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Let's Play : Secret of Mana - Episode 15 : Over 30GB Served this month!

Doc HollidayDoc Holliday Registered User regular
edited October 2008 in Games and Technology
Welcome to my first Let's Play! I will be playing through the outstanding game Secret of Mana with you guys!


Secret of Mana
secret_of_mana.jpg

Secret of Mana is an actiony role-playingy adventure game with goofy characters, goofy music, and bright colors. It is highly regarded as one of the SNES classics, and sits among Chrono Trigger and Final Fantasy VI in the ranks of the best games Squaresoft has ever made.
I don't remember this game being all that long (perhaps 30 hours or so?), but it has been a long time since I have played this game; and a long long long time since I have beaten it. I will need you guys to help me along the way, finding secrets and whatnot. If you have a tip for me for something I haven't done yet, put it in a spoiler and label it "PLAYER TIP". I'll scan through these and make sure I abide as many requests as I can!



The Videos :

Episodes 1 - 10, High Res Blip.tv (QT):

Episodes 1 - 10, Low Res Google Video (flash) :



Latest Episodes

(all .mov files. Please right click -> save as and watch it on your computer)

somep11.pngEpisode 11 - "Die Ninja! DIE! ... DIE!"
somep12.gifEpisode 12 : "Go Away! The Sage is Out!"
somep13.gifEpisode 13: "I'm back, fo realz"

http://www.keepthewebweird.com/somlp/somep14.mov New!



I received approval for this Let's Play. If you want to do your own Let's Play, then ask a mod's permission.

PSN & Live: buckwilson
Doc Holliday on
«13456713

Posts

  • RakaiRakai Registered User regular
    edited March 2008
    I love that artwork of the three standing in front of the giant tree. One of my favorite video game pictures of all time.

    Rakai on
    [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]XBL: Rakayn | PS3: Rakayn | Steam ID
  • ArikadoArikado Southern CaliforniaRegistered User regular
    edited March 2008
    Fucking yes!

    This...this got me into Square. I did Final Fantasy 2 and hit multiple brick walls and swore them off. Then I saw this, rented it, then bought it twice (first copy got ruined in a horrible lemonade+dog accident). I bought the fucking multitap to 3 player this game. My sisters and I played this until all three characters to max out all the weapon levels.

    Arikado on
    BNet: Arikado#1153 | Steam | LoL: Anzen
  • SimBenSimBen Hodor? Hodor Hodor.Registered User regular
    edited March 2008
    I have spawned Let'splaybabies.

    Excellent.

    It's good that you're doing this, because I've never finished this game.

    SimBen on
    sig.gif
  • iadrianiadrian Registered User regular
    edited March 2008
    SimBen wrote: »
    I have spawned Let'splaybabies.

    Excellent.

    It's good that you're doing this, because I've never finished this game.

    This was my thought, SimBen. You've started something. Now it's only a matter of time before someone gives FFVI another stab.

    I'm stoked to see this game being done. Loved the hell out of it; it's one of the first games I remember my little brother being old enough to play co-op with me. Can't wait to see more, because I never finished it, either.

    iadrian on
    Brawl: 2964-8274-9230
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  • KlykaKlyka DO you have any SPARE BATTERIES?Registered User regular
    edited March 2008
    I am actually thinking about setting up a little website where everyone can just upload their let's play videos so we have every let's play ever neatly packed into a site.
    I already have the technology needed for that set up because of some other stuff.

    Would anyone be interested in that?

    Klyka on
    SC2 EU ID Klyka.110
    lTDyp.jpg
  • Doc HollidayDoc Holliday Registered User regular
    edited March 2008
    I'm glad everyone is excited. And yes, SimBen was absolutely the inspiration for this. Once you brave the unknown frontier that is RPG Let's Plays, the flood gate opens!

    Klyka, that would be pretty cool, but I'm really enjoying blip.tv's interface and options as far as syndicating RSS, podcasts, etc. Maybe just a website that indexes Let's Plays and uses each's respective video embed? I don't know. Either way, I'm open to anything, and it's cool that you've got the resources!

    Doc Holliday on
    PSN & Live: buckwilson
  • KlykaKlyka DO you have any SPARE BATTERIES?Registered User regular
    edited March 2008
    I just took a look at blip.tv, didn't know the site before.
    It really does seem like it has everything one needs,especially the RSS feed is nice, as is the blogging.
    If I started the let's play site it would not start with such things right out of the box, it would just be a simple "upload movies,make comments" site. So I guess it's not needed, blip.tv seems to be the right choice :)
    And just a simple link site, I don't know, we could just make a megathread for that.

    Klyka on
    SC2 EU ID Klyka.110
    lTDyp.jpg
  • TVs_FrankTVs_Frank Registered User regular
    edited March 2008
    SimBen wrote: »
    I have spawned Let'splaybabies.

    Excellent.

    It's good that you're doing this, because I've never finished this game.

    Same here. I just never found the game all that fun and the story didn't seem interesting. I'll be watching this one. I didn't know about this blipTV site either. The video quality seems excellent.

    TVs_Frank on
  • Xenogears of BoreXenogears of Bore Registered User regular
    edited March 2008
    The game becomes ten times as much fun when played three player. Same with Final Fantasy:Crystal Chronices. FF:CC is of course the Mana series true successor.

    Also, I used to have trouble with SoM as a kid because I didn't know about abusing stacked magical effects.

    Xenogears of Bore on
    3DS CODE: 3093-7068-3576
  • Tonberry KingTonberry King Registered User regular
    edited March 2008
    Player Tip: Thirty hours is about right. It's taken me longer but I grind like crazy in this game. I NEED to level each weapon up to max for each character or I can't move on. Don't do this. Unless you plan on making the girl or the sprite your main character, there is no need to level up their weapons beyond one or two. The AI is stupid when it comes to charging their weapons. They'll charge every time they see an enemy but never before or after. I recommend you set them to 0 and keep them there unless you're fighting a boss that is weak against physical attacks.

    The best place to set your character's AI is dependent on your play style but I like giving my characters long range weapons and setting them on B2.

    The girl's magic has an unique way of leveling up. Before I would go to an Inn or Luka and do all my griding there. That way I could cast "(element) saber" over and over again and then recover my MP immediately by resting. Then I found out you don't get as much experience that way. You have to be in an area with enemies to get full experience.

    My last tip on grinding is to abuse the Drops. Their ability to multiply is useful for having a constant stream of enemies to beat up on.

    Edit: It's a shame so many of you haven't beaten this game. The ending is epic.

    Tonberry King on
  • ValkunValkun Registered User regular
    edited March 2008
    The lack of multiplayer action makes me a sad Valkun. If someone does Seiken Densetsu 3 single player before we get to it, there will be strangling involved, through the internet.

    Valkun on
  • PemulisPemulis Registered User regular
    edited March 2008
    Klyka wrote: »
    I am actually thinking about setting up a little website where everyone can just upload their let's play videos so we have every let's play ever neatly packed into a site.
    I already have the technology needed for that set up because of some other stuff.

    Would anyone be interested in that?

    This would be very cool. Fromearth has a good collection of the SA Let's Plays here:

    http://fromearth.net/LetsPlay/

    I would love to see a collection of all of the PA LP's.

    DO IT!

    Pemulis on
  • StericaSterica Yes Registered User, Moderator mod
    edited March 2008
    Secret of Mana had an incredible multiplayer that was only hindered by the need to pause the game for everybody to do anything beyond attacking. It'd be a perfect subject for a DS remake, or even a Wii remake (use the Wiimote to pick targets for spells/items).

    Sterica on
    YL9WnCY.png
  • redfenixredfenix Aka'd as rfix Registered User regular
    edited March 2008
    One of my favorite games, ever.

    redfenix on
  • FrosteeyFrosteey Elaise 1521-2945-8940Registered User regular
    edited March 2008
    I vote for the spear.

    Frosteey on
  • Tonberry KingTonberry King Registered User regular
    edited March 2008
    Frosteey wrote: »
    I vote for the spear.
    I vote for throwing the spear.

    Pole Dart is where it's at (unless you have the Sprite Spear. Then, yes, I vote spear).

    Tonberry King on
  • Doc HollidayDoc Holliday Registered User regular
    edited March 2008
    Spear huh? For the main character? I usually keep him with the sword-- what does everyone else think about using the spear?

    Doc Holliday on
    PSN & Live: buckwilson
  • SimBenSimBen Hodor? Hodor Hodor.Registered User regular
    edited March 2008
    Valkun wrote: »
    The lack of multiplayer action makes me a sad Valkun. If someone does Seiken Densetsu 3 single player before we get to it, there will be strangling involved, through the internet.

    If we ever do Seiken Densetsu 3, it will have to be a megathread. With several people doing their own play-throughs simultaneously, with different parties. It's the only way it can be done.
    There are 120 different possible party configurations in Seiken Densetsu 3, not two of which have an entirely identical playthrough. Each possible party has 64 possible class configurations (4 choices per character). Which means there are 7,680 different ways of going through that game.

    SimBen on
    sig.gif
  • FrosteeyFrosteey Elaise 1521-2945-8940Registered User regular
    edited March 2008
    Frosteey wrote: »
    I vote for the spear.
    I vote for throwing the spear.

    Pole Dart is where it's at (unless you have the Sprite Spear. Then, yes, I vote spear).

    The javelin attacks are so boring. "Whoo, I can spin it around in a half circle before throwing it! I can throw two in succession! I can jump back a tiny bit!"

    Lame.

    Frosteey on
  • Doc HollidayDoc Holliday Registered User regular
    edited March 2008
    Argh! Ran out of room on my hard drive after my last recording, and it fubar'd the recording. Better to learn these things early on than later... I need to start duplicating my saves. Hmph.

    Doc Holliday on
    PSN & Live: buckwilson
  • techacolyte42techacolyte42 Registered User regular
    edited March 2008
    BEST GAME EVER.
    I recommend rotating weapons, different ones are better against different creatures - and usually level up faster than you can get new orbs anyway.

    techacolyte42 on
    [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]Peace on Earth and Flamethrowers for all mankind!!!!
  • FrosteeyFrosteey Elaise 1521-2945-8940Registered User regular
    edited March 2008
    BEST GAME EVER.
    I recommend rotating weapons, different ones are better against different creatures - and usually level up faster than you can get new orbs anyway.

    I'd actually probably recommend this. At least, the melee weapons. You can just grind weapon levels off-camera.

    Actually, the boomerang's all right, I guess.

    Frosteey on
  • FCDFCD Registered User regular
    edited March 2008
    SimBen wrote: »
    Valkun wrote: »
    The lack of multiplayer action makes me a sad Valkun. If someone does Seiken Densetsu 3 single player before we get to it, there will be strangling involved, through the internet.

    If we ever do Seiken Densetsu 3, it will have to be a megathread. With several people doing their own play-throughs simultaneously, with different parties. It's the only way it can be done.
    There are 120 different possible party configurations in Seiken Densetsu 3, not two of which have an entirely identical playthrough. Each possible party has 64 possible class configurations (4 choices per character). Which means there are 7,680 different ways of going through that game.

    God I hate Squaresoft for never bringing it over. Hate them so much.

    FCD on
    Gridman! Baby DAN DAN! Baby DAN DAN!
  • ArikadoArikado Southern CaliforniaRegistered User regular
    edited March 2008
    Whip is so freaking cheap. The Fists and Shuriken are awesome once you skill them up to lv 5+. You can take out entire groups with that.

    Arikado on
    BNet: Arikado#1153 | Steam | LoL: Anzen
  • Tonberry KingTonberry King Registered User regular
    edited March 2008
    FCD wrote: »
    SimBen wrote: »
    Valkun wrote: »
    The lack of multiplayer action makes me a sad Valkun. If someone does Seiken Densetsu 3 single player before we get to it, there will be strangling involved, through the internet.

    If we ever do Seiken Densetsu 3, it will have to be a megathread. With several people doing their own play-throughs simultaneously, with different parties. It's the only way it can be done.
    There are 120 different possible party configurations in Seiken Densetsu 3, not two of which have an entirely identical playthrough. Each possible party has 64 possible class configurations (4 choices per character). Which means there are 7,680 different ways of going through that game.

    God I hate Squaresoft for never bringing it over. Hate them so much.
    Which raises the question: how the hell will we ever do a LP on this forum?

    The only way we'll be able to play a translated version of this game is by breaking some rules.

    Tonberry King on
  • FrosteeyFrosteey Elaise 1521-2945-8940Registered User regular
    edited March 2008
    FCD wrote: »
    SimBen wrote: »
    Valkun wrote: »
    The lack of multiplayer action makes me a sad Valkun. If someone does Seiken Densetsu 3 single player before we get to it, there will be strangling involved, through the internet.

    If we ever do Seiken Densetsu 3, it will have to be a megathread. With several people doing their own play-throughs simultaneously, with different parties. It's the only way it can be done.
    There are 120 different possible party configurations in Seiken Densetsu 3, not two of which have an entirely identical playthrough. Each possible party has 64 possible class configurations (4 choices per character). Which means there are 7,680 different ways of going through that game.

    God I hate Squaresoft for never bringing it over. Hate them so much.
    Which raises the question: how the hell will we ever do a LP on this forum?

    The only way we'll be able to play a translated version of this game is by breaking some rules.

    You can always play the untranslated version...the stories are fairly easy to recap. You could probably stumble your way through them without any knowledge of Japanese. "That evil looking guy kidnapped the little kid. Bad news."

    Frosteey on
  • SaraLunaSaraLuna Registered User regular
    edited March 2008
    Secret of Mana holds a special place in my heart. It was my *favorite* game when I was younger, and I would still rank it in my all time top 5.

    even now I still buy every mana game that comes out, hoping to feel that magic again.

    SaraLuna on
  • Tonberry KingTonberry King Registered User regular
    edited March 2008
    even now I still buy every mana game that comes out, hoping to feel that magic again.
    Hahahahahohhh, a part of my soul just died inside.

    :? :cry: :x :cry::cry::cry::|:|:|:|:|:|:|:|:|:cry::cry::cry::cry::|:|:|:|:| :x :x :x :x :|:|:| :rotate: :rotate: :rotate:

    Tonberry King on
  • Doc HollidayDoc Holliday Registered User regular
    edited March 2008
    Yeah I was very disappointed with Sword of Mana, or whatever the first GBA one was, then I didn't bother with the second one.

    That said oh my dang, my video recorder is making me mad. That's twice I recorded episode 2 and twice it bombed out. Sigh. Learning experience for the win, I guess. I'm hanging it up for the night. Episode 2 will be tomorrow.

    Doc Holliday on
    PSN & Live: buckwilson
  • ArikadoArikado Southern CaliforniaRegistered User regular
    edited March 2008
    Sword of Mana was sooooo baaaaaaaad. I bought it thinking it'd be nice to play on the bus rides to my college classes all it proved was that it had a crappy story, very little action with the main characters, and really weird design overall.

    Arikado on
    BNet: Arikado#1153 | Steam | LoL: Anzen
  • redfenixredfenix Aka'd as rfix Registered User regular
    edited March 2008
    Arikado wrote: »
    Sword of Mana was sooooo baaaaaaaad. I bought it thinking it'd be nice to play on the bus rides to my college classes all it proved was that it had a crappy story, very little action with the main characters, and really weird design overall.

    was that the DS one with the worst magic system ever?

    redfenix on
  • kitchkitch Registered User regular
    edited March 2008
    Whoa. My friend and I just started playing this game yesterday.

    kitch on
  • Zen VulgarityZen Vulgarity What a lovely day for tea Secret British ThreadRegistered User regular
    edited March 2008
    Awesome pilot.

    Remember: Get all the weapons, you bastard.

    Zen Vulgarity on
  • ViscountalphaViscountalpha The pen is mightier than the sword http://youtu.be/G_sBOsh-vyIRegistered User regular
    edited March 2008
    Player Tip: Thirty hours is about right. It's taken me longer but I grind like crazy in this game. I NEED to level each weapon up to max for each character or I can't move on. Don't do this. Unless you plan on making the girl or the sprite your main character, there is no need to level up their weapons beyond one or two. The AI is stupid when it comes to charging their weapons. They'll charge every time they see an enemy but never before or after. I recommend you set them to 0 and keep them there unless you're fighting a boss that is weak against physical attacks.

    The best place to set your character's AI is dependent on your play style but I like giving my characters long range weapons and setting them on B2.

    The girl's magic has an unique way of leveling up. Before I would go to an Inn or Luka and do all my griding there. That way I could cast "(element) saber" over and over again and then recover my MP immediately by resting. Then I found out you don't get as much experience that way. You have to be in an area with enemies to get full experience.

    My last tip on grinding is to abuse the Drops. Their ability to multiply is useful for having a constant stream of enemies to beat up on.

    Edit: It's a shame so many of you haven't beaten this game. The ending is epic.

    I was close to the end, And I kinda gave up. I Lost all my mana seals and I was like WTF? this sucks. Oh right and that stupid dragon that kicked my ass-- repeatedly. I would re-grind this game up though just to see the ending. I'm probably looking at $rape$ prices though. ( need to rebuy it)

    Viscountalpha on
  • Doc HollidayDoc Holliday Registered User regular
    edited March 2008
    Awesome pilot.

    Remember: Get all the weapons, you bastard.

    If I'm coming up on one that's not integral to the plot, spoiler it for me and mark it "Player tip" so I don't miss it!

    Doc Holliday on
    PSN & Live: buckwilson
  • Zen VulgarityZen Vulgarity What a lovely day for tea Secret British ThreadRegistered User regular
    edited March 2008
    Awesome pilot.

    Remember: Get all the weapons, you bastard.

    If I'm coming up on one that's not integral to the plot, spoiler it for me and mark it "Player tip" so I don't miss it!

    Hnn. I'm playing the game with you now, no? ;)

    Also: Max your spells. They get very, very cool looking.

    If someone wants I can do a Densetsu 3 LP after this.

    Zen Vulgarity on
  • FrosteeyFrosteey Elaise 1521-2945-8940Registered User regular
    edited March 2008
    Awesome pilot.

    Remember: Get all the weapons, you bastard.

    If I'm coming up on one that's not integral to the plot, spoiler it for me and mark it "Player tip" so I don't miss it!

    Hnn. I'm playing the game with you now, no? ;)

    Also: Max your spells. They get very, very cool looking.

    If someone wants I can do a Densetsu 3 LP after this.

    How would you pronounce Riesz? And would your party be Riesz, Angela, and Hawkeye/Duran?

    Frosteey on
  • RakaiRakai Registered User regular
    edited March 2008
    redfenix wrote: »
    Arikado wrote: »
    Sword of Mana was sooooo baaaaaaaad. I bought it thinking it'd be nice to play on the bus rides to my college classes all it proved was that it had a crappy story, very little action with the main characters, and really weird design overall.

    was that the DS one with the worst magic system ever?

    Sword of Mana was a GBA remake of the first game that was called Final Fantasy Adventure in the states and was for the original Gameboy.

    Rakai on
    [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]XBL: Rakayn | PS3: Rakayn | Steam ID
  • Doc HollidayDoc Holliday Registered User regular
    edited March 2008
    Awesome pilot.

    Remember: Get all the weapons, you bastard.

    If I'm coming up on one that's not integral to the plot, spoiler it for me and mark it "Player tip" so I don't miss it!

    Hnn. I'm playing the game with you now, no? ;)

    Hehe, it is "Let's" Play, after all :P

    Doc Holliday on
    PSN & Live: buckwilson
  • Zen VulgarityZen Vulgarity What a lovely day for tea Secret British ThreadRegistered User regular
    edited March 2008
    Frosteey wrote: »
    Awesome pilot.

    Remember: Get all the weapons, you bastard.

    If I'm coming up on one that's not integral to the plot, spoiler it for me and mark it "Player tip" so I don't miss it!

    Hnn. I'm playing the game with you now, no? ;)

    Also: Max your spells. They get very, very cool looking.

    If someone wants I can do a Densetsu 3 LP after this.

    How would you pronounce Riesz? And would your party be Riesz, Angela, and Hawkeye/Duran?

    Duran, Kevin, and Hawk are by far the most destructive party.

    Like, their finals are retardedly strong.

    Zen Vulgarity on
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