On a side note, I hope you’re doing well brother, and staying sane during these crazy times. Hang in there, hopefully better days are soon ahead!

It’s a game that I personally feel is great (to a point), maybe not The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past, SoulBlazer, Ys IV: Mask of the Sun, or Terranigma great in my book, but is enjoyable in its own right even if it’s one which I have qualms with (especially in retrospect after having played the far superior Seiken Densetsu 3 nearly seven years ago, but more on that later). =) As far as I’m aware, this might be one of the first, if not the first, multiplayer action-adventure games ever made (that it can be played up to three players with a multitap is certainly ahead of its time) at a point in time when generally games of this genre were single-player venues.

Seiken Densetsu 2/Secret of Mana has got a very beautiful sense of aesthetic all around, its visuals are gorgeously detailed and immersive with its vast array of colors popping out at you (I love the location with the four different seasons and how in the desert the clouds’ shadows are pixelated) and Hiroki Kikuta’s soundtrack is absolutely brilliant (from the opening title to the somber themes, including the main sad theme, to the atmospheric shrine theme to the innocently flavored theme played in the four seasons location to the breathtaking snow theme to the flight theme with Flammie to the bizarrely composed theme that plays when fighting Dark Lich to the epic-sounding fight against the Mana Beast) and it really is among the best Nintendo 16-bit soundtracks of all time as it does such a succinct job at breathing life into this A-RPG’s diverse environments; I do find it interesting that during the early days of Yasunori Mitsuda’s (who’d go on to compose music for Chrono Trigger) tenure not only did he provide sound effects for this game and Final Fantasy V for SquareSoft but ALSO for Elnard/The 7th Saga for Produce (which, I might add, came out right before Seiken Densetsu 2/Secret of Mana). Amazing! =)

I also like that you can go from taking control of Randi to Purim to Sprite via the Select button which can be very helpful amidst certain conditions, the ring-based menu system is a very innovative and clever one plus the choice to toggle different weapons is a really novel idea especially since some each have their own specific traits (like the sword and axe can tear away at grass or rocks and the whip can help you reach the other side of the gap) and I also like how the more you use the same weapon (or Mana spirit) the closer you’ll get to eventually leveling up in that regard. And considering Ted Woolsey has gone on record as saying this was the hardest game he had to translate to English and had no choice but to reduce much of the original dialogue because of the fixed-width font issues I think it’s worded and grammatically structured remarkably well, impressive even since he reportedly managed to accomplish that in only thirty days =) Also, Moogle cameos!

So I said I had my qualms earlier, so I’ll go over them: occasionally there are moments when the CPU-controlled companions is hit and missed, the inventory system is incredibly restricting as you can only have up to four of the same item (Secret of Evermore would do one better by upping the item quantity limit to six, though that doesn’t necessarily equate to being a better game all around, and Seiken Densetsu 3 was far more forgiving in this regard as it had an EXCESS inventory system so you could technically collect as much of the same item as you want which is a HUGE lifesaver), it’s so easy to get lost in the sky when flying as Flammie as there is no map to guide you (well, there is, but it’s in a completely separate screen), and I’ve never been a fan of the delayed attack reaction that would take place as it can be rather annoying if it happens to you (it’s hard to explain in words, but because there’ll be moments when a character will be unconscious on the ground, enemy will attack, you receive damage a second or two after the hit’s been landed, rinse and repeat unless you switch to a different character and attack the enemy unless they stop, particularly the boxing wolfmen enemies), less so if it happens to the enemies you fight (but even so, it’s unfair and cheap whenever that happens). And while I do think this game is great (to a point), it is undeniably buggy and/or glitchy in places though that’s common knowledge at this point; it could be me, but I’m almost under the impression that Seiken Densetsu 2 MAY have been rushed somewhat because of said bugs/glitches? It’s a good game, don’t get me wrong, but WOW, is it replete with those in areas (considering Nintendo of America’s zero-bug policy at the time, I’m amazed it passed the localization test).

I think it’s because of all this that I greatly prefer its successor Seiken Densetsu 3: there is a better sense of polish all throughout, the gameplay’s been heavily refined and improved upon, it fixes many of the glaring issues beset by its immediate predecessor so no more mandatory cheap shots sustained from the enemies, it’s got a very immersive day/night system like Infogrames’ Drakkhen, the Tokai Engineering-developed first installment of Sunsoft’s Albert Odyssey, and Capcom’s Breath of Fire, there’s a more forgiving inventory system, while riding Flammie up in the sky there is a map to let you know your location, you have a choice as to which of your stats you want to update upon gaining a level, and there is a hefty dose of replay value especially in regards to which characters you’ve chosen to be in your party, and most importantly it’s fun and is reasonably challenging (even if the boss battles ARE long) =) I’m not sure how I feel about the official Western title it received, Trials of Mana, but I’m glad Square-Enix finally gave Western gamers an opportunity to play the third title in 2019 on Collection of Mana for the Nintendo Switch (and soon, the remake) =)

But regardless of what issues it’s got, Seiken Densetsu 2/Secret of Mana is nonetheless an adventure that is compelling while it lasts

To each their own