Secret of Mana

1. Vadim666

   Feb 15, 2018

   10

   Great game. Original game is one of my favorites games of all time. Remake is good, but old problems is still here.

   • 17 of 32 users found this helpful
2. YakusokuNoJi

   Jun 17, 2019

   10

   This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. The backlash for this game is ridiculous and just another example of people being heavily influenced by others to hop aboard some anti-hype hype-train.
   Yes, the game does have technical issues, that is correct so far. It has occasional crashes though only 2 ever happened to me and as an auto-save feature is added this should not be that much of a problem. Other technical issues would be a lot more troublesome. For example it still has no smart solution to your companions following you directly related to their own collision detection. But even as far as that goes they still are a step ahead of the SNES version which even made it impossible to move forward the screen when your other characters were stuck. The extra dialogue scenes in the Inns can lead to some time/location inconsistencies but that is really just a minor "issue".
   So what does this game have that a lot do not like?
   It has a brighter colour palette, that is true. That does not really make it worse and is really nothing that has anything other to do than with your visual preference.
   Does it have a remastered soundtrack? Indeed it has. A lot dislike it but there are very nice tracks in it, also the criticism about that gets kind of unnecessary because you can choose between original and remade soundtrack in the game.
   What else does this game have?
   A lot that is simply taken from the original. And what could that be? A lot that people nowadays hate in RPGs and always bring up in their reviews:
   Super linear gameplay. Colour swapped bosses, most bosses can be defeated by magic spamming, even quicker through shortcuts, et cetera.
   Now, I personally have no problem with that but it is interesting to see how that is criticised in other games but not in this one. Why could that be? Because old fans are used to it from the original? What would have happened if that were changed? Would people be angry about elements being removed that they hate so much in other RPGs?
   And this is why a lot of the reviews nowadays one should barely bother to read. I have checked the trophy list. Most people did barely finish 50% of the game. Why? Could they no longer bare the looks or sound of the game? If 50% are already done of a game that they already know so they should know it takes less than 20 hours through the main story, then why not just finish it? Were there so many technical issues occuring at this point that it was no longer an option for them to play the game?
   To me this all seems like the ordinary behaviour of being too influenced by others or they wanted a full-on 3-dimensional Remake. Secret of Mana's Remake has a few hiccups but it definitely compensates for it with what's an RPG really is about: Guiding the player through the narrative. The setting is as nice as it was before, the score is, the atmosphere is. And it greatly improves on a lot of things that were left to be desired in the original. The voice acting also is fine enough, I would say. 99% of the players that hate the remake so much or at least played the original do not even know the Densetsu series but that's another topic.
   
   I finished it tonight and can say - it even with its few smaller problems does enough to show what it is: Secret of Mana. From start to finish.
   
   So my recommendation: Play it, it is worth it, even with a few changes or technical issues.
   
   Oh, and nice try bandwagon jumpers when it comes to the automatic bad ratings. Those are useless however.… Expand

   • 0 of 0 users found this helpful
4. SenseiMiguel

   Sep 1, 2019

   9

   Me encanta esta saga. Me gusto el remake. Me hubiera gustado q las musicas hubieran estado mejor... que eso fue lo que mas me encantaba de laMe encanta esta saga. Me gusto el remake. Me hubiera gustado q las musicas hubieran estado mejor... que eso fue lo que mas me encantaba de la version de snes. No senti esa magia del snes, pero overall.... esta bien hecho. Ahora a esperar Trials of Mana en switch.… Expand

   • 1 of 1 users found this helpful
5. Naedeslus

   Mar 2, 2019

   7

   When I heard that Secret of Mana, one of the first real action RPG's on the SNES was getting remade, I was very excited. I played it when IWhen I heard that Secret of Mana, one of the first real action RPG's on the SNES was getting remade, I was very excited. I played it when I was a child and I loved it. Though, I never beat it I remember renting it off and on and really enjoying what I played. As I grew up, I never got around to playing it even though I wanted to, so the idea of a SNES classic being remade really excited me.
   
   Then I played it.
   
   So, first of all, it's not a horrible remake, after all, I'm giving it a 7/10 so it's not broken or anything like that, the issue is that the game feels very low budget. It's obvious Square Enix must've outsourced most of the work for the remake. The visuals are pretty bad by PS4's standards. While it's most likely just a port from the PS Vita, the problem is the PS Vita itself can do better. The character designs are very low quality. They barely animated and while they probably didn't want to change the original's art style too much, it looks to be very jarring.
   
   The environments are okay. There are some low-quality textures but I found the environments were done well enough. They could've been better, especially some of the grass textures but the one thing the remake does right, visually is the enemy design. It's funny how the characters can look pretty low quality but the enemies somehow look pretty good! I'm not sure why there is a bit of inconsistency with this but it's there. The overall visual design of the locations is nice but had it spent another 3-6 month making the graphics even better it would’ve overall improved the quality of the game. Of course, graphics are not everything but when the original game has better character design you know that the game made a serious error.
   
   One touch I love is how there is a mini-map and the mini-map has the original’s graphics. It’s a neat touch and helps to navigate the environments. You, of course, can turn this off if you don’t like it.
   
   The music is… pretty bad. Thankfully you can play with the original OST, which is a great OST. I highly recommend that. The voice acting is almost Resident Evil 1 ps1 bad. It’s good for a few laughs but I turned it off and thankfully there was that option.
   
   What saves the remake from being a 5 instead of a 7 is the changes they did to the core gameplay. It plays the same, has that meter that you have to get to 100% to do an effective attack but they made some smart changes that really improve the feel of it. There is an autosave feature which is a lifesaver considering that most of the dungeons didn’t have the option to save in them, including a rather long final dungeon and you can map skills to L1 or R1 which helps out a lot in boss fights since magic is the best way to do damage mid-late game.
   
   It still has the quirks where enemies have super high evasion and about 30-40% of your attacks will miss post-mid-game. It’s annoying but once you get in the grove you get used to it. I would’ve loved for an option to decrease this to close to zero because all it does is make combat more annoying than it has to be. It’s something they didn’t change but it is what it is. It would’ve made it better, or at least an item you can equip that would help out with that.
   
   I’ve noticed a lot of reviewers claimed it gets too hard about halfway through. The difficulty does jump up about then, but I didn’t have any trouble. I feel that good advice is to fight most battles and buy the best equipment, spend an hour here or there grinding and you’ll be good to go. At the end of the game I was overpowered, and I just ran from battles in the final dungeon because I knew I’d take on anyone and I was right. It was a cake walk. Of course, if you forget to buy new equipment, it will make it much harder. The plus about this is if you want a challenge, there’s an idea to get one. It felt a bit easy, especially with powering up magic, which is very easy to do.
   
   The story is also improved. There is more dialog added and it works nicely. The original script was fine but I did like what they did to add more character development. It helps. There are these skits whenever you rest in an inn. The problem is that sometimes they’re not synced with what you do. I found myself seeing them talk about an event that happened way before I rested at this inn. A patch to keep them more with what is going on with the plot would work wonders. Not a huge deal but sometimes it’s a bit jarring.
   
   All and all, it’s not a bad remake. I’ve heard people say it ruins the game for them. I don’t see how. If you ask me, if you wanted to try out Secret of Mana, the remake is the best way to do it. Though, there is a problem here.
   
   With how much of a budget title this feels like, I can’t really justify telling someone to spend 40 USD on this. It’s a good game and a good way to play the SNES classic but it’s overpriced. I'd either rent it or wait for a sale. It took me 15 hours to finish it.… Expand

   • 1 of 1 users found this helpful
6. PochoEpic

   Jun 30, 2020

   6

   Los cambios entre la entrega original y la actual entrega de Secret Of Mana son mínimos, siguen los mismos bugs y errores que en la versión deLos cambios entre la entrega original y la actual entrega de Secret Of Mana son mínimos, siguen los mismos bugs y errores que en la versión de Snes, la interfaz del menú es un poco más agradable a la vista, la adición de diálogos con voz le queda bastante bien a la atmósfera del juego, pero en las cinemáticas es extraño escuchar las voces de los personajes y ver que no mueven la boca. Pero dentro de lo positivo, el apartado gráfico es hermoso y colorido, como si estuviésemos jugando un cuento japonés, la jugabilidad al igual que en la Snes es muy adictiva y se siente cómoda a los mandos, en general el soundtrack anda muy bien, además de que podemos seleccionar entre el ost clásico de Super Nintendo o las versiones remasterizadas. Si bien, el juego no se acerca a la nota máxima, si me parece una experiencia entretenida para pasar un par de tardes completando la aventura principal.… Expand

   • 0 of 0 users found this helpful
7. SplitMind

   Apr 5, 2020

   4

   With remakes there comes the opportunity to convert nostalgia into modern-day success without cheaply remaking a near-identical game to theWith remakes there comes the opportunity to convert nostalgia into modern-day success without cheaply remaking a near-identical game to the original. Unfortunately, Secret of Mana on the PS4 appears to be latter.
   The graphics are the most noticeable remade feature. They are far from cutting-edge, but their anime style is charming and full of character. The downside is that they are still quite minimal; character’s mouths don’t move properly when they talk, and the proliferation of loading screens are a bother, in that going from one room to the next requires a black loading screen, as does entering and leaving every single building. They could have worked to make this more fluid like many modern games.
   
   The gameplay is where this gets very divisive for me. Each time you swing your weapon there is a little charge bar on your HUD and you’re encouraged to wait until it reaches 100% before swinging again. Failing to do so results in less damage dealt. This is nice in theory, but in practice it slows combat down greatly and builds frustration. Since this makes up a good 80% of the game, if you don’t like it then it’s going to be a massive problem, as it was for me.
   
   The magic system also has me bewildered, in that just casting two or three spells can often drain my MP, leaving a long stretch until I can get it recharged at the next stop, or a long retreat back to an Inn for a recharge. This seems unbalanced and very monotonous to have to backtrack a lot. The magic was a massive help in counterbalancing the dull combat mechanics, but it falls rather flat instead.
   
   The enemies are also very strange and unpredictable, in that some of them can wipe you out it just a couple of hits, whilst at other times they will wander around as if you don’t exist even though you’re slaughtering them slowly. Some enemies, particularly bosses, can be very unbalanced and spam a high-damage move randomly, making battles a test of luck as opposed to skill.
   
   The story and characters are what you’d expect from any JRPG – good, but in this case not outstanding either, which probably is a sign of how old the original game is. It’s a familiar old trop well-established in games like Zelda; visit all the temples and collect all the power needed to wipe out a final boss.
   
   Unfortunately, this all adds up to make Secret of Mana a rather bland game that sees you tangling with its combat mechanics rather than the game itself. I found myself constantly thinking “hurry up!” as I watched the charge bar reach 100% just so I could swing my sword. This is a common gimmick seen even in SoulsBorne games these days, but it’s not executed well here.
   
   I got this game because I was eager to play Trials of Mana later this year, however that was a bad choice. Unless you have a very good reason to play Secret of Mana, hold off for Trials of Mana. I’ve played the demo and it seems a lot better. They could have done so much to improve this game but took a lazy and cheap option instead.… Expand

   • 1 of 2 users found this helpful
8. Steignov

   Aug 23, 2020

   0

   Of all my 300-400 games, this game is the biggest pile of crap. Studio should be shut down, all employess blacklisted in the industry. WTF?!

   • 0 of 1 users found this helpful

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