Update 9/15
Meant to update this. A couple weeks ago we gave up on the game, which was difficult because we very much enjoyed some aspects of it, but ultimately we felt it was more stressful than fun. Thanks to the tips ITT we beat Spiky Tiger, and then went ahead and got magic and made our way through the fire dungeon area that has no save points, except in the dwarf village beforehand. We got to the boss of the area and got crushed again and reading online and trying to do so a bit ourselves made it clear even with magic we'd have to keep grinding experience to make the boss fight manageable, and it was just stressful and demoralizing and we'd already been through the Spiky Tiger rinse and repeat grind so we decided it just wasn't the game for us. Regardless, thanks again all for the help and we did really enjoy parts of what we played, the game was just overall not well-suited to us.
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Original Post:
I didn't expect to be making another thread on this same theme so soon after the last, but alas, here we are.
Secret of Mana is a game that was recommended to be my many here as a favored gem of the SNES era that is available on Wii VC. I picked it up several months ago but my wife and I only started playing it here and there in the past couple weeks. I haven't played almost any Square games before... I'm not too big on turn-based battles, though, so I thought the ARPG aspect would make this game more accessible. Maybe it's because VC lacks easy access to a manual (which I'm sure I could find online), but we've been having a tough time getting into the game.
The first boss is this random bug thing that absolutely destroys you:
As far as I can tell it's nearly impossible to hit it without taking forever between hits and just being exceptionally lucky if it doesn't use some of its unavoidable attacks. :/ But, we prevailed and beat it... we got a second party member and started to play in co-op... we made some progress and felt like we were getting a bit better at the game.
Several things are messing us up now, though.
1) We got a third party member who follows us and frequently gets trapped behind stuff but doesn't help in battle at all, even as AI. Maybe AI companions who assist you in battle are not a thing in Gen IV. But, it's more hindrance than help to have him.
2) The reaper. When someone dies they "meet the reaper." Is there a way to bring them back? The game hasn't taught anything like this. Maybe it comes later in the game but it's disheartening to die and not be able to come back and help the other person. In a similar vein, dude #3 takes plenty of damage despite not helping in battle.
3) General advice/gripe questions:
We made our way to the dwarf village which was cool and then up into the haunted forest. Those bear archers do a lot of damage. There seems to be no way to shield yourself from attacks. Like a shield button. Is there anything like this?
Speaking of enemies. The eyes that turn you into a Moogle are maddening. You have to use status changes and while you're frozen doing that you get hit again. Then the Eyes send two bear archers out after you and they start spraying you with arrows. :/
Sometimes random attacks like a magic balloon come out of nowhere and destroy you with no warning or way to evade.
We haven't been doing any grinding for XP but we have been leveling up whenever possible and fighting all enemies we come across pretty much. So I'd say we're about L8/L7 right now. I'm playing as main char. and my wife is playing as female main char.
The inventory is tiny. You can carry 3 chocolates, 3 candies, etc, and you don't seem to get GP very quickly. We can afford way more items but it won't let us carry them. The inventory is also super clunky. And... from what I can tell, so is the combat. It's not so much a "get good" because there's no skill AFAIK, you just wait for your meter to hit 100% then attack, or if you need to attack sooner you do but you just do no damage. The enemies in the area I describe below seem a bit over-leveled compared to where I am in the game. About the inventory, though:
I really have no idea what half this stuff is or how we should be using it. Like, what does the Action Grid do?
I read this over at GameFAQS:
http://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/588646-secret-of-mana/44574381
That does shed a bit of light but I am still moderately confused if I'm using all the systems correctly or correctly at all....
--
We made it through the Haunted Forest to a castle place at the end and then died. But there was no save point in-between so we have do that whole part again which is just kinda tedious. Is there ever an ability to save more often in the game?
Meant to update this. A couple weeks ago we gave up on the game, which was difficult because we very much enjoyed some aspects of it, but ultimately we felt it was more stressful than fun. Thanks to the tips ITT we beat Spiky Tiger, and then went ahead and got magic and made our way through the fire dungeon area that has no save points, except in the dwarf village beforehand. We got to the boss of the area and got crushed again and reading online and trying to do so a bit ourselves made it clear even with magic we'd have to keep grinding experience to make the boss fight manageable, and it was just stressful and demoralizing and we'd already been through the Spiky Tiger rinse and repeat grind so we decided it just wasn't the game for us. Regardless, thanks again all for the help and we did really enjoy parts of what we played, the game was just overall not well-suited to us.
--
Original Post:
I didn't expect to be making another thread on this same theme so soon after the last, but alas, here we are.
Secret of Mana is a game that was recommended to be my many here as a favored gem of the SNES era that is available on Wii VC. I picked it up several months ago but my wife and I only started playing it here and there in the past couple weeks. I haven't played almost any Square games before... I'm not too big on turn-based battles, though, so I thought the ARPG aspect would make this game more accessible. Maybe it's because VC lacks easy access to a manual (which I'm sure I could find online), but we've been having a tough time getting into the game.
The first boss is this random bug thing that absolutely destroys you:
As far as I can tell it's nearly impossible to hit it without taking forever between hits and just being exceptionally lucky if it doesn't use some of its unavoidable attacks. :/ But, we prevailed and beat it... we got a second party member and started to play in co-op... we made some progress and felt like we were getting a bit better at the game.
Several things are messing us up now, though.
1) We got a third party member who follows us and frequently gets trapped behind stuff but doesn't help in battle at all, even as AI. Maybe AI companions who assist you in battle are not a thing in Gen IV. But, it's more hindrance than help to have him.
2) The reaper. When someone dies they "meet the reaper." Is there a way to bring them back? The game hasn't taught anything like this. Maybe it comes later in the game but it's disheartening to die and not be able to come back and help the other person. In a similar vein, dude #3 takes plenty of damage despite not helping in battle.
3) General advice/gripe questions:
We made our way to the dwarf village which was cool and then up into the haunted forest. Those bear archers do a lot of damage. There seems to be no way to shield yourself from attacks. Like a shield button. Is there anything like this?
Speaking of enemies. The eyes that turn you into a Moogle are maddening. You have to use status changes and while you're frozen doing that you get hit again. Then the Eyes send two bear archers out after you and they start spraying you with arrows. :/
Sometimes random attacks like a magic balloon come out of nowhere and destroy you with no warning or way to evade.
We haven't been doing any grinding for XP but we have been leveling up whenever possible and fighting all enemies we come across pretty much. So I'd say we're about L8/L7 right now. I'm playing as main char. and my wife is playing as female main char.
The inventory is tiny. You can carry 3 chocolates, 3 candies, etc, and you don't seem to get GP very quickly. We can afford way more items but it won't let us carry them. The inventory is also super clunky. And... from what I can tell, so is the combat. It's not so much a "get good" because there's no skill AFAIK, you just wait for your meter to hit 100% then attack, or if you need to attack sooner you do but you just do no damage. The enemies in the area I describe below seem a bit over-leveled compared to where I am in the game. About the inventory, though:
I really have no idea what half this stuff is or how we should be using it. Like, what does the Action Grid do?
I read this over at GameFAQS:
@ Verdandi: The action grid doesn't really matter much for the character you're CONTROLLING, however, it does matter for the characters that you aren't controlling. The far upper left corner will make your CPU characters aggressive and attack all the time, while the far lower right will make you CPU characters stay back from the enemy and not attack. Far lower left will make them attack, then attempt to back away from the enemy. I personally place them in the spot directly below the upper left corner, or the spot directly above the lower left corner. Where you place them on the action grid also will change your weapon's attack strength, only slightly, and by slightly, I mean by 1 or 2 points.
http://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/588646-secret-of-mana/44574381
That does shed a bit of light but I am still moderately confused if I'm using all the systems correctly or correctly at all....
--
We made it through the Haunted Forest to a castle place at the end and then died. But there was no save point in-between so we have do that whole part again which is just kinda tedious. Is there ever an ability to save more often in the game?