Is Secret of Mana worth playing through by yourself?

[Teddman]

Well, I recently replayed Final Fantasy Adventure (Seiken Densetsu 1) and I was really psyched up to get into some retrogaming and enjoy its sequel, Secret of Mana on SNES, but I'm about five hours in and it's just not grabbing me like I had hoped.

Does this game's reputation as a classic rest in a large part on the fun of playing it with two friends in multiplayer? Based on the issues I've encountered below, I think maybe it does...

-The combat system seems choppy compared to FFA. Unlike in that GameBoy game, you now have to wait until your attack meter reaches 100% and THEN hold the strike button down for a few seconds before you can unleash a special attack. And if you strike before 100%, you do a paltry amount of damage... Furthermore, if you're hit while fully charged up, your attack meter resets and you have to start all over again! Special attacks just aren't worth doing.

In FFA you just did a regular amount of damage with each hit, and waiting for 100% power was only if you were going for a special attack.

-The lag between when you hit an enemy and when it registers damage is a bit annoying.

-The menu system is pretty unwieldy, at least in one-player mode. Constantly switching weapons for each character and using spells gets pretty hectic, especially during boss battles. Can't assign a button or two to a selected magic spell? For an action-RPG, I spent as much time in the menus as fighting!

-I got to a part in a dungeon where I couldn't continue because a character in my party was dead. Since when is that a problem in RPG's?

-It's a cool idea to give you separate skill levels for each of your weapons, but it also necessitates switching them up often and leveling up that much more.

-You have to level up magic power quite a bit in one-player mode.

-Characters and plot aren't very interesting at all so far... Perhaps it improves later (I'm in the underground palace).

On the positive side, the music rules.

I wish I was having more fun with this one, but it seems like the game really isn't optimized for the single-player experience--and indeed almost punishes the solo player.

[Diff-chan]

I really liked it. I think maybe you are just messed in the head.

[Teddman]

I like it okay... But I don't know, I can't help but feel a bit disappointed.

Did you play through it alone, and/or play Final Fantasy Adventure before you played SoM?

[Damian79]

I really liked it. I think maybe you are just messed in the head.

Nah, he ain't messed up, he just sucks.

Anyhow, once you get used to it, the circle system rocks. Are you playing it on an emulator? Emulated square games tend to turn out crappy. I tried to play chrono trigger on an emulator, and god, it is nothing like playing on the snes.

As for the combat, the weak attacks are there to "hold" enemies in place by arttacking rapidly. as for having to wait till the meter reaches hundered percent to do a decent hit, it adds a ton more strategy to the game and more gameplay aswell. After you hit it, only takes between 1 and 2 seconds before you can attack at full strength.

As for special attacks, you use them on enemies that kick your ass when you get near them so one powerful attack is much less risky and quicker too, and a lot of the time it makes the defense if enemies much less of a problem.

[Diff-chan]

I played it alone (I had no friends when I played it), and I never played FFA before SOM.

[Teddman]

I'm playing it on the original SNES model, looks great in s-video. Not trying to bash the game here, just find out if all my issues arise because the game was meant to be played multiplayer.

I don't find the game hard despite all my complaints in the first post, just combat is not very fluid or fun so far. I might have preferred the way it was set up in FFA...

[Andy]

I really liked it. I think maybe you are just messed in the head.

[Teddman]

No one has an opinion on how the game compares in single-player mode vs. multiplayer? So it's essentially the same experience gameplay-wise and I'm just a 'tard for not liking it, that's what you're saying?

[NoFace]

I don't think multiplayer added all that much to the game. You're still doing the same thing, and stuck to the same screen. I mean, you basically just have friends take control of characters on your file anyway... it's the same experience, except your A.I. controlled buddies aren't controlled by A.I. anymore, and are (presumably) less stupid.

The game is equally fantastic playing by yourself.

[Damian79]

Can't assign a button or two to a selected magic spell? For an action-RPG, I spent as much time in the menus as fighting!

I missed this. Once you selece the spell that you wanted to cast, it becomes much quicker to cast the same spell. I forgot exactly how, but it did.

And as for levelling up your spells, it getts more annoying as you progress further in the game, though not really that bad as you can just stick to a few familiars or whatever the heck they were called and you can naturally get them levelled up as you progress through the game.