Born as second episode of Japan’s famous series with the name of Seiken Densetsu, the remake of Secret of Manawill make us dress again the role of the protagonist of the original game, Randi, flanked again by his historic companions Primm and Popoi.
In a fantastic world where Mana is the most important energy source, collecting the Mana Sword will cost the young protagonist exile from his village, seeing and considering that his curiosity has sparked a horde of monsters ready to devastate everything on their path. To succeed in gaining the confidence of his people again, Randi will have to reach the eight Temples of the Manna, places where it is possible to return the original power to the weapon, thus preventing the evil Empire from starting a new conflict that can sow death and destruction.
A simple plot with lots of strokes, rich in classic themes so much in Square (war, friendship, planet energy), makes Secret of Manaa delightful title, capable of encompassing the essence of a roulette philosophy that ran between the 90s and the 2000s was the practice of the Japanese matrix titles of the Cloud and Society home. However, it should be said that this console and PC remake promises not only to make a dive in the past for over twenty years, but also to offer a whole host of novelties and corrections designed to give life to a title that, without shadow doubt, he begins to feel the weight of the years on his shoulders.
First of all, the technical sector seems to have been entirely revised and corrected in the 3D view (although the classic bird-eye view remained).
The magical world of Mana has in fact been rebuilt in three dimensions, and if this may be strange to those who grew up with the 2D sprite sprinkles of the original title, it must be said that everything is now an explosion of colors and animations perfectly in line with the traditional spirit of the series.
In short, the nostalgic effect is guaranteed. The soundtrack – entirely redesigned – enriched by duplicate English dialogues will spin the back to those who still jealously hide the original Seiken Densetsu 2 cartridge.
A timeless story
As mentioned a few lines above, Secret of ManaShares the classic high-class view of The Legend Of Zelda: A Link To The Past. The action takes place in real time and is not marked by the classic turn-of-the-field combat of the old Final Fantasy of the last century.
We can move our character freely through the many colorful gaming environments, with the ability to keep an eye on the protagonist’s energy bar, including a convenient map at the top right. But not only: It will be very important also the power indicator, which after the first attack loaded to the maximum will force us to wait a few moments before it is reloaded, so that we can run a second hit of unprecedented power.
