am

Zack Burner wrote:...the music was beautifully orchestrated (Thank the always great Nobuo Uematsu for that)


The music was not done by Uematsu in Secret of Mana. Hiroki Kikuta was the composer and producer. Excellent music nonetheless.

TheEagleXIII
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Re: Secret of Mana (SNES)

Postby TheEagleXIII » March 15th, 2020, 3:17 pm

I scroll past this often on my mini but never commit to trying it. As someone who's only dabbled here and there in classic RGPs (and is only really just starting to explore and appreciate the genre), how high up my list should I place checking this out?

strat
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Re: Secret of Mana (SNES)

Postby strat » March 15th, 2020, 4:17 pm

how high up my list should I place checking this out?


SoM is basically a Zelda/Final Fantasy hybrid. You move around and literally hit the enemies but the outcome is still determined by stats - the characters randomly dodge melee attacks and spells will always pause the action and hit the target. It requires a lot less dexterity than Zelda as opposed to typical RPG level grinding and resource management. If it was just a list of features the game would fall short of both Zelda: LTTP and Final Fantasy VI but it's still its own unique thing and a really great playthrough. (Except for how you have to grind out weapon and magic skill levels but there're some ways to speed that up.) If you're getting into Squaresoft's SNES catalog it should be pretty high up there.

Bonus points if you've got someone to play with because it's three-player co-op. Which can be a pain because no one can move the screen alone.

Trials of Mana ("Secret of Mana 2") is also great but I prefer SoM.

goldenband
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Re: Secret of Mana (SNES)

Postby goldenband » March 16th, 2020, 12:02 am

Beautiful game, Secret of Mana. Surprised we haven't seen a review yet, given the Critic's initial enthusiasm for it?

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Re: Secret of Mana (SNES)

Postby VideoGameCritic » March 16th, 2020, 6:09 am

I just resumed playing it!! Got a lot more time on my hands all the sudden.
Stay tuned.


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