Topic: The Mana (Seiken Densetsu) Fan Thread

Yep, it seems you're approaching the home stretch!

The map (or lack thereof) was a complaint of mine too. Along with the limited inventory space and the constant item switching, but the latter was due to system limitations as the original Link's Awakening had the same issue.

@Tyranexx Yeah the limited inventory is a pain too. I just keep a few X Ethers on me and some keys and that's it. If I need to cure I use the spell or I use the Blood Sword for a bit and once I got the morning star I didn't need the Mattrocks anymore.

What is the recommend level to be to finish the game? I am like 45 right now.

I finally beat Earthlock last night, so now I just need to finish up The Impossible Lair (I'm on the third segment of the lair) and I can finally start the third game of the Mana collection. I've heard it's easily the best of the three so I'm looking forward to it.

@Xyphon22 Are you playing the original or the Remake??

@Tasuki 45 should be fine. I think my character was level 48-49 when I finished.

Another couple of things that annoy me with FFA.

The fact that you always talk to someone by just bumping into them especially when there are blocking your way or move slightly in your way. I just want to get pass them not keep repeating their life story. It's really bad when they have several pages of text.

This also is kinda like the talking to people but when a treasure chest blocks your way and are forced to trash an item just to make room for a crappy spell item or something like Mattrocks.

Also not a fan of the puzzles where you have to freeze an enemy and then push them onto a tile. So many times the enemy accidentally gets killed then or the snowman gets stuck and then I have to wait forever for the enemies to respawn.

@Tasuki I'm going to play to original on the Collection of Mana, and then if I like it enough I'll think about getting the remake. Hopefully I can beat Impossible Lair tonight and start Trials tomorrow (I have them both physically and like to only play one physical game at a time so I don't have to keep switching them out).

And yes, those snowman puzzles were the worst. I was always accidentally killing them, or more often, I would freeze one and another enemy would kill it with a stray shot before I could line up my shot to freeze it.

Yep, those snowman puzzles can be frustrating. It got to where I'd create a Quick Save just before entering a room where there was one so that I wouldn't have to dawdle around waiting for them to respawn. I think you have to go so many rooms away (5 maybe?) before they'll respawn again.

@Xyphon22 Yeah that's what I plan to do. Although I have played and beat the original Trials or as it was known then Secret of Mana 2, but it's been a couple of years. Also I prefer having the multiplayer around.

And so I beat FFA tonight. I put my thoughts of the game in general in the Recently Beaten Games thread.

Story wise I enjoyed the game and it was a nice pallet cleanser from modern games. It made some things in the Secret of Mana make more sense. The simplistic gameplay was relaxing too even if it made the game a bit easy. Seriously the final battle was kinda disappointing how simple it was.

Still overall a great game that I highly recommend.

Now I think I will start Secret of Mana (God I am so not looking forward to grinding out Magic in that game).

It's definitely a decent game for a palate cleanser, and for the time period the story is pretty decent. Some of the mechanics haven't aged well, but IMO it speaks volumes that it can still be enjoyed today.

Not sure when I'll get around to Secret of Mana just yet. Probably sometime after Xenoblade.

@Tyranexx I want to start Secret of Mana as I have never actually beat the game, I have seen the ending from friends beating it but I always stop midway through the game due to having to grind out the magic spells.

@Tasuki I've actually never played the original Secret of Mana. From what I've heard, it's a decent game and one of the best RPGs of the 16-bit era. I missed out on a lot of them back in the day and have gradually been catching up. My favorites so far are Chrono Trigger and Earthbound.

@Tyranexx Well I wouldn't classify Secret of Mana as an RPG it's more of an adventure game like The Legend of Zelda. If your are expecting something like Chrono Trigger or Earthbound, then you are going to be disappointed.

@Tasuki I suppose action/adventure or ARPG would be a more accurate description. I forgot earlier that I have booted it up on the SNES Classic before for a few minutes just to see how the game controls. That was some time ago when I was more focused on other games on the device.

@Tasuki Yeah, that grinding of spells and weapons is most of the reason I didn't like Secret of Mana as much as FFA. I'm not sure it was entirely necessary, though. I was following along with the manual that came with the SNES Classic and when I got to the first dungeon it said I should be at level 8 and I was only at level 5, so I assumed I needed to grind and level everything up the whole game. Then when I beat it and looked stuff up online I saw that I was grossly overleveled compared to what most people were when they beat it. Oh, well.

But I think that is going to make the third game a lot harder because there is probably not a manual out there on the internet to follow since it had never come West before, so hopefully a lot of the mechanics are similar so I can pick it up quickly.

@Xyphon22 Secret of Mana is an odd game leveling wise. I never had to grind for character levels, just weapon and spell levels. But as it is you get character levels while you are grinding out spell and weapon levels.

I am sure there is a manual out there somewhere for Trials. The game never came out officially to the west but there were fan translated ROMs and repro carts available, heck that's how I played Trials for the first time a few years ago on a repro cart. You might have to search for Secret of Mana 2 (What the game was known as before it was officially released) or Seiken Densetsu III (what it was known in Japan), rather then Trials of Mana.

One thing though with Trials there isn't any weapon or spell grinding to the sense of Secret of Mana. So there's that.

@Tasuki I'll definitely have to search for that (or maybe I'll just try without one and see how it goes first). I've been delayed in starting it though, unfortunately, as my son has started playing Let's Go Pikachu and I don't feel like switching the carts out all the time, and I just got the Animal Crossing guide in the mail and so need to take some time getting my checklist current.

@Xyphon22 You could also look for guides for Trails on sites like Gamefaqs. Again might have to look under Secret of Mana 2 or the Japanese name.

@Tasuki Yeah but I don't like to use guides if I can help it. I consider the manuals different because they came with the game and were supposed to be read before (and while) playing. Especially with these old RPGs where the myriad of systems are explained and the manuals often end with a simplified walkthrough of the beginning of the game (I know Secret of Mana's had that as did FFVI).