55%Super Nintendo

The first hour is delightful, then you realize it's nothing more than a Secret of Mana rip-off, with a touch of Mother and with a strange sound-design instead of the epic music. I have mixed feeling about this. In a way, it's possibly a better sequel than most Secret of Mana official sequels. But it's also a very uneven game on every aspect, depending on the areas. Difficulty is weird. Story can be cool then boring then cool again, etc.

60%Emulated

The only Square game designed in north america, Secret of Evermore proved to be more than just a western Mana epigone. Regional differences are visible in its writing & main characters, while gameplay/system ones such as alchemy - which simply adds crafting materials to leveled spells (mainly for RPG utilities but also for mild Zelda-like progression), offer partial but more intriguing twists on the source. Its combat follows a similar approach; top-down brawling modeled after Secret of Mana (ring menu, stamina, charge attacks, battler-swapping, etc.) but without the ability to vortex and push foes around (as knockdowns last for a fraction of what they used to), focused instead on evasive movement, brief stuns and follow-up attacks from a companion. In a sense, it's closer in concept to the original Seiken Densetsu than to its follow-ups, although updated with the speed of SD2 and the flow of SD3. If its production pales when compared to mainline Manas, Evermore managed to surpass them in other areas, from enemies (trickier and more diverse in design) to sprinting (that controls more freely than SD2's pegasus boots-ian dash), from progression (quasi-levels that leave the world map for much later) to dungeons (lengthier and far more creative). Not everything works - though: Its weapons feel samey beyond their niche, bosses are as varied as they are annoying, and the second half disappoints, relying too heavily on mazes, hidden paths and backtracking to confuse the player.

70%Super Nintendo

Generally similar in gameplay to Secret of Mana, Evermore benefits from an opening sequence that is much less oppressively dull, and a breezy low-stakes story scenario uncommon among the grandiose RPGs that dominated the SNES. Its alchemy crafting system is also rather unique for a game of this era, though the game is overly grindy, somewhat prone to glitching out and has a bizarre front loaded difficulty curve.

80%Super Nintendo

This is such an underrated game. It is not as good as the Mana games on the SNES but still has a unique atmosphere. I have beaten it several times since the late 1990s.

Part of the fact for the games low score from some people is because of a common, incorrect misconception. I wrote this in my GameFAQs review and will say it here too:

It is viewed as a replacement for the Secret of Mana sequel, Seiken Densetsu 3. However, this is false and the North American public was getting Secret of Evermore regardless of what happened with Seiken Densetsu 3 (aka Secret of Mana 2). It was not a "this or that" situation. This is according to an interview in Nintendo Life with the lead programmer of Secret of Evermore, where he states that the teams working on both games were 100% separate from each other so it was not an issue of resources. The US did not get Secret of Mana 2 because of programming bugs that were too expensive to rectify in time, according to a Next Generation Magazine interview in February 1996 and backed up by another article in Retro Gamer in the same month and by the times the issues were fixed, PlayStation, etc would have been well into their lifespan. With this knowledge, hopefully, people can judge this game on its own merits, rather than as an "inferior" replacement.

80%Super Nintendo

I would have to put simply that I truly think this was a better game than Secret of Mana, which is probably going against what most people think. What made it better for myself would be a combination of a shorter and less grindy overall story, the great variety of music, and style of characters. The combat was pretty much exactly the same, along with the menu wheel, but obviously Secret of Evermore had it's small flaws. The ending world kind of felt abrupt, and probably could have been fleshed out a little more like the other 3, but that's just a small gripe. The weapon leveling system is still pretty much the same, with a little extra grind to get the later weapons a higher level, but what I really enjoyed was the "Alchemy" system, which albeit requiring you to back track and find ingredients, was a great alternative to the mana based spell casting systems where you would have to use alchemic formulas and ingredients to cast spells instead of MP. Overall a great game with the perfect length so that nothing goes stale, fun mechanics, amazing soundtrack, and a pretty decent story with some decently funny comedy.

90%Super Nintendo

Story 8/10
Level Design 9/10
Characters 7/10
Gameplay 9/10
Graphics 9/10
Music/Sound 9/10

Difficulty MEDIUM

Overall 9/10

90%Super Nintendo

Back in the day shunned for being "too similar" to Secret of Mana, without living up to the grandness of the adventure, in retrospect this might actually be the better game.

It's very different in some core aspects, most notably it doesn't take itself seriously at all - the humour is very different and still manages to make me laugh today. The setting is also darker and more realistic. What it lacks in epic scale it makes up for in freshness and hilarious absurdity. For good measure, you get to play as a laser-beam shooting toaster dog - what's not to like?

Yes, multiplayer support is missing and parts of the game were apparently rushed out of the door. But the overall experience is still very enjoyable, although some flaws shine through.

80%Super Nintendo

To truly appreciate this one, it's almost necessary to know where it came from. A crack team of brand new developers working for Square USA were assembled to make a game 'like Secret of Mana' with an 'American feel.' Some would argue that summarizes the game right there, but what's interesting is that Secret of Evermore is a true labor of love with an original concept, great style, and an attempt at breaking new ground in the genre of RPGs.

Secret of Evermore does more to be an original work than most indie games today. It has its own spellcasting system, emphasizes the simple boy and his dog party (by making the dog AI-only: Whiners, shut up), and allows the player to fully explore the dream world of Evermore. Large parts of the game seem incomplete or rushed, and there are lots of bugs, but to me that only adds to the incredible sense of self-identity Secret of Evermore has. It's proof that a unique game can be made within the confines of any genre, even under the stipulation that it copies another game.

It's also somewhat more playable than the broken mess that is Secret of Mana, despite introducing tons of new glitches. Go figure there.

Note: There is a balance patch that was created to fix various problems in this game. I recommend playing with it should you choose to emulate, as it makes the game more fun in my experience.

70%Super Nintendo

An interesting spin of the usual RPG tropes and pushes itself to stand out with it's storyline (which is unfortunately overwashed by Chrono Trigger at the time).