Secret of Mana was developed and published by Square the SNES and release on October 3rd, 1993. Many would consider this in the as a JRPG camp, and though not entirely wrong, it’s actually more of an action role-playing because of its real-time battle system. In Japan, it was originally released as Seiken Densetsu 2, a sequel to Seiken Densetsu, which was a Gameboy game titled North Final Fantasy Adventure in America and Mystic Quest in Europ. The game itself was created from leftover pieces of a much more ambitious project that was ultimately scrubbed for the limited technology at them. Fun side not the other remaining pieces of that game eventually became Chrono Trigger (video below). The game received considerable acclaim but was never as popular as its counterpart of the time. Because of this, though still a successful game, it is held in many peoples hearts as a “hidden gem” type of game. This game has a huge list of re-releases and remakes found for almost every console created since its inception. which do a great job resolving some of the classic issues that arose from the limited technology of the day

Pros:

The free-roaming and open world combat a Zelda meets the class world exploration of JRPs, AND it’s multiplayer! It’s like someone listened to all the people bashing on the cut/paste dynamics of the classic JRPGs and actually made a game to address their annoyances. I wish I knew of this game as a kid, I would have rubbed it in the face of every person complaining about the similarity in all JRPGs. Rather than the classic turn-based battle system, Secret of Mana features real-time battles with a power/health bar at that bottom instead, which I often forget to check… It’s also has a cool Ring Command menu system, which does everything from magic to items, or equipment, etc. This can be used in the middle of a battle so you can still rock strategy & magic as you would in that classic turned based system. If you are not playing with another person, MULTIPLAYER, your team members Ai control is classicly shitty, but I will argue that for its time it is actually surprisingly decent… at least comparatively. Yes they get stuck, yes they don’t do exactly what you want them to do in battle, but if they get too far away from you, they will dart to you, so you can keep going the way you want and such. The music is pretty great too. In the beginning, there are no major “hits” but as the game gets crazier and crazier it really starts to get a solid chunk of rocking tunes.

Cons:

The worst thing about this game is the hit area of your enemies in combat. You will find your self saying “Come on! I totally hit him!” on a regular basis, when you swing and nothing happens. Sometimes some enemies (specifically) bosses are just outright un-hittable, some purposely designed that way. You know its bad when online guides tell you flat out to just avoid certain enemies. Worst of all, when you can actually hit an enemy it’s hard to find that sweet spot you need to strike because there is no “miss” or anything like that that comes up. Even attacks that do connect don’t always register damage the instant you do them. So If you are pulling off like 2 magic tricks and an attack at the same time on one enemy, you would have to be some kind of a god if you had any idea which number related to which attack. so you just keep swinging like some drugged out beserker and hope that at least some of your attacks are connecting. The Ai does have some of those classic “I’m a stupid video game Ai” moments. Characters don’t attack, they get stuck on something, etc. but it really is fantastic compared to like ANYTHING around this time. Hell, it’s even better than most things being created in the PS2 era. So I would call this more like an inevitable annoyance and just accept the limitations of technology at that time. The unique Ring Command menu system is pretty great but you’re quite limited in it. Which I get from a function standpoint, but individual items cap out at four and though I think hoarding 99 of something is stupid too, four or something is a crazy small amount. Either you run out of all your needed items in like one battle or you might as well just not have them. Also, menu items don’t tell you to want they do, so it’s a bit trial and error at the start of the game to even find out what each thing does… and then you run out… unless, of course, you have a manual or use the internet. Finally, the storyline is a bit lackluster. Your town kicks you out and you are like, whatever, and then you find out your estranged mom is a tree and you’re like “OH MOMMY!” but then she/it dies and you’re like, “I’ll be ok”… things move fast when they shouldn’t and move slow when they shouldn’t if that makes any sense. It’s not bad, just not great.