Secret of Mana Vs. Secret of Evermore

brandotheninjamaster

Alright during my childhood one game that really stood out for me was Secret of Evermore it was one of my favorites, and still is. Recently I have been reading reviews of SOE and basically they're tearing it saying its crap and its a rip off of this other game called Secret of Mana. So I decided to play through to see which is better. So I started playing SOM so far I'm not impressed and I still think that SOE is better (and thats not my childhood talking). Now amongst my travels here in the PA forums I have noticed people with SOM avatars so I think its safe to assume that you guys have played the game. My question to you is what makes that game so great? And to the people that have played both what makes Secret of Mana/Secret of Evermore better? I'll start things off.

First I think that graphics are a lot cleaner in SOE than SOM. Second I am about at the 1/4 mark in SOM and so far I have noticed a a lot of back and forth stuff that takes me across the same areas. Third the soundtrack in SOE is a million times better I actually enjoy it to the point to where I listen to some of the songs in my car. SOM just has standard music from that time in games. Fourth I think that the monsters in SOE were cooler than SOM. Thats just a few to start things off.

Oh yea, I know SOM came out first and I'll be the First to agree they share a whole hell of a lot of similarities but I just think that SOE did it better.

Kogareru

Speaking from my childhood and having never played Secret of Evermore. I think one of the main things that endeared SOM to so many people was because it had multiplayer. This in my case allowed me and my cousin to play through the whole game together and more recently allowed me to start over and play it with my fiancé. There were also many other reasons as I do believe for an action RPG it was really well done (And you get a DRAGON to ride!).

FunkyWaltDogg

I also played Secret of Evermore first, and while Secret of Mana was good, I think Evermore was better. I agree with all your point-to-point comparisons. However, I suspect we'll be in the minority.

There's no denying that Mana was a much more groundbreaking game, though.

brandotheninjamaster

Kogareru wrote: »

(And you get a DRAGON to ride!).

You do? Thats pretty awesome. I haven't got to that part yet.

Xenogears of Bore

Secret of Evermore, the first (and only) game by Square USA. It's really very good. It is more interesting than SoM at any rate, though SoM with 3 people is an almost unmatchable combination.

The alchemy system was pretty easy to cheese if I remember right, but then again, so was the magic in SoM.

SoE is really a forgotten gem. People give it a lot of crap because it is not SD 3, the sequel to SoM. In some ways, its a lot better than SD 3.

Can I fight anymore acronyms into this? Not without lunch.

Slagmire

I actually feel, to a small degree, dirty for saying it, but I think I agree that I enjoyed Secret of Evermore more then Secret of Mana. That might be due to the fact that I never played SoM for multi-player too.

brandotheninjamaster

FunkyWaltDogg wrote: »

I also played Secret of Evermore first, and while Secret of Mana was good, I think Evermore was better. I agree with all your point-to-point comparisons. However, I suspect we'll be in the minority.

There's no denying that Mana was a much more groundbreaking game, though.

agreed.

quovadis13

Secret of Mana better be on Virtual Console.........Come on Squeenix!!

FunkyWaltDogg

quovadis13 wrote: »

Secret of Mana better be on Virtual Console.........Come on Squeenix!!

It won't happen. They'll save it for a re-release which they may never get around to.

I've got high hopes for SoE, though.

brandotheninjamaster

quovadis13 wrote: »

Secret of Mana better be on Virtual Console.........Come on Squeenix!!

*edit* I read the answer wrong lol! I would like to see SOE or SOM on a virtual Console.

Camui

I like them both but I can not stand doing the first area of SoE anymore.

Klyka

I played SoM first and in 3 player co-op to boot.

After beating it with my friends, I never played it again, although we all had a blast.

I then got SoE and played through it about 10 times.
Don't ask me why, but there was just something special about that game that just had me come back again and again. I think it was the great environments and the alchemy system.

edit: I'd love to SoM and SoM2 on LIVE arcade with improved graphics. That would be sweet.
Till then, I'll just play them on my Media center pc with 3 xbox controllers

Slagmire

Klyka wrote: »

I played SoM first and in 3 player co-op to boot.

After beating it with my friends, I never played it again, although we all had a blast.

I then got SoE and played through it about 10 times.
Don't ask me why, but there was just something special about that game that just had me come back again and again. I think it was the great environments and the alchemy system.

edit: I'd love to SoM and SoM2 on LIVE arcade with improved graphics. That would be sweet.
Till then, I'll just play them on my Media center pc with 3 xbox controllers

I agree with the environments and alchemy as well... but damn, if that dog wasn't as big a contribution too.

FunkyWaltDogg

I just realized that this is the opportunity to get the answer to a question I had.

Whenever I got the bazooka in the last level, my ammo would never go down when I fired. Was that just a glitch with my copy, or have other people noticed it too?

LifeVirusZERO

I can back all of this up. Secret of Evermore was, and is, one of my favorite games of ALL TIME. Maybe it's just because of the whole "fantasy adventure in a modern perspective" thing. All I know is, SoE is one of the most under-rated games ever, too overshadowed by SoM. I never finished SoM but it was still a good game. I still prefer SoE however. And it's pretty interesting to think that one of my favorite games ever was made by Americans.

LifeVirusZERO

FunkyWaltDogg wrote: »

I just realized that this is the opportunity to get the answer to a question I had.

Whenever I got the bazooka in the last level, my ammo would never go down when I fired. Was that just a glitch with my copy, or have other people noticed it too?

It happened with everyone's copy AFAIK

brandotheninjamaster

FunkyWaltDogg wrote: »

I just realized that this is the opportunity to get the answer to a question I had.

Whenever I got the bazooka in the last level, my ammo would never go down when I fired. Was that just a glitch with my copy, or have other people noticed it too?

I noticed the same with me. Without complaint I might add lol!

Frosted Butts

Evermore had some truely great parts (The Roman world or whatever), but Secret of Mana was the better game.

zanetheinsane

brandotheninjamaster wrote: »

Third the soundtrack in SOE is a million times better I actually enjoy it to the point to where I listen to some of the songs in my car. SOM just has standard music from that time in games.

I can give you anything else in that argument, but I've never heard anyone refer to the Secret of Mana soundtrack as dull and generic. I think that Hiroki Kikuta's compositions for this and SD3 set the "somber and hopeless" mood of the world in general the game was trying to portray. SoM has some of the best "sad" music I've listened to in video games besides perhaps Chrono Trigger.

That said, I think SoE still has an amazing soundtrack as well. It's probably not given as much credit simply due to it's own obscurity (I've met alot of people who have never heard of the game).

Ardor

The main reason I enjoyed SoM over SoE was the multiplayer. I enjoy multiplayer games a lot more than single person games.

If I did not have 2 other people to play with, I'd say SoE was a more fun game hands down. That's not to say they aren't both great games, I enjoyed them both.

There was some (IMO) replay value in SoE as well compared to SoM.

Gage

Evermore has one of my favorite SNES era soundtracks. I believe it was one of Jeremy Soule's earliest game projects (he went on to compose music for such epic titles as Morrowind, Oblivion, KOTOR, Guild Wars, etc.).

brandotheninjamaster

Gage wrote: »

Evermore has one of my favorite SNES era soundtracks. I believe it was one of Jeremy Soule's earliest game projects (he went on to compose music for such epic titles as Morrowind, Oblivion, KOTOR, Guild Wars, etc.).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secret_of_Evermore_%28Soundtrack%29

LifeVirusZERO

NO ROM talk. -- Echo

Alfred J. Kwak

I really enjoyed SoM for it's multiplayer and SoE for it's singleplayer. Though I think that halfway through the game feels kinda rushed

Marty81

Evermore was the one with the dog, right? I got it and tried it several times when I was young, hoping for a SoM sequel, but I just couldn't get into it. It didn't feel right for some reason. Maybe I should go back and try it again.

Klyka

I can't seem to remember it right, but couldn't you just plug in a second SNES controller and let one player play as the dog?

I think I did that with a friend but it may just be me remembering it wrong.

brandotheninjamaster

Marty81 wrote: »

Evermore was the one with the dog, right? I got it and tried it several times when I was young, hoping for a SoM sequel, but I just couldn't get into it. It didn't feel right for some reason. Maybe I should go back and try it again.

I would suggest it. Like I said and my Bro LifeVirus said its one of the best RPG's we ever played.

Echo

ROM talk still isn't ok.

Now can I please stop infracting people here?

Dagrabbit

Evermore was fun, except the last boss was really tedious. I liked Mana better, but Evermore was great too.

LifeVirusZERO

Echo wrote: »

ROM talk still isn't ok.

Now can I please stop infracting people here?

Haha.... won't let it happen again. I'm fairly new to this forum and most forums' rules allow talking about them just no linking.

Brue

This is definitely one of the most overshadowed games in SNES history. I just think a lot of people never saw it, although I think I remember an add campaign on TV which was very rare back then. It had something to do with the dog I think... Nonetheless people who haven't played it should try to get ahold of a copy it shouldn't be hard to get and I would guess a lot less inexpensive then SoM. Both games were great, I am still not sure why SoE didn't take hold better then it did.

SoM is definitely the more innovative game though and more enjoyable with friends, but there is a spot in my heart for SoE.

Xagarath

Seiken Densetsu 3 was better than either, however.

Brue

Xagarath wrote: »

Seiken Densetsu 3 was better than either, however.

True, but was never released stateside.

Darmak

SoE was a pretty good game, but SoM is much better by far. I've played through SoM like 20 times, with and without friends (though never 3 players, I've never owned a multi-tap), and every time is totally awesome. I may see if I can get my girlfriend to play through it with me, it's been a few years since I last played.

Magic Pink

I would say Evermore but the Dog AI totally sucked and scrounging for alchemy material got annoying after a while. The combat just felt messy too. Thinsg would hit me even tho theye were nowhere near me. Yeah, I could do the same but it didn't really help.

brandotheninjamaster

Magic Pink wrote: »

I would say Evermore but the Dog AI totally sucked and scrounging for alchemy material got annoying after a while. The combat just felt messy too. Thinsg would hit me even tho theye were nowhere near me. Yeah, I could do the same but it didn't really help.

I agree about the collecting of alchemy ingredients being annoying. But the the Dog AI was no worse than SOM AI. God dammit I swear the AI guys like to play who can walk into the enemy the most without attacking!

FunkyWaltDogg

I liked the concept of having to have the ingredients to cast a spell rather than just running off a magic bar, but it got a little old when trying to level the attack spells up so they would actually do some damage.

Tofystedeth

Let us not forget the classic getting stuck on something causing you to be unable to walk forward anymore. I think I managed to get a character (AI or as 2nd player, i don't remember) that it was impossible to get unstuck. I had to reset the game.

SoE was fun, but I remember playing it with this kid across the block from me. He was a few years younger, and I used to watch him when his mom wasn't home. Getting paid to play video games rocks, especially when you are like, in middle/high school. We played through SoM together so many times, and when we rented SoE, it was incredibly frustrating that we couldn't have a second player being the dog.

Dog

the best part of SoE was farming alchemy reagents.

I had ALOT of fun in that game, especially in the castle level with the chessboard, and Cecil and whatnot.

brandotheninjamaster

robothero wrote: »

the best part of SoE was farming alchemy reagents.

I had ALOT of fun in that game, especially in the castle level with the chessboard, and Cecil and whatnot.

My favorite part of the game by far is the bazaar. For some reason running back and forth trading and "sniffing" out deals was really fun for me.

Airan

I managed to play SoM, but no SoE, despite living in Europe. It must've been hella expensive to import, though I'll never know (uncle bought it).

I wish they rereleased it on VC or DS. Or made a sequel that's actually good. Children of Mana had potential, but then they had to fuck it up by somewhat dumbing it down to a dungeon crawl.