Secret of Mana PS4 Review

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If you are a full time game player you will remember with fondness the time of the 16 bits, with that luck of primitive RPGs from top view. To mind you will get games titles like Chrono Trigger, Phantasy Star. This title of Square Enix originally released in Japan in 1993, was not the beginning of a series, but the second installment of Seiken Densetsu, which has continued until now, with its latest delivery in 2014 with the game entitled Rise of Mana for PS Vita and mobile.

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About The Game

It is clear that the relevance of the series has been declining over time, and perhaps why Square Enix decided to green old laurels, bringing back to the delivery with which began the great myth of the games of 'Mana', Secret of Mana . It was one of the most talked about exclusive of Super Nintendo. With all this in mind, Secret of Mana has arrived at last, the revision for PS4, PS Vita and PC, of the classic, with a deep wash of face as main attraction.

Basically it has gone from 2 to 3D with a new artistic style, although much of the original guidelines have been preserved. This modification has its pros and cons. On the one hand everything looks more beautiful and colorful. The forests are thicker, the enemies more adorable and there are moments of almost unparalleled beauty (the stained glass windows of the church are now even more striking). On the other hand, facial animations are almost non-existent and reduce the weight of moments of dialogue between the characters, and the visual section is closer to what a mobile game would look like than one of the current generation of consoles (perhaps here the PS version Vita is the one who has been at fault). In any case, the balance is positive in visual terms, with a great finish, partly because of the great artistic direction.

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Gameplay and Some Bad Sides

Almost everything else remains intact, especially in terms of the gameplay base and the narrative. There are touches here and there, but in essence we played a game of 1993 . For example the minimap has been added, self-saved, the possibility of giving orders to the AI ​​that accompanies us, the expansion of the inventory ... But, unfortunately, it is not enough. Secret of Mana feels too old , but for the wrong reasons, making it lose something to make us stuck with it. For example, our classmates will get stuck with the scenario from time to time, the difficulty curve is not well adjusted (neither was it in the original, especially in the second part of the adventure) or the combat system feels somewhat limited .

It is true that this is a remake of an old game, but details such as defense and evasion in the hands of randomness are sometimes unfair. At least, otherwise, it is an action-rpg of the most solid, with a direct combat and no need to fight. We will have to pay attention to the percentages of success and the synchronization of the attacks, and we have the advantage that in this remake objects can be granted to buttons, which speeds up our navigation through the useful circular menu. It's a pity that the AI ​​is not as good as it should be (although it's not always wrong), so it's usually easier for us to end up changing characters to do what we want our partner to do. If you are one of those who want to play cooperatively with two friends at Secret of Mana , forget about the AI ​​regular and enjoy the proposal, here you are going to pass away your time as real young child.

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Additional Info

What is not out of place, nor disappoints, is its history , which remains intact. The guilt is in part of the world and the setting, halfway between the steampunk and the medieval fantasy, but also because of how well drawn are the three main characters, who ooze affection and mutual appreciation in almost every situation, transmitting beyond the screen. That is the key to advancing a supposedly simple plot that mixes the Arthurian myth (for that of the sword stuck in the rock) with the classic impossible struggle against an evil empire. That is, what is necessary to make the more than 20 hours of the game do not become soporific, although playable Secret of Mana is between the old and the most modern.

In short, Secret of Mana is too direct an adaptation of the original . Square Enix has remained faithful to the original, losing the opportunity to incorporate more modern mechanics and solve small problems of the original that, over time, sing much more (the difficulty so high of the final part of the game, for example, the AI deficient). It would also be lovely to have visually opted to take advantage of the possibilities of the current consoles. However, none of that makes it worth less their history, their world, the beautiful artistic section, its extraordinary soundtrack (that we can enjoy as originally conceived or in remaster mode, where it looks something less) or its excellent cooperative options .

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Game Details

Developer---------------------------Square

Publisher----------------------------Square

Director---------------------------Koichi Ishii

Producer------------------Hiromichi Tanaka

Designer---------------------------Koichi Ishii
Hiromichi Tanaka

Programmer--------------------Nasir Gebelli

Artist--------------------------------Hiroo Isono

Writer-----------------------Hiromichi Tanaka

Composer-----------------------Hiroki Kikuta

Series-------------------------------------Mana

Platform--------------------------Super NES,
FOMA 903i/703i,
iOS,
Android,
Nintendo Switch,,
PlayStation 4,
Microsoft Windows,
PlayStation Vita,

Genre---------------------Action role-playing

Mode----------------------------Single-player,Multiplayer

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Conclusion

Secret of Mana is both an update, and a missed opportunity to renew an old myth of the RPG in 16 bits. The visual section improves, but does not evolve enough, and the same happens in the gameplay, which also advances, but does not offer a step forward compared to what was seen in the 90s. That is, it stays between two lands and it will not satisfy the fans of the original game, nor those who seek a new experience but it is worth trying out.

Happy Gaming!!!!