racketboy.com

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kKHjcnOGPhs

Well that was completely unexpected. Coming to the Sony platforms plus Steam, and the email Squeenix sent out includes a shot of the gameplay which shows its still a top down action RPG in a similar style; my guess is they're going to update how the attack rate and weapon charging works to be a bit less cumbersome.

it does look really cool. Though as I was saying in the Switch thread I'm kind of tempted to import the collection for the inclusion of the GB Final Fantasy Adventure. And if I did that then I don't really feel like I'd need another version of Secret Of Mana. Not to mention I'd already bought the Android port.

The website for the remake also mentions the VA will be both English and Japanese with subtitles depending on your tastes.

Looks pretty cool. I enjoyed my play through Adventures of Mana, so anything along those lines should be fun as well. It's been a long time since I played through SoM anyway, so this would provide an excellent excuse.

So I'm the only one who thinks the art direction and graphical style is godawful?

Reprise wrote:So I'm the only one who thinks the art direction and graphical style is godawful?

Glad I'm not the first to be that guy. Incoming Bone...

Yeah, it looks like a huge downgrade. Chances are the re-arranged/remixed music will lose a lot of magic too. It didn't really phase me though when I saw the trailer, I'm of the camp that Mana really hasn't been that great since the SNES. So... my expectations weren't high. It's clearly a budget effort from Square. Despite the fact that Secret of Mana was one of the biggest international hits for Square Soft back in the day (Retronauts just had an episode on the series and was awesome).

This basically looks a lot like the DS remakes of FF3 and FF4, which I never wanted to touch. But I'll keep my eyes on this. Maybe multiplayer will be implemented pretty well or some new features will be cool. It has to be hard to mess this up, but they've already did some wrong haha... If anything, just makes me want to replay the original for the thousandth time.

Xeogred wrote:This basically looks a lot like the DS remakes of FF3 and FF4, which I never wanted to touch. But I'll keep my eyes on this. Maybe multiplayer will be implemented pretty well or some new features will be cool. It has to be hard to mess this up, but they've already did some wrong haha... If anything, just makes me want to replay the original for the thousandth time.

If they fundamentally change the story to make the multiplayer more immediate, that will make the game far far better for me. The original game making you wait hours to unlock the second and third characters was such an awful design decision. I had a friend over all hyped to play it with me, and she just had to watch me going through the opening. We never even got to the point where a second player could join before she had to leave. It's an interesting concept, but it's much better implemented in the sequel where you have a party from the start (I believe).

Secret of Mana is another game I've never really been able to stick with. The gameplay is alright, and the story is okay, but it just loves killing you so much it gets so irritating. I'd rather just play Link to the Past again for an action adventure or play through Chrono Trigger for a great RPG than go through it's kinda half-way hybrid stuff. I just have so many games to play, I feel like I'm wasting my time if I'm just pushing on through a game I'm not actively loving. It is on the SNES classic though, so maybe I'll give it another try soon when I'm able to pick up mine.

Graphics are yuck but I'll still try it out. One of the best ARPGs ever.

Reprise wrote:So I'm the only one who thinks the art direction and graphical style is godawful?

I've only seen that announcement trailer popo linked to, but I think it looks pretty nice, personally. Are you basing that on any other promotional materials? The main character's voice actor is atrocious, though, if that's not just an intern being used as a placeholder.

My beef is with remaking Secret of Mana, specifically. Of course I understand that it's quite popular, and stands to make the most money. it's just that it happens to also be one of the worst games in the series, and a fairly poor game, in general. If they're smart, they'll fix all of the bugs, and terrible combat, but the story still stands to be a complete snooze-fest, with totally flat, lifeless characters.

PartridgeSenpai wrote:[...B]ut it's much better implemented in the sequel where you have a party from the start (I believe).

The third one lets you pick your party immediately, but you don't get the second and third characters until later. It's a number of hours before all three are together.

pierrot wrote:My beef is with remaking Secret of Mana, specifically. Of course I understand that it's quite popular, and stands to make the most money. it's just that it happens to also be one of the worst games in the series, and a fairly poor game, in general. If they're smart, they'll fix all of the bugs, and terrible combat, but the story still stands to be a complete snooze-fest, with totally flat, lifeless characters.

I'm glad I'm not the only one who feels this way!

pierrot wrote:

PartridgeSenpai wrote:[...B]ut it's much better implemented in the sequel where you have a party from the start (I believe).

The third one lets you pick your party immediately, but you don't get the second and third characters until later. It's a number of hours before all three are together.

Isn't the 3rd game only 2 player or something? I recall reading somewhere that you can't actually use the multitap in that one or some other and just the two of you switch between 3 characters. If they actually make you play several hours to get your other party members again, that is doubly atrocious game design. How on Earth did they not learn it was a terrible idea the first time?! TwT