SNES: Secret of Evermore, replayed and reviewed.

[BryWI]

I just recently played through this game again for the first time in a very long time. This was the second time I have finished the game, the last time being in the 90's. I remembered the game being ok but somewhat fun.

This play through however I noticed quite a bit about this game. This was an American squaresoft team that had worked on this game, not the Japanese team that would churn out hit after hit RPG in the 90s. The game starts out with an easy enough difficulty. A few hours in though I started to get frustrated with the gameplay. It wasn't overly difficult though. It was annoying that in order to land good hits with weapons, the B button has to be held down for what seems like a good 10 seconds. It just seems to slow the game down to the point of boredom.

In the last area of the game though, there is a pretty bad programming glitch in the North American version that makes the game way too easy. 2 of the 3 ammo types for the bazooka weapon never deplete their ammo as you use them. One of the 2 is the strongest weapon in the game that you dont have to charge up. This really changes everything. I really dont know how a glitch like that gets through play testing. I have to be honest though, the glitch made the game less boring. There was no more charging weapons to level 3.

The graphics are decent for a 90's snes rpg. They started recycling a lot of graphics towards the end of the game. Even one area was two towns and castles completly mirrored. They did tell you why this was in the storyline but it almost makes me think they were trying to make the game longer in cheap way. There is also a few quickly thrown in fetch quests to prolong the game. It didn't seem like they spent much time or effort to make you run back for an item.

My opinion of the game in the year 2011? The story line was ok, not outstanding. The music score was ok, also not outstanding. The game definitly seems like it was in a time contraint rush. If it was given more time it could of been better, but I am not a big fan of the mechanics of the gameplay. The gameplay is tad bit too slow. Even though everything is active time battles, the turn based RPGs of the time seem faster and more solid. I give the game a 3 out of 5. It's worth playing at least once but put it on the shelf and forget about it after that. It's kind of a flaw in the 90's squaresoft line up.

What do others think of this game?

[3DO Experience]

I think the graphics were good but the sound was very lacking. I thought the rushed feel was probably do to running short on development time rather than trying to make the game feel longer. I personally prefer single character RPGs as opposed to parties. Maybe I just got burnt out on RPGs with party members...
Got any suggestions for other lone hero RPGs?

[BryWI]

Got any suggestions for other lone hero RPGs?

I really am drawing a blank on this question. I can think of some games on snes that were lone hero RPGs but they really weren't that good. Outside of snes, everyone rants and raves about the old fallout games. I found them way too difficult. Even when I got to a point where I could make progress in the game I would find myself hitting another road block due to the stats I needed to make it past the previous road block.

For modern games though, I really do like the new fallout games but those are more FPS RPGs. And if thats a genre you are into, Mass Effect is also great fun. I have been told that If I like fallout 3 and new vegas that I should play Oblivion. I never got around to it, and I really dont think that I will like it more than the new fallout games.

Sorry this most likely doesnt answer your question. Maybe someone else has the answer

But I did just think of Sword of Vermillion for Sega Genesis. That one was a lone hero rpg if I remember right. My friend really liked it but I found it too bland for my tastes. Phantasy Star IV was my choice RPG on Genesis, but thats party based.

EDIT:

I was looking through lists of RPGs and I have to mention now that I recommend Crystalis on NES for your question if you have not played it before.

[3DO Experience]

Yes I have Crystalis, I also like FPS RPGs but I've tired of them, I'm looking more for top-down classics like the first Dragon Warrior game. I've never played Sword of Vermillion so maybe I'll grab a copy, I need more games for the Genesis as I hated SEGA when I was younger due to being biased.

[Austin]

I only played this in the '90s but recall having the same complaints (Although, I never did get more than a few hours into it). Visually it was decent, but the sound was.. eh, something just wasn't there, especially after coming from Secret of Mana, a game with a fairly vibrant, memorable soundtrack. I don't recall having troubles with charging (again, I didn't get too far), and I remember the alchemy portion being somewhat annoying.

[3DO Experience]

Wasn't there a series called Legacy or something like that? I know it was SEGA and spanned multiple consoles, but what the name was and if it was single hero I'm not sure.

[BryWI]

Shining Force? I dunno. I never really had or played too many sega consoles.

I just thought about the Diablo series for PC too. I never really got to play them too much though. I might have to sometime.

[Austin]

Wasn't there a series called Legacy or something like that? I know it was SEGA and spanned multiple consoles, but what the name was and if it was single hero I'm not sure.

The only series by that name that I can think of is a D&D style dungeon crawler for the Palm platform (one was also released on the Zodiac).

I can't think of too many lone-dude, single-hero adventures published by Sega.. Landstalker, Beyond Oasis and Legend of Oasis (Saturn), Dark Savior (Saturn).. Brain.. dead... right.. now..

[3DO Experience]

I think it might have been called Lunar, anyone play this series?

[Austin]

I thought Lunar was party driven?