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Mana Series Retrospective, and Discussion thread.

ReaperXL7

Member
The Mana series(Seiken Densetsu in Japan), is a fantasy action rpg series from Square Enix(SquareSoft), created by Koichi Ishii. The series began as a handheld side story to Square's flagship franchise Final Fantasy, though most Final Fantasy-inspired elements were subsequently dropped, starting with the second installment, Secret of Mana. It has since grown to include games of various genres within the fictional world of Mana, with recurring stories involving a world tree, its associated holy sword, and the fight against forces that would steal their power. Several character designs, creatures, and musical themes reappear frequently.

In 2003, the series comprised five games; since 2006, it has experienced a revival through the World of Mana campaign, with four new games released in the span of one year. As of 2008, the Mana series comprises eight console games and two mobile games, in addition to four manga and one novelization.

Mana_Tree.jpg


History:

Square trademarked Seiken Densetsu in 1989, intending to use it for a game project subtitled The Emergence of Excalibur, and led by Kazuhiko Aoki for the Famicom Disk System. According to early advertisements, the game would consist of an unprecedented five floppy disks, making it one of the largest titles developed for the Famicom up until that point. Although Square solicited pre-orders for the game, Kaoru Moriyama, a former Square employee, affirms that management canceled the ambitious project before it advanced beyond the early planning stages. In October 1987, customers who had placed orders were sent a letter informing them of the cancellation and had their purchases refunded. The letter also suggested to consider placing an order on another upcoming Square role-playing game in a similar vein: Final Fantasy.

In 1991, Square reused the Seiken Densetsu trademark for an unrelated Game Boy action role-playing game directed by Koichi Ishii. Originally developed under the title Gemma Knights, the game was renamed Seiken Densetsu: Final Fantasy Gaiden (published in North America as Final Fantasy Adventure and in Europe as Mystic Quest). Beginning with Secret of Mana, Seiken Densetsu was subsequently "spun off" into its own series of action role-playing games distinct from Final Fantasy, with four titles released between 1993 and 2003. The Legend of Mana was made 2D because the PlayStation could not handle the full 3D world Ishii envisioned where one could interact with natural shaped objects. In 2005, Square Enix announced plans for World of Mana, a new series of titles in the Mana franchise, whose titles would span more video game genres than the original series. Koichi Ishii decided even before he worked on Final Fantasy XI about creating new Mana games, but first wanted to create a goal for the new series, and eventually decided to make it about exploring how to add "the feeling of touch" to a game. After he saw the game Half-Life 2 at E3 in 2003, he felt that its physics engine was the one he needed. World of Mana went on to comprise five games and one manga. Koichi Ishii served as director or producer for all Mana games. In 2006, a Mana installment for the Wii was considered but did not enter development. In April 2007, a month after the release of the final game of the World of Mana, Ishii left Square Enix to lead his own development company, named Grezzo.

Common elements:

A common element of the series is its seamless, real-time battle system. The system was developed by Koichi Ishii and improved upon by Hiromichi Tanaka, out of a desire to create a system different than the one featured in the first few Final Fantasy titles. While action-based, the Mana battle system is intended to be playable even by newcomers as well as veterans. The system is coupled with the distinctive hierarchical "Ring Command" menu system, featured prominently in Secret of Mana and Seiken Densetsu 3, and to a lesser extent in later installments. Each ring is a set of icons with a textual infobox explanation which, upon selection, allow the player to use an item, cast a spell, look up in-game statistics, or change the game's settings. Navigation within a menu is achieved by rotating the ring through the cursor left or right, while switching to a different menu is achieved by pressing the up or down buttons. Although not part of the series, the spin-off Secret of Evermore, developed by the North American Square Soft, was also built upon the "Ring Command" system.

The Mana series features several recurring characters and beings, including Final Fantasy creatures such as Chocobos in Final Fantasy Adventure and Legend of Mana, as well as Moogles in Secret of Mana and as a status ailment in Seiken Densetsu 3 and Sword of Mana. Watts is a dwarf blacksmith wearing a horned helmet who upgrades the player's weaponry. Usually, an anthropomorphic cat merchant is found outside of town areas and allows a player to save the game and buy supplies at high prices. This role is played by Neko in Secret of Mana, and Niccolo in Legend of Mana and Sword of Mana.In the Japanese games these merchants share the name Nikita.

The Mana Tree and the Mana Sword, called Excalibur in Final Fantasy Adventure's English version, are recurring plot devices which have been featured in every game of the series. The mystical Mana Tree is a source of magic which sustains the balance and nature of the series' world. The Mana Sword is typically used to restore this balance when it becomes lost in the games. Final Fantasy Adventure explains that if the Mana Tree dies, a member of the Mana Family will become the "seed" of a new Tree. A sprout of the Mana Tree is called a Gemma, while protectors of the Tree, who wield the Mana Sword, are called Gemma Knights. In Seiken Densetsu 3, a Goddess is said to have turned into the Mana Tree after creating the world with the Mana Sword The Mana Tree is destroyed near the game ending in Final Fantasy Adventure and Secret of Mana, but a character becomes the new Mana Tree in the former game.

Music:

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The Mana series has had several different composers. Final Fantasy Adventure was composed by Kenji Ito; it was his second original score. Ito's music is mainly inspired by images from the game rather than outside influences. The scores for Secret of Mana and Seiken Densetsu 3 were both composed by Hiroki Kikuta. Despite difficulties in dealing with the hardware limitations, Kikuta tried to express, in the music of Secret of Mana, two "contrasting styles", namely himself and the game. This was to create an original score which would be neither pop music nor standard game music. Kikuta worked on the music for the two games mostly by himself, spending nearly 24 hours a day in his office, alternating between composing and editing to create an immersive three-dimensional sound. Kikuta considers the score for Secret of Mana his favorite creation.His compositions for Secret of Mana and Seiken Densetsu 3 were partly inspired by natural landscapes. In 1995, Kikuta released an experimental album of arranged music from the two installments, titled Secret of Mana +, which features one 50-minute long track.

Legend of Mana's score was composed by Yoko Shimomura, and of all her compositions, she considers it the one that best expresses herself. Kenji Ito returned to the series with Sword of Mana. He also composed roughly one third of the Children of Mana soundtrack, while the rest was composed by Masaharu Iwata and Takayuki Aihara. Ito was the main composer for Dawn of Mana, assisted by Tsuyoshi Sekito, Masayoshi Soken, and Junya Nakano, as well as main theme composer Ryuichi Sakamoto. In North America, purchasers of Dawn of Mana from participating retailers were offered a sampler disc, titled Breath of Mana, which features a selection of tracks from the game. Shimomura returned to the series with Heroes of Mana.

Secret of Mana especially , has received wide acclaim and fan enthusiasm. The Secret of Mana soundtrack was one of the first official soundtracks of video games music released in the United States and thus before fully mainstream interest in RPGs.The Secret of Mana's opening theme, "Angel's Fear", was rated at number 7 on IGN's Top Ten RPG Title tracks, calling it a "magical title song that captures our hearts". It was also featured in the third Orchestral Game Concert. Secret of Mana is also the number 6 most remixed soundtrack on the popular video game music site OverClocked ReMix, with Seiken Densetsu 3 tied at 18.


Games:

Final Fantasy Adventure:

250px-Final_Fantasy_Adventure_boxart.jpg


Final Fantasy Adventure, known as Mystic Quest in Europe, is a Final Fantasy spinoff and the first game in the Mana series. Published by Square in 1991 on the original Game Boy, it later saw a North American re-release by Sunsoft in April 1998. Its gameplay is roughly similar to that of the original The Legend of Zelda game, but with the addition of role-playing video game statistical elements. Along with Final Fantasy Mystic Quest, Final Fantasy Adventure was the first Final Fantasy game to be released in Europe. A remake, Sword of Mana, was released in 2003.

The story follows the hero and the young heroine as they attempt to thwart the Dark Lord of Glaive (Shadow Knight in the Japanese version) and his sorcerer assistant Julius from destroying the Tree of Mana and dooming their world. The game was met with generally positive reviews, noting its strong story but faulting its shaky dialogue, possibly due to the English translation.

img-7.PNG


Gameplay:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2aM2TtyX4iQ

Secret of Mana:

ecetia.com.wp-content.uploads.2008.12.secret_of_mana_box1.jpg


secret of Mana for the SNES developed and published by Square in 1993. The game was re-released for the Wii's Virtual Console in 2008, and was ported to Japanese mobile phones in 2009. Secret of Mana is the sequel to Final Fantasy Adventure for the Game Boy and the second installment in the Mana video game series.

Rather than using the traditional turn-based battle system of games like Final Fantasy, Secret of Mana utilizes real-time battles akin to the Legend of Zelda series, while also employing typical role-playing elements and a unique "Ring Command" menu system, which pauses the action, and allows a variety of actions to be performed without needing to switch screens. The game received considerable acclaim for its brightly colored graphics, expansive plot, "Ring Command" menu system, innovative real-time battle system, modified Active Time Battle meter adapted for real-time action, its innovative cooperative multiplayer gameplay, where the second or third players could drop in and out of the game at any time rather than players having to join the game at the same time, the customizable AI settings for computer-controlled allies, and the acclaimed soundtrack by Hiroki Kikuta. Secret of Mana was an influential game in its time, and has remained influential through to the present day, such as its customizable AI for player characters being used by many later games, its ring menu system still used in modern games (such as The Temple of Elemental Evil) and its cooperative multiplayer mentioned as an influence on games as recent as Dungeon Siege III.

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Gameplay:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LiA7VtYk3n0

Seiken Densetsu 3

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Seiken Densetsu 3 is the third game in the series developed and published by Square (now Square Enix) for Nintendo's Super Famicom on September 30th,1995 as a part of the Mana series.

The game features three lengthy main plotlines, six different characters, each with their own storylines, and a wide range of classes to choose from, which provides each character with an exclusive set of skills and status progression. The game also makes use of a time progression system, with transitions from day to night and weekday to weekday in game time, adding to the game's challenging gameplay.

Although the game was only published in Japan, Western players have been able to come into contact with Seiken Densetsu 3 thanks to an unofficial English fan translation. In the West, the game is sometimes referred to unofficially as Secret of Mana 2.

Seiken Densetsu 3 plays very much like its predecessor Secret of Mana, as it employs a real-time combat system, making use of a ring menu which provides the player with quick access to magic spells, items and character information, amongst other options. One of its main differences, though, is that the range of characters is doubled to six, with the player choosing the three members of his or her party when commencing a new game. A single variety of weapon is available for each character, and the "progression by means of use" present on the series' previous game was removed from the weapons and magic systems; now the only factor which influences a spell's damage is how high the character's "magic" attribute and how low an enemy's magical defense towards a special kind of magic is (for example: undeads are wounded heavier by light-based magic-attacks). A storage system was introduced, where excess items can be placed, replacing Secret of Mana's "four-of-a-kind maximum rule". The player can switch items between storage and their nine-slot item ring menu, or else "top-up" items currently in it to a maximum of nine each.

A battle mode was introduced as part of the gameplay, which freezes some aspects of normal gameplay (such as item storage) to allow the player to focus on defeating monsters. Players can exit battle mode by moving off-screen or far enough away from the monsters for it to be disengaged (unlike the Legend of Mana no-escape mode). When in battle mode, the character adds one point to his or her "power gauge" by making an attack which hits a monster (in place of Secret of Mana's vulnerable charge-up). When the gauge is full enough, special moves can be unleashed - moves vary according to the character and their class. Once all enemies on-screen are defeated, the player has the chance to receive a reward item in a treasure chest. Sometimes, a "prize" wheel of traps is given when opening the chest; this can be eluded by timing the cursor to fall over an "OK" disc.

sd3_10.gif


Gameplay:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nZ9nuZeD4xY

Legend of Mana:

Legend_of_Mana.jpg


Legend of Mana is the fourth game in the Mana series. The game was released for the PlayStation in Japan on July 15, 1999 and in North America on June 7, 2000, with a delayed release in Canada. While Legend of Mana was the fourth installment released in the series, the next console-based Mana game, Dawn of Mana, is the official fourth game.

While incorporating action role-playing elements from the three games which preceded it, Legend of Mana has its own distinct style of gameplay. Most notably, it gives the player the ability to shape the game's world of Fa'Diel according to his or her desires, a system which was incorporated through the use of "artifacts," which are gained as the player progresses through the game. The player uses the artifacts to create different towns, dungeons, etc., called "Lands", to venture to and explore. This creates a non-linear gameplay, since the game is driven by a series of what would be considered side-quests in other games. Legend of Mana features three different plots which can occur simultaneously, and which do not necessarily need to be completed for the player to finish the game.

legendofmana_790screen004.jpg


Gameplay:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ylAlzkU4WGQ

Sword of Mana:

SwordofManaCover.jpg


Sword of Mana, is an enhanced remake of the original Game Boy game Final Fantasy adventure, This remake was released on the Game Boy Advance in 2003.

At the beginning of the game, the player is able to choose to play as the male lead or as the female lead, both of whom are named by the player. They each have a different quest, but their plots remain similar. Notably, the remake adapted many elements from the original game, which had their origin in Final Fantasy, and favored elements traditional to Mana games (for example, the chocobo was replaced by cannon travel). One notable exception to this are moogles, which do appear in the game. Sword of Mana was made to resemble the graphical style of Seiken Densetsu 3, but the artwork rather resembles that of Legend of Mana.

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Gameplay:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EnE3e13z1LA

Children Of Mana:

250px-Children_of_Mana.jpg


Children of Mana for the Nintendo DS handheld game console, part of the Mana series and, more specifically, of the World of Mana project launched by Square Enix. Children of Mana is the first game of the World of Mana and was developed by Nex Entertainment under the supervision of Koichi Ishii.

In the middle of the island of Illusia stands the famous Tree of Mana. Several years ago, a great disaster took place at the base of the tree and many lives were lost, leaving the main characters as orphans. A brave young boy and girl used the Sword of Mana to save the world from disaster. Now, years later, the main characters set out to investigate the details of the event that took so many loved ones away from them.

It was released on March 2, 2006 in Japan and was subsequently released on October 30, 2006, and January 12, 2007, in North America and Europe, respectively. It received mixed reviews, with generally positive reviews in Japan and negative ones in the United States.

children-of-mana-20070209010801358.jpg


Gameplay:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jKwmHQAW2NI

Dawn of Mana:

Dawn_of_Mana_Coverart.jpg


Dawn of Mana, is an action-adventure game developed and published by Square Enix for Sony's PlayStation 2. The game is part of Square Enix's World of Mana project that also includes Children of Mana, Heroes of Mana and Friends of Mana. The game was released on December 21, 2006 in Japan and was released in the United States on May 22, 2007. There are currently no plans to release this game in PAL territories.

Game elements seen in Dawn of Mana are quite different from Mana games of the past. While it can be classified as an action RPG, a more appropriate description is action/adventure due to the lack of RPG elements in the game. Dawn of Mana plays very similar to Kingdom Hearts in terms of design and style. The main difference lies in the Havok physics engine, which is used for the Mono system.

(Mono system)

Dawn of Mana sports the Mono system, utilizing the Havok physics engine seen in Half-Life 2 that allows the player to greatly interact with their 3D environment. This system is essentially a high degree of environmental interaction offered by the Havok physics engine. With Keldy's whip function, the player can interact with almost any object seen in the surrounding area. The objects are used to Panic enemies, which is necessary as it is the only way to obtain stat boosting medals. Hitting an enemy will result in a counter appearing over their head, which induces Panic status. In this status, enemies are completely defenseless and more damage can be dealt to them. If the counter raises beyond 99, the enemy will be in full Panic and a gold crown replaces the numerical counter. Defeating an enemy in this state yields a greater stat boosting medal.

dawn-of-mana-20070405012654453-000.jpg


Gameplay:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LMdesTDzsnc

Heroes Of Mana:

Heroes_of_Mana.jpg


Heroes of Mana, is a real-time strategy role-playing game developed by Brownie Brown and published by Square Enix for the Nintendo DS video game console. The game was released on March 8, 2007 in Japan and was released in the U.S. on August 14, 2007.

The game is an RTS, and is almost entirely a touch-based system. Players will summon monsters to fight alongside heroes in order to accomplish objectives such as destroying an enemy carrier or defeating all enemies in the area. Throughout the game players will unlock new units, spirits, and tips that will be useful in achieving victory. New equipment is obtained through completing story and bonus missions and finding it as hidden treasure. There are a total of 26 bonus missions, one for each mission of the story mode, as well as additional missions only available through the Heroes Ranking system. There is multiplayer wireless support, however the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection service is restricted to downloading new maps and missions. Special items can be obtained by logging on the Wi-Fi Heroes Ranking system as well as by earning points through mission achievements such as fast times and most thrifty.

heroes-of-mana-20070730044458828.jpg


Gameplay:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=efK-lDurs0s


Other games in the series:

Friends of mana (Jpn Only)

So this is something I've kind of wanted to do for awhile, mainly because this has always been one of those series that I became pretty attached to early on. I think the most well received games were Secret, and Legend, but almost all of the games I would say are good overall. The gameplay has changed through each series to an extent, Adventure is a much different game then legend, legend is much different then Dawn, and the GBA, and DS games only put an emphasis on that fact. The music in the series has always been a big deal to me, it's always struck me as some of the best in the genre, and there have been so many great composers attached to the series.

There is alot of nostalgia here for me, FF Adventure was the first gameboy game I ever owned, Secret, and Legend are two of my favorite games in the entire libraries of their consoles. Dawn is alittle devicive amoung fans, and the controls made it a difficult game to get into, but the story was great to me, and the end..... It's one of those games that the great things make up for the issues that I had with the game. Sword was always great, but the GBA was the last Nintendo handheld I owned, so I have little experience with Children, and Heroes, though lately i've been thinking about picking up a 3DS for the purpose of playing them.

I hope some get enjoyment from this thread, I was going to make Secret part of the "Reaper's Chest" threads i've been doing, but this is one of my favorite franchises in gaming. I figured a retrospective type of thread would be a good chance to have some discussion of the series, share opinions, nostalgia, etc.
 

faridmon

Member
I really liked Heroes of Mana, but it got too challanging because the AI wouldn't follow the commands I was ordering.

Childeren of Mana was just an Abomination. Haven't played the others.
 
Legend of Mana is probably my favourite PS1 game. Played most of it in co-op with my cousin and it's such a great game, especially the music. oh god the music.
 
Most of the series was at least somewhat enjoyable. I even kindasorta liked Children of Mana, as much of a grindfest it might've been. Secret of Mana still is one of the best SNES games ever for me, and Legend of Mana is one of the very few games I'd consider getting a PS1 again for.
 

Lissar

Reluctant Member
Even though I consider Legend the best game in the series, Secret is still my favorite because of nostalgia.

And I know it didn't come stateside, but SD3 deserves more than getting stuck in the other section! D:

Relegating SD3 to that small link does a great disservice to that game within the series.

*shake fist* D:
 
Secret of mana and SD3 will always hold a special place in my heart. The artstyle, the gameplay and the music..... Kikuta is a really amazing composer. How did he not become more popular? It's sad that a man of his talent is composing for porn games (or so I've heard).
 
Amazing post for an amazing series ReaperXL07!

For me, Secret of Mana was my first frontier into social gaming - my first MMORPG-esque experience of sorts. The aspects of this game set underpinnings that would create the basis of my desirable video game elements for years to come.
 

ULTROS!

People seem to like me because I am polite and I am rarely late. I like to eat ice cream and I really enjoy a nice pair of slacks.
Legend of Mana had incredible graphics and music. Unfortunately its non-linearity can make the normal player lost very easily.

Also, the dialogue and/or translation is quirky and weird.
 
I listen to the entire Secret of Mana soundtrack at work at least once a week. Some people may not put the game up there with Chrono Trigger and FF6, but they are the 3 games that guaranteed in me a lifelong love of RPGs.
 
I can't believe Square hasn't ever localized Secret of Mana 2. It's an incredible game that deserves a lot more exposure.

Well, there never has been any remake of the older Mana-titles, and the newer ones weren't really that astounding as, in particular, the 2 SNES games and Legend of Mana.
It actually saddens me, because I know that there's a LOT of people who enjoyed the game and likely would get a remake (and a localisation of SD3).

I mean, Secret of Evermore was riding on Secret of Mana's success, even. Without the whole "Whoa, that must be kinda linked to Secret of Mana"-thing going for it, SoE (as good as it is) would have bombed.

Actually, I would like to see remakes of both the older Mana titles and Evermore.
 
Really can this not be viewed as two groups of Seiken Densetsu games? The first group is viewed by the mass majority as excellent games, from Final Fantasy Adventure through Legend of Mana.

...and then there's the World of Mana group, which is really, really hit or miss. I...really don't understand what they were trying to do with Dawn of Mana.
 

ReaperXL7

Member
Really can this not be viewed as two groups of Seiken Densetsu games? The first group is viewed by the mass majority as excellent games, from Final Fantasy Adventure through Legend of Mana.

...and then there's the World of Mana group, which is really, really hit or miss. I...really don't understand what they were trying to do with Dawn of Mana.

I agree that Adventure through Legend, and then the World of Mana games could be seen as two different groups, but they are still part of the same series, feature many of the common elements of the series, and I felt should still be added to the OP. It is a shame that the World of Mana titles were not on the same level as the games previous, but atleast with Damn, I always felt that while it might not have been completely successful it had alot of interesting ideas, and elements that made it unique. The graphics, character design, and music were all great imo, but unfortunetly the leveling system, control, and generally bad camera got in the way more often then they should have sadly.

Still I don't think the world of mana games can diminish how great the earlier games were. Legend of Mana is one of the reasons I want PS1 support on the Vita sooner rather then later, and one of my favorite games of all time. Secret is one of my SNES games, and personally it's pretty much on par with Chrono trigger in a variety of ways.

Of the games I have played in the series (only the DS games escape me) there is so much more good about these games then there is bad.
 

Gameboy415

Member
Interesting timing on this thread - I just found my Rabbite plushies last night. :)

I absolutely love the Mana/SD series!
Secret of Mana on SNES is one of my top 5 favorite games of all-time.

.... in addition to four manga and one novelization.

There were (at least) 2 manga series in Japan:

-Legend of Mana - based on the game with art by Shiro Amano (same artist for the Kingdom Hearts manga). It was originally released in 5 volumes and then later re-released in 2 giant volumes.

-Princess of Mana - an original story with art by Satsuki Yoshino. I have volumes 1-4 but apparently there was a 5th and final volume released shortly after I left Japan!
I need to track that down...

I can post pics of the manga/plushies if anyone's interested! :)
 

ReaperXL7

Member
Interesting timing on this thread - I just found my Rabbite plushies last night. :)

I absolutely love the Mana/SD series!
Secret of Mana on SNES is one of my top 5 favorite games of all-time.



There were (at least) 2 manga series in Japan:

-Legend of Mana - based on the game with art by Shiro Amano (same artist for the Kingdom Hearts manga). It was originally released in 5 volumes and then later re-released in 2 giant volumes.

-Princess of Mana - an original story with art by Satsuki Yoshino. I have volumes 1-4 but apparently there was a 5th and final volume released shortly after I left Japan!
I need to track that down...

I can post pics of the manga/plushies if anyone's interested! :)

Cool with me, post away! :)
 

Man God

Non-Canon Member
Well, there never has been any remake of the older Mana-titles, and the newer ones weren't really that astounding as, in particular, the 2 SNES games and Legend of Mana.
It actually saddens me, because I know that there's a LOT of people who enjoyed the game and likely would get a remake (and a localisation of SD3).

I mean, Secret of Evermore was riding on Secret of Mana's success, even. Without the whole "Whoa, that must be kinda linked to Secret of Mana"-thing going for it, SoE (as good as it is) would have bombed.

Actually, I would like to see remakes of both the older Mana titles and Evermore.

Umm, they did in fact remake SD1 and have since ported/retouched SD2 for iOS as you can clearly see in the blashphemous screen shot in the OP.
 
D

Deleted member 13876

Unconfirmed Member
Umm, they did in fact remake SD1 and have since ported/retouched SD2 for iOS as you can clearly see in the blashphemous screen shot in the OP.

I would totally buy that SD1 port. Sword of Mana felt off for several reasons. Where was my damn Chocobo(t).

Incomplete game data :(
 

Alrus

Member
Children of Mana was such a disappointment for me... Guess I shouldn't have bought it without reading up on it before. I was expecting similar gameplay to SD3 and I got a shallow dungeon crawler :(

SD3 is still my favorite by far, the only tedious part was farming for class change items toward the end. I'd buy a remake in a heartbeat! It would be great if they balanced the classes a little bit more, some of them are completely useless.

I need to play Secret of Mana again, I don't remember anything about the game.
 

Jasoneyu

Member
Legend of Mana stood out for me because of its WONDERFUL art but I remember getting lost in the non-linearity of it as a kid.
 

djtiesto

is beloved, despite what anyone might say
I've always been slightly curious about Dawn of Mana, is it truly as horrible as everyone says?
 

Dylan

Member
Final Fantasy Adventure was probably my favourite gameboy game.


And for what it's worth, I thought Secret of Evermore was far and away a better game than Secret of Mana. However for both games, charging attacks constantly = shitty battle mechanic.
 

neoemonk

Member
I loved Final Fantasy Adventure and Secret of Mana growing up, and tried out and was disappointed by Legend of Mana. On a whim I picked up Children of Mana for the DS and loathed it as well. Never looked back.

I guess I was expecting another Secret of Mana type game, which in retrospect was probably unfair. Those first two games provided several hours of joy however.
 

kswiston

Member
Dawn of Mana is definitely up there for one of the worst box arts of last generation.

I still have to play Legend of Mana. I owned the game briefly but (stupidly) sold my PS1 collection in 2000 to fund my university move (should have just taken another part time job). I don't think I ever played it before selling it. Now that it is $6 on PSN, I should rectify that.
 
Really can this not be viewed as two groups of Seiken Densetsu games? The first group is viewed by the mass majority as excellent games, from Final Fantasy Adventure through Legend of Mana.

...and then there's the World of Mana group, which is really, really hit or miss. I...really don't understand what they were trying to do with Dawn of Mana.
I love Legend personally, bit it's pretty divisive and it's also the first spinoff. Seiken Desetsu was concieved as a trilogy so I tend to think of 1-3 as a set and then classify everything that came later together.
 
J

Jotamide

Unconfirmed Member
I can't believe Square hasn't ever localized Secret of Mana 2. It's an incredible game that deserves a lot more exposure.

Anyone who played Chrono Trigger or Final Fantasy eventually found out about Seiken Densetsu 3. The only way I could play this back in the day was with the fan translation on ZSNES. I have very fond memories of it, the best part being that I could actually finish it (unlike FFs 4 through 6)!
 

Celine

Member
Wasn't Sword of Mana also Brownie Brown? Pretty sure that's where my hatred of BB originated.
Yep,
what was so wrong about SoW to make you hate them so much?

It's not a faithful remake as for example OoT3D but I thought it was quite a nice game when I played it a few years ago.
 

LProtag

Member
Legend of Mana often makes me feel super nostalgic.

One of the few games I bought a strategy guide for as a kid so I would know what the hell I was doing with the whole worldbuilding thing and what I was supposed to be doing.
 
Fantastic memories of getting Secret of Mana for my birthday in '93 (along with the multi-tap and Super Bomberman :D).

Thanks to its PSN release, I got a chance to finally play Legend of Mana. Really enjoyed it and it made me miss games like it.


I had no idea the fantastic Ryuchi Sakamoto (Wings of the Honneamise, The Last Emperor) contributed to the soundtrack of Dawn of Mana. I'll have to check that out.


I still think this is a series that could be resurrected, despite the mediocre results from the whole 'World of Mana' project.
Sadly I don't have much faith in S-E these days to do it properly. Besides, aren't a lot of the old development staff either completely gone or have been thrown onto the various FF online (XI & XIV) projects?
 

Gameboy415

Member
Cool with me, post away! :)

Here ya go!
SDCollectionSM.jpg

Top row: Collected reprints of the Legend of Mana manga, Rabbite Plushies, and Rabbite Screen Cleaner for DS
Middle row: Princess of Mana 1-4 (gotta find #5 now!)
Bottom row: Original 5 volume printing of the Legend of Mana manga

I also have a bunch of guides (both Japanese and English) and a cool Sword of Mana Collector's Edition set I got in Japan. :)

Dawn of Mana is definitely up there for one of the worst box arts of last generation.

The US Box art was pretty bad, but the Japanese box art was pretty amazing:

SeikenDensetsu4.jpg
 

beril

Member
Replayed the first game a few weeks ago, it's pretty nice though the gameplay is fairly simplistic. But the music is just so awesome.

Secret of Mana is vastly overrated; SD3 as well, though it's certainly pretty.

Sword of Mana was a pretty crappy remake.

Haven't touched the spinoffs and never paid attention to Dawn of Mana before and didn't know it was actually Seiken Densetsu 4 until now. Looks like fairly generic Kingdom Heartsy stuff and the physics elements look awful (like pretty much all gameplay based on realistic physic engines).
 

Jucksalbe

Banned
Secret of Mana is still one of my favorite games. Only played parts of SD3, I never really warmed up to that game. And then Legend of Mana, with all the praise it gets, it seems to be a game I just don't "get". Dawn of Mana on the other hand is simply crap, it's where that "second half" of the series begins.
I really enjoyed Children of Mana, it's simple but still fun. I don't know why this gets so much hate. Heroes of Mana, that's just boring and competing for my "least favorite" game in the series.

I played through SD1 a short while ago, as part of the Final Fantasy anniversary thread here on Gaf (excellent thread btw, come play!) and posted a lot of screenshots. I'm quoting myself from the summary of that thread for anyone who's interested:

Seiken Densetsu / Final Fantasy Adventure / Mystic Quest

Jucksalbe SGB: Part 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6


Edit: I forgot about Sword of Mana, I wonder why...
 

Thores

Member
Awesome OP.

I love the crap out of Legend of Mana, and consider it crazy overrated. My little sister wasn't (and still isn't) much of a gamer, but we played through nearly the whole thing together a couple years it came out, and we both had a blast. It's unique, charming, addictive, and just a lot of fun. Kind of a shame that even if the Mana series does come back in some form, it probably won't take much influence from Legend.
 

Kientin

Member
Man I love SD3 and Legend of Mana. Secret of Mana was pretty great too though I don't like as much as the other two there. These are the only ones I've played out of the series, what people have said about some of the other games has scared me off from trying them. That and general lack of interest of trying them.
 

CorvoSol

Member
I love the old Mana games! I just finished a run through Sword of Mana, and am currently going through SD3. After that I'll finish with ye olde Secret of Mana.

It's a shame this series died so completely. Children was a huge let down for me. Still, I suppose it's better than what they did with Parasite Eve . . .
 

Khezu

Member
Secret > Sword > legends. Out of the ones I played. Fun series.

Evermore shits all over them though
 
I can't believe Square hasn't ever localized Secret of Mana 2. It's an incredible game that deserves a lot more exposure.
I thought it was terrible. Or maybe more accurately, incredibly monotonous and boring (with amazing graphics and even more amazing music).

Of course, I actually liked Dawn of Mana, so I'm probably insane going by most people's opinions of the two games.
 

QP3

Member
Only played children of mana...really didn't enjoy it. Should I try another, or are the pretty similar?
 
Sadly, the only one of these I've played to completion is Sword of Mana. I've played a bit of both Secret of Mana and Secret of Evermore, and I do have to say I liked Evermore better at the time. This was several years ago, so I might give them another shot at some point.
 
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