Secret of Mana

The Gameplay:
This one is a mixed bag that I want to say leans more towards the positive, but certainly has some significant drawbacks. Combat Is free form but feels turn-based. There are a lot of invincibility frames which makes combat a bit of a slog if you are not significantly leveled over the encounter. Also the enemies, especially caterpillars are dodge masters which makes combat take sooo long. Finally you have to wait inbetween each melee hit, or your attacks will do no damage. All three things combined make for a pretty awful experience at times. However the use of magics and strategy will overcome this.
The Story:
The story is nothing spectacular, but it's easy to digest and gets you from point a to point b. This story was meant for children and when I experienced the little I did as a kid, it sucked me right in. It has loss which I was not expecting from this game, and even has some decent plot twists too. The two companions you get through the game keep things interesting with their banter.
The Visuals:
Whether we are talking about the SNES or this remake, both are charming with vibrant colors. The remake enhances the visuals appropriately without losing what made the game what it is. The menu UI and icons are actually very pretty and evoke the most nostalgia of SNES RPG games for that time.
The Sound:
Possibly the best part of the entire game. The soundtrack slaps, original and remastered, and synergizes with the whimsical feel of the game. Every character and npc is voice acted by a different person. Keep in mind, there's like 100+ npcs so they put in an insane level of dedication. The menu sfx and general sound of the game also tie in perfectly.
The Experience:
The main motivator of me playing this game was that I started it as a kid and never got to finish it. It is something I was excited to revisit and finally complete. I don't think I would have ever beaten it as a kid since the combat was a little more involved than I remember playing it. Though I may have had a little more patience back then I think. For today's gaming standard, this would not be an easy recommendation based on the gameplay. That said, it does have a lot of highpoints with its visuals, sound and charming characters. It is easily not for everyone, but if you are looking at this review, you likely are one of the few that it would be a good fit for.

In the dwarf village, after the show - the blacksmith door still wont open. You need to dash against it. Seems to be a year old bug. Maybe this one helps a few people.

I played and loved the original on the SNES and played through it several times and was looking forward to the remake. I had a lot of fun with the remake despite some minor flaws, but the nostalgia was very intense.
the same story, locations, weapons, level maps as in the original: This means that the game has not been artificially stretched at any point.##no quality-of-life features, like in the original: This means a lot of running back and forth, especially at the beginning (until you get the dragon, then you'll be flying back and forth a lot, which actually becomes a bit idle, especially with the Sage Lunar). One might think that the game has a “fast travel” function in the form of the cannons. In reality it is a level change. The remake has been given a minimap that consists of the bitmap overview of the original. Nostalgia bonus.
The graphics have been completely redesigned in 3D, which I think is very aesthetic and appropriate. But it could have been a little nicer, especially the camera in some places, it can happen because of the angle of view that you can't see the opponents
Original combat system: And if you don't know this from the original, you'll probably shake your head, because the ARPG title uses a combat system that's more reminiscent of turn-based games. Attacks have to recharge, the probability of a "miss" is extremely high. Enemies only accept a single hit at a time, and the follow-up hit (if) occurs after a short knockout animation. Spells activate very late, but if, for example, a healing spell kills the player while casting it, they will be revived afterwards. Admittedly, no title today is so confusing and confusing. Anyone who knows it from before can look forward to a slower pace of fighting with time for reflection. This still makes the fights unnecessarily long.
Save Points: There's a real change here - the automatic save. You just don't know when it will trigger. Because the save points in the game are very (!) far apart, you can't save everywhere, but (usually) only in cities. That used to mean: Died? Then all over again. That could have been two hours ago. Today it means: Died? Damn, do I have to replay everything? Oh no, the automatic save was triggered. Half an hour ago. Anyway.
The "love for the original" makes the game just as good as the original, but not really better. A clear recommendation for me.
Secret of Mana is Pure Love
The Opening is Love

I’ll start this review by saying I only played about an hour of the Original SNES game and I didn’t see any huge differences so I went forward with the remake preferring the improved graphics and voice acting.
I find the art direction to be a strange choice, the not moving mouths while characters are talking. But it didn’t take away from the experience. The combat is a bit bland and I only died like 3 times in my 28 hours of play.
The story is minimal but hits deeper than I expected toward the end. Overall I think this is a good game with some choices made in the art and story direction that I simply do not understand. I will say though that the character interactions at the inns made this game worth playing. Very charming.

its fun, now that its been a few years since the remake came out all bugs are fixed. you can enjoy an old school rpg adventure

I have never played the original. And I must say I had to jump through quite a few hoops to make this game work with my controller but once I did it was well worth it. True the voices may be cheesy True in the animations nobody's mouth is moving but does that really ruin the game my answer is no. Should you buy this game well you decide if you liked the original the final may not be up to snuff but if you have never played the original I say go for it! Recommended to a degree

7/10

Still decent, though not a "true" port. Some of the Art is just painful.
The main chars i think are pretty good, but the Lullabud looses all its value... it was identical to the normal flowers and thus could "blend in". now it sticks out like a sore thumb.

otherwise, i feel like its easier.

the biggest downsides? they did not fix / TLC the important grind stuff.
You still need 4k kills for weapon mastery and you still need 4k casts for magic mastery.
you still dont have indexes for the tree armor pieces, even though you have "get all x armor" achievements.
AND they still not have fixed the menu bugs (switch direction, unavailability of the menu if ANY action is occuring).