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| Atleast the ps4 ''splash page art'' when you boot the game up was nice... |
Developer/publisher: Square Enix.
Platform: PS4/PS5/PC
Release date: 02/15/18.
I only bought this game cuz I saw it for 18$ after I had finished trials of mana
and thought well maybe if I want another traditional rpg adventure? well seems like this game
suits that price just fine, cuz after only 2 hours of play I could only see myself playing this
if I was that bored! turns out it wasn't even that long to finish the main story either as
I clocked out at 12 hours. No I did not finish this game in a single sitting... i'm not that hardcore.
This game was basically another don't judge it by its cover cuz it ain't as cute as it looks...
maybe Monochrome Mobius has turned me into a masochist.😂
Pro's
- Oldschool traditional rpg with a charming cast.
- Skits at the inn were fun to watch!
Con's
- Story is simplistic and leaves a lot open to interpretation.
- Extremely grind oriented but it isn't necessary at all to grind to beat the game.
(It just makes it even easier if you lvl up sprite's magic skills)
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| This game's only charm point were the skits at the inn... |
They're all kind of basic personality and story wise. At inns there may be some fun interactions
before they go to sleep so at the very least this was something that was better than trials of mana.
By the time the game ended, I felt like I only had just become to know them...
and the way it ends doesn't help either so much is hinted but nothing is explained.
Much like trials of mana a lot of things just happen and its so&so do this or go there while
being pretty fast paced but they didn't always give clear direction so a guide is very nice to have.
The gameplay/world design and such definitely had its charms its just... everything else
didn't age well! If you barely saw any skits at the inn its even worse! All in all I am just glad
this game wasn't too long and I got this game out of my backlog!
For the price of 18$ I can recommend it to anyone who wants another oldschool rpg
but keep in mind this game in terms of gameplay did not age well at all.
More rambles after the jump.
which was actually quite smooth, simple and fun. Secret of Mana also tries to be an action rpg
but oddly enough falls into turned based but with free movement all the while enemies
can still hit you. Who in their right minds thought this was going to be fun?!
Attacking is best done when the meter is at 100% which means you'll be doing the most damage!
trying to mash attack will just result in you doing 1 point of damage. The hell??? I thought
this was supposed to be an action game but seems they cranked up the enemies evasion too
so you'll be missing a lot that or you need to hit it from a specific angle.
Basically its like this you attack, then wait a bit then attack again. The meter is a weird ATB guage
but you can freely move during it. Magic/skills seem to hit the player/enemy regardless of where
they are which is just dumb. What's the point of being able to freely move to dodge stuff then?
Everything also stops when a spell is cast as well making it all very jarring, this all may
have been amazing when it first came out but I don't think it lasts the test of time.
The AI did not have a good impression but I thought it was better than trials! cuz if you
keep everyone geared and topped off it'll all be gucchi, sadly the first member that joined
will just get shot to death by archers....... so she was dead till I went to a town.
It got better when she got some exp in her but man... I can see a lot of people quitting early
and not even give this game a chance to explore its system/mechanics.
AI isn't completely useless even if they can get stuck running against walls while exploring.
It just means you ran too fast so they got stuck there trying to catch up!
Most of the game was actually a breeze till wall face which is the only boss in four hours
of play which had a moment of oh this is getting dicey. The jabberwocky boss
could also be a little difficult but as long as you fight enough enemies it'll be easy
as almost every boss you could beat by spamming your strongest spell/whatever it is weak against.
At the end of the day it seems magic is the way to go but it will take a little bit before
you unlock it and even then MP is limited and the items to restore it are rare and expensive
and you have to spam magic in order to lvl it up so it does even more damage.
I'm just glad there was a way to create spell shortcuts cuz if there wasn't i'd have rage quitted.
I would call this game unforgiving like the last game I played but there is an autosave
so if you died in any area you can just load that one and retry from where you entered it
so honestly this game might had a bit of a rough at the start but it wasn't that hard either
its all cuz most of it boils down to spamming a spell and voila.
I didn't like the final fight and think the secret buff's for the hero should just have stayed on
unless he died or something, having to refresh that every time the boss was close was a pain.
Graphics... honestly it was pretty standard, yes its a 3d remake
but it didn't look as good as trials of mana did. Music is well uh just kind of there
I also had to lower the volume since at default it was way too loud.
Final Thoughts!
away from things and have something to keep me busy with.
I wouldn't call this game hard but it isn't exactly easy due to the gameplay systems which
have not aged well at all! they seriously expect players to grind to make things actually useful.
Honestly this game felt like it tried to be a rogue-like but ended up being halfed assed...
I can understand not every attack has to hit but having to switch my weapons or use spells
all the time was pretty clunky as well, atleast you can shortcut two spells at a time.
They also definitely want players to grind out magic or weapon proficiencies
which if you want the platinum on ps4 could take a good while.
Thankfully most bosses seem to be able to be beaten without much grinding
but it might be better to wipe the floor with all the enemies in a location
once or twice so you'll stay ahead of the curve in terms of levels I mean.
Still it felt like most of the random mobs were harder than bosses themselves! all the bosses
(according to guide) all had the same amount of hp, rarely going over 2000hp except at the end.
The story was basic and the pacing was pretty fast, I was appalled at how fast bosses popped up
some didn't even feel like they were bosses so only a few really wowed me. Most of the time
I was just spamming a spell they were weak agaisnt or slash and dodge if magic didn't work.
The only thing I think secret of mana had going for it was the skits when you rest at an inn!
seeing the chara's interact was the most charming part, too bad it doesn't happen a lot.
they were funny and actually sparked some life into the party of which there were only 3...
this made me wish trials of mana also had these skits but I think due to the many variation
of who can tag along in that game it just wasn't feasible/or a priority for the devs.
I do not think you should play this game for the story... but its nice as something
to give your attention too for a little while. Most rpg's nowadays really focus more ondialogue and its characters/story but back in the day they preferred to keep it simple and
to the point! maybe it is because of hardware limitations. Secret of Mana defintiely does
have a story going on but compared to most games its presentation is simplistic
and leaves a lot open to interpretation. It really didn't try too hard at explaining
much that was going on a lot of things just happened and at times they
weren't even clear as to where to go! hench why a guide was an absolute blessing
else I probably would have never finished this game so thank you mister who made the guide.
I think this game can be nice for the price I got it for which was 18$ and if u want
another oldschool rpg or to play through all the mana games... but in terms of gameplay
I vastly preferred trials over secret as whatever this was is just poorly aged.
If you're looking for rpg's with a good plot the mana games ain't it... but it has its charms!
sure there is a story but eh i'm not sure if I can recommend it for that alone.
Not sure if I will ever play legend of mana, speaking from experience it probably
will be more of the same but colour me surprised if it isn't. Due to this game
being the way it is mana games are no longer high on my to play list and I would rather
play an rpg with a story and characters with you know actual dialogue and interactions.
The skits at the inn were its only saving grace... everything else was too fast paced
and barebones that at the end of the day it felt kinda flat to me. Or maybe due to
having played many a game my tastes have already been refined and can not appreciate
this game all that much! No I am not a hater... I liked what I liked... which were the skits.
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