Hey dude! I'm Brian Fehdrau, the lead programmer on Evermore. I'm a little late the party here, but I wanted to chime in and clarify something: We didn't actually use the Secret of Mana engine. Evermore's engine was written from scratch by me and a handful of other programmers. For legal reasons (taxes, I think?-I was never clear on this) we at Squaresoft in the US were considered a separate entity and we were not given access to any of the existing IP or code over at Square Co. Ltd in Japan. The only thing from Japan that was ever in our game, even temporarily, was a placeholder character sprite that I manually copied, pixel by pixel, from a photo of SoM gameplay, early on before we'd hired any artists to make our own sprites. (And according to my boss, Doug Smith, apparently I might have ruffled some feathers over in Japan by doing so, though nothing came of it.) We were very much on our own from day one. We did end up producing something that felt like Mana's engine to a great degree, which actually bothered some of us, because we really wanted to be doing something more original, rather than be seen as copying Mana, but the directions were to make a game that felt like Mana but with Americana themes¹, so it was what it was. Actually, I guess the fact that people assume our game ran on the same engine as the beloved Secret of Mana should be a point of pride for those of us who built its actual engine from scratch. Maybe I shouldn't worry so much about explicitly being given credit for our work. :) Anyway, I always appreciate it when someone plays or reviews the game, even so many years later, and keeps it alive in people's minds, so thanks for that! _______ ¹ - _Edit: 🤦🏻♂We should have called it _*_Secret of Americana!_*_ Oof! Swing and a miss!_
Thumbs-up if you like these razor-sharp pixels from original hardware! :D Also, quick correction: Secret of Evermore did not use the exact engine from Squaresoft. The Western branch actually had to reverse-engineer it because Squaresoft was being ridiculous. Huge props to the team for that accomplishment!
Nice footage! I'm always fond of the fuzzy look that we got back on SD TV sets, but I don't know how you could capture that look without pointing a camera directly at your TV. Maybe an emulator with the right filters turned on, but that would defeat the point of using original hardware.
See that's what I hop people realize and think about with SOE. The fact that it's not Mana it's, it's own thing with some similarities. I feel like it gets an unfair comparison like it's supposed to be on the same lines. The fact that they had to reverse engineer the game because the Square Japan didn't want them using the same code is crazy. Kinda like how they acted after developing Mario RPG they went on an a hiatus towards Nintendo because of different philosophies. I get the feeling that they probably felt Secret of Evermore was beneath them. It didn't get the attention and marketing the Mana series got or FF and Chrono Trigger. When you think about back then they had to compete against Chrono Trigger, FF6, Trials of Mana all in the same amount of time with FF6 coming out a year prior but still just a year apart. Those 3 games are the biggest iconic jrpg's and rpg's in the genre. Then there is Secret of Evermore it just didn't have a chance going up against those two games in 95 Trials and Trigger are frickin amazing what can you say. Square mastered the genre but that didn't mean they couldn't have helped the American team it could have been even more but they didn't care about it. That's why it's has a cult following today it's not big most still haven't played it or they just compare it to Secret of Mana. I think that's crazy to compare them, they're not the same some thing's were better in SOE. Alchemy system, graphics were a bit sharper and it's such a different captivating world to get into. It's different not the best but the atmosphere is worth the dive and anyone's time. It doesn't take itself seriously is something you said Derek the story is goofy it's a throwback to 80's and 90's America.
I really enjoy how you continually refer to the main character as "Marty" lol. Great points about the AI controlling the dog, its shorter range always made it frustrating as hell for me to control, but yeah the AI was _way_ better than any player could be. Really appreciate seeing your take on this one!
This was the only Squaresoft game made solely by an American Team. It's where Jeremy Soule got his start. This game NEEDS more recognition and a re-release.
I think one of the reasons why it has never been re-released is that we had an entire custom toolchain we used to create assets and build code in the Squaresoft office in Redmond. It had nothing to do with the existing productions in Japan, so after our studio was shut down and we were laid off, there was no one left who knew how to (re-)build and modify it. This is probably the stumbling block that keeps Square-Enix of today from ever re-releasing it for the virtual console or otherwise. I've tried on multiple occasions to elicit interest from Square in either the game or in releasing the IP to someone like me who would bring it into the modern era somehow, but no matter what external contacts I know who know people inside, I seem to be utterly incapable of getting anyone inside to respond to me. I get nothing but radio silence when I try to contact anyone inside Square. It's sad, because I'd very much like to see it on the virtual console myself.
Hey SuperDerek, Secret of Evermore was the first game of my career as an art director in the games industry. Revisiting it made me smile and cringe but it sure brought back memories of all flavors. Great job reviewing it, thank you for your generosity :).
Whoa! It's awesome to hear from one of the original staff members behind the game! Sorry for only just now seeing this message. Spam filter caught it. Super cool to see you've also kept on working in the games industry! Thanks for watching. :)
One of my favorite SNES games that I grew up with. I do wish this game gets a remaster in the future but even if it doesn't come to be, your work has been a legendary part of my childhood gaming experiences. Can't count how many time I rented this game 😂
3 things I'll never forget about this game: (1) the strategy guide is written like an actual story, and as a young kid I would read it in the car while my parents drove us places, (2) the music in this game completely blew my mind as a kid and every once in a while over ~25 years I've found myself tapping out the beat to the different jungle soundtracks with my knuckles on my desk. (3) I also remember calling the "hint line" phone number once when I was stuck in the Egyptian arc in the game. Much later in life when I met my wife I found out it this was one of her and her brothers' favorite games from their childhood too, so Evermore is a very special game! I have a lot of bias but I place it firmly above Mana.
One of my favorite games of all time. It just has a feel and atmosphere to it that makes it completely unique. It's hard to describe until you play it.
I loved this game when I was 13. I still love it today at 37. I never viewed it as "what we got instead of Seiken Densetsu 3" . I had a blast whiling away the summer afternoon playing this with my friend and it's one of the first games I boot up when I load emulators. I wish they would re-release it. I'd buy it without a thought.
Got my copy in 2000 when I was 15 with a used copy for 15 CAD from a video rental store. I remember a person in the neighbour hood went to do paintballing when I got to the third area map. I think it was the day I finished my grade 9 provicial exams so summer had started for me.
SoE always got an unfair amount of hate but man this game captivated me. The world of Evermore was so addictive and felt really unique compared to 99% of other rpg's I'd been playing. It had that vibe of "real-world" adventure like Earthbound where normal boy gets sucked into a crazy adventure. One thing I've heard about the development process of this game is that even though the dev team had been tasked with making a game that emulated Mana's ring system and gameplay mechanics, Square wouldn't let them have access to any of Mana's source code. So they had to rebuild all the mechanics from scratch.
Ohh hell yeah, I know it's flawed but secret of evermore is one of my childhood favorites. I've 100 percent this game countless times over the years. Recently used the two player patch to beat it with my wife, it had some issues though that needed me to use save states to get past parts with 2 player disabled then re-enable it.
Look up Born of Dreamers. There are many SoE pretenders to the remake throne, and this is the latest. I've not looked at it since following them and their spriteart in IG. Also go bother the programmers with us in the last place they were seen at rainwoodworks.blogspot.com/2010/09/secret-of-evermore-was-one-of-my.html?m=1
Love how you brought up renting games from your local grocery store - I remember doing that too! Watching this video because I’m on the fence with buying this game… I’ve played it before but like you never got further than the first area. Definitely like that it takes that mana formula but does it’s own thing!
@@Scorch428 I agree. It's like my favorite game of all time, and in all the years I've been a gamer, I've never played a game that had Evermore's... feel...vibe? I'm not sure what the word is. But I felt super connected to the story of Evermore, which had never happened to me before. I couldn't relate/identify to/with the protagonists in any of the Dragon Warrior games I'd played before, or any of the Final Fantasy games, or Secret of Mana. But Evermore's protag had a lot in common with me, some of which was that he was a kid from the real world like me, he was from a small town like me, he liked Sci-Fi movies and cheesy B movies like me, and he had a dog like me. This game is very special to me.
Fantastic review Derek! Great use of comedy and sub-reference. Your production value continues to improve with each video and it's thrilling as a viewer to be along for the ride. I'll always be a fan of your passion, research, and expertise. Keep fighting that good fight brother! 😎
Don't laugh at me, Derek, but Secret of Evermore is one of my favorite games of all time! Sure you've got all the deep mazes and somewhat unbalanced story, but this little devil has everything else going for it! Good review, good video!
I love this game, was the first RPG I bought with my own cash. Gameplay wise I felt like it differed from Mana in a way. Mana seemed like it was sometimes balls to the wall fighting and usually faster paced than SoE, which always felt like you had to think ahead before acting. You have to purchase ingredients to prepare for the journey ahead, time your attacks just right, and make sure the Doggo stays on his feet. Not to mention the absolute masterpiece of a soundtrack. Soule really knocked it out of the park with SoE, I still find myself listening to the soundtrack 15 years later.
Its been a while since your last review, and you returned with one of my favourite action RPG ... Funny enough I had a terrible time as well with the game until i FINALLY figure out yhat i can charge my weapons... Then it was Javelin type weapons all the way for me.
Thanks for the review, Secret of Evermore is one of my favorites! I also really love the soundtrack. The elephant graveyard theme is so moody and ominous.
I have the original box with all of the inserts. I framed the poster and put it in my living room. People either have no clue what it is or have a negative opinion about the game. It’s nice to hear some one show it in a positive light.
I played through it about a year ago and had lots of fun! It was riddled with Easter eggs, and none delighted me more than the cameo of Cecil & Rosa from FFIV 😏 Love your reviews, Super Derek!
Quick fact: Secret of Evermore shares NO code with Secret of Mana. It was recreated entirely from scratch due to some Square US-Japan weirdness. As a result, it has some engine bugs that the Mana series doesn't have, and vice versa.
If I had to make one complaint about SoE, it's the weapon system. The spear is usually always the best weapon, and weapon levels reset with each weapon, instead of each type of weapon. BUT! I love this game. Great review! Also, Turbo the dog returns!
Gotta love Turbo! Even named my new puppy after the legend. :) And I agree, I always stuck to the spear, and hated upgrading because of the weapon level thing. Luckily once you are able to fly, you can go kill a bunch of really weak enemies to level the weapons quickly.
I remember getting this game around the last couple of years of primary school. I put so much time into this game, and loved it a lot - despite that the hit box detection wasn't that great. I got stuck for a long time on that rat boss in the european castle area, as it always stun locked me with spells (maybe it was pay back for me doing it to bosses in Secret of Mana? Haha). I did eventually beat it, and the game, and haven't really found any game quite like it since. Thanks for bringing me back to the days of my youth with this review!
I came here because I just beat the game and wanted to finish the game before looking at any reviews. 1) When I booted up the game and read the names of the developers I was surprised to actually be able to read the names because they were American names. I was like....... this was made in the USA? WOW! 2) When I first played the game I only played it for like 10 mins and couldn't get into it. But I later gave it another shot and got hooked and then played the whole game until the end. So it was hard to get into. 3) After finishing the game I must say, this was a blast and was amazing. As a kid growing up I never played it, but as an adult with my SD2SNES flash cart I was able to enjoy this and get a wonderful experience. I highly recommend the game.
I still have this SNES cartridge and played it a lot when I was younger. It was just me and my dad figuring out everything (without looking things up on the internet). I only 'discovered' the charged attacks after the first few bosses ... So I killed the first bosses with normal attacks only ... it did take a while, especially the one at the colosseum. Also something I did every time I got a new weapon: train it till max proficiency before advancing forward, I loved the grind. :D The music is awesome, the atmosphere is great. I had tears in my eyes when we beat the final boss, good times! The trading puzzle took me few playthroughs to figure out, just trial and error tbh. Anyway, great review!
Hey Derek I just found you this morning while I was searching for a decent lufia review and man I love your videos. Just need to say this, greetings from Germany and please keep up
I played this game before playing Secret of Mana as a kid, and it gave me the impression that Mana was incomplete. We didn't have internet as a kid, so my opinion was made from just gameplay. The past couple weeks, I have been playing through Evermore with the 2-player patch mentioned by SNES drunk and it adds an aspect of gameplay that Evermore needed. Tons of fun, Evermore has aged well.
been awhile since I watched your channel! had a lot of fun playing through evermore a long time ago, really enjoyed the ambient loneliness in this game compared to the mana games love the soundtrack too same artist wrote the soundtrack for newer games like Skyrim too
Being a Sega kid growing up left a few holes in my RPG experience, and this is one of them. It definitely looks like a game worth trying out, if only for its uniqueness.
Played this game for the first time some years ago and this was the first JRPG ever I got super frustrated with the dungeons. I played blindly without a guide and remember getting lost in this dark cave, in this area with the pipes or this ventilation system (if I am remembering correctly you were playing as the dog in this part). I also accidentally sold the item I got from the bazar, so I had to walk through the desert each time and that was just annoying as hell. I never finished the game. I remember playing for like almost an hour without a save and reaching a branching path. I did not know that one direction led to the boss, the other to a save point. I took the boss path and died and never tried again. The Gameplay of SoE does some things better than SoM. But it seems a lot of people make such a huge deal of the hit detection in SoM when it's actually not. You only have to avoid hitting the enemies the exact moment they get up after being hit and you will be fine. Hit them during this very small time frame (invincibility frame) and the game won't register your hit. There are few enemies with a super high evasion in SoM, but more than half of the enemies you will hit 100% of the time. I remember SoE also having enemies I could not hit at all (those birds?).
Man, I'm jealous that you could rent video games at the grocery store. That would have made it so easy to rent one when I went out grocery shopping with my parents being that we were already there and it's a spot we would have reason to return to when the game needed be taken back!
My brother and I bought it for the same reason a lot of kids did, we thought it was tied to Secret of Mana. But we never disliked it for being different. I remember loving the dog changing forms and the alchemy was cool
They really should patch a mod of this game with tougher enemies, more plentiful ingredients, and the ability for Player 2 to assume control of the dog. That'd be so sweet.
On my first playthrough of Earthbound about a year ago, I inexplicably named my character TURBO. (Thanks go to you for bringing Earthbound into my sphere, btw)
Most of the time, I would usually try to get the following 8 Formulas to at least Level 6. 1: Nitro 2: Barrier 3: Fireball 4: Miracle Cure 5: Double Drain 6: Drain 7: Heal 8: Revive
Played it for a while and then got stuck on the Roman era Colosseum boss. Didn't realise i have to hit him from behind... Overall, i found the game quite difficult, but really enjoyed the music and the setting. Props for the review.
I mostly played Sega Genesis growing up, but a little later when I got a SNES in the last three years of the 90's and early 2000s, this was one of the first games I got for that system. The funny thing is I did not run into a hard copy of FFIV, FFVI or Chrono Trigger. Ironically, I bought the system to hunt for old classic RPGs I missed, but did not run into the most popular iconic games. I ended up getting the less conventional choices like 7th Saga, Breath of Fire I+II, Lufia II, Soul Blazer, etc.
Loved picking this title up when I was 15 in 2000 for 15 CAD from a video rental store selling old stock. Wish I had enough money to pick up secret of mana but since no digital drop of this title was happy to pick this sucker up. Got stuck on the last area for a bit never realizing I had to turn off the lights to the plant room.
Perhaps an unpopular opinion, but SoE's magic-alchemy system is perhaps my favorite magic system in any JRPG/RPG I've ever encountered. As a child in the 90s I absolutely immersed myself in the system... getting rare ingredients to get the best spells and nuke the enemies.
I always loved the music in Secret of Evermore. It's one of the games defining features. The game may not be on par with other RPG's from that era but I thought it was alright. Great review man!
Btw according to the devs it does NOT use manas engine. its engine was built from scratch and the reason it looks like mana is because they were instructed to basically copy the ui.
12 year old me loved Secret of Evermore as much as 32 year old me does. In fact, younger me wouldn't have ranked it higher than secret of mana. But now, objectively I think I do.
Good review. I greatly enjoyed this game a lot more than Secret of Mana mainly due to not being stun locked and that you could continue to move without the dog being right next to you. The trade market was really interesting but is one thing that turns me off when I think about replaying it. There is one game breaking thing you can do and I managed to do it the very first time I played the game. In one of the temples (Mayan?) if you go through it a specific way and save, you are forever stuck and have to restart the entire game. It was due to this that it took me three years to eventually return to the game and beat it.
just picked up a copy for 30 bucks on ebay, got myself a great deal as they can sell for up to and even over 100$. i never got to beat the game as a kid, i think i rented it once or maybe borrowed it from a friend for a little while as i remember playing at least the beginning, but Im now really looking forward to playing thru it completely.
0:5012:35 LOL That pose... #SuperDerekPose I remember your live streams of Secret of Evermore. I still think it's interesting that SquareSoft USA made this 1 game. 4:40 I never had that option. However, back when I was a kid and I had a SNES, I rented games from BlockBuster, Westcoast Video, and Hollywood Video. Those were the days... 5:18 Ah~ The good old days of dial up. That screeching modem sound and then to be greeted by AOL. "Welcome! You've Got Mail!" 🤣 5:28 聖剣伝説 3 (Seiken Densetsu 3) Good think we have the remake version on PS4 now. Now if they could do a remake for 聖剣伝説 1 (Seiken Densetu 1) on PS4. I mean couldn't they just port over Adventures of Mana (Vita) to PS4 with better graphics, added voice acting, etc? 5:32 #SikeKenDenSentZoo 🤣 Overall, I think between Secret of Evermore and Secret of Mana, I'd go with Secret of Mana 9 out of 10 times.
I do remember video game rentals at the grocery store but the one I knew that had them never went beyond NES games. And they were pricey compared to Blockbuster(and other local places) because never rented any from there. Or possibly because there was always some toy I wanted and I knew better than to ask for a toy and rent a game. lol As for Secret of Evermore it's one of those games I have interest in but who knows if I'll get around to it, so many games to play! I enjoyed the review.
I played this game a ton as a kid, but never got far with it. It was always one of those games I came back to time and again but always fell short within the first few hours, and unfortunately because of it's name and design I never bothered to try secret of mana as a kid thinking that the mana games would be like evermore.
The bit about Secret of Evermore using Secret of Mana's engine is incorrect. Square wouldn't let them for some reason, so Square USA made the game completely from scratch.
Yeah, people corrected me about that early on. Wish I could amend the video but UA-cam doesn't work that way. It's really impressive how well they were able to replicate functionality, and goes a long way toward explaining how the battle system was improved in some ways, but worse in others.
Would be nice if Nintendo put this up on Switch Online. I remember borrowing this from a friend. Took me awhile to beat but at least he was patient. It was challenging and I greatly appreciated the lack of bugs compared to the highly regarded Secret of Mana.
Dude love the review only difference from 12 yr old u and me is we were bt 8 or so me and my Bros had this game it was our first rpg ever and we loved it to death so the nostalgia runs high with this game I give u and A++ on the review man
I might have missed you mentioning it, but I swear this game does actually have one major game breaking (or, well, save file ruining) bug. I think it's very specific conditions you'd need to actually run into it, but it exists. I at least remember reading a "DONT DO THIS!" section of Nintendo Power about it. Granted, SoM had its share of those, too. But if I remember right SoM's were more "if you do this your save file actually gets corrupted" and SoE's were "if you do this it becomes logically impossible to progress."
Love this game!!!!!!!!!!! that's it...love it! Still have my copy! I played this game before I even knew about any Sike-ken Den-SentZoo or whatever.. now I own them both!! Great Games, we need more like these!
I never played Evermore as a kid because I had heard about it's difficulty compared to Secret of Mana. And, for 8 year old me, Mana was already way too hard (It took me forever to get past Spikey, and I didn't understand the importance of armor upgrades until several years later). Maybe it's time I pick up a copy of Evermore and give it a try...
I've always kind of hoped this game would be acknowledged somehow or another in the Mana series, it's just a fascinating piece of the series history,and RPG history in general. Even if it doesn't get acknowledged, it REALLY needs some kind of rerelease on modern hardware
I actually beat both Mana and Evermore back to back last year for the first time. I found Mana the far better game overall (unsurprisingly), but Evermore as way more memorable. Evermore being so unique helps. SCXCR had a great review/critique that I recommend, since it also tipped me off for some annoying glitches. It's a cool game with a lot of problems. Any fan of SNES RPGs should at least experience it.
I’m aching to get my hands on this. Just like you, I didn’t really appreciate it back in the day, but I’ve since managed to shed my elitist skin 😉 The pixel art and music are lovely!
I realize I’m a year late on commenting lol..but this game was and is a unique treasure. I really enjoyed the overall tone of the game, it was pretty engrossing and a pretty cool game world. I bought it when it initially released and I can’t say how many times I’ve completed it. I do think it’s sad that this game has never received any real recognition. I’d wager it’s really a forgotten game. But I’m hoping someday it’ll get released again on the switch or something.
I would say they age about the same. I'm partial to games like these though. I still remember the first time I played each of these games at my friends house. I now have both copies for SNES and I also have a digital copy of SoM for PS4. I enjoy both of them equally but I enjoy the story of SoE just a tad more.
Hey dude! I'm Brian Fehdrau, the lead programmer on Evermore. I'm a little late the party here, but I wanted to chime in and clarify something:
We didn't actually use the Secret of Mana engine. Evermore's engine was written from scratch by me and a handful of other programmers. For legal reasons (taxes, I think?-I was never clear on this) we at Squaresoft in the US were considered a separate entity and we were not given access to any of the existing IP or code over at Square Co. Ltd in Japan.
The only thing from Japan that was ever in our game, even temporarily, was a placeholder character sprite that I manually copied, pixel by pixel, from a photo of SoM gameplay, early on before we'd hired any artists to make our own sprites. (And according to my boss, Doug Smith, apparently I might have ruffled some feathers over in Japan by doing so, though nothing came of it.)
We were very much on our own from day one. We did end up producing something that felt like Mana's engine to a great degree, which actually bothered some of us, because we really wanted to be doing something more original, rather than be seen as copying Mana, but the directions were to make a game that felt like Mana but with Americana themes¹, so it was what it was.
Actually, I guess the fact that people assume our game ran on the same engine as the beloved Secret of Mana should be a point of pride for those of us who built its actual engine from scratch. Maybe I shouldn't worry so much about explicitly being given credit for our work. :)
Anyway, I always appreciate it when someone plays or reviews the game, even so many years later, and keeps it alive in people's minds, so thanks for that!
_______
¹ - _Edit: 🤦🏻♂We should have called it _*_Secret of Americana!_*_ Oof! Swing and a miss!_
Thumbs-up if you like these razor-sharp pixels from original hardware! :D
Also, quick correction: Secret of Evermore did not use the exact engine from Squaresoft. The Western branch actually had to reverse-engineer it because Squaresoft was being ridiculous. Huge props to the team for that accomplishment!
It's a quality capture for sure.
Nice footage! I'm always fond of the fuzzy look that we got back on SD TV sets, but I don't know how you could capture that look without pointing a camera directly at your TV. Maybe an emulator with the right filters turned on, but that would defeat the point of using original hardware.
The artwork got me hyped to play it when it came out. But even now, I still love it! 12 year old me had good taste 😅
See that's what I hop people realize and think about with SOE. The fact that it's not Mana it's, it's own thing with some similarities. I feel like it gets an unfair comparison like it's supposed to be on the same lines. The fact that they had to reverse engineer the game because the Square Japan didn't want them using the same code is crazy. Kinda like how they acted after developing Mario RPG they went on an a hiatus towards Nintendo because of different philosophies. I get the feeling that they probably felt Secret of Evermore was beneath them. It didn't get the attention and marketing the Mana series got or FF and Chrono Trigger. When you think about back then they had to compete against Chrono Trigger, FF6, Trials of Mana all in the same amount of time with FF6 coming out a year prior but still just a year apart. Those 3 games are the biggest iconic jrpg's and rpg's in the genre. Then there is Secret of Evermore it just didn't have a chance going up against those two games in 95 Trials and Trigger are frickin amazing what can you say. Square mastered the genre but that didn't mean they couldn't have helped the American team it could have been even more but they didn't care about it. That's why it's has a cult following today it's not big most still haven't played it or they just compare it to Secret of Mana. I think that's crazy to compare them, they're not the same some thing's were better in SOE. Alchemy system, graphics were a bit sharper and it's such a different captivating world to get into. It's different not the best but the atmosphere is worth the dive and anyone's time. It doesn't take itself seriously is something you said Derek the story is goofy it's a throwback to 80's and 90's America.
I really enjoy how you continually refer to the main character as "Marty" lol. Great points about the AI controlling the dog, its shorter range always made it frustrating as hell for me to control, but yeah the AI was _way_ better than any player could be. Really appreciate seeing your take on this one!
I wholeheartedly disagree with your review of this game.
@@loto5919 lol
loto, did you take a look at his revisit of the game from about a month ago?
Nice to see the best Snes channel on UA-cam
Hey, it's Sneeeeeessssssss Drunk!
This was the only Squaresoft game made solely by an American Team. It's where Jeremy Soule got his start. This game NEEDS more recognition and a re-release.
Would live is Square Enix rereleases it. Heck Mana 3 got an english translation, why not a Japanese translation. Just saying.
I’d recognize his score anywhere
Those background music pieces are still memorable for me to this day. Anything is possible these days with having these old games redone.
I think one of the reasons why it has never been re-released is that we had an entire custom toolchain we used to create assets and build code in the Squaresoft office in Redmond. It had nothing to do with the existing productions in Japan, so after our studio was shut down and we were laid off, there was no one left who knew how to (re-)build and modify it. This is probably the stumbling block that keeps Square-Enix of today from ever re-releasing it for the virtual console or otherwise.
I've tried on multiple occasions to elicit interest from Square in either the game or in releasing the IP to someone like me who would bring it into the modern era somehow, but no matter what external contacts I know who know people inside, I seem to be utterly incapable of getting anyone inside to respond to me. I get nothing but radio silence when I try to contact anyone inside Square. It's sad, because I'd very much like to see it on the virtual console myself.
Hey SuperDerek, Secret of Evermore was the first game of my career as an art director in the games industry. Revisiting it made me smile and cringe but it sure brought back memories of all flavors. Great job reviewing it, thank you for your generosity :).
Whoa! It's awesome to hear from one of the original staff members behind the game! Sorry for only just now seeing this message. Spam filter caught it. Super cool to see you've also kept on working in the games industry! Thanks for watching. :)
Thank you for your contribution to Secret of Evernore. I love that game!
Thanks for yoyr contribution to one of my favorite games as a child. Art in this game was fantastic.
Dude, we need a remaster of that game for steam...and of a lot of games of those years, in fact.
One of my favorite SNES games that I grew up with. I do wish this game gets a remaster in the future but even if it doesn't come to be, your work has been a legendary part of my childhood gaming experiences. Can't count how many time I rented this game 😂
3 things I'll never forget about this game: (1) the strategy guide is written like an actual story, and as a young kid I would read it in the car while my parents drove us places, (2) the music in this game completely blew my mind as a kid and every once in a while over ~25 years I've found myself tapping out the beat to the different jungle soundtracks with my knuckles on my desk. (3) I also remember calling the "hint line" phone number once when I was stuck in the Egyptian arc in the game. Much later in life when I met my wife I found out it this was one of her and her brothers' favorite games from their childhood too, so Evermore is a very special game! I have a lot of bias but I place it firmly above Mana.
Dude, all of that is so awesome! Thanks for sharing your memories!
as a kid I loved this and mana but I always kind of liked this game a little more. He didn't mention that Cecil from FFIV makes a cameo appearance
DONT TOUCH THE CHICKENS. THE GOATS ARE FINE, BUT LEAVE THE CHICKENS ALONE!
Try talking to the chicken 1500 times at the market :P
Hi Cody. You should check out my new Secret of Evermore soundtrack remake. You might like it.
One of my favorite games of all time. It just has a feel and atmosphere to it that makes it completely unique. It's hard to describe until you play it.
I love some of the historical detail implemented in the levels as well as the music ambience. I understand what you are saying.
I loved this game when I was 13. I still love it today at 37. I never viewed it as "what we got instead of Seiken Densetsu 3" . I had a blast whiling away the summer afternoon playing this with my friend and it's one of the first games I boot up when I load emulators. I wish they would re-release it. I'd buy it without a thought.
Got my copy in 2000 when I was 15 with a used copy for 15 CAD from a video rental store. I remember a person in the neighbour hood went to do paintballing when I got to the third area map. I think it was the day I finished my grade 9 provicial exams so summer had started for me.
im 38 and still play this game. It was a one of a kind with tons of secrets .
Secret of evermore was one of my favorites growing up, I regret selling it when I was younger.
I love this review, I’m so glad more people can appreciate this game for what it is and what’s it’s not.
You nailed it Derek
This, Earthbound (Mother 2), Zombies Ate My Neighbors, and Chrono Trigger are just so epic SNES games.
SoE always got an unfair amount of hate but man this game captivated me. The world of Evermore was so addictive and felt really unique compared to 99% of other rpg's I'd been playing. It had that vibe of "real-world" adventure like Earthbound where normal boy gets sucked into a crazy adventure.
One thing I've heard about the development process of this game is that even though the dev team had been tasked with making a game that emulated Mana's ring system and gameplay mechanics, Square wouldn't let them have access to any of Mana's source code. So they had to rebuild all the mechanics from scratch.
Ohh hell yeah, I know it's flawed but secret of evermore is one of my childhood favorites. I've 100 percent this game countless times over the years. Recently used the two player patch to beat it with my wife, it had some issues though that needed me to use save states to get past parts with 2 player disabled then re-enable it.
"beat it with my wife" don't need a patch for that do you?
Derek is easily one of the best game reviewers on UA-cam. Every one of them is very interesting and informative.
One of my favorites. Wish they had made a sequel.
Look up Born of Dreamers. There are many SoE pretenders to the remake throne, and this is the latest.
I've not looked at it since following them and their spriteart in IG.
Also go bother the programmers with us in the last place they were seen at
rainwoodworks.blogspot.com/2010/09/secret-of-evermore-was-one-of-my.html?m=1
Love how you brought up renting games from your local grocery store - I remember doing that too! Watching this video because I’m on the fence with buying this game… I’ve played it before but like you never got further than the first area. Definitely like that it takes that mana formula but does it’s own thing!
The tone and feel of this game is incredible. I hope there will be a 2-player remake with better control of the dog some day.
This one was a cornerstone of my childhood. Thanks for the memories and nostalgia.
Best review ever for Secret of Evermore.
I felt really attached to the storyline, I guess thats because it was made in America.
Its like a cross between Earthbound and Chrono Trigger
@@Scorch428 I agree. It's like my favorite game of all time, and in all the years I've been a gamer, I've never played a game that had Evermore's... feel...vibe? I'm not sure what the word is. But I felt super connected to the story of Evermore, which had never happened to me before. I couldn't relate/identify to/with the protagonists in any of the Dragon Warrior games I'd played before, or any of the Final Fantasy games, or Secret of Mana. But Evermore's protag had a lot in common with me, some of which was that he was a kid from the real world like me, he was from a small town like me, he liked Sci-Fi movies and cheesy B movies like me, and he had a dog like me. This game is very special to me.
The intro to these videos makes he happy. Reminds me of simpler times
Fantastic review Derek! Great use of comedy and sub-reference. Your production value continues to improve with each video and it's thrilling as a viewer to be along for the ride. I'll always be a fan of your passion, research, and expertise. Keep fighting that good fight brother! 😎
Don't laugh at me, Derek, but Secret of Evermore is one of my favorite games of all time! Sure you've got all the deep mazes and somewhat unbalanced story, but this little devil has everything else going for it!
Good review, good video!
A Ben Stein reference in 2020!? This is the content I subscribe for sir!
I love this game, was the first RPG I bought with my own cash. Gameplay wise I felt like it differed from Mana in a way. Mana seemed like it was sometimes balls to the wall fighting and usually faster paced than SoE, which always felt like you had to think ahead before acting. You have to purchase ingredients to prepare for the journey ahead, time your attacks just right, and make sure the Doggo stays on his feet. Not to mention the absolute masterpiece of a soundtrack. Soule really knocked it out of the park with SoE, I still find myself listening to the soundtrack 15 years later.
One of my fav game ever. Unique story, atmospheric music.
Hi Vic. You should check out my new Secret of Evermore soundtrack remake. You might like it.
I remember being disappointed as a kid that the second player could not control the dog.
Apparently you weren't the only one. I hear there's a patch for it if you don't mind emulation
Its been a while since your last review, and you returned with one of my favourite action RPG ... Funny enough I had a terrible time as well with the game until i FINALLY figure out yhat i can charge my weapons... Then it was Javelin type weapons all the way for me.
Thanks for the review, Secret of Evermore is one of my favorites!
I also really love the soundtrack. The elephant graveyard theme is so moody and ominous.
I loved meeting Cecil in Ebon Keep.
I have the original box with all of the inserts. I framed the poster and put it in my living room. People either have no clue what it is or have a negative opinion about the game. It’s nice to hear some one show it in a positive light.
I played through it about a year ago and had lots of fun!
It was riddled with Easter eggs, and none delighted me more than the cameo of Cecil & Rosa from FFIV 😏
Love your reviews, Super Derek!
Those were some really pleasant surprises!
Quick fact: Secret of Evermore shares NO code with Secret of Mana. It was recreated entirely from scratch due to some Square US-Japan weirdness. As a result, it has some engine bugs that the Mana series doesn't have, and vice versa.
Wow, seriously? I can't believe they reinvented the wheel like that. Well that's super interesting, thanks for the info! :)
@@SuperDerek yep! www.nintendolife.com/news/2009/04/interview_with_brian_fehdrau_secret_of_evermore
@@brayoungful o good someone showed him. thanks for linking that.
If I had to make one complaint about SoE, it's the weapon system. The spear is usually always the best weapon, and weapon levels reset with each weapon, instead of each type of weapon.
BUT! I love this game. Great review! Also, Turbo the dog returns!
Gotta love Turbo! Even named my new puppy after the legend. :)
And I agree, I always stuck to the spear, and hated upgrading because of the weapon level thing. Luckily once you are able to fly, you can go kill a bunch of really weak enemies to level the weapons quickly.
I remember getting this game around the last couple of years of primary school. I put so much time into this game, and loved it a lot - despite that the hit box detection wasn't that great. I got stuck for a long time on that rat boss in the european castle area, as it always stun locked me with spells (maybe it was pay back for me doing it to bosses in Secret of Mana? Haha). I did eventually beat it, and the game, and haven't really found any game quite like it since. Thanks for bringing me back to the days of my youth with this review!
You are the first reviewer I've seen that actually points out that the hero looks like Marty McFly
Good job! Always enjoy hearing your catch phrase.
I came here because I just beat the game and wanted to finish the game before looking at any reviews.
1) When I booted up the game and read the names of the developers I was surprised to actually be able to read the names because they were American names. I was like....... this was made in the USA? WOW!
2) When I first played the game I only played it for like 10 mins and couldn't get into it. But I later gave it another shot and got hooked and then played the whole game until the end. So it was hard to get into.
3) After finishing the game I must say, this was a blast and was amazing. As a kid growing up I never played it, but as an adult with my SD2SNES flash cart I was able to enjoy this and get a wonderful experience.
I highly recommend the game.
I still have this SNES cartridge and played it a lot when I was younger. It was just me and my dad figuring out everything (without looking things up on the internet).
I only 'discovered' the charged attacks after the first few bosses ... So I killed the first bosses with normal attacks only ... it did take a while, especially the one at the colosseum.
Also something I did every time I got a new weapon: train it till max proficiency before advancing forward, I loved the grind. :D
The music is awesome, the atmosphere is great. I had tears in my eyes when we beat the final boss, good times!
The trading puzzle took me few playthroughs to figure out, just trial and error tbh.
Anyway, great review!
SuperDerek, to me you will always be the top RPG reviewer in youtube
Hey Derek I just found you this morning while I was searching for a decent lufia review and man I love your videos. Just need to say this, greetings from Germany and please keep up
I played this game before playing Secret of Mana as a kid, and it gave me the impression that Mana was incomplete. We didn't have internet as a kid, so my opinion was made from just gameplay. The past couple weeks, I have been playing through Evermore with the 2-player patch mentioned by SNES drunk and it adds an aspect of gameplay that Evermore needed. Tons of fun, Evermore has aged well.
been awhile since I watched your channel! had a lot of fun playing through evermore a long time ago, really enjoyed the ambient loneliness in this game compared to the mana games love the soundtrack too same artist wrote the soundtrack for newer games like Skyrim too
Being a Sega kid growing up left a few holes in my RPG experience, and this is one of them. It definitely looks like a game worth trying out, if only for its uniqueness.
I remember playing this when it came out. I enjoyed it, but I was never really elitist when it came to RPGs during that age. 😁
Derek! Love your work and persona man. 👍🏼
So pumped to see a positive review! In my top 3 games of all time.
Played this game for the first time some years ago and this was the first JRPG ever I got super frustrated with the dungeons. I played blindly without a guide and remember getting lost in this dark cave, in this area with the pipes or this ventilation system (if I am remembering correctly you were playing as the dog in this part). I also accidentally sold the item I got from the bazar, so I had to walk through the desert each time and that was just annoying as hell.
I never finished the game. I remember playing for like almost an hour without a save and reaching a branching path. I did not know that one direction led to the boss, the other to a save point. I took the boss path and died and never tried again.
The Gameplay of SoE does some things better than SoM. But it seems a lot of people make such a huge deal of the hit detection in SoM when it's actually not. You only have to avoid hitting the enemies the exact moment they get up after being hit and you will be fine. Hit them during this very small time frame (invincibility frame) and the game won't register your hit. There are few enemies with a super high evasion in SoM, but more than half of the enemies you will hit 100% of the time. I remember SoE also having enemies I could not hit at all (those birds?).
One of my favorite RPGs ever. Some of the best game music even through the Playstation era. This is one of my top 5 snes games, no doubt.
Hi Dustin. You should check out my new Secret of Evermore soundtrack remake. You might like it.
Man, I'm jealous that you could rent video games at the grocery store.
That would have made it so easy to rent one when I went out grocery shopping with my parents being that we were already there and it's a spot we would have reason to return to when the game needed be taken back!
My brother and I bought it for the same reason a lot of kids did, we thought it was tied to Secret of Mana. But we never disliked it for being different. I remember loving the dog changing forms and the alchemy was cool
One of my favorite games of all time.
They really should patch a mod of this game with tougher enemies, more plentiful ingredients, and the ability for Player 2 to assume control of the dog. That'd be so sweet.
On my first playthrough of Earthbound about a year ago, I inexplicably named my character TURBO.
(Thanks go to you for bringing Earthbound into my sphere, btw)
man - this game was one of my favs back in the days. i think it's a top 5 rpg for snes
Most of the time, I would usually try to get the following 8 Formulas to at least Level 6.
1: Nitro
2: Barrier
3: Fireball
4: Miracle Cure
5: Double Drain
6: Drain
7: Heal
8: Revive
Played it for a while and then got stuck on the Roman era Colosseum boss. Didn't realise i have to hit him from behind... Overall, i found the game quite difficult, but really enjoyed the music and the setting.
Props for the review.
This is one game i'd like to see added to SNES online on Switch, it's a good ARPG that's widely misunderstood and underexposed.
I mostly played Sega Genesis growing up, but a little later when I got a SNES in the last three years of the 90's and early 2000s, this was one of the first games I got for that system. The funny thing is I did not run into a hard copy of FFIV, FFVI or Chrono Trigger. Ironically, I bought the system to hunt for old classic RPGs I missed, but did not run into the most popular iconic games. I ended up getting the less conventional choices like 7th Saga, Breath of Fire I+II, Lufia II, Soul Blazer, etc.
Loved picking this title up when I was 15 in 2000 for 15 CAD from a video rental store selling old stock. Wish I had enough money to pick up secret of mana but since no digital drop of this title was happy to pick this sucker up. Got stuck on the last area for a bit never realizing I had to turn off the lights to the plant room.
Perhaps an unpopular opinion, but SoE's magic-alchemy system is perhaps my favorite magic system in any JRPG/RPG I've ever encountered. As a child in the 90s I absolutely immersed myself in the system... getting rare ingredients to get the best spells and nuke the enemies.
I grew up with Secret of Evermore and not Mana. This is one of my top 5 favorite games of all time.
Awesome review as usual man!
I always loved the music in Secret of Evermore. It's one of the games defining features. The game may not be on par with other RPG's from that era but I thought it was alright. Great review man!
You should check out my new Secret of Evermore soundtrack remake. You might like it.
Btw according to the devs it does NOT use manas engine. its engine was built from scratch and the reason it looks like mana is because they were instructed to basically copy the ui.
12 year old me loved Secret of Evermore as much as 32 year old me does. In fact, younger me wouldn't have ranked it higher than secret of mana. But now, objectively I think I do.
Dang, I almost picked this up a couple months ago and didn't... Now I wish I had! Great video!
I think it's well worth a pickup. It's usually relatively inexpensive, and ports are unlikely. I don't think it's on any virtual console either.
Good review. I greatly enjoyed this game a lot more than Secret of Mana mainly due to not being stun locked and that you could continue to move without the dog being right next to you. The trade market was really interesting but is one thing that turns me off when I think about replaying it. There is one game breaking thing you can do and I managed to do it the very first time I played the game. In one of the temples (Mayan?) if you go through it a specific way and save, you are forever stuck and have to restart the entire game. It was due to this that it took me three years to eventually return to the game and beat it.
My favorite SNES RPG next to SMRPG. I love this game so much.
I really wish this would would get remade it’s world I feel is just so cool and fun and the boy and his dog dynamic is also cool
Game is criminally underrated. Not to say its incredible, but it honestly doesn't get the praise it deserves.
just picked up a copy for 30 bucks on ebay, got myself a great deal as they can sell for up to and even over 100$. i never got to beat the game as a kid, i think i rented it once or maybe borrowed it from a friend for a little while as i remember playing at least the beginning, but Im now really looking forward to playing thru it completely.
0:50 12:35
LOL That pose... #SuperDerekPose
I remember your live streams of Secret of Evermore.
I still think it's interesting that SquareSoft USA made this 1 game.
4:40
I never had that option.
However, back when I was a kid and I had a SNES, I rented games from BlockBuster, Westcoast Video, and Hollywood Video.
Those were the days...
5:18
Ah~ The good old days of dial up. That screeching modem sound and then to be greeted by AOL.
"Welcome! You've Got Mail!" 🤣
5:28
聖剣伝説 3 (Seiken Densetsu 3)
Good think we have the remake version on PS4 now.
Now if they could do a remake for 聖剣伝説 1 (Seiken Densetu 1) on PS4.
I mean couldn't they just port over Adventures of Mana (Vita) to PS4 with better graphics, added voice acting, etc?
5:32
#SikeKenDenSentZoo 🤣
Overall, I think between Secret of Evermore and Secret of Mana, I'd go with Secret of Mana 9 out of 10 times.
absolutley one of my fav. RPGs next to Chrono Trigger and FF6
Legend of Mana is on sale on PSN. Is it worth buying? Btw, the extra enthusiastic intro and hair jiggling was hilarious.
I do remember video game rentals at the grocery store but the one I knew that had them never went beyond NES games. And they were pricey compared to Blockbuster(and other local places) because never rented any from there. Or possibly because there was always some toy I wanted and I knew better than to ask for a toy and rent a game. lol
As for Secret of Evermore it's one of those games I have interest in but who knows if I'll get around to it, so many games to play! I enjoyed the review.
I loved the game and it often inspires me. Though I don't have the patience these days to grind through it. But that is the same for many games.
Thank you so much, this game is like a hidden gem for me and wish it had more love.
I played this game a ton as a kid, but never got far with it. It was always one of those games I came back to time and again but always fell short within the first few hours, and unfortunately because of it's name and design I never bothered to try secret of mana as a kid thinking that the mana games would be like evermore.
The bit about Secret of Evermore using Secret of Mana's engine is incorrect. Square wouldn't let them for some reason, so Square USA made the game completely from scratch.
Yeah, people corrected me about that early on. Wish I could amend the video but UA-cam doesn't work that way. It's really impressive how well they were able to replicate functionality, and goes a long way toward explaining how the battle system was improved in some ways, but worse in others.
Would be nice if Nintendo put this up on Switch Online. I remember borrowing this from a friend. Took me awhile to beat but at least he was patient. It was challenging and I greatly appreciated the lack of bugs compared to the highly regarded Secret of Mana.
Dude love the review only difference from 12 yr old u and me is we were bt 8 or so me and my Bros had this game it was our first rpg ever and we loved it to death so the nostalgia runs high with this game I give u and A++ on the review man
And further more not til my adult yrs have I get to try a mana game insane but I like em both even tho I haven't played much of mana
I might have missed you mentioning it, but I swear this game does actually have one major game breaking (or, well, save file ruining) bug. I think it's very specific conditions you'd need to actually run into it, but it exists. I at least remember reading a "DONT DO THIS!" section of Nintendo Power about it.
Granted, SoM had its share of those, too. But if I remember right SoM's were more "if you do this your save file actually gets corrupted" and SoE's were "if you do this it becomes logically impossible to progress."
The mazes...still have flashbacks...
This game really pushed the snes sound processors. The music was awesome
There is now a 2 player patch available. Makes the game much more fun.
Loved this game. Bought it and loved it.
All I recall about this one....was a bazooka. And blasting enemies
Would love to see this released on limited run.
Love this game!!!!!!!!!!! that's it...love it!
Still have my copy! I played this game before I even knew about any Sike-ken Den-SentZoo or whatever.. now I own them both!! Great Games, we need more like these!
I never played Evermore as a kid because I had heard about it's difficulty compared to Secret of Mana. And, for 8 year old me, Mana was already way too hard (It took me forever to get past Spikey, and I didn't understand the importance of armor upgrades until several years later). Maybe it's time I pick up a copy of Evermore and give it a try...
"turbo" ;)
ppl who know who turbo is gets this!
The quintet dog?
I really enjoyed this game, when I played it.
This game was a lot of fun and upon firing it up again years later I realized it was a lot harder than secret of mana
I've always kind of hoped this game would be acknowledged somehow or another in the Mana series, it's just a fascinating piece of the series history,and RPG history in general.
Even if it doesn't get acknowledged, it REALLY needs some kind of rerelease on modern hardware
Oh man, could you imagine a remake A La Trials of Mana? That would really catch everyone by surprise!
@@SuperDerek that would be absolutely nuts, and I would love every minute
I actually beat both Mana and Evermore back to back last year for the first time. I found Mana the far better game overall (unsurprisingly), but Evermore as way more memorable. Evermore being so unique helps. SCXCR had a great review/critique that I recommend, since it also tipped me off for some annoying glitches. It's a cool game with a lot of problems. Any fan of SNES RPGs should at least experience it.
Your making me want to play this again
Secret of Evermore is the most atmospheric game i ever played
I’m aching to get my hands on this. Just like you, I didn’t really appreciate it back in the day, but I’ve since managed to shed my elitist skin 😉 The pixel art and music are lovely!
I realize I’m a year late on commenting lol..but this game was and is a unique treasure. I really enjoyed the overall tone of the game, it was pretty engrossing and a pretty cool game world. I bought it when it initially released and I can’t say how many times I’ve completed it. I do think it’s sad that this game has never received any real recognition. I’d wager it’s really a forgotten game. But I’m hoping someday it’ll get released again on the switch or something.
I liked this game MORE than Mana. I couldn't tell you why, but I did.
Do you find that SoE's gameplay ages a lot better than SoM's? I did my own analysis on why SoE's gameplay ages so well at any rate.
I would say they age about the same. I'm partial to games like these though. I still remember the first time I played each of these games at my friends house. I now have both copies for SNES and I also have a digital copy of SoM for PS4. I enjoy both of them equally but I enjoy the story of SoE just a tad more.