Secrets Of Secret Of Evermore Revealed... Evermore
Secret of Evermore is a fascinating little gem from the 16-bit era. Long-time fans of SquareEnix will remember that the time traveling RPG was the only game ever to be released by Square USA back in 1995. Considering the output of the company at the time, the title may appear to blend into the rest of Square's games on the surface, but it featured concepts that the RPG giant wouldn't attempt in their larger series for years to come. Offering a small glimpse into the development process of one of Square's quirkier releases, Corbie Dillard of Super-NES.com recently caught up with Brian Fehdrau, the lead programmer on the title, and shows us just how much (and how little) game development has changed over the years. One interesting piece info to surface from the interview is a possible explanation of why English speaking gamers never got a chance to officially play Seiken Densetsu 3 (aka Secret of Mana 2)...
CD: Secret of Evermore has often gotten the incorrect distinction of being the game that US gamers received instead of Seiken Densetsu 3, which would have been the true sequel to our Secret of Mana. Why do you think that is and what do you have to say to those who believe this?BF: Well, you can't really blame people for thinking that. It was a reasonable guess, it just happened to be incorrect. I was also disappointed when Seiken Densetsu 3 didn't get the US nod, but I had a chance to play the Japanese version, so I know it had some bugs. People who have played Seiken Densetsu 3 via emulation might know what I'm talking about. At the time, Nintendo was extremely strict about its zero-bug policy, and even with Square's history with Nintendo, I think they might have had a difficult time getting it through certification. They also might have had trouble getting the American consumer to accept its flaws without returning it to the store, which was much more common then. Of course, then we went and shipped Evermore with some bugs, so who I am to talk?
Zero bugs! Can you imagine if developers had to adhere to that type of scrutiny today? Granted times are different now and release day patches are quite common on the PC, PS3, and 360, but I can't help but think about how a stricter enforcement of system guidelines would dramatically change today's process for better and worse. To uncover more secrets of Evermore head on over to the interview.
[Interview with Brian Fehdrau (Secret of Evermore)] Super-NES.com
Game-Boy
Posted to Video Games on 19 January 2009
· Comments (2)
Other stuff like this: back in my day, interview, secret of evermore, secret of mana, seiken densetsu 3, snes
Secret of Evermore was one of my favorite games for SNES. I've played it through at least 5 full times. I was an expert at doing the bazaar portion of the game and getting a lot of good loot.
I find the snippet about the zero bug policy strange, since Secret of Evermore did have a few bugs. Is this game on Virtual Console yet?
After reading the interview I couldn't help but feel for the guy saying that he was ashamed of the game for a long time. I absolutely loved this game. It was both bright and dark. Lighthearted, funny, and never seemed to take itself too seriously while still remaining thoroughly engaging. I think the last point is what really differentiated it from alot of the japanese RPGs at the time.
I still love this game. Finding all the alchemy spells and relics through the bazaars were still some of my favorite mechanics. Also the magical shapechanging dog as your trusty companion? It was a suberb idea that I still love. If I had this guy's address I'd write him a pseudo love letter and stick in a $20.