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VIDEO GAME CENTRE REVIEWS
(SNES)
Platform: SNES
Game: Secret of Evermore
Made By: Squaresoft
Reviewer: Kefpac
This game is a bit of an oddity because it is the first
ever title from
Squaresoft that was made entirely by their American team.
Perhaps this game is the reason why it is also the ONLY
100% American made Square game.
Graphics - 9
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Evermore has some very excellent graphics, especially
during some of the fights against the bosses. Though
nothing spectacular it is
definitely above average for a SNES RPG. Everything looks
very clean and detailed and the sprites are big. There
are also some neat effects for the "spells" in
the game.
Sound - 6.5
---------
The sound effects are very suitable for the game, however
the music definitely lacks the integrity that is
practically a trademark on
Squaresoft's other games. There are some good tunes in
here but none are all that memorable or bring you so much
into the game like they did with Final Fantasy 6 and
Chrono Trigger's music (to name a few).
Gameplay - 6
------------
If you have ever played Secret of Mana from Squaresoft,
well this game plays almost identically to it. The
storyline is fair but lacks the
epic feel and character development that we've seen in
Square's
other games. The magic system does not work like it does
in traditional RPGs; instead of learning spells and using
"magic points" to use magic, you instead
collect "ingredients" in the game, which can be
found and can be purchased. Each spell requires certain
ingredients ; you mix them all together and ta-da you
have your magic system. While it's not a bad concept I
much prefer the traditional way of using magic in RPGs,
as it can be frustrating to be stuck somewhere with all
of a certain ingredient used up and not be able to cast a
certain spell and have to go back to the shop and buy
more. It should also be noted that there are a number of
potentially fatal bugs in the game; some result in simple
crashing (this happened to me twice when I played
through) and there is even one instance where if you do
something (I forgot exactly what) in a certain dungeon,
you're stuck in that place forever and your only option
is to start the entire game over again. Imagine the
frustration if that happened to you.
Value - 6
---------
Evermore is an extremely linear game and so this leaves
very little to go around exploring and doing side quests,
so there really aren't that many big secrets you can
find, which lowers this game's replay value.
Overall - 5.5 (out of 10)
-------------
This is not such a bad game, however it is painfully
average. Ironically this game would have been quite well
received by the gaming community if it were not made by a
company like Squaresoft who at this time made very few
games and the ones they did make were classics. It just
lacks the great features you have come to know and love
in most of Square's titles, and it may also make you
somewhat mad if I told you that the making of this game
was a huge contributing factor to the reason why
Seikken Densetsu (Secret of Mana 2) was not ported to
North America even after it was extremely well received
in Japan. It makes for a good rental though but
definitely is not a must-own game.
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