The anime, LoM The Teardrop Crystal, which was announced to be produced in commemoration of the 30th anniversary of the Secret of Mana, is based on the Legend of Mana series. The Secret of Mana series is one of the most popular game series produced by Square, and there are many series. This time, I would like to give a brief explanation of the works in the Seiken series!
The First Legend of Mana: Final Fantasy Gaiden (Game Boy)
The first and memorable Legend of Mana. Released in 1991, for the GB platform. As the title suggests, it has the name Final Fantasy, and since it is positioned as a spinoff of FF, the magic spells are FF-compliant, such as Cure, Fire, and Flare, and chocobos appear among the characters. However, the title FF was chosen because it would sell better, and it was not made as a spinoff of FF from the beginning.
About the original Secret of Mana
The original Secret of Mana is an action RPG that is very similar to The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past, which was released around the same time, and Link's Awakening, which was released two years later. What was particularly distinctive about it was its dark, heartbreaking story. Many people must have shed tears at the story, especially since it did not end with a happy ending. That's why the ending was sad but beautiful, and many people must have been impressed by it.
New Testament Secret of Mana
Released in 2003 on the GBA as a remake of the original Secret of Mana, New Testament Secret of Mana was a remake that added and changed the story, and various systems were added, but the content was unpopular with fans because it could have caused inconsistencies in the scenario. It's not that it's unplayable.
Second game, Secret of Mana 2 (Super Famicom)
The second game in the Secret of Mana series was released in 1993 for the SFC. Perhaps because the brand of Secret of Mana had been established, the elements of Final Fantasy were gone and the game shifted to a unique worldview of Secret of Mana. The genre is the same action RPG as the previous game, but it has evolved significantly with the transition to the Super Famicom.
About Secret of Mana
The technical capabilities were outstanding even for a game at the time, and it has become a popular title that is still popular today, while also raising the profile of Secret of Mana. Although the game has been highly praised for its combat, story, and music, it also has many flaws, and there are many bugs that prevent progress or cause characters to disappear.
About the remake, SECRET of MANA
A remake of Secret of Mana. Available on PS4, PSV, and steam. The pre-remake version was famous for being full of bugs, and the remake version was also full of bugs and was initially unplayable. The graphics were not satisfactory for the hardware of this era, and even people who don't care much about the BGM arrangements found some songs to be strange, and as a result of porting almost all of the complaints about the previous work as they were, it was a work that could not be praised highly. The scenario and dialogue are almost the same.
The third work, Secret of Mana 3 (Super Famicom)
The third work of Secret of Mana was released in 1995 as an SFC software. It is a legitimate evolution of the previous work, and the basic system follows the previous work Secret of Mana 2, and a system of choosing a protagonist from six characters and choosing two companions, as well as new systems such as class change and special moves were added. The large number of bugs in the previous work were greatly improved, but it was a work that received high praise for its story, characters, music, and battle system. I think it can be said that it is a work that firmly established the Secret of Mana brand.
About Secret of Mana
While it is a work that can be said to be a legitimate evolution from 2, the addition of a system and story that highlights the individuality of the characters, which was a bit weak in the previous work, made it one of the most popular works in the Secret of Mana series. The system adopts a system in which one person chooses one of six protagonists and chooses companions from the other five, and since the story branches somewhat depending on the combination of characters, there is also the fun of changing the protagonist and playing again, so in that sense it was a volume. However, perhaps due to the constraints of the Super Famicom hardware, the volume of one week was not enough. Nevertheless, it became one of Square's representative works, and it was a work that has high expectations for the future of the Secret of Mana series.
About the remake, TRIALS of MANA
There were concerns because the previous remake was terrible and the recent Secret of Mana series had not been blessed with any good results, but when it was released, the exhilarating battle system, beautiful graphics, and usability were far more user-friendly than the previous work, and while keeping the good points of the original, improvements and new attempts were actively made, resulting in a highly praised orthodox remake. The only regret is that the text of the original was left untouched and there were no additional episodes to delve deeper into the characters. It is difficult because many fans are worried that adding things poorly may fail based on past experience.
The fourth installment, Legend of Mana (PlayStation)
The fourth installment of the Secret of Mana series, Legend of Mana, was released in 1999 for the PS. Unlike the previous game, which was a linear action RPG, this game is a free scenario in which you explore the places you can go and progress through the scenarios that occur individually. The world view is different from the previous game, and the system is also different from past works, making it an independent spin-off. Systems such as weapon and armor creation, pet farms, and orchard cultivation have appeared, and the way to progress in the game is left to the player, making it a highly free work.
About Legend of Mana
Unlike the linear approach of the previous three titles, the silent protagonist and the highly flexible free scenario were similar to Romancing Saga and SaGa Frontier. After the success of 3, many users were looking for a legitimate evolution of 3, but some users felt that LoM was far from what they expected. In fact, it seems that some developers were debating whether to name this software after Legend of Mana. However, many people also say that this was a very enjoyable title in its own way. This game is similar to SaGa Frontier, but the sequel to SaGa Frontier, SaGa Frontier 2, which came with a trial version of LoM, was also different from the free scenario of the previous work, and this also drew both praise and criticism. Square Enix was just being adventurous at the time.
The fifth installment, Secret of Mana 4 (PlayStation 2)
The fifth installment of the Secret of Mana series, Secret of Mana 4, was released for the PS2 in 2006. It was a work that attracted attention as an official sequel to the Secret of Mana, and the quality of the images was dramatically improved, earning high praise for the beauty of the movies. The genre is not an action RPG but an action adventure game. For fans, it was a long-awaited new work, but its existence was ignored by players and officials, and it has become a dark history.
About Secret of Mana
Secret of Mana was released with the hopes of fans in mind, but it ended up disappointing. The fun of RPGs where you gradually get stronger was gone, and the previous system was lost because you had to return to the beginning after each stage, and the story was not very good either. The dark story is a unique scenario of Secret of Mana, so it's fine, but the story skips stages and leaves players behind. The camera work in the action parts is bad, and the system of stunning opponents by hitting them with objects was also unpopular. After this, although there were several spin-off works, there was no legitimate sequel made. This put an end to the brand of Secret of Mana.
【Secret of Mana LoM The Teardrop Crystal】Summary of the Secret of Mana series
I've summarized the Secret of Mana series, including the LoM that will be animated! The masterpieces created by Square are still enjoyable to play today. You can play the Secret of Mana collection on the switch, and the remaster of LoM and TRIALS of MANA are very enjoyable works. There are currently titles that you can easily play on Steam, so if you are interested in the anime, I think it would be a good idea to try playing them!
