Secret of Mana Remake Announced for PS4, Vita, and Steam

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One of the greatest RPGs of all time, Secret of Mana, is coming back to life in 3D on February 15: those who have played through the 1993 classic already are still in for a treat, as the beloved story and top-down gameplay can now be enjoyed with modern 3D graphics and controls. The game will launch at $39.99, and those who pre-purchase will get three DLC costumes.

Embark on an action-packed, worldwide adventure in the 3D remastered version of Secret of Mana. Take on the role of Randi, a young boy tasked with reviving the magical power of Mana. The battle for Mana includes many tumultuous encounters along the way; armed with the Mana Sword and joined by his two companions Primm and Popoi, Randi leads the epic quest to battle the treacherous empire as it tries to gain control of Mana.
 
Japanese dub with English subtitles would be preferred. English translations almost always sound like the spanish translations of movies, the voice is so mismatched for the role.

But, its SquareEnix, its literally a coin toss of whether its utter crap or good port. No rhyme or reason to what they ship.
 
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The intro showing the original artwork, breaking apart into layers with depth is really cool and honors the hard work the artist put into that piece. But wait, what is this? No gameplay is shown at all, only development footage of a cutscene? It is releasing in February? I have a hard time believing this is little else than a rushed to market cash grab. The gameplay and camera viewpoint better be true to the original. At least the youtube reaction videos are hilarious.

Here are some fan inspired works that certainly have put more heart and effort than the second half of this trailer.



 
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Call me crazy, but I liked Secret of Evermore far more.
You are crazy BUT I do believe it is really underrated and was good game overall. I didn't deserve the hate it got just because it wasn't made by Square in Japan.
 
last year they released a 3D remake of the first game under the name Adventures of Mana. Which visually looked like the original game but with 3D models instead of 2D sprites. So I would expect the same here. The gameplay will probably look exactly the same with only a swap of 2D sprites for 3D models being used instead.
 
last year they released a 3D remake of the first game under the name Adventures of Mana. Which visually looked like the original game but with 3D models instead of 2D sprites. So I would expect the same here. The gameplay will probably look exactly the same with only a swap of 2D sprites for 3D models being used instead.

Given that it is SquareSoft I expect you are right. I also expect they farmed it out to Matrix Software and it uses the garbage, hacked-together engine they've been using for all their other "3D remakes".

It's sad because I think old titles really can benefit for a redo for modern systems but Square is lazy as shit with that stuff.
 
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Call me crazy, but I liked Secret of Evermore far more.
Don't remember Secret of Evermore as much, but yeah Secret of Mana was fun I guess, but seemed very tedious to basically do a rock/paper/scissors thing with most bosses "Oh hey they're weak against fire, so I better get the fire spells!"

But yeah, no gameplay, only an intro-cutscene, color me skeptical.

Edit: Ok looking at the website link they show some game play scenes (stills), doesn't look like that much of a leap though to pay $40 on a remake.
 
I hope they would remake Secret Of Mana 2 too. That game is even better, and despite the initial hype it never got officially released here in the west but it became one of the earliest SNES games (that I am aware of) to be fantranslated when emulators came around. The game is really good and deserves a shot by official channels.
 
I hope they would remake Secret Of Mana 2 too. That game is even better, and despite the initial hype it never got officially released here in the west but it became one of the earliest SNES games (that I am aware of) to be fantranslated when emulators came around. The game is really good and deserves a shot by official channels.
They will if this game sales well. Doubt it since people already complaining about the $40 price on this site and steam.
 
Given that it is SquareSoft I expect you are right. I also expect they farmed it out to Matrix Software and it uses the garbage, hacked-together engine they've been using for all their other "3D remakes".

It's sad because I think old titles really can benefit for a redo for modern systems but Square is lazy as shit with that stuff.

Didn't play the remake of the first game so don't know how that one came off. That said they could be using the engine of the later games. There are many games in the series, of which the last few used the 3d engine (Dawn of Mana on the PS2 being the first). This one looks a lot like the last game in the series Rise of Mana. Which was a PS Vita game along with iOS and Android, so I wouldn't be surprised if they didn't use that game engine for the remake or some version of it

Don't remember Secret of Evermore as much, but yeah Secret of Mana was fun I guess, but seemed very tedious to basically do a rock/paper/scissors thing with most bosses "Oh hey they're weak against fire, so I better get the fire spells!"

But yeah, no gameplay, only an intro-cutscene, color me skeptical.

Edit: Ok looking at the website link they show some game play scenes (stills), doesn't look like that much of a leap though to pay $40 on a remake.

What you are describing is a lot of RPG games, especially Pokémon. I spent forever trying to get Secret of Mana back in the days of the SNES as I tried to get it a few years after its release. I had won a Nintendo Power contest and tried to get the game but couldn't so ended up going with Secret of Evermore instead. Finally found a rental store that was able to buy used games from other stores and have them get the game for me.

I hope they would remake Secret Of Mana 2 too. That game is even better, and despite the initial hype it never got officially released here in the west but it became one of the earliest SNES games (that I am aware of) to be fantranslated when emulators came around. The game is really good and deserves a shot by official channels.


That would be interesting if they keep up remaking all the main games in the series. Final Fantasy Adventures (first game in the series) was originally released on the GBA as Sword of Mana having been reworked to be more like the other Mana games. With it being remade then as Adventures of Mana in the last year. The funny part of that is for the Switch they just released a Seiken Densetsu Collection which included the first 3 games meaning that Japan once again got the game released with no American release. Who knows maybe they will remake that one next. It never made it to the USA the first time as our game cartridges were smaller so we couldn't support it. Now that isn't an issue of course, just requires some money spent on translations.
 
Call me crazy, but I liked Secret of Evermore far more.

Secret of Evermore was fun, but pretty easy to get game breaking overpowered by abusing the alchemy system. What we really need is Seiken Densetsu 3 on modern consoles. I remember playing the heck out of it once translated ROMs made it onto the web.
 
But wait, what is this? No gameplay is shown at all, only development footage of a cutscene?

I think that is likely to be the in-game graphics. They look like an upgraded version of the FF 3 and 4 PSP re-releases, and not big production or $40 graphics, IMO. And it doesn't really capture the impression of detail and integrity of the original visuals, for me. I think that I'd rather play with the original graphics.
 
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One of the greatest RPGs of all time
I think they mean one of the greatest RPG soundtracks of all time. As for the game, the pacing was inconsistent and completely rushed for the last ~3-4 mana seeds. The story was utterly standard fare for the time, although the english translation is supposedly gutted due to memory requirements so I guess maybe in Japan it was decent? The gameplay/combat was passable for it's time, but they apparently couldn't figure out how to incorporate weapon mastery in a fun way - who the fuck wants to charge up 8 bars while having reduced movement speed in order to use a power attack? Trash mobs are already dead, and bosses can just magic you to break the charge. I can't see this system working well in 2017.

Yeah, I bought this game on release and played in many times, but the soundtrack is BY FAR the best thing about it. Hopefully Mr. Kikuta is involved in the project.

Ick, voices.
Agreed. Somehow, I don't expect that we'll be getting the story detail and nuance that is supposedly in the original Japanese script.

seemed very tedious to basically do a rock/paper/scissors thing with most bosses "Oh hey they're weak against fire, so I better get the fire spells!"
Oh shit, I guess the Pokemon and Mega Man series are fucked, then. I actually though the magic system was pretty decent - yeah it had it's annoyances but the timing helped keep it somewhat interesting.
 
Oh shit, I guess the Pokemon and Mega Man series are fucked, then. I actually though the magic system was pretty decent - yeah it had it's annoyances but the timing helped keep it somewhat interesting.
Never said that the game was fucked, I just said it was tedious. And yeah Mega Man was fucking tedious if you didn't know the order to do the bosses so you always has the preferred weapon. Pokemon less so though simply due to the overall battle system is very RPS like simply due to the randomness of what you fight (I guess... I was never of a fan of the 1 on 1 battles of Pokemon).

Look I played this game very soon after it came out, which was almost 24 years ago, so forgive me if my memory of every little bit of the game isn't there, and hell I was most likely in a different mindset back then too as to how to attack games (more brute force, where as today in my older and "wiser" self I think about what needs to be done), but the one thing that stuck out for me for that game was the need to find the certain elements because some bosses just could not be beat (in a sane fashion) unless you had those elements.
 
I think they mean one of the greatest RPG soundtracks of all time. As for the game, the pacing was inconsistent and completely rushed for the last ~3-4 mana seeds. The story was utterly standard fare for the time, although the english translation is supposedly gutted due to memory requirements so I guess maybe in Japan it was decent? The gameplay/combat was passable for it's time, but they apparently couldn't figure out how to incorporate weapon mastery in a fun way - who the fuck wants to charge up 8 bars while having reduced movement speed in order to use a power attack? Trash mobs are already dead, and bosses can just magic you to break the charge. I can't see this system working well in 2017.

Yeah, I bought this game on release and played in many times, but the soundtrack is BY FAR the best thing about it. Hopefully Mr. Kikuta is involved in the project.

Agreed. Somehow, I don't expect that we'll be getting the story detail and nuance that is supposedly in the original Japanese script.

Oh shit, I guess the Pokemon and Mega Man series are fucked, then. I actually though the magic system was pretty decent - yeah it had it's annoyances but the timing helped keep it somewhat interesting.
Well Mega Man series is fuck for other reasons!
 
Never said that the game was fucked, I just said it was tedious. And yeah Mega Man was fucking tedious if you didn't know the order to do the bosses so you always has the preferred weapon. Pokemon less so though simply due to the overall battle system is very RPS like simply due to the randomness of what you fight (I guess... I was never of a fan of the 1 on 1 battles of Pokemon).

Look I played this game very soon after it came out, which was almost 24 years ago, so forgive me if my memory of every little bit of the game isn't there, and hell I was most likely in a different mindset back then too as to how to attack games (more brute force, where as today in my older and "wiser" self I think about what needs to be done), but the one thing that stuck out for me for that game was the need to find the certain elements because some bosses just could not be beat (in a sane fashion) unless you had those elements.
Agreed. I just found the weapon charging system to be even more tedious. Haven't played the game since SNES either. I'm just saying that a lot of games (especially back then) had the rock/paper/scissors aspect.
 
Gameplay: https://www.twitch.tv/videos/172092350

The animations do not capture the original and further highlight what is wrong with their art style decisions, but at least most of the gameplay is there.

It is just not cohesive and missing the charm. The expressions on the enemies are not there. The rabite appears to be modeled after a later game or remake/port. The camera angle seems like they settled for a lowered in-between setting to compensate.

This game deserves more respect to the original creators. I see too much compromise for modern gameplay which does not fit the game and/or not necessary (walk around in 360 for example) when they could have been focusing their efforts elsewhere.
 
Damn man, just started this on the SNES mini. Haven't played it since the early 90s. Maybe I should wait....
 
I still think this remake will suck. I dont see anything that makes me think they have captured the magic of the original. Also "secret of mana 2" is a fantastic game!
 
This better have two player support, like the original. Or I'm going to flip a bit!

Actually, the game supports three players natively, if you own a multitap. It's just hard to get working on most emulators.


I just played it through recently. It's a and okay game with decent early and mid-game, but LATE GAME quickly boils down to:

Go here, then return to this place. Then go here, then return to this place. Then go here, then return to this place... All without a return spell.

Once you level-up magic, combat gets incredibly easy because you can carry four Fairy Walnuts, and replacing them late-game costs next to nothing. And the girl eventually gets offensive magic, doubling your available MP.

And the final dungeon is the most annoying piece of trash ever assembled, as it becomes a cryptic key fetch quest. Only there's no indicator which key opens which lock, only that you know you missed one, and have to go back into he incredible maze of hard to navigate and easy-to miss key rooms. Did I mention that each key room looks exactly the same as the last one, and are impossible for your mind to keep track of?

I thank the gods that they had the foresight to add a dash button, given how many times you cover the same path just to go somewhere. And when you finally get the airship, you have no fucking clue where you are because you've barely ever seen the map, and it's completely non-distinctive.

I would pay ten dollars for this game to be ported, no more. $40 is an absolute rip-off for such a boring second half of the game.
 
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I recently bought a SNES classic so I have been replaying the original ... yet again. I really hope they fix the hitbox issues with attacks coming from below the character. It looked like the 3D nature of the characters now takes care of that. Also the chain staggering, present in the original, gets annoying fast.

Edit: 45.99 CDN ... ouch
 
Dang didn't know about 3-player!

As for your experience, hmmm, I don't quite remember it that way, but alright. :)

Actually, the game supports three players natively, if you own a multitap. It's just hard to get working on most emulators.


I just played it through recently. It's a and okay game with decent early and mid-game, but LATE GAME quickly boils down to:

Go here, then return to this place. Then go here, then return to this place. Then go here, then return to this place... All without a return spell.

Once you level-up magic, combat gets incredibly easy because you can carry four Fairy Walnuts, and replacing them late-game costs next to nothing. And the girl eventually gets offensive magic, doubling your available MP.

And the final dungeon is the most annoying piece of trash ever assembled, as it becomes a cryptic key fetch quest. Only there's no indicator which key opens which lock, only that you know you missed one, and have to go back into he incredible maze of hard to navigate and easy-to miss key rooms. Did I mention that each key room looks exactly the same as the last one, and are impossible for your mind to keep track of?

I thank the gods that they had the foresight to add a dash button, given how many times you cover the same path just to go somewhere. And when you finally get the airship, you have no fucking clue where you are because you've barely ever seen the map, and it's completely non-distinctive.

I would pay ten dollars for this game to be ported, no more. $40 is an absolute rip-off for such a boring second half of the game.
 
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