Secret of Evermore (SNES) Review! 

You're so right. It came out at the time of the rise of the playstation and the rise or chrono trigger at the end of the snes's life cycle so people didn't notices it. It was also a American square soft team so people thought the game was a joke since it wasn't made by the final fantasy 3/chrono trigger guys. A lot of those who did know about it thought it was a discount secret of mana with a stupid story so they didn't take the game seriously either. The truth though is that the game is funny, fun, well written, very immersive, filled with lots of replay value, feels very rewarding when you make progress, has great visuals, great gameplay, and best of all is the music. A lot of critics at the time shit on the music. And now Soule is one of the best music makers for video games in the biz. Just goes to show you that the critics can eat shit some times.

Yes, it has very unique story and very different to any other rpg.

I got it for my 15th birthday in 1997 and I loved it so much it was my all time fave game

@@soyborne.bornmadeandundone1342 'Just goes to show you that the critics can eat shit some times.' i'd say most, if not nearly all, the time lol i loved this game as a kid, i found SoM boring, but loved SoE (SoM just felt too redundant and trying to be epic)

Yes and he came out of cinema from movie ankunft des ultra 64 if i remember good 🙂

RetroRupp I agree

I actually contemplated going deeper into that; the game didn't replace SD3, we weren't going to get SD3 either way. I get your point and I agree. I was only commenting on the common frustration voiced on forums around the time of the release and currently (there are literally still threads from years ago about this, whether that was your experience or not). And your last points are spot-on as well. That's certainly the more detailed and sensible observation than what was tossed about.

Wow, thanks for the quick reply. I hope I did not come across as mean spirited (discussing hobbies should be fun). I remember when the Evermore/SD3 conspiracy was all over gaming forums a few years back. A lot of criticism was directed at this game for not being SD3, many posters made the assertion that gamers were upset at the time of the games release. I found this completely laughable as most gamers in 1995 would have had no way of knowing that SD3 existed, let alone enough to effect the general reception of the game. This kind of reminds me of the revisionism that went on with SMB2 and Zelda 2, two games that were well received upon release yet people talked about them like they were controversial or black-sheep from day one (in retrospect, yes; but at the time, no). P.S. I need to brush up on my use of punctuation, short form charting has destroyed my ability type.

First of all, I did not interpret any of your points as pernicious. You were insightful and respectful and I appreciate that. One of my primary reasons for creating this channel was to help foster productive discussions. I'll never get upset with criticism or counter-points, even contentious ones. In all due respect, gamers in America did have knowledge of SD3 in the mid-90s. Forums were incredibly active during that time period and many magazines published pieces on the game. It wasn't entirely obscured by the lack of an American release. I think the major problem was that those that knew of Evermore's release were also aware of SD3's existence and made ridiculous statements comparing/contrasting the two and using it as a scapegoat to vent frustrations over SD3''s absence (at least, this is what my limited research seems to suggest - I was pretty young at the time so I can't be certain). Zelda 2 fits the "revisionist history" label a little better. I'm reviewing A Link to the Past and I actually used the line black-sheep to describe Zelda 2 (though in a broader contextual sense). I was a little shocked, and I think most would be too, to read how well Zelda 2 was critically reviewed. It was only years down the road that its departure (again, odd to say departure when only one game existed in the series other than it at the time of its release) from other Zelda staples was viewed as problematic. Your punctuation was fine for a youtube comment section. Thanks for the engagement! Really appreciate the conversation.

It may have been a different story here in Canada. I would have been in grade 6 when this game was released, I was also the only kid in my class who had the internet at home (I think at that point only a fraction of a percent of the population did). Forums being incredibly active might be a bit of a stretch, I think more people still had BBS than had the internet in 1995. Also, I do not recall any of the magazines that I grew up with mentioning SD3 (although that was a while ago). To keep things in perspective, the proper Final Fantasy numbers weren't even common knowledge at this time. I don't know about you, but to this day I still have friends who refuse to call their favourite game FF6, to them it will always be FF3. One of the biggest hurdles with being an RPG fan during the SNES era was that you pretty much had to pick up a title upon its initial release or risk it disappearing from store shelves rather quickly; thus, getting relegated to specialty gaming shops where they retained their high retail price. With this being the case, many kids only got to experience these games through rentals. I mention this because it would have created a discrepancy between a games popularity and its retail sales. In my experience most of the kids who were into RPGs or more adventure oriented action games (like Zelda or Super Metroid) knew about and played Secret of Evermore, it was actually a fairly well regarded game in those niche circles. It wasn't until a couple years later when the translation scene was underway that I recall any online chatter regarding Evermore supplanting SD3 for localization. This would have been around the time that the FF5 fan translation was under development. To organize my ramblings, I think what I'm trying to assert is that a couple of unrelated things (the underwhelming sales; and later forum talk) became conflated to create this idea that keeps getting perpetrated; that SOE was poorly received due to the perception that it replaced SD3. If anyone was expressing this idea in 1995 they were definitely not speaking for the majority of RPG gamers, they would have been an very small minority based on internet statistics alone. Remember, the vast majority of gamers had no online voice at the time. I think this is one of those things that read well and seemed plausible enough to the point where it people ran with it, and it became part of the "legend" surrounding the game; however, I don't believe it lines up with reality at all. I want to organize and proof this a bit better, but I have to go to work. Subscribed and Liked B.T.W.

I do recall the notion of this being a replacement for SD3 back in the day being touted by at least one gaming magazine, which was undoubtedly a rumor they went with. I don;t know if the general player of these games knew or cared, but as a Mana fan I did, somewhat. I rented the game anyway, and then bought it as fast I could.

+GG Bianco It's funny because it's certainly a minority view but, while I regard Mana as a slightly better game, I really don't think it's as pronounced as most seem to think. I really enjoyed Evermore's aesthetic and Alchemy system.

To be fair my friends were too "cool" to play rpgs so I never got to play Mana with any of them when I was 13. It's possible I'd feel differently if I wasn't making a single-player comparison between the two.

The translation in this game is better, the graphics might be better. The environments and world had potential to be better than Secret of Mana. The music is more atmospheric. The Alchemy system is interesting. The game is more difficult than Mana but unfortunately Mana trumps it in story moments, the amount of charge moves and spell animations (like how certain spells change their animations when you level them up enough), the more varied locations, powering up the same weapon instead of getting a better versions of the same weapons (also having access to 8 weapon types instead only 4 types). Both are good games but Secret of Mana ultimately offers more.

The story/world is superior in evermore; there was to be much more in mana with use of the SNES cd addon, but it never materialized so the game got gutted. Evermore kind of broke mana's combat system, the alchemy spam mechanic (don't know if that was intended) kind of ruins the challenge of the game.

Nope, I think it's better as well.

I actually regret that section of the review; I wasn't patient enough with the sound design to appreciate the subtlety and was wholly conditioned to expect the usual late romantic sound of most jrpgs - it has since become one of my favorite soundtracks, lol.

+Rich Patti I really appreciate that. Thank you.

+DreamcastGuy Fallout 4 should take notes from this game.

+DarkShadowRage2 Thank you. I appreciate that.

keep up the great work, gave you a sub as well :D

+Peter Bernath Thank you! And I certainly plan on it.

I thought you were joking. I checked it out and it actually looks like a really good game, lol.

Well... its has an amazing fab base, and its an SNES RPG with an original story, so... why not? XD

I'll address both this comment and the one left on my Chrono Cross review: My goal when reviewing a title is not only to address my experience and engagement with it but to contextualize some of the in-the-moment responses from user and critical reviews. This is typically, but not always, achieved by perusing mass amounts of interviews (with directors and contemporary journalists), user reviews, and often long deceased forum threads. Capturing a particular feel or tone from nearly 20 years ago and from a different technological era is hard and I have limited information available to me, but with certain titles (this one fits that category wonderfully) there's a surfeit of raw material to pull from. It's all based on relevancy. If it becomes a common enough thread that avoiding it would be intentionally balking a piece of the game's history, I'm going to find a way to introduce it. In the case of Chrono Cross, Chrono Trigger's importance to gaming culture really can't be understated. When Kato himself has to address the dull roar surrounding his game's release and attempt to sate the fans by deliberately and ambiguously mislabeling CC as a "Chrono Trigger sequel", it's a fragment of this game's past worth mentioning. Your own experience with CC (hopefully this doesn't sound combative, that isn't my intention) doesn't negate the myriad written pieces (both professionally and otherwise) bemoaning the direction Kato and his team took. This is an integral part of the game's history and I preferred to get it over with early while making sure I didn't bury the game prematurely or come off as too negative. I actually adored CC and, much like you, didn't have many issues with the creative direction Kato took. But again, to dismiss that as unnecessary or not worthy of screentime is disingenuous to my audience. I will admit that I could've spent another 20-30 second segment detailing some sidequests but that might've bogged down my message - that the game was about consequence and difference (the part prior to the Van reference was intended to reveal this). Though I've conceded over the years that Cross is Serge's tale specifically and any dedicated sections to develop secondary and ancillary characters would've muddied that goal, I STILL wanted more from the ridiculously intriguing framework they laid for so many of the characters - especially given the way dialogue was handled in the game. It's selfish and a bit stubborn, I know. Finally, thanks for engaging. I also created this channel to have exchanges like this. Thanks for your support and any suggestions/criticisms are welcome!

I'm aware, it was just habit and not intentional.

Hiya ! Today I will recommend a particularly strange series to go through, Ar Tonelico. At least for the PS2, if you can get passed some of the more adult related subjects. I think you'll find the world and story pretty unique. I'm going to recommend shortening that intro also, people will lose interest pretty fast when intros are too long.

I wasn't aware of that. That's dumb and disingenuous. No wonder fans were as perturbed as they were.

I recently went through Nintendo Power's top 10 reviewed games each year from 1989 to 1995. Secret of Evermore was their 7th best reviewed game of 1995, but mostly because they kept calling it a Secret of Mana sequel. Super shady.

High Level Reviews yeh I just happened to have both games and, while Mana IS superior. on it's own, Evermore is a damn good game.

yeah, that is really strange actually, lol.

Now that looks interesting for sure.

+High Level Reviews If you're interested in SNES rpgs then "Rudra no Hihou" is a rare Squaresoft gem with a magic system that you can create on your own. (There are English translations)

+GG Bianco Love that game. Isn't that the one where each word and letter has an element and effect associated with it or something? So you can, quite literally, type in anything and have an awesome spell?

High Level Reviews Yup, that's the game. It's pretty unheard of so I'm glad someone else has played it. Btw, don't check out Uncharted Waters on SNES. It's sequel "New Horizons" blows it out of the frame. I highly suggest that one. You have a new subscriber, (since Vivi used to be my Pokerstars avatar.) and of course your high quality reviews.

Magus Trigger yeah bud, I finished the game. I didn't want to include any late-game footage (and typically don't on any of my games save for a battle clip or two). Thanks for your comment!