So I'm doing another Mana game, and
this time it's kind of a secondary.
I'd sort of planned on getting to
Secret of Mana at some point after I'd finished Legend of Mana back
in January of 2013. As with so many things in the years since, I'd
meant to do it sooner than I actually have. After four years of
screwing around, I'm finally getting to it.
One of the bigger reasons behind my
finally getting to this is that I've heard that Square's giving
Secret of Mana an official 3D remake. I'm not sure I would have
known had my brother sent me a text about it. I think it's good that
they're finally doing this, because it's about time they gave a
little love to something other than the Final Fantasy series. Sure,
Final Fantasy has been their money maker for the better part of 30
years now, so it's understandable that it gets the most attention.
On the other hand, though, they also have other games that came out
back in the day that were pretty good too, and it would be nice to
see some of them get remade as well. Perhaps they'll do Crono Trigger
next if this one works out for them.
As for Secret of Mana itself, I do
believe this was the first game in the series released as a Mana
title here in the west, or as a Seiken Densetsu game over in Japan.
If I'm not mistaken, there was also at least one Gameboy title in the
series, released with a Final Fantasy title instead, to test the
waters and see how well a game like it might sell. I think I may
have played that particular one as a rental back when I was in high
school because I had a Gameboy back then and money to throw around
like that. It was a pretty good game, called Final Fantasy
Adventure, I think, but I'll have to look it up again, just to
refresh my memory.
This, like Legend of Mana, and I'm
assuming all the other games in the series, is an Action RPG title,
because it's got an open map with monsters running around like the
Legend of Zelda games, but with well defined experience, leveling,
and magic systems more like what the aforementioned Final Fantasy
games have.
Some of the more interesting aspects of
gameplay, at least in this specific title, are the menu system, which
comes in the form of a ring around each playable character and that
each weapon and/or spell set has its own level set for each character
as well. The only other game I can think of where I know for sure
I've seen this specific combination is Secret of Evermore, which was
a creation of Square's North American unit in the mid 1990s, though
I'm sure I've seen elements in other games as well, be they Mana or
not.
I'm sure this has as much to do with
the limitations of the Super Nintendo as anything, but Secret of Mana
actually has a fairly linear story when compared to Legend, which was
a Playstation entry in the series. This is a good thing because it
might make the game a little easier, but I'm not sure how much. I've
always felt this game did have a fair amount of challenge to it.
The story itself is fairly standard for
the series as well. In a nutshell, it's that there was this evil
empire in the distant past that was using the power of Mana to
subjigate the world through Mana fueled super weapons until the
spirit of Mana itself called forth a hero to destroy the empire's
super fortrice with the Mana Sword and help from several sacred
beasts, and after the final battle, Mana seemed to vanish for ages.
As time passed, Mana started coming back, but so did the evil, and it
all seemed to go unnoticed until some teenager destend to become the
next Mana Hero happened to yank the Sword from the stone it had been
resting in for centuries. It's all very Arthurian, I'm sure, and it
probably fits into other mythoses as well.
As per usual, I'll get more into that
as the game progresses. I'll get started on that soon, though,
because it's late and I need to get some sleep before work. Until
then, stay safe, have fun, keep
gaming, and DFTBA!
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