>Steals the plot of Crystalis
>Adds several incoherent elements
Great game though.

>>11820996 (OP)
playing this co-op was wild at the time because there were basically no RPGs that had co-op like that

Isn't Crystalis literally Nausicaa

>>11820996 (OP)
Trials is a big improvement

>>11820996 (OP)
It’s literally not a great game at all. It’s an unfinished mess.

>>11821315
Is it? It bored me to tears so I never played much of it but Nausicaa was ENORMOUSLY popular in Italy in the 80s and as an Italian, I was a huge fan as a kid. It was shown on TV as a 4-part miniseries and people rushed home to watch that shit.

>>11820996 (OP)
One of the best cover arts of all time. Game itself needed better graphics tho.

>>11821889
>See that tree? That’s my mom.

BRAVO SQUARE

>>11820996 (OP)
Incredible game. Not because it’s perfect, but because of how fun and memorable it is despite being a huge mess. Goes to show how far good core mechanics and a strong/unique soundtrack can take a game. STILL the best mana title. Maybe it was an accidental success.

>>11821970
>good mechanics

Like spam magic to insta win?

>>11821671
Yeah, the bugs, and setting that is actually in a future long after an apocalypse. Nausicaa was a huge hit in Japan so there's a bunch of games that take some ideas from it in several ways.
In the US we got some shitty dub that cut down several minutes of the movie and even downplayed Nausicaa herself too, and didn't get a real actual dub version until years later

>>11821889
Here fren, good resolution of the cover/included poster. It's a reprint of an original by Hiro Isono with the game title overlaid.

>>11821975
The attack charging aspect was actually great and forced you to use good timing and be tactical rather than button mash. Hit detection was bad though.

>>11821315
Nausicaa is literally Dune

>>11822052
A lot of things are Dune.

>>11820996 (OP)
What part of Mana was the post apocalypse mutated creatures doomsday tower in the sky?

>>11822060
Crystalis:
>A great war breaks out reverting the world to a more primitive state and filling it with mutant monsters.
>The survivors use magic to construct a giant floating tower fortress to ensure it never happens again
>You are chosen to destroy the tower and prevent the empire from gaining control over it to rule the world

Secret of Mana:
>An advanced civilization uses a preeminent magic source called mana to create a floating fortress
>This angers the gods who send monsters to earth, a great war occurs that nearly destroys the world
>You are chosen to destroy the fortress and prevent the empire from resurrecting it to rule the world

>>11821315
Nausicaa references are everywhere in jrpgs.

>>11821535
It has a really strong start, I always assume people who love it never actually finished it.

>>11820996 (OP)
>>11821302
Yeah it was wild. All the glitches in the combat are derided, but it's what made the game so good back then. It felt realistic and magical. Like part of this imaginary magical world was manifesting itself in the cartridge. You never knew what you were going to get.

>>11821535
>unfinished

What's with this meme lately? Just because a game has features removed doesn't mean it's a bad game.

I recently revisited the game, and it's evident that the middle section feels underdeveloped. The unexplored narrative surrounding the greedy king in Gold City, coupled with the awkward way the game forces you to return to the sage at the mountain only to get a single-line quest update, all contribute to a sense of bare-bones and disjointed storytelling. While things do improve upon reaching the Tree Palace, even then, we're left with little to no information about the villains.

The game is still a masterpiece though.

>>11822615
What really made no sense was this shit with seals on the mana seeds and the mana seed palaces. Then Jema just disappears and randomly reappears once the game is almost over and is just like "sup".

>>11822363
I’ll tell you the EXACT moment the budget ran out: right after the night time sand ship. After that the dialogue turns bare bones and they use four lazy fetch quests in a row from the sage to pad out the game. It’s apparent there was a strong start and the quality drops off a cliff

>>11821891
At least it wasn't Zelda's literal talking fucking tree telling you exactly where to go.
>oh, I think I hear a mandolin up Gannon's asshole to the east; you should probably check that out. I'm so kawaii, desu ne?

>>11820996 (OP)
>Crystalis
God Slayer btw

>out of nowhere

>>11820996 (OP)

>contains both the best opening overture and the best main boss battle theme in the entirety of vidya history

>>11821535

What you mean to say is that Secret of Evermore is an unfinished mess. The dog is gliched toward the end and other weapons IIRC. Mana remains highly playable and enjoyable through most of its run, although on my last go-around years ago as an adult, I did find that the final dungeon dragged a bit. I also like to play for completionism and I was a bit annoyed with how the weapons sort of top out around 8.99 or similar. I can't quite describe the problem but it was like some weapons wanted to get boosted a bit more but I couldn't for whatever reason.

>>11820996 (OP)
Except for the shit combat, horrible ai partners, bad attempts at humor, terrible dialogue and writing, and awkward tone.
The good parts of Secret of Mana begin and end at that cover art.

>>11823345

The music-especially the two main themes I just pointed out-is superlative, the combat is fun, and your note on the other characters is moot since the player can adjust and directly control each in the heat of battle at any time. I like the ring-circling thing as an innovation mechanic. It's been a long time so I won't speak to the rest. I do have a vague memory of being not as interested around the point of the final dungeon, that was where it felt a bit basic to me.

The other thing about the boss battle music that makes it so good, is that it goes EXTREMELY well with encountering a new boss that you've never played before in real time. Oh shit this boss just did something nasty in the first few seconds, let's heal up, take a few seconds to do that, then about a minute in the music takes this more optimistic tone as the player rallies, heals and counters (and can pause any time) to think and figure out how to put this guy down. It's really one of the very best boss battle themes ever composed.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m0IJPzf4mO0