Secret of Mana HD Reviews
Secret of Mana is a monumental JRPG that deserves your respect—just not your time.
Secret of Mana presents great environments with a traditional history when it comes to JRPGs. However, it feels like a lost opportunity to present a different experience, due to the lack of new elements and relying too much on the original material. For fans of the saga, it is surely an acquisition to consider, however there are better options on the market for those who simply want to spend a few hours playing an action JRPG.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
Yet, despite Secret of Mana's technical blunders, this new version is a faithful re-creation with a lot of reverence for its source material. For those who may have missed out on Secret of Mana the first time around, it also serves as a solid introduction to a classic from the Golden Age. At a time when local co-op is difficult to find on most current-gen consoles, it gives a fresh option for those wanting to play with others. Secret of Mana'sremasteroffers a magical, vivid tale for the current-gen library.
Secret of Mana was a groundbreaking game in the 90's. But considering the advances even in top-down RPGs in the recent years, the game had so much potential. What has been made feels like a quick cash grab that seems to lose the appeal of a port and disappoints, as a remake. This is definitely a game to wait for a drop in price, or spend a little more money on an SNES classic and enjoy the original alongside more titles.
As the era of remakes continues on and on, with the recent confirmation of the original Shenmue games finally receiving their long-awaited remaster later this year, this is not a good example to look to for what's in store. If this is indicative of what to expect, the Final Fantasy VII faithful are right to be concerned for what their upcoming drastically different remake has in store. Somehow, it manages to take the original and, honestly, it makes it worse… The same story and the same game are still here at its heart, but it's hidden away under so many layers of imperfections and issues that it's almost indistinguishable. Frankly, it's a better idea to grab a SNES mini and enjoy the original instead. Horribly disappointing.
Remake of 25 years old game is not very convincing. It is just for biggest fans of the Mana series.
Review in Slovak | Read full review
Secret of Mana is a careless and disappointing remake with awful visuals. The soundtrack has been demolished along with the beautiful art style the original had. Not recommended to anyone.
Essentially just a new coat of paint, a rookie soundtrack remastering, and a few voice actors.
If you can get your hands on a Super NES Classic, you may be better off playing the original instead.
Secret of Mana fails with its slew of technical issues and unimpressive graphic design.
A couple of additions are nice, but the original game is easy to play via digital sources today and delivers mostly the same experience.
If someone expressed an interest in playing Secret of Mana, I'd first encourage them to buy a SNES Classic.
The Secret of Mana Remaster was highly anticipated by a lot of fans and overall manages to capture the experience of playing the original within an all new outer shell of upscale graphics and new sound. It fails to make any revolutionary changes to the gameplay, forgoing an opportunity to improve on one of the all-time classic games, and the changes it does make (particularly the music) are hard to swallow at times. Secret of Mana for the PlayStation 4 is not quite a disappointment, but it does leave a less than satisfying feeling.
Caught right between a needed update and trying to strictly adhere to the original template, Secret of Mana doesn't commit itself enough in either direction to justify owning it above any of the other versions.
This isn’t a bad remake, per se. The game functions without crashing, and it’s a close approximation of what the original Secret of Mana had on offer. The problem is that in recreating the game, Square Enix forgot what the point of a remake is. Very little in this remake can have a serious claim to being “better” than the original, and in some cases, it’s arguably worse. Once the nostalgia wears off for returning players, your enjoyment with it will go downhill fairly quickly. It’s also hard to recommend to anyone that hasn’t played Secret of Mana before since there isn’t anything noteworthy you would get out of this version that you couldn’t experience in the original.
This time Square failed in making a remake - we've got castrated mechanics, many serious bugs, ugly graphics and terrible remixes. If the original NES version wasn't so hard to get, I'd recommend ignoring Secret of Mana on PS4 altogether.
Review in Polish | Read full review
It's better to play an SNES version and forget about this poorly executed so-called remake.
Review in Russian | Read full review
There is a lot wrong with this remake and a lot of missed opportunities in terms of updating a game for the modern age, but at its core, it is still Secret of Mana and that is a game that everyone should play at least once.
Secret of Mana has a lot of good ideas that are neutered by the shocking abundance of technical issues and bugs that make this remake almost unplayable. Though the visuals and sound are fantastic, those who want to experience this classic are much better off playing the original game.