ACTION-PACKED COMBAT
The combat in Secret of Mana was a different beast from anything seen in its peers and the games that influenced it. In an era where RPGs were dominated by turn-based battle systems, Secret of Mana chose instead to mix in Zelda-style weapon swinging combat. The result is something pretty unique, offering an increased sense of pace to proceedings.
The animations behind each character’s power attacks also added to the action, offering up an awesome visual spectacle every time a character would choose to jump up and shoot fireballs out of their hands. This combat also lent itself to multiplayer as it allowed a more accessible pick and play feel without compromising the depth of the systems. There’s a bunch of weapons to choose from and they’re often available to upgrade which, when combined with the magic attacks and systems, really felt like something new and different at the time.
The statistical elements synonymous with RPGs of the time still remained, it’s just that the combat felt more palpable due to the one to one input nature of the attacks. Secret of Mana’s unique blend of hack and slash and turn-based combat may seem standard nowadays, but at the time it really was a breath of fresh air in a genre which had become very rigid in its rules and gameplay systems.
