Why does everyone love this sub par rpg with decent music and cutesy artwork and bad gameplay?

Som is not comparable to ff6 in any way at all.comparing som to ff6 is like comparing power rangers to x men.

X men has its characters and a story it follows and some interesting powers.power rangers is always the same every episode.

The reason is a certain member on this forum compared ff6 to som.


The battle system is lousy, the locations are the same, and it's very repetitious.If you want a decent game from square that's underrated, that would be secret of evermore.By no means is it flawless or best game ever, but it has more to offer.

I think I played a Mana game on the GBA, can't remember what it was called. Didn't really like it. That top-down action/RPG Dragonball Z: Legacy of Goku II was more fun IMO.

I played it on snes and personally, it cannot compete with ff6 chrono trigger or earthbound.Chrono trigger offers more replayability.

I still can't see the praise the characters or villain get when super Mario rpg has more character development than all of som and story development, and it is very kid friendly.Som is like for rpg newbies who have never played an rpg in their life and are super young and can't read so it's overly simplified.

Star Magician, you mean Shin'yaku Seiken Densetsu or Sword of Mana then, which is a remake of the very first 'Mana game (for GameBoy), Secret of Mana is actually Seiken Densetsu 2. I have Sword of Mana and I don't like it either. In fact, it's awful.

I think Secret of Mana is kinda overrated indeed, but gotta understand it was one of the first J-RPGs in the West... I remember they sold it for 999(SECRET CURRENCY) here, which was VERY expensive. However, Seiken Densetsu 3 is a completely different story. It's one of the best games for SupaFami and one of the coolest games ever. Kevin rules!

I remember the time when Secret of mana came out. Traditional RPGs back then were not popular and games like Castlevania, Contra, Megaman and Mario were the rule. As you all know, it was the Game mascot age so none expected deep character development. Mascots had only to be accessible.

Square wanted to create make big on US. Final Fantasy was no where near popular as it is today. So, they tried to create a simple game, a zelda Clone of sorts. But they also wanted to include RPG mechanics. The hero characters would have a very simple introduction story as well. Not as deep as Final Fantasy. Something closer to a Link to the past where it is more important that you feel being the hero than giving the hero a deep background.

Gameplay was simple enough that a child could play it. But it had many stuff to custom your hero. weapons. many weapons, magics, items, exp points, power up charge bar, an so on.

Compared to todays standarts the game is too simplistic. Too cute. Its characters lack deep. The story is simple too. The graphics are pixel base and so on. But back then, there were no game alike. It was a fresh look on RPGs and adventure games alike.
This game did for J-RPGs what Mario did to platform games in a way. Something new and fun.

Is it over rated. Yes and no. Most of the people who defend it do it since they played it back then when it was new. Its a nostalgia thing.
But then again. The game was really impressive back then and it did open up the world for all those cool JRPG that came later. Something Final Fantasy along could not do by it self back then. Oh yes, Square tried with FFIV and FF Mystic Quest and failed to get much attention.

So, its an old game that made a big impact on west player but its got a bit old now. Much like Super Mario Bros. on the original NES. The basic of a genre are there but the game itself feels old and too basic now.
Still, its unfair to watch an old 80�s movie and say its bad because there is no CGI graphics in it. Or saying an old Type machine its stupid because it has no Facebook interaction. It has to be seen for what it was back then and what it gave us today. :)

I think Secret of Mana is kinda overrated indeed, but gotta understand it was one of the first J-RPGs in the West

no it wasnt. between dragon warrior on the NES and mana, there had been a plethora of "j" rpgs already out.