Secret of Evermore
| Secret of Evermore | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Studio | Square USA |
| Publisher | SquareSoft |
| Senior Developer | Alan Weiss George Sinfield |
| composer | Jeremy Soule |
| Erstveröffent- lichung |
 October 01, 1995 February 22, 1996 |
| platform | SNES |
| Game engine | SAGE (Square's Amazing Graphical Editor) SIGIL (Square Interpreted Game Intelligence Language) |
| genre | Action RPG |
| Game mode | Single player |
| control | SNES controller |
| medium | 24-megabit SNES module |
| language | German |
Secret of Evermore is a role-playing game for Super Nintendo , which was published on October 1, 1995 in North America and on February 22, 1996 in Europe by Square (now Square Enix ). It was the first and last game developed by the company in North America and was designed to appeal specifically to Western players. The game is intended for 1 player and is reminiscent of Secret of Mana due to its type of game, the characteristic ring menu and its real-time-based combat system, but has its own style and story that is less comparable to the fantasy genre of Secret of Mana . Secret of Evermore is unique in that it is the only game developed by square designers in North America. The game was never released in Japan.
action
The story begins in 1965 in Großostheim (Nintendo headquarters in Germany at the time the game was published; Podunk in the English version ). Then as now, there is a secret laboratory in a large garden. The laboratory was built by Professor Igor Strange. Prof. Igor Seltsam developed a machine that should make it possible to open a gate into a self-created world (Evermore). But when the machine was about to be demonstrated, there was an accident that carried the professor and his three friends (Zora Zottelzopf, Hektor Lektor and Gunilla von Fettamsel) from Großostheim to Evermore. The laboratory remained undiscovered and neglected until 1995. The first to reenter the lab since the incident is a teenage boy looking for his dog. By chance he discovers the machine and is teleported to Evermore with his dog. As he searches for a way back into the real world, it becomes clear that an unknown person pulls the strings of sinister machinations in Evermore. In the course of their journey, the boy and his dog go through all historical epochs such as B. the Prehistoria, Antiqua, Gothica and a futuristic space station, meet in each of them a resident from Großostheim and their malicious doppelganger and face powerful opponents.
development
In early 1994, development of Secret of Evermore began at SquareSoft, Redmond, Washington and in the office of the Japanese parent company Square. The concept of a boy traveling with his dog through a world based on cheesy B-movies was dictated from overseas. Square Soft started working on the detailed plot. This led to popular culture references and dialogues that are clearly American for a mainstream console RPG. The game's associate producer and writer George Sinfield decided they would be familiar to American gamers. Many elements of Secret of Evermore were copied from Secret of Mana because they were found to be effective.
Original concept
The working title of the game was called Vex and the Mezmers. The original concept by producer Alan Weiss had a group of magical users who "could tell dream stories and virtually put the audience into the experience". During a storytelling session, Vex is trapped and begins to spoil dreams. The game consisted of the player finding Vex and defeating him. Sinfield asked to change his name. The studio had a naming contest that led to Secret of Evermore; Composer Jeremy Soule claims to have been the team member who submitted the name "Evermore". Daniel Dociu designed the various concept drawings for this.
Single player game
The size of the game was an early issue. Secret of Evermore was made a single player game to save storage space as the game was originally planned as a 12 megabit game title but ended up being a 24 megabit game. It was an attempt to reduce the complexity.
“We were a whole new team, many of us new to the industry, and it seemed advisable to eliminate risk. It is like a minefield when two or more players can independently control characters on a large, scrollable map. Early on in Secret of Mana we had seen some cases where we had managed to wedge our characters so that we had to reload the last save. We were concerned about that. If an experienced and smart team in Japan hadn't got it right, it looked bad for us. In retrospect, I really wish we'd pulled ourselves together and ironed out the shortcomings. I think that was a real failure on our part. ... Regardless, we've actually rewritten absolutely everything from scratch, both on the tool side and on the game side. "
programming
Using computer software, including the SGI Indy II and Alias workstations, the game's graphics and design were created by three animators, four background artists, and a 3D rendering artist. It was put together using the company's SAGE (Square's Amazing Graphical Editor) program under the direction of programmer Brian Fehdrau. SAGE was a custom Mac application that allowed you to edit all of the game's graphic components, including tiles, maps, characters, animations, effects, and so on. Instead of handing their work over to the programmers, the artists and designers could come up with their ideas right away test the SAGE program. A lot of time was spent compressing data as the game was 50-70 Mbit uncompressed. Using another company program, SIGIL (Square Interpreted Game Intelligence Language), the final product was made.
music
Jeremy Soule composed and produced the score for Secret of Evermore at the age of 19. In high school, Soule was a huge fan of video games but found most of her scores "lacking drama and intensity". After graduating from high school, Soule created an experimental demo that showed what he thought video game results should sound like. Soule was hired by Square Soft and produced the music. Soule describes it as a mixture of ambient noise and reserved music. The soundtrack was released on a CD with 29 tracks, the first eight of which are arranged. The CD was released by Square Soft and was initially only available to those who had pre-ordered Secret of Evermore.
publication
There is an ongoing misconception that the game is a sequel to Secret of Mana, or was released instead. Other Square titles like Final Fantasy VI and Chrono Trigger were localized concurrently with the production of Secret of Evermore. Brian Fehdrau stated in an interview that Secret of Evermore was not created instead of Trials of Mana and that the team that developed Secret of Evermore would have been made up of newly hired employees and would otherwise never have been put together. Some of the team members later joined Humongous Entertainment. This gave rise to Cavedog Entertainment, while the rest of the team expanded to other game studios in the Seattle area such as Electronic Arts, Boss Game Studios, Microsoft Game Studios, and Gas Powered Games. Secret of Evermore was released in North America on October 1, 1995. In 1996 it was translated into German, French and Spanish for the non-English speaking market in some PAL territories, including Australia and New Zealand. Some PAL versions were packed in a large box and included a strategy guide.
Characters
Player Characters (SC)
The player can control both the boy and the dog. In each case one behaves actively, the other passive. The active figure is completely controlled by the player, the passive one is computer-controlled . However, certain actions of the passive figure can be influenced (e.g. targeting). Decisions such as cast spells and protective armor are always made by the player. The controlled figure can be changed at any time with the SELECT button.
- The hero - As the protagonist of the game, he has a more sophisticated armor system (torso, arm, head), is capable of alchemy (the spells in Secret of Evermore ) and can use healing items. In the course of the game he also collects a wide range of different weapons (swords, axes and spears). The strength and texture increase with the different epochs.
- The dog - its appearance varies between different eras. Only collars are available to the dog as "armor", but these can be compared with the strength of the armor of the boy. In addition, by pressing one of the two shoulder buttons, the dog can sniff for objects and ingredients for alchemical formulas. The dog uses his teeth and claws as weapons (in the last epoch, however, laser bullets). The appearance changes in the game as follows:
Non-Player Characters (NPC)
On his journey through Evermore, the player meets the various residents of Großostheim. In the 30 years they have settled in Evermore and offer their help to the player, be it with rare magic pearls, which allow the player to cast additional spells, or by handing over alchemical formulas. Each of them has an evil twin who keeps trying to hinder the player.
- Zora Zottelzopf (Fire Eye) ( Elizabeth ) - The granddaughter of Professor Igor Strange. A little girl with red hair who was appointed chief of a jungle village. It can be found in the first epoch "Prehistoria".
- Hektor Lektor ( Horace Highwater ) - A historian who is represented in the second epoch "Antika".
- Gunilla von Fettamsel ( Camellia Bluegarden ) - Queen of a castle of the third epoch "Gotika", who was Evermore librarian before the trip to the world.
- Professor Igor Strange ( Professor Sidney Ruffleberg ) - The owner of the secret laboratory in Großostheim and creator of Evermore. He lives in the fourth and last epoch “Assitopia”, where he delves into his studies and work.
- Edgar ( Carltron ) - Originally intended as Professor Strange's android assistant, Edgar developed a will of his own and brought the evil influences to Evermore. Since you have to face "Edgar's robot" as the last opponent of the game, you can call him the antagonist . You can also find him in “Assitopia”.
Epochs
As the game progresses, the player travels through the various eras of Evermore, which seem like a time-lapse journey through the eras of the real world. However, they are only geographically separated from each other, there are no time travel or jumps. Later in the game, you can revisit each era as soon as you get possession of an aircraft. Each epoch has its own currency that can be exchanged between epochs.
- Prehistoria ( Prehistoria ) - This epoch consists mainly of dense jungle and a corresponding flora and fauna . Here the player meets "Fire Eye" in their jungle village. To the north there is a mammoth cemetery and a volcano, to the east of it a swamp and to the south-east of the village a "beetle steppe". The inhabitants live in the Stone Age and the weapons and armor also seem rather primitive. Opponents include mosquitoes , vine plants, larvae and dinosaurs. Pay with claws.
- Antika ( Antiqua ) - This epoch represents the early Bronze Age . Separated by a huge desert, there is the pirate town "Krotzkrübel" ( Crustacia ) in the south and the ancient Roman town "Allelachema" ( Nobilia ) in the north , in which the player plays on a large Market with barter goods can acquire rare, helpful items. To the west of Krotzkrübel there is Hektor Lektor's camp, the ancient Temple of Colossia and a pyramid in which one of two diamond eyes can be found. Weapons and armaments are now mainly made of bronze . Opponents include satyrs , poisonous spiders, jumping sarcophagi and humanoids with animal heads. The payment is made in jewels.
- Gotika ( Gothica ) - The third epoch with the Gothic architectural style is very similar to the known Middle Ages. Here two large cities and their castles are separated by a huge chessboard, "Chaosturm" ( Ivor Tower ) and "Terrorfels" ( Ebon Keep ). In Chaosturm you make the acquaintance of Gunilla von Fettamsel's evil twin. Chaosturm also houses a barter market, but this is a lot smaller. Terror rock is abandoned and decayed by the influence of the evil twin and is only inhabited by Gunilla von Fettamsel and the hobbyist “Professor Gallenstein”. Here the player finds the bazooka that he lost at the beginning of the game in Prehistoria. Behind Terrorfels Castle is the tower of Gallenstein's brother "Kidney Rock". To get from Chaosturm to Terrorfels, the player must also cross a dark, maze-like forest. Opponents include aggressive hedgehogs, jumping slime, flying skulls and dragons . The payment is made with gold coins.
- Assitopia ( Omnitopia ) - At the beginning of the game, the player arrives in Evermore in this era, but is cleared out of the way by Edgar for the time being. The last epoch, in which it comes to the final battle, is set in a highly technical space colony. Here the player has to find his way through a maze of tunnel systems and underground utility rooms. Here you meet Professor Seltsam and work on the plans to return to Großostheim. Weapons and armor are now very futuristic and very strong, and you can buy ammunition for the bazooka here. Opponents include robots, mutants, machines and captured creatures from other eras. Payment is made with credit cards.
Game system
Character development
Both characters collect by defeating enemies experience , which is divided between them. If enough experience has been gained, a character goes up a level . With an increase in level, the maximum hit points, attack, defense and magical resistance as well as percentage evasion and hit chances increase. The status can be viewed at any time in the ring menu under "Being".
weapons
Based on Secret of Mana , the handling of the weapons carried can also be improved. Defeating opponents slowly increases your weapon talent. If enough opponents have been defeated, the weapon rises one level and can be charged for more powerful attacks by pressing and holding the attack button. Unlike in Secret of Mana , bosses leave behind no "orbs" to convert weapons for the next weapon level. Instead, there are three weapons of each type (sword, ax, spear) in ever stronger variants in each epoch, which in turn have to be upgraded in terms of handling. The maximum level was set at 3. The only exception is the bazooka . It cannot be upgraded and uses different types of projectiles of different strengths.
Struggles
Battles take place in real time. Players as well as opponents can move freely on the field and carry out an attack at any time. After an attack you have to wait until the character has collected 100% again in order to be able to strike again with all your might. At the bottom of the screen you can read the characters' hit points for constant control. Although in Secret of Mana the game was only considered lost when all playable characters were defeated, Secret of Evermore ends as soon as the boy runs out of hit points. A beep warns of impending death. If the boy dies, you have to start again from the last save point, everything after the last save is then lost. The dog, on the other hand, can be revived as often as desired with dog biscuits or alchemy. For healing, one can fall back on objects, alchemy or overnight accommodation in cities. By defeating opponents you also get money according to the currency of the era you are in.
Alchemy
In addition to weapons, the boy can also use alchemy , either to attack, to heal or to temporarily strengthen certain attributes. To be able to work alchemy, you need two ingredients in certain quantities. 99 pieces of each ingredient can be carried. Ingredients can be obtained in different ways, either by sniffing them with the dog, in containers or from dealers. Alchemy replaces the spells from Secret of Mana in Secret of Evermore . In order for certain spells to become available, the corresponding formula must first be found and “equipped”. You can only carry a limited number of formulas with you. Certain NPCs allow this selection, often in combination with saving the game status and selling ingredients.
Barter goods & rare items
Barter goods can be found for the first time in Antika. These are the barter goods at the markets of Allelachema and Chaosturm (later Terrorfels), in order to receive not only rice and spices but also more valuable barter goods such as silk, pearls, jeweled scarabs or even rare items. Rare items can also be found outside of exchange markets and have a permanent, passive effect that gives the player advantages as long as they are in his possession.
reception
Secret of Evermore received positive reviews from the well-known media of the time.
- Nintendo Power praised the game for its graphics, sound, game controls, story and variety, but criticized it for its cumbersome combat system and simple AI. Above all, the quality of the musical compositions and sound effects was praised.
- Electric Playground (Victor Lucas) praised the game, saying that while it wasn't as high as Chrono Trigger or Final Fantasy VI, it was a very enjoyable experience.
- Gamefan praised the game. Two were skeptical that an American-made RPG wouldmatchSquare's internally-produced titles like Final Fantasy , but they were impressed with the game. However, one reviewer noted that he missed the Japanese-style art found in other square games, and while the art in Secret of Evermore was good, it was aimed at an American audience.
- Mega Fun argued it was comparable to these games, with graphics almost as good. Others argued that Secret of Evermore was a decent first attempt by the American team.
Web links
- Secret of Evermore at MobyGames (English)
- RPG Oase - RPG fan site with solutions, tables and databases
Individual evidence
- ^ Corbie Dillard: Interview with Brian Fehdrau - Secret of Evermore. http://www.nintendolife.com/ , April 2, 2009, accessed May 11, 2020 .