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Started in 1991, Seiken Densetsu is known for its live-action (non turn-based) battle system and original fantasy theme. Seiken Densetsu translates "holy sword legend." It is the cousin of Final Fantasy and SaGa. Seiken Densetsu is between these two game series in popularity, but closer to the former. Chrono is between Final Fantasy and Seiken Densetsu, both in popularity and the gameplay engine.
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2 Notes 3 Seiken Densetsu 4 Seiken Densetsu 2 5 Seiken Densetsu 3 6 See also |
Seiken Densetsu 3 was not released in the US because Square opted for Secret of Evermore. However there are un-official (or fan) translations circulating the internet in English, French, and German. It is sometimes refered to as "Secret of Mana 2."
Secret Of Evermore, although not part of the series, used the same engine. It was only released in the US in October of 1995.
Shinyaku Seiken Densetsu (Sword of Mana) is a remake of Seiken Densetsu (Final Fantasy Adventure). It features two-player game play, but that mode requires two copies of the Sword of Mana.
Seiken Densetsu (or Final Fantasy Adventure) is the first game in the Seiken Densetsu series. Like most early Game Boy games, it was monochrome. Gameplay was very similar to the original Legend of Zelda. Chocobos and moogles made a cameo appearance in Seiken Densetsu. A male character named "Sumo" (by the manual) is the protagonist. The antagonists are Julius, and his close friend Dark Lord. The main female character, named "Fuji" (by the manual) is captured twice throughtout the game. She is first taken to a box in a dungeon, then later captured on an airship and taken where the final confrontation takes place. In Jadd, Amanda's brother Lester was cursed by Davias, and Sumo had to take her with him. Amanda is later tainted by Medusa, turns into a statue and dies. Sumo placed Amanda's tear drops on Lester to uncurse him. Lester had to avenge his sister's death. The Chocobo was later changed to a Chocobot, so it can walk across bodies of water. After Sumo defeated Julius, Fuji became a Mana tree after her mother died. Sumo guarded the Mana tree afterwards.
Seiken Densetsu later received a 32-bit remake for the Gameboy Advance as in Shinyaku Seiken Densetsu in Japan and as Sword of Mana in North America. At the beginning of Shinyaku Seiken Densetsu, the player gets to choose to play as the male lead character (Sumo) or as the female lead character (Fuji). They both have a different quest, but the plot is still similar. The most important thing about this remake, however, is the complete "de-Final Fantasification" of it - all elements from the original that had an origin in Final Fantasy were removed in favor of elements from other Seiken Densetsu games (i.e. the chocobo is replaced by Cannon Travel). Shinyaku Seiken Densetsu was remade to resemble Seiken Densetsu 3.
Seiken Densetsu 2 (or Secret of Mana) was released for the SNES in 1993. It is the most famous game in the Seiken Densetsu series. The gameplay is similar to that of The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past. It also features two-player gameplay. It stars the main character Randi, a girl named Purim, and a sprite child named Popoio, and a notable non-playable character named Dyluck. For a long time, the Mana Sword was sleeping stuck in a rock. But one day the sword called for Randi to take it. But removing the sword from the stone brought monsters upon Potos village (Randi's home), and the villagers blamed the danger all on him. First, he battled a miniboss in the Potos underground. Afterwards the blame was delivered, and he was banished from Potos Village by the village's elder, Timothy. Randi went on a trip to Water Palace and met with Luka. Then the guard of the Kingdom of Pandora was informed so that Randi can pass through Kingdom of Pandora to enter Gaia's Naval cave. Dwarves live in this cave. There, Randi met Watts, and Watts tempered his sword and forged an axe. The final confrontation was against the Mana Beast, taking place at the Mana Fortress.
Secret of Mana was cursed with a fixed-width (or monospace) text font and limited dialog space. The curse caused a poor English translation. It was broken by an emulation related modification project, Secret of Mana: Variable Width Edition, resulting in a retranslation. It resulted to be a professional-looking translation like that of its successor Seiken Densetsu 3.
Seiken Densetsu 3 (or Secret of Mana 2) was released for the Super Famicom exclusively in Japan in 1995. It was originally planned to be released in North America, but Squaresoft opted for the substandard Secret of Evermore, canceling the North American localization. However, it was unofficially translated into English in the year 2000, and later into French and German from the English fan translation project. The translation project was very difficult. A variable width font was used, and it resulted in a professional looking fan translation. The title logo was changed from Kanji to Romaji. Like Final Fantasy VI and Bahamut Lagoon, Seiken Densetsu 3 has sophisticated graphics. Seiken Densetsu 3 has been regarded by many (including non-Japanese gamers) to be the best game in the Seiken Densetsu series, although the combat and multi-player systems got simplified. Unlike in Seiken Densetsu 2, there is only one kind of weapon per character, which can be bought in stores; the forging/upgrading has been completely removed. The magic system also got slightly simplified: now, when a spell is learnt, it is complete and at its full potential, no need to level it up. Seiken Densetsu 3 introduced an interesting addition to the character evolution system: class changing. After a character reaches level 18, it can change to a more advanced form (class), which means new spells, abilities and of course quite a bit of improvement to the character's stats. Class change needs a mana stone to be performed. When touching the stone, the player is asked to choose the type of the new class - either "light" or "dark". There is also a second class change at level 38, but this one requires additional items to "unseal" the incredible powers aquired by it. Like most Dragon Quest games and SimCity 4, Seiken Densetsu 3 has a day-and-night feature. The Seiken Densetsu 3 soundtrack (composed by Hiroki Kikuta) features catchy rhythms, and lots of strings, and xylophones.
Seiken Densetsu 3 puts the player in the shoes of Duran, Lise, Kevin, Carlie, Hawk, and Angela. The player gets to choose a party of only three playable characters. Seiken Densetsu 3 gets the storyline making done on the basis of the player's selection of characters. Duran, the son of Loki, is the swordsman of the Kingdom of Forcena. His father died trying to defeat that powerful dragon and his mother died of an illness. Duran was raised by her aunt Stella. He has a younger sister named Wendy. Lise is from the Wind Kingdom of Rolante, the kingdom that Duran saved after an attack by the soldiers of Navarre, Hawk's country. Angela is a runaway princess of Altena, the Kingdom of Magic. Carlie is the granddaughter of the priest of the Holy City Wendel, which got attacked by Kevin's homeland, the Beast Kingdom. The six characters define 3 major plots, which all share the basic situation: the Mana Tree is dieing and the forces of evil are awakening throughout the world.Brief release history
Notes
Seiken Densetsu
Seiken Densetsu 2
Seiken Densetsu 3