RPG Progress Report

[BoneSnapDeez]

dem aesthetics doe

[Exhuminator]

I just wish combat were better. It is a bit janky.

I agree wholeheartedly. I used to love Secret of Mana, years ago. But fairly recently I went back to replay it, and I don't think it has aged well. Yes it still looks and sounds great, but it plays as you say "janky". Not only that, the pacing is all over the place, and progression isn't exactly intuitive at times. I still think Secret of Mana is a good game, but I don't think it's the apex of action-RPG perfection as some like to claim it is. There were better action-RPGs even during its time.

[Xeogred]

When I hear people dog Secret of Mana

[Sarge]

It was a fun game when I was starved for RPGs, but yeah, it was always pretty janky. I think overall, I actually liked stuff like Illusion of Gaia and Terranigma a lot more. And of course, A Link to the Past. Its sequel also improves on the game significantly.

[Xeogred]

I like Mana more than the Quintet stuff. You've got a party and the ring menu system is cool. They're faster and simpler, I like them for that. I never like including Zelda next to these. The Quintet stuff at least has stats but it's borderline too. I'm picky.

Seiken Densetsu 3 ditches the charging system thankfully and it's smoother. Best real time ARPG combat system in the history of gaming.

[MrPopo]

I've found Secret of Mana's combat gets a lot better when the CPU isn't attacking; when you have humans controlling the party members you can keep enemies stun locked and ensure you're always doing full damage. You can turn down the aggressiveness of the CPU to keep them from spoiling your attacks. Too bad you can't have them always attack someone else like in SD3 (where it's less useful because of the changes to how attacks work).

[BogusMeatFactory]

6th star received and... to be honest, I am a little disappointed. I found the big villain in the city there was pretty arbitrary. They don't talk about where they came from or what was going on. Everyone is just so blasé about the situation. No context!

I thought the Mallow storyline just didn't have the impact I thought it would! Still loving the game, but things are starting to degrade to just attack and heal. Very little gimmicks to keep things fresh in the later stages. I hope that the final dungeon switches things up. Should be able to beat it tonight.

[PartridgeSenpai]

6th star received and... to be honest, I am a little disappointed. I found the big villain in the city there was pretty arbitrary. They don't talk about where they came from or what was going on. Everyone is just so blasé about the situation. No context!

You've hit onto one of my biggest complaints about the game's narrative. The stuff directly related to Mario's previously established universe is generally really strong. The new stuff they've added, especially the more Final Fantasy-ish feeling aspects, really tend to feel either, at best, shallow or, at worst, tacked on for the most part. Which is a shame! I guess that's what they tried (and succeeded in, imo) to remedy with Mario & Luigi and Paper Mario though by keeping things more grounded in Mario-ness than Square-ness. The battle system and story's general simplicity cannot be denied, that's for sure, but compared to something like Mystic Quest, I'd say that Mario RPG is a far far better introductory RPG by the folks as Square.

[BoneSnapDeez]

Ys Book I & II > A Link to the Past > Secret of Mana > Terranigma

I actually think Secret of Evermore is highly underrated. That one is mandatory.

[SNESdrunk]

No chance. SoE has so many problems IMO, like the complete clusterfuck that is the flea market.


I know 7th Saga has a cult following here, so I'm wondering if any 7th Saga fans here have played Inindo Way of the Ninja? It's got a similar kind of open world craziness to it