This game means so much to me. It is really difficult for me to be objective about it. My current playthrough would be the fifth time in my life I will have completed Legend of Mana and whoops I missed an early quest so I guess I will have to do a sixth playthrough down the line to get the achievement for doing all the quests in one run.

I think this game's story was really misunderstood by the Western market when it first came out. Its episodic structure and collection of deeply poignant short story cycles set in a lush, interesting world would probably have been lauded as an artistic breakthrough in games if it came out ten years after it did. Fa'Diel is a beautifully painted, extremely memorable, masterfully scored and orchestrated, handcrafted world. Every time I play this game, it feels like coming home.

I also think that richness of elaborate oddball mechanics and the dedication to secrets that this game possesses is something that I admire a lot, and which I actually wish I saw more of in modern games which often streamline and smooth to the point of feeling depthless. Few modern games understand the virtue of mysteries.

To cite a flaw though and have even accounting, I feel very whelmed about the combat in this game. It can be fun in places, certainly it scratches the power fantasy itch when you come in hot with a weapon you've just stuck a bunch of clown or cleric cards on, but it's definitely not what makes this game the jewel that it is.

I think I like all the changes I have noticed in the remaster, particularly the ability to turn off encounters and save everywhere. I think this is pretty good preservation work from Square Enix or whoever they outsourced. Though, they should have made it work on Steamdeck.

I don't know that there has ever been another game like this. I don't know if there will ever be another game like this again. That's okay. Stars spin as they fall, when you're trying to catch your breath. What's that mean? It's a secret.

This game means so much to me. It is really difficult for me to be objective about it. My current playthrough would be the fifth time in my life I will have completed [i]Legend of Mana[/i] and whoops I missed an early quest so I guess I will have to do a sixth playthrough down the line to get the achievement for doing all the quests in one run. I think this game's story was really misunderstood by the Western market when it first came out. Its episodic structure and collection of deeply poignant short story cycles set in a lush, interesting world would probably have been lauded as an artistic breakthrough in games if it came out ten years after it did. Fa'Diel is a beautifully painted, extremely memorable, masterfully scored and orchestrated, handcrafted world. Every time I play this game, it feels like coming home. I also think that richness of elaborate oddball mechanics and the dedication to secrets that this game possesses is something that I admire a lot, and which I actually wish I saw more of in modern games which often streamline and smooth to the point of feeling depthless. Few modern games understand the virtue of mysteries. To cite a flaw though and have even accounting, I feel very whelmed about the combat in this game. It can be fun in places, certainly it scratches the power fantasy itch when you come in hot with a weapon you've just stuck a bunch of clown or cleric cards on, but it's definitely not what makes this game the jewel that it is. I think I like all the changes I have noticed in the remaster, particularly the ability to turn off encounters and save everywhere. I think this is pretty good preservation work from Square Enix or whoever they outsourced. Though, they should have made it work on Steamdeck. I don't know that there has ever been another game like this. I don't know if there will ever be another game like this again. That's okay. Stars spin as they fall, when you're trying to catch your breath. What's that mean? It's a secret.