The lack of understanding of basic economics by some of the posters in this thread is laughable. Products don't have some arbitrary innate value at which they must be priced (and definitely not what you believe is the said value). Like beauty, value is in the eye of the beholder. There are those of us who consider Secret of Mana an insta-buy at $9 and others who possibly wouldn't even pick it up for $1. Square-Enix will price their products accordingly with profit maximization in mind. And even if Aralon is supposedly "worth more" (whatever the heck that is supposed to mean), it's not contradictory to the rules of economics for Secret of Mana to still be priced higher.
As much as I'm hyped for this game, if you dislike JRPGs (I mean, real JRPGs, not those indie WRPGs trying to pass themselves off as JRPGs), then I see no reason to bother with this game. Yes, it's a classic of its genre, but if you didn't like it when it was a cutting edge game, then I don't see how it's going to magically improve (in your eyes) just because it was ported to an iDevice and touched up a little. If anything, maybe wait for the TA review, some posters' game impressions, a couple more gameplay videos, and then make a more informed decision. To answer your questions: There isn't a ton of grinding and IIRC, there aren't really side quests.
Can anyone who has this confirm if the bug that let you cheese your way through bosses with magic is still in the game. It's a pretty big deal if it's been fixed.
you level up yourself, your weapons, and your magic. it doesn't require heavy grinding like Zenonia or whatever krpg. I forget if there is sidequest. def. no "kill x amount of this" or "collect x amount of that" in this. it isn't revolutionizing anything. it's SoM refitted for the iDevice. if you liked it then, you like it now. for the younger crowd (and the cheapskates), this may not be for you. (especially the fact that this has no auto aim)
Really disappointed to hear about the lack of multiplayer... I'll be waiting to buy this until I see they add something for it, and if they never do, I'm fine sticking to the WiiWare version.
So i played for a little while and i really like the controlls, they are responsiv and moving with the v-stick is easy. There are no problems in combat with the controlls, i am always facing the way i want and dodging attacks is also easy. I dont have to say much about the game itself, it is one of my favorite game of all time, everybody who likes action rpgs should get this! =D
Why didn't those numbnuts use one of the system fonts then? Drives me nuts playing low res games as it is, let alone ones that don't bother to ensure that at least the text is readable.
Not really in the mood with arguing with crazy Square Enix fans about a port and pricing. I made a vid that should give a basic go through of the UI and stuff. I still believe that for ya kids to enjoy this masterpiece to the fullest. Play it on a system with a damn controller. Even playing on a keyboard through emulation is better than this =/ still a pretty decent job.
