| Introduction:
Evermore, an experiment that would change the lives of
a select few. Evermore, a world of unknown beauty and
unspeakable horrors. Evermore, the non-existent front
for a war between good and evil. You assume the role
of a boy and his misguided dog who unwittingly stumble
upon a secret that has been kept secret for decades.
Secret of Evermore was one of the few RPG's made
primarily by and for North Americans. It combines
ideas from past Squaresoft games with brand new forms
of adventuring, to create an entertaining story and
line of play. Secret of Evermore is a 1 or 2-Player
Action/RPG. Its rated 'K-A' for mild animated
violence.
Graphics [9/10]:
Like most Squaresoft games, Secret of Evermore is
brilliantly animated and contains little to no
glitches in it's graphics. The character (and enemy)
sprites are fairly detailed and vibrantly colored. A
few of the backgrounds in the game have excellent
effects and an almost realistic look to them. And the
alchemy formulas look pretty amazing when used as an
attack or a curative. The only major quarrel I have
with the graphics is when either of the characters
climb up stairs. The frames skip and the screen moves
slightly, giving it a less polished look. On the good
side though, there is hardly ever any slowdown, only
when about eight enemies are on the screen does the
game even hint at a slowdown.
Music and Sound [9/10]:
The music in Secret of Evermore was perfect, if this
wasn't a Squaresoft game. When I hear of a game done
by the company, I immediately hold it to a higher
standard. The music in SoM (Secret of Evermore) was
superb, but I believe square could have done a little
bit more with it. But please don't get me wrong, the
music is great. It's just not as good as some of the
other Squaresoft games.
As I said for the music I will say for the sound, it's
excellent but could have used a tad bit more to
receive a near perfect score. Although I must say I
was impressed with the realism of some of the sound
effects. You could hear the dog sniffing on top of the
buzzing fly overhead, meanwhile a beast growls at you
from afar, and for a moment you feel as though you are
in the same scenario as the character on the screen.
The sound effects were very well done.
Game Play [10/10]:
Secret of Evermore is one of those rare games that the
critics hate, but the real players will love. It
combines the motion of an action game with the story
of an RPG, then throws in brand new elements that have
hardly been used in a game, and it creates one
gigantic games that has you wanting to come back.
Basically, your characters move around the screen,
talking to people, buying items and attacking
monsters. You can equip yourself with armor and items
to help you in your journey. Also you can add alchemy,
an ancient form of chemistry, to your massive arsenal.
The alchemy system is unlike the magic system used in
most RPG games. In this alchemy system, the character
much first learn, then find ingredients for a recipe
to use it. Overall I found this system to be quite fun
and very addictive.
Challenge and Replay [8/10]:
This game had it's rough parts, but the game was
fairly easy to pass. By no means am I saying this game
is easy, it's just not extremely difficult (like FF3).
It's a good game for most players weather they be
experienced or not.
I can say that for sure, I will be going back to play
this game several times a year. (I already played
through it twice.) It's such a fun an ingenious game,
it's tough to ignore it. The only turn off to most
gamers is the fact that you play a kid. But it really
is not big deal.
Conclusion/Overall [9/10]:
While Secret of Evermore isn't the greatest game that
Squaresoft has put out, it was an America only title
which gave it a better edge because there was no
misinterpretations when the game was translated. The
graphics are crisp and clean, as are the melodic
sounds of the soundtrack. The innovative Alchemy
system is one of many reasons to give this game at
least a try. And though the challenge isn't that
great, the replay value keeps you coming back. I
suggest that any RPG and Squaresoft fan try this gem
of a game out.
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