Secret of Mana

Oh boy, a Secret of Mana remake! It'll be interesting to see what they decide to do about some of the more dated aspects of the original 1993 game. What did they do about...
- The delayed hit-detection
- The magic stunlock
- The grinding for magic and weapon levels
- The dismal accuracy rates
- The palette-swapped bosses
- etc.
Oh. They just kept it all the same. Well that's fine, too, I guess. At the end of the day, recommended if you're interested in playing an authentic SNES experience with a fresh coat of paint.

this was one of the many games that I tried as a kid and had no clue how to go onwards... being the only gamer in my family I had to figure it out myself and had no help... the furthest I ever got was to the season forest and I was stuck there... NOW THAT I'M A MAN, I finally have the wits and know-hows to master the game... and finally beat it and reach the end... only to notice that it all looked so familiar and to remember that I had replayed it before already and beat it then :D

It's the SNES Secret of Mana with full 3d and voice acting.
Almost exactly the same as the SNES version including all the weird hit detection and janky classic goodness. I enjoy it.
Works fantastic on the Steam Deck as well. Good on ya Square.

A faithful recreation of a magical childhood game that... doesn't really hold up.
The updated graphics, animations, and character/enemy models don't smooth out the rough edges of the game. On the contrary, they make some of the weaker aspects more noticeable.
However, the fact that this even exists is great. I don't care that it doesn't hold up. I wouldn't expect it to.
If you play the game on its own terms, then it can be very fun and enjoyable.
The combat is an early implementation of a stamina-management system (Dark Souls a Secret of Mana-like?). Stun-locking enemies is basically the default mechanic and works throughout the game. I'm not sure you can even avoid stun-locking enemies.
It's very easy to die if you get stun-locked.
Level design is incredibly basic. Areas are very small before loading the next area.
Bosses can be very difficult, unless you stun-lock them with their weakness. Then they're very easy.
Magic and weapon grinding kind of suck, but you don't have to do too much of it to get strong enough.
Even with all of these complaints, I've beaten the original SNES version numerous times, and could see myself coming back to this version periodically. It's a simple, fun video game.
I'm kind of glad they didn't update too much.
Ok, Square, please give us remasters of Treasure of the Rudras, Secret of Evermore, Bahamut Lagoon, Saga Frontier 2, Adventures of Mana (on Steam), Actraiser 2 (with city building but without tower defense), and Xenogears.

I gotta be honest: I'd prefer if they went with the HD-2D style that Octopath Traveler popularized, but since this game actually released before I can forgive that. They could have done a better job with the QoL features but instead they choose to keep practically the same gameplay the original one had with all it's qualities (and flaws).
Still, I can see some people enjoying it so yeah I do recommend - for a discounted price, of course!

Main character got banned from home village the entire game

This was my all time favorite game when I was a kid playing on my super Nintendo console back around 1993-1994. This game offers such a nostalgic experience.
This remake has updated 3D graphics and voice acting, but I honestly prefer the original. The boss fights were better in the original and the AI for your companions was also better. I've also noticed a few trivial differences, such as the inability to cut grass with your sword and the missing totem tongue that pops out when you strike a totem with your sword. Overall though I'm happy with my purchase. I hope to play this with my own kids someday.