Well this is certainly a nice surprise to wake up to. Square Enix has announced that a 3D remake of classic role-playing title Secret of Mana is coming to both PlayStation 4 and PS Vita early next year. According to the developer, the game will "faithfully adapt the beloved story and top-down gameplay while adopting modern 3D graphics and controls". Sounds good to us.
The remake will feature voiced dialogue, a freshly arranged soundtrack, and, perhaps most exciting of all, local multiplayer. The latter will allow up to two friends to join you and fight at your side. Lovely.
However, it's worth pointing out that the game will be available on the PlayStation Store only when it launches on the 15th February - there's no retail edition. You can get a handful of costumes and PlayStation Network avatars if you pre-order.
Needless to say, we can't wait to give this one a try. Did you play the original Secret of Mana? Embark on an epic quest to the comments section below.
Update: The pre-order page on the PlayStation Store tells us that the game will cost £33. Steep.
[source blog.us.playstation.com]
Comments 59
Will be getting the vita version 😆 i do love some portable rpg
this was a surprise to be sure but a welcome one (can you guess what film that is a quote from?)
as for being a Digital only title though, that doesn't bother me although i would have preferred a Physical version i'll take what i can get
Part of me thinks that if Square Enix had done a similar thing with Final Fantasy VII... Just spruced the graphics up so characters aren't just shapes glued together, gave them voiced dialogue, and replaced the pre-rendered environments with fully 3D ones... and then launched it in a reasonable amount of time...
I honestly think that would have gone down better in a lot of ways.
I don't know... What's the deal with those smarthphone-like graphs ? It looks like the remake of the first mana we had on Vita sometime ago... Lacks the charm of the 2D, for me.
I'll replay the game on Snes mini. But probably not on PS4.
Then again, thats obvious as it seems like a Sony paid for job in the vein of Bloodborne and such.
Still something looks off...and I think its the 3D actually.
Really happy. Don't know 'bout the graphics, but I know gameplay and story are excellent. Can't wait!
This looks like a great game for the Vita . That amazing little machine still kicking out games here and there .
Looks like they're using the same engine as the FF Adventure remake you can get on vita right now. Hopefully those voices can be turned off though.
Still, I know what me and a few friends are doing over a lazy Saturday next year now!
@BLP_Software Bloodborne was different. From is a developer and BB was published by Sony.
By default games are not (yet) coming to Switch. And it doesn't surprise me a JRPG is not being released on the Xbox, which isn't popular among fans of the genre.
No reason to assume Sony pays for them, as it has been this way with many SE games: Dissidia, DQ, FF remasters, Kingdom Hearts. Also games like Monster Hunter, Persona have been exclusive.
Any classic RPG coming to PS4 is great news but not sure if I'll play it,the original on SNES is one of my fave games and like someone else said the 3d seems a bit off for some reason,I still play the original occasionally on my amazon fire Tv and it's still as good as ever... interested in the one coming to PS4,so lets see...local MP does sound very tempting though
I would rather have a new game in the series using the same graphics as the originals than this. But I'll keep an open mind.
@Kidfried The game is coming to the Vita. Sony announced it, not Square.
And again, the game is actually going to the Vita. In 2018.
@Kidfried @BLP_Software Worth pointing out that it's also coming to Steam.
Updated the story with the price... £33!
This news is better than my morning coffee.
I'll pick it up when it's down to £10-15 on vita. No chance I'm paying that much.
@BLP_Software Bloodborne was co-developed by Japan Studio, funded by Sony and published by Sony. Not even remotely the same. They clearly thought the install base wasn't there yet to warrent a Switch version...or the Switch just can't run it.
@BLP_Software
Looks at platforms, hmmm.... But it's on PC as well so.
To be fair, no ones bothering with Xbox 1 by default when it comes to a great majority of Japanese games. And Switch is a Nintendo product.
@ShogunRok @BLP_Software Also, is there any need for poorly disguised port begging? If you have an issue with the target platforms, please complain to Square Enix about it — we're just reporting the news relevant to the systems this site covers.
@ShogunRok @Punished_Boss_84 @Fight_Teza_Fight @get2sammyb Sony also published No man's Sky. For them to put something they have a hand in on PC isn't uncommon.
"modern 3D graphics and controls"? yeah i don't know about that. it looks pretty similar to the remake of the first game..and that I wouldn't call modern graphics. and the controls weren't that great in the first remake either. but i am looking forward to the new soundtrack.
are they re-translating it like they did with the first remake?
I really don't like the 3DS/smartphone graphics. would be much happier to get the original one - it looks much better -maybe with dialogues!
@BLP_Software
Its a nice theory but one without substance.
I am soooo happy. I don't even care about the price. Absolutely love secret of mana and I have been clamoring for this for a while. I hope it's a good remake - can't tell much from the pictures.
There's no way this game worth $40 if full new 3D AA games like hellblade senua sacrifices priced $30, I still want it but I'll wait after it's discounted at least 50%
Sweet news of the week! Hope SE bundle the 16-bit version in there as well or don't even mind a paid dlc (but less than a fiver) . Is there hope for Chrono Trigger and Chrono Cross too?! Hope I can turn the voice off though...
I thought that the PS Vita was dead.
I appreciate my buying a PS Vita more and more, even if I did get the thing late in the 'release cycle'.
I keep hearing praise for the original games, but I know next to nothing about this series. This remaster might be something that would interest me.
@MarkyVigoroth Ehh, Vita's definitely at the end of its life but it's still got another year left in it TBH.
If we're talking about the SNES title, I loved that game!! I'm so looking forward to playing it again now. =)
@BLP_Software Hey, I just remembered that Secret of Mana DOES get a Switch port...and a far better one, cause it's part of the Seiken compilation that graced the Switch just a few weeks ago : original versions of Seiken 1, 2 (mana) and 3 (called mana 2 by some people on the web). Hopefully this compilation will come to the west.
Sounds like this will be more polished than the Adventures of Mana remake.
As someone who owns both Secret of Mana and it's sequel on SNES I will definitely be picking this one up. One of my favorite series just wish they would make a new one.
Looking forward to this, as long as they do it right and don't ruin the core gameplay experience that makes SoM such a classic. Lots of tears over at NL about this coming to vita, but honestly, it's still doing well enough in Japan, and this doesn't look like something that would run well on 3DS. Easily will be a switch port at some point.
@Xaritah It's not really an RPG it's more like The Legend of Zelda an adventure game.
@ShogunRok I think so to just make some little extra's. And make it look nice.
Come on square even the smallest games can get a retail release. They just add a few bucks for the packaging......
This is AMAZING.
This was my favourite game on SNES, and I've lost count of how many times I've played it through.
Speechless.
@BLP_Software Japanese games dont sell on the Xbox why even waste your resources. Bloodborne was funded by Sony.
Kinda conflicted on this. I love the Mana games and have been saying for ages they should remake them but this looks kinda horrible so far : /
Wish they'd put some budget into it like the FF VII remakes.
Or stuck with pixel graphics like the original but modernized so the game didn't lose it's charm... And that voice over, please have a toggle off for that.
LOVE the chunky graphics ! definitely getting this on Vita.
I knew my Playstation investment would pay off
@Ralizah I think it's still the same engine but upgraded, the face is more expressive compared to adventure of mana ios.
@MarkyVigoroth Vita means live
@AyanamiReign Secret of mana is not as big as ff7, there's no way squareenix will give the same budget for this game compared to ff7r project.
Agree on graphics, squareenix should modernized the 2D graphics, upgrade the resolution, and add widescreen support just like starcraft 1 remaster on pc rather than overhaul it with 3D graphics.
Day one buy for me on Vita.
This is one of my favourite games on the SNES but this doesn't look great visually, what's with the shoddy mobile graphics?
Personally they should have been looking at the recent Wonder Boy to see how to bring these games back
@FullbringIchigo
Yes, I know.
Yes, yes yes, I bow to you Square Enix 🙏 for making this happen!! My second favourite game of all time, after Shadow of Collosus and closely followed by Chrono Trigger. This was Squaresoft at their very best!!! Epic Theme Tune and soundtrack too!
@Feena yea but that's on... Nintendo Switch lol
Getting this on vita but not a chance I will pay 33 pounds for it
I really dislike this artstyle. It looks so cheap and... chibi. Mana isn't chibi - at least it wasn't. Then their recent slate of cheap-o Mana titles starting pouring out, mostly to prop up their mobile and Vita efforts, and this is what they all look like :/ Stupid Rise of Mana and Adventures of Mana - looking like a cheap, forgettable asian MMO is not what Seiken Densetsu deserves. It deserves better. Better efforts than these cheap games, and better talent thrown at it. This is disappointing.
Egglia: Legend of the Redcap, an game from some actual ex-Mana devs, captures the Mana look properly in 3D. Heck, Dawn of Mana did a better job on PS2. And frankly, I don't see why they just don't do like Tree of Savior, with hand-drawn, high-res, modern sprites over 3D environments. I know they can fart out literally anything and some Vita fanboys will lap it up mindlessly because they're hopelessly attached to that dead platform, but Square really has to stop regarding Seiken Densetsu as a budget thing they can just throw at some random internal C-Team. They really gotta start actually caring more about it, man.
What a bummer to see it like this.
@Derpie1 will also be on the Snes mini
@Feena But you won't be able to play with a third persons on the SNES Classic.
33? Go fish.
@Feena yea... if you can get it
OH MY LORD I THOUGHT THIS DAY WOULD NEVER COME. DEFINITELY BUYING AGAIN!
@Derpie1 secured one 😉
Would be cool if they had the option to switch between the old and new graphics (kinda like the remake of Money Island had) but either way super psyched for this, now the dilemma is PS4 or Vite
@FullbringIchigo What? No physical? That's a shame!
Good news still, but this needs a physical edition.
@Tasuki This is definitely more RPG-like than Legend of Zelda.
@Tasuki i love legend of zelda, so awesome! I wanna play it really bad now thx 😕 so many games... so little time 😤
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