Secret of Mana

1. Burkley

   Feb 19, 2018

   10

   Secret of mana remake is just a nice visual update with the core gameplay still in tact. Love it!

   • 5 of 8 users found this helpful
2. Mstango

   Feb 19, 2018

   10

   Pros
   -Auto Save!
   -Gameplay intact (mostly a good thing) -Adorable Graphics are in Keeping with the original art style -Updated version ofPros
   -Auto Save!
   -Gameplay intact (mostly a good thing)
   -Adorable Graphics are in Keeping with the original art style
   -Updated version of the soundtrack is great
   -The New Minimap is a nice refence, while also being useful
   -Controls Work Fluidly
   -Story is more flushed out
   -Different Weapons actually look different
   -The Dificulty has been rebalenced nicely
   -Several fixes having to do with fake depth and range
   
   Cons
   -Minor Glitches and lag that was not in the original
   -Different Armors still don’t affect the look of the characters
   -They made the save screen kind of boring
   
   Cons (that was an issue with the original too)
   -Combat is Artificially Slow
   -The #&^% Balloon Spell
   
   Some part of me wants to say they didn’t change enough, but on the whole that’s probably a good sign. I highly recommend this game in any form.… Expand

   • 5 of 7 users found this helpful
4. techtronics

   Feb 17, 2018

   10

   Secret of Mana is an amazing take on the old school rpg genre that molded the games we play today, but what makes it stand out in that fashionSecret of Mana is an amazing take on the old school rpg genre that molded the games we play today, but what makes it stand out in that fashion is that it also, for the most part, play as those games did as well. The updated graphics and amazing soundtrack was just what was needed to revive the dying format. This game also provides an entry to the intense rpg genre that frightens most players away from the long playtime required to finish it. Still at being roughly 40 hours long, this game provides a plethora of story. While this game doesn't serve much in the form of cut scenes, the narrative will keep you going for the hours that are up ahead, so keep in mind that a love for reading makes a love for this style of game.… Expand

   • 7 of 10 users found this helpful
5. kuehnau

   Feb 17, 2018

   7

   Secret of Mana (2018) is a remake of a SNES classic from the 90's era of video game. It boasts updated graphics, new audio and even voiceSecret of Mana (2018) is a remake of a SNES classic from the 90's era of video game. It boasts updated graphics, new audio and even voice acting.
   
   For everything the remake of Secret of Mana is, there is a lot it isn't as well. While the game's graphics may have been updated to match a more modern look, the game still largely relies on outdated mechanics from a game that was released 25 years ago.
   
   The combat is clunky as ever. There will be spells and attacks that are completely unavoidable, giving some enemies an unfair advantage. When it comes to boss fights, the area you are given to move around is often times far too small, making it a huge pain in the arse.
   
   The player AI for your companions is just as terrible as they were when the game first launched. Nine out of ten times they are completely worthless and not worth reviving. As the game progresses, they'll unlock useful spells that can help in combat, but considering how clunky the companion mechanics are, it's almost worthless.
   
   The game itself has issues on the development side. I have a fairly powerful rig I built just this year to play most modern releases on ultra settings, I spent a pretty dime on the whole thing. Given the specs of my system and the quality of the game remake, you'd think it'd run perfectly, but that is far from the truth. From animations freezing up, to frame rates all over the place, the game lacks a lot of polish you'd expect from a game costing $40.00USD.
   
   It's not a bad game and I am enjoying it, but I really feel like they should have worked on updating some of the poor mechanics the original game had, worked on better companion AI and streamlined some of the otherwise cumbersome aspects of the game. And there's no excuse for the lack of polish on the development side as far as game performance goes.… Expand

   • 3 of 5 users found this helpful
6. night4

   Jan 26, 2019

   5

   I'm extremely conflicted by it, but here are some pros and cons:
   
   Pros: -When you're not looking at a cutscene, the graphics are actuallyI'm extremely conflicted by it, but here are some pros and cons:
   
   Pros:
   
   -When you're not looking at a cutscene, the graphics are actually pretty nice. Many enemies (like say, demon heads) look really badass. The elemental spirits look great too.
   
   -You can hotkey 2 spells/weapons/items to the L and R buttons. Extremely useful to me for Magic Absorb and spamming on boss fights.
   
   -Autosave!
   
   -You get all your MP back when leveling up. This is a freaking game changer. You can now blow all your spells in a dungeon, level up in the dungeon, then go fight the boss. No more hoarding every last MP for the boss.
   
   -The remastered music is less obnoxious (Dwarf Village anyone?) but can be changed to the original if you prefer.
   
   -The Javelin is better now, every attack is a line AoE attack.
   
   -Attacking with the Glove can pick up enemies and slam them behind you (without stunning, though, so it can actually be bad as it moves the enemy closer to your casters. In fact, I think this is the only physical attack in the game that doesn't stun, very odd).
   
   -You can now change direction while running, but the charge meter very slowly drains.
   
   -You can now attack in any direction, not just 8 directions. This can be bad at first, as you may miss more until you get used to it.
   
   -On Flammie, the game tells you what you're hovering over, like "Potos Village Cannon Travel" or whatever. Pretty nice feature.
   
   -Boss death animation is much better.
   
   Cons:
   
   -The price is inexcusably high. I'd say $15-20 would be more fair.
   
   -The menu doesn't remember what you last selected. This is painful when repeatedly casting a spell you don't want to hotkey.
   
   -Every enemy always takes at several seconds for a physical hit to register and die. Multiple hits means you're waiting a long time. At least in the original, enemies had a chance of just dying instantly without lying on the ground for a while.
   
   -Combat feels less satisfying because no enemy will ever just blow up instantly, even if you crit the hell out of them.
   
   -Sometimes, enemies just can't be hit or die. No, they don't have Lucid Barrier up, this can happen with level 1's.
   
   -Crashes sometimes (for me, once every few hours).
   
   -Default keybindings are really bad. I used a gamepad which apparently, you can't change any binding for. It worked well for me though.
   
   -Very difficult to exit the game. You have to go into "Settings". And you can't exit from the title screen. WTF?
   
   -AI is horrible. It won't ever attack at all unless the character you're controlling does. There is no grid anymore.
   
   -Pathing is improved in certain areas, made worse in others.
   
   -English voice acting is horrible. They should have just scrapped it and focused resources elsewhere.
   
   -You can't "stack" certain spells anymore, like Dark Force. -Weird, lengthy "talk" scenes between the 3 main characters added every time you sleep at an Inn. -Cutscenes are ugly, as none of the characters look good up close. -No cannon travel animation! You can still see the world on Flammie, so why not here too? To sum up, you may want to just emulate it. You might be really mad if you paid full price for it. Waiting several seconds for every single enemy to die is probably a deal breaker to many people... that's my single greatest complaint.… Expand

   • 2 of 10 users found this helpful
7. Adreankael

   Apr 12, 2018

   5

   Pros: It's Secret of Mana with a fresh coat of paint.
   Cons: It's Secret of Mana with a fresh coat of paint and nothing else.
   Some thingsPros: It's Secret of Mana with a fresh coat of paint.
   Cons: It's Secret of Mana with a fresh coat of paint and nothing else.
   
   Some things need more then a fresh coat of paint yet that's all this game got. The original game was great, for both the platform it was on and the time it was released, but they could have done so much to improve this. Suggested improvements would be increase the area rendered to eliminate alot of the loading screens, remove the invincibility monsters get after knocking them to the ground.
   
   What's completely baffling is how they actually made the game worse by making the menu ring open in the center of the screen instead of over the character's head, making it all the more difficult to use. The Voice acting is sub par at best and the character's mouths do not move when they're talking. This is unsettling and given that their mouths can and do move for expressions, it's all the more confusing they didn't include this feature.
   
   All in all it is secret of mana but this game's low rating is a case of not enough tough love. Yes, the original was awesome and we loved it but that doesn't mean there was no room for improvement. Keeping a game this close to the original and just slapping a new coat of paint on it was not the best way to go here.… Expand

   • 1 of 1 users found this helpful
8. Derpmeowslurp

   Feb 19, 2018

   0

   There is simply no excuse for releasing this for money. People putting 10's or 9's in the review are nostalgia critics, nothing else. TheyThere is simply no excuse for releasing this for money. People putting 10's or 9's in the review are nostalgia critics, nothing else. They desperately do not want this game to be bad or to fail, they are ok with this steamy pile of refuse as long as they can pretend people like it.
   
   The facts:
   1. Graphics are so bad it is shameful. I am ashamed. This is unacceptable for any developer to put such god awful meshes and textures in their game. This is amateur hour. It looks like this remake had been shelved for 15 years and they wheeled it out to make some quick cash. This is actually a step back, Secret of Mana had decent art for its time, not the greatest, not the worst, but more than acceptable. This is 15 years out of date, and yet the price does not reflect this.
   
   2. Engine and animations are bad. Lighting looks like something I would have used in Max R2. No scratch that, it looks worse. The constant memory spikes, slight freeze-ups, cell transitions, cpu usage is much higher than should be expected for this program. all things point to sloppy coding. And the animations, wow. they didn't even try. I would say 'abysmal effort' but I'm not sure how much 'effort' was actually put into this.
   
   3. Gameplay is eerily similar. And not in a good way. It doesn't seem like they spent any time thinking about this at all. they just carbon copied everything from the snes version and called it good. That includes the bizarre quirks like invincible enemies, free hits for enemies, god awful a.i. (really bad, beyond bad), etc, etc, etc.
   
   4. Audio. What can be said. It must be experienced in all of its ear shredding glory. Baffling that they chose to "upgrade" that aspect.
   
   you know what, i'm done here. Such a disappointment. IMO they did not capture the aesthetics of the original, it looks lazy, it feels like they just didn't care. It makes me wonder why this even exists when you can easily find an emulator and play the original. This is a failure for anyone except those who really enjoy the early 2000's video game art aesthetic or phone games.… Expand

   • 1 of 8 users found this helpful

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