This game always gets me very nostalgic. I played it with a few people, but of particular note, was my playthrough with a friend many years back: we were so excited, there weren't too many co-op action RPGs back then; we finished it, but we didn't explore half of it. Sadly, that friend passed away, so I will get this remastered version eventually, just to complete exploring what we left unfinished. If you have a friend you enjoy playing games with, make sure you play as many games as you can with them :-)
I remember the reviews for this game were all over the place when it originally released. This has always been my favorite Mana game by far. The soundtrack and artwork are stellar, and for some reason I find this game to have such a compelling, wonderful setting. Can’t wait to play again.
I played very little Legend of Mana back in the day, and it's always been one I regretted not putting more time into - so I've really been looking forward to this remaster.
Seiken Densetsu 1 & 2 were really important to me as a kid, and when I played the great remake of 3, man did it feel good to be back in this universe. I never touched Legend until the remaster, but man, after playing just the first couple of minutes, I really get the impression that a lot of love went not only into the original, but the remaster as well.
The second when I opened this video, one of my favorite BGMs from the game played and it just melted my heart. Although the quests can be a little confusing to navigate, I think they are where the game really shines. I still remember how touched I was by the Jumi story line when I originally played the game. I'm glad people are rediscovering this hidden gem. I'm slightly startled by the contrast between the HD background and the pixel sprites, but I think I will give it a try at least to show my support to this game.
This is one of the few Mana games I haven't played yet and I'm super excited to get my hands on it. The visuals are stunning and I love that it tries something different. But yeah I'll probably take your advice and have a walkthrough next to me while playing lol. Great review!
I've always thought that this was the 1st game in the franchise. It's so well done I can't describe it. It's been 20 years but this game has always stayed in my heart and mind. You should definitely get it!
Judging from the video my only gripe would be that they didn't tweak the sprites to be less pixelated, but I love this game so that's and having it on a modern system is a blessing. I wish new Mana games trying to be more like this and less like the generic Secret of Mana (I know it holds nostalgia, but people have to accept that game was a mixed bag and Trials improved it a lot).
Your stats level up based on the weapon you use and how often you use magic. The crafting systems in this game are also insaaaanely complex and robust. This was the best game for PS1 and it's a shame it was basically forgotten.
the last classic jrpg i played was saga frontiers and i cant wait to try this one out i missed allot of these games back in the day and im happy i can finally play them now these old games bring me so much nostalgia
Squaresoft said that Saga Frontier remastered sold very well and that they want to release more classic games like this. Hopefully they will be able to get games out like Chrono Cross, Vagrant Story, and Xenogears.
Xenogears was my favorite and unfortunately I dont think it will ever get remastered, ported or re-released. It was absurdly controversial and theres lots of drama surrounding it.
For those seeking a more critical opinion of this game, I believe the 8 score given by this reviewer is only valid if you consider this game has somewhat average 2D battle system (which I personally think still has quite a bit of fun and depth to it, once you are doing more than just spamming 2 or 3 attacks!), and the obscure nature of the game lends itself to feeling a bit vague in what to actually do to advance the story in certain missions/areas. Otherwise, I think this is a fantastic hidden gem game (9.5) with so many unique ideas interwoven throughout, (many not discussed in this video, likely due to brevity) that the sum of the whole greatly outweighs its shortcomings, IMO. You feed a talking tree seeds to grow strange hybrid fruits and veggies to power up your pets, which can be found in eggs in hidden locations in nearly every level, and number around as many as a Pokemon title. The golems you can eventually build can be outfitted with "logic blocks", which give some actual purpose to all the random clutter/junk you acquire in this game. Those "logic blocks" are then fitted into your golem to program it's unique moveset of actions in battle. Levels have multiple missions to accomplish, some fiendishly hidden! Not everything is about battle - some missions are highly cerebral to say the least (dub - dubba - dud! - wait for the Lumina lantern quest to know more, lol!), but when you are in battle: setting new abilities like "jump" and using them actively lead to new abilities being "learned", like double-jump, hi-jump, or somersault, depending on which combination of the 2 set abilities that you can manually assign are put together. Many abilities have obscure unlock requirements tho! Aside from those abilities, there are also MANY skills and magic instrument powers to acquire - which can be set to L & R triggers respectively, and you can also use special input moves with weapons, like you would do in a fighting game using double tap directions and semi circles along with button presses for "special moves". There are multiple story arcs with multiple companions to conclude (some brief and silly, some longer and more impactful), along with multiple endings to see associated with certain "key" story arcs. Regarding acquiring pets, you need to use food (either meats or fruit/veggies grown from your big talking tree friend) to capture them, playing a stealth/guess the favorite food mini-game of sorts, but you don't know exactly what type of monster you will get, because it is hidden in a eggshell with legs sticking out the bottom (of which there are nearly a dozen different types!) Other certain "demi"-type monsters must be acquired by other means, often through a "negotiation of sorts", where they act more like other NPC companions you will encounter. Did I mention yet that those NPC characters can then actually be PC characters instead too, if playing in co-op! (note: not sure if this functionality is retained in this remake yet or not tho!) No 2 co-op controlled monsters or golems tho - just companion characters. You also construct the world as you go, placing gathered artifacts on the world map that create new locations, and depending on the order you complete missions, the order in which the map is constructed and the order the games assorted stories take place are determined by YOU, as you earn those different artifacts as rewards most often for completing missions. I'm sure I missed even more - the great art design, the weapon and armor making workshop, the awesome characters (boss sprites in particular are Vanillaware level gorgeous!), but I should leave some stuff to the imagination as well, I think! Some low points: Combat CAN be simplistic, but mostly if you are content to spam the same moves instead of use variety. There are a few main story arcs, but this game can feel like "just" a collection of assorted missions for a long while, and the larger narratives seem to come in the second half of the game. Some puzzle sections can also be seriously OBTUSE, with some involving needing a notepad to keep track of a fake language, and others requiring specific areas being triggered in a proper order to progress, with a few involving backtracking akin to mindless wandering to stumble upon the correct location to advance the narrative. Nonetheless, for the $30 price tag, this is a VERY EASY recommendation for those looking for a unique and content packed action-RPG, that combines some of the best monster hunting/collecting gameplay mixed with cerebral puzzle gameplay that goes beyond just the push block puzzles and the familiar Zelda-type fare you might normally expect. Small side note: Not to say Zelda puzzles are bad necessarily, just that the puzzles in this game feel quite different!
Thanks for this long ass explanation haha our reviews are geared towards a general audience wondering if they should make a purchase or not. You seem to already know you’re getting the game. 2 player is here though and the fruit growing and all the expansions of the home are awesome haha. Thanks again.
@@mikej2020 oh that's right 😅 but if they made a Chrono Trigger remake like FF7R that'd be worth waiting for also Chrono Cross is an excellent game I'd love to see a remastered version 😀
I'm glad that these PS1 games that didn't get a PAL release are being ported. edit: Also happy to hear the co-op is good it's why I'm picking up this game on release and not later.
Backgrounds, art, fonts and menus look fantastic... But sticking with the original pixel art might have been a mistake. See what square just released two months ago with SaGa Frontier Remastered. Each sprite was redrawn with the AI upscaled backgrounds that made it look absolutely fantastic. This remastered sprites stick out too much.
You need to play Trials of Mana 2D (aka Seiken Densetsu 3 aka Secret of mana 2). IMO, it was the best in the series and you'll love it if Secret of Mana is the only one you played.
Trials of mana is the game in the series before this one. Aka the war that destroyed the mana tree. Also talk to every character 3x to avoid missing quests or having to activate a quest.
My local library actually lends out physical switch games (hopefully this will be one) … nice to see how times have changed in my 30ish years of gaming 😉
@@Revealingstorm. Obtuse and Abstruse seen like Envy and Jealousy to me:- they may mean two separate things, but good luck remembering which is which : c
I remember playing this for the first time in 2000. A total letdown from the Secret of Mana on the SNES. I had no idea what I was supposed to do; and the internet did not always have strategy guides for new games back then. I always believed it should've been called something else. And take away the very few connections to SoM.
Thanks. I say hell ya! Play it once through on your own and then use a guide for the following play through. I beat it when I was 12 so you won’t have that much of an issue
Haha maaaaan Neopets, fond memories of hitting the library to play that and Runescape with the squad. The library security guard would play RS with us too. Good ol' days!
Sprites looks out of place and combat looks clunky. I played this on an emulator and that looks better. Square is lazy with these ports and remasters while charging more than 10$
this game looks like @ss when its docked. i cant believe square went through the trouble of enhancing the backgrounds but left the pixelized characters untouched. it looks better when not docked. but on the original ps1 console is the best way to experience this game. it just looks far better. something was lost in translation when they gave it the HD treatment.
It's crazy to me that Square Enix can remaster games like this and other so-so games, but they can't bother to do a remaster for games like Chrono Trigger and Final Fantasy 6,5,and 4. Someone over there needs to wake up!
Sadly the controls are bad, really bad. Your cursor goes all over the place in the inventory when you use the stick, so use the D-Pad _(Sometimes I accidentally turn off combat when I enter the (-) submenu to save)_ Moving around, or combat, feels like you get frame drops, but in reality there isn't and sometimes feels like you get NES or C64 slow-down, again which actually isn't the case. That's just how the game seems to function, when you mix old and new. And yes, combat, when you fight something the side of a house you don't expect to miss when it's right in front. Games like Guardian Heroes would have this problem but NOT as bad as in this one.
This game always gets me very nostalgic. I played it with a few people, but of particular note, was my playthrough with a friend many years back: we were so excited, there weren't too many co-op action RPGs back then; we finished it, but we didn't explore half of it. Sadly, that friend passed away, so I will get this remastered version eventually, just to complete exploring what we left unfinished. If you have a friend you enjoy playing games with, make sure you play as many games as you can with them :-)
I remember the reviews for this game were all over the place when it originally released. This has always been my favorite Mana game by far. The soundtrack and artwork are stellar, and for some reason I find this game to have such a compelling, wonderful setting. Can’t wait to play again.
Same!
I like this game but tbh this is garbage compared to seiken densetsu 2 and 3 but still a fun game.
As a 38 year old gamer, I really appreciated that library story. Good stuff bud!
Haha yea it was tough to find a dsl connection back in the day :P
45yrs old here. Used to goto the school library to play Wolfenstein 3d after hours . Then someone stole the computer:(
That’s a really sad story :(
Same. I can relate, i remember those days. I did the same thing with Final Fantasy but i never got banned at all.
Man does that bring back some memories 10cents a copy they were making bank
I played very little Legend of Mana back in the day, and it's always been one I regretted not putting more time into - so I've really been looking forward to this remaster.
It’s one that definitely asks for some time
Seiken Densetsu 1 & 2 were really important to me as a kid, and when I played the great remake of 3, man did it feel good to be back in this universe. I never touched Legend until the remaster, but man, after playing just the first couple of minutes, I really get the impression that a lot of love went not only into the original, but the remaster as well.
The music is among the best of all time when it comes to RPGs or even video games in general.
The second when I opened this video, one of my favorite BGMs from the game played and it just melted my heart. Although the quests can be a little confusing to navigate, I think they are where the game really shines. I still remember how touched I was by the Jumi story line when I originally played the game. I'm glad people are rediscovering this hidden gem. I'm slightly startled by the contrast between the HD background and the pixel sprites, but I think I will give it a try at least to show my support to this game.
This is one of the few Mana games I haven't played yet and I'm super excited to get my hands on it. The visuals are stunning and I love that it tries something different. But yeah I'll probably take your advice and have a walkthrough next to me while playing lol. Great review!
I've always thought that this was the 1st game in the franchise. It's so well done I can't describe it. It's been 20 years but this game has always stayed in my heart and mind. You should definitely get it!
GODDDAMMIT THE SOUNDTRACK IS AWESOME. oh, and don't forget to visualize the green wiggly.
Judging from the video my only gripe would be that they didn't tweak the sprites to be less pixelated, but I love this game so that's and having it on a modern system is a blessing. I wish new Mana games trying to be more like this and less like the generic Secret of Mana (I know it holds nostalgia, but people have to accept that game was a mixed bag and Trials improved it a lot).
Why does UA-cam think this video is spoken in Portuguese? I can't have English subtitles :(
This isn't a feature on many 2d remasters, but I wish they had some sort of CRT filter to give those sprites some justice.
I’d say they should all have the option just to have it lol
@@NoisyPixelNews I'm obssed with scan lines and CRT filters!
@@TheMissKittyStar scanlines rule!!!
Your stats level up based on the weapon you use and how often you use magic. The crafting systems in this game are also insaaaanely complex and robust. This was the best game for PS1 and it's a shame it was basically forgotten.
Oh noisy pixel! You’re so much better than IGN. You’re one of my favorite review channels.
Thank you
Man, why did they add the pocketstation game for this but not ffviii. I bet saga frontier 2 will be missing it too...
So excited for this! Didn't have internet back then so was always left clueless on mechanics and quests but I still enjoyed.
The backgrounds aren't recreated, they are the originals that have been upscaled.
the last classic jrpg i played was saga frontiers and i cant wait to try this one out i missed allot of these games back in the day and im happy i can finally play them now these old games bring me so much nostalgia
Squaresoft said that Saga Frontier remastered sold very well and that they want to release more classic games like this. Hopefully they will be able to get games out like Chrono Cross, Vagrant Story, and Xenogears.
Xenogears was my favorite and unfortunately I dont think it will ever get remastered, ported or re-released. It was absurdly controversial and theres lots of drama surrounding it.
The nostalgia. I remember this game so fondly
Great review. Loved the library story. I remember when a was a kid I started a binder for tips in FF3 US.
I'm so excited for this game!
For those seeking a more critical opinion of this game, I believe the 8 score given by this reviewer is only valid if you consider this game has somewhat average 2D battle system (which I personally think still has quite a bit of fun and depth to it, once you are doing more than just spamming 2 or 3 attacks!), and the obscure nature of the game lends itself to feeling a bit vague in what to actually do to advance the story in certain missions/areas. Otherwise, I think this is a fantastic hidden gem game (9.5) with so many unique ideas interwoven throughout, (many not discussed in this video, likely due to brevity) that the sum of the whole greatly outweighs its shortcomings, IMO. You feed a talking tree seeds to grow strange hybrid fruits and veggies to power up your pets, which can be found in eggs in hidden locations in nearly every level, and number around as many as a Pokemon title. The golems you can eventually build can be outfitted with "logic blocks", which give some actual purpose to all the random clutter/junk you acquire in this game. Those "logic blocks" are then fitted into your golem to program it's unique moveset of actions in battle. Levels have multiple missions to accomplish, some fiendishly hidden! Not everything is about battle - some missions are highly cerebral to say the least (dub - dubba - dud! - wait for the Lumina lantern quest to know more, lol!), but when you are in battle: setting new abilities like "jump" and using them actively lead to new abilities being "learned", like double-jump, hi-jump, or somersault, depending on which combination of the 2 set abilities that you can manually assign are put together. Many abilities have obscure unlock requirements tho! Aside from those abilities, there are also MANY skills and magic instrument powers to acquire - which can be set to L & R triggers respectively, and you can also use special input moves with weapons, like you would do in a fighting game using double tap directions and semi circles along with button presses for "special moves". There are multiple story arcs with multiple companions to conclude (some brief and silly, some longer and more impactful), along with multiple endings to see associated with certain "key" story arcs. Regarding acquiring pets, you need to use food (either meats or fruit/veggies grown from your big talking tree friend) to capture them, playing a stealth/guess the favorite food mini-game of sorts, but you don't know exactly what type of monster you will get, because it is hidden in a eggshell with legs sticking out the bottom (of which there are nearly a dozen different types!) Other certain "demi"-type monsters must be acquired by other means, often through a "negotiation of sorts", where they act more like other NPC companions you will encounter. Did I mention yet that those NPC characters can then actually be PC characters instead too, if playing in co-op! (note: not sure if this functionality is retained in this remake yet or not tho!) No 2 co-op controlled monsters or golems tho - just companion characters. You also construct the world as you go, placing gathered artifacts on the world map that create new locations, and depending on the order you complete missions, the order in which the map is constructed and the order the games assorted stories take place are determined by YOU, as you earn those different artifacts as rewards most often for completing missions. I'm sure I missed even more - the great art design, the weapon and armor making workshop, the awesome characters (boss sprites in particular are Vanillaware level gorgeous!), but I should leave some stuff to the imagination as well, I think! Some low points: Combat CAN be simplistic, but mostly if you are content to spam the same moves instead of use variety. There are a few main story arcs, but this game can feel like "just" a collection of assorted missions for a long while, and the larger narratives seem to come in the second half of the game. Some puzzle sections can also be seriously OBTUSE, with some involving needing a notepad to keep track of a fake language, and others requiring specific areas being triggered in a proper order to progress, with a few involving backtracking akin to mindless wandering to stumble upon the correct location to advance the narrative. Nonetheless, for the $30 price tag, this is a VERY EASY recommendation for those looking for a unique and content packed action-RPG, that combines some of the best monster hunting/collecting gameplay mixed with cerebral puzzle gameplay that goes beyond just the push block puzzles and the familiar Zelda-type fare you might normally expect. Small side note: Not to say Zelda puzzles are bad necessarily, just that the puzzles in this game feel quite different!
Thanks for this long ass explanation haha our reviews are geared towards a general audience wondering if they should make a purchase or not. You seem to already know you’re getting the game. 2 player is here though and the fruit growing and all the expansions of the home are awesome haha. Thanks again.
One of many psx rpgs that never came to the UK, can't wait to play it
Yea it wasn’t released in the EU that’s pretty cool!
Starting it but i watch your review first 🙈
Thanks, it was nice. Hope i'll enjoy it.
I'm so emotional right now. I pre-ordered this game and now it's only 12 hours until release. I'm almost in tears 😭
That’s beautiful
"...because you can tell your cactus all about it at home" sold me completely on this game! 😀
Can't wait to play!
Do iiiiit
Cool intro story. I called some DandD 1 900 numbers for games tips and they showed on my parents phone bill. Difficult to explain it to them.
I hope they make a Chrono Trigger remastered version 🤔
That happened already on DS. However, Chrono Cross has never been rereleased.
@@mikej2020 oh that's right 😅 but if they made a Chrono Trigger remake like FF7R that'd be worth waiting for also Chrono Cross is an excellent game I'd love to see a remastered version 😀
@@aridbal Chrono Trigger does not need a remake, only a remaster like the one Romancing SaGa 3 got.
@@mikej2020 yeah I guess you're right 😅
There is a Chrono Trigger on Steam already. It's... not good.
The only thing I'm more excited for than this game, is watching streamers try this game out for the first time. I hope it gets the love it deserves.
Haha and be completely confused half the time :P
I'm glad that these PS1 games that didn't get a PAL release are being ported.
edit: Also happy to hear the co-op is good it's why I'm picking up this game on release and not later.
Nobody:
Me, already crying: Årstider kommer och går
/ Och jag följer i samma spår
Backgrounds, art, fonts and menus look fantastic...
But sticking with the original pixel art might have been a mistake. See what square just released two months ago with SaGa Frontier Remastered. Each sprite was redrawn with the AI upscaled backgrounds that made it look absolutely fantastic.
This remastered sprites stick out too much.
I used to print WoW guides at my college lab , and was always worried I would get banned if people found out.
Haha I’m glad my story resonates with others :)
I got grounded for a week back in the day because I printed out a 300 some page FF8 guide on gameFAQs and we had no more printer ink
Hahaha! How else will know where all the secret draw locations are!?!
That beginning is so relatable.....
Ahaha yes!
I only played Sercret of mana.. Never played any of the others.. And that is one of my favorite games of all time.. I’m thinking I’m missing out 😶
Secret of Mana is great, but this one is just so different from the others in the series
You need to play Trials of Mana 2D (aka Seiken Densetsu 3 aka Secret of mana 2). IMO, it was the best in the series and you'll love it if Secret of Mana is the only one you played.
@@NoisyPixelNews the art looks great. And the secret remake looked horrible 😮
@@TMHTNN Thanks 🙂
Trials of mana is the game in the series before this one. Aka the war that destroyed the mana tree. Also talk to every character 3x to avoid missing quests or having to activate a quest.
I can finally complete the fcking diary. Does infinites and stun lock still work?
My local library actually lends out physical switch games (hopefully this will be one) … nice to see how times have changed in my 30ish years of gaming 😉
Haha I used to check out dvds from my library
Looks adorable, innovative and super abstruse
Haven’t played another game like it
Today was the day I learned abstruse was a word
Haha we’re a learning community:)
@@Revealingstorm. Obtuse and Abstruse seen like Envy and Jealousy to me:- they may mean two separate things, but good luck remembering which is which : c
@@Nersius Obtuse and Abstruse have pretty differnet meanings in comparison with Envy and Jealousy.
I remember playing this for the first time in 2000. A total letdown from the Secret of Mana on the SNES. I had no idea what I was supposed to do; and the internet did not always have strategy guides for new games back then.
I always believed it should've been called something else. And take away the very few connections to SoM.
I didn't even know you could get banned from a library for something like that.
Surely inks what your paying 10 cents a page for.
I'll just assume you are joking
Youre awesome bro. I appreciate your time. Should I buy it on my ps4 if I've never played this title originally?
Thanks. I say hell ya! Play it once through on your own and then use a guide for the following play through. I beat it when I was 12 so you won’t have that much of an issue
What!? This is coop??
Yes sir
As was the original, ditto Secret Of Mana.
My wife has been bugging me to buy her one. Looks like it’s gonna be worth it.
Could be fun to play together too :)
Bought my first game guide because of this game 😁😁😁
Hahah awesome :P
Last release SE did, soul saga that romancing game I was so lost playing I gave up.
Hahah romancing saga definitely is a lot to wrap your head around.
play with a guide for sure.
lindas palavras
Now get out. You're banned from this library. You and your children, and your children's children...for one week.
Hahah exactly how it went down
You got banned from the library?? 😂😂
Man they were always trying to ban me cause I used their internet to play neo pets and Habbo Hotel lol
Haha maaaaan Neopets, fond memories of hitting the library to play that and Runescape with the squad. The library security guard would play RS with us too.
Good ol' days!
free download for apk android plsss
Banned from the library🤣🤣🤣
Sprites looks out of place and combat looks clunky. I played this on an emulator and that looks better. Square is lazy with these ports and remasters while charging more than 10$
this game looks like @ss when its docked. i cant believe square went through the trouble of enhancing the backgrounds but left the pixelized characters untouched. it looks better when not docked. but on the original ps1 console is the best way to experience this game. it just looks far better. something was lost in translation when they gave it the HD treatment.
It's crazy to me that Square Enix can remaster games like this and other so-so games, but they can't bother to do a remaster for games like Chrono Trigger and Final Fantasy 6,5,and 4. Someone over there needs to wake up!
That's because this is probably the first time they've remastered this game while the others has had at least 3 remasters.
Square cannot get anything right. Pixels on smooth/remastered backgrounds? Sheesh, ugly ugly ugly. FF6, CT, everything remastered is ugly as sin.
The sprites are so poor and they did a lazy remaster on them, holy shit square!
hard pass on all remakes
It’s a remaster ;)
Sadly the controls are bad, really bad. Your cursor goes all over the place in the inventory when you use the stick, so use the D-Pad _(Sometimes I accidentally turn off combat when I enter the (-) submenu to save)_
Moving around, or combat, feels like you get frame drops, but in reality there isn't and sometimes feels like you get NES or C64 slow-down, again which actually isn't the case. That's just how the game seems to function, when you mix old and new.
And yes, combat, when you fight something the side of a house you don't expect to miss when it's right in front. Games like Guardian Heroes would have this problem but NOT as bad as in this one.