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Overview
Secret of Evermore was the first game completely produced by Squaresoft's US branch, Square USA. Unfortunately, its "Secret of ___" name and its general play style got many expecting US gamers hoping for another Secret of Mana game. Secret of Evermore turned out to be very different. Its alchemy magic system, pre-rendered graphics, and free-roaming game style were a far cry from the very stylized and driven Mana games. However, change is not always bad. Secret of Evermore provides an imaginitive and varied world, a well-executed magic system, and an eclectic sense of humor throughout. Taking a boy and his dog through an alternate history may not be the realm of high fantasy, but Secret of Evermore delivers its own experience when it counts.
Story
In climactic fashion, Professor Sidney Ruffleberg had invited all of his closest friends to a party celebrating the completion of his greatest invention. With the hour upon them, the professor stepped up to the machine for the activation sequence. A twist of a knob here, and a flip of a lever there, and lights began to flicker to life and fans started to whir. Triumph flashed across the wrinkled face of the professor as he watched the culmination of decades of work run through checks and charge power cells. Suddenly, without warning, a violent explosion rocked the machine, and all those present disappeared.
Fast-forward to the mid-90s, when a certain boy and his dog had just finished another B-movie at the local movie theater. The walk home is going smoothly, until the dog chases a neighborhood cat into the town's abandoned mansion. The boy chases after his friend and finds himself in a strange room with a massive device in the center. While he is wondering what its purpose is, the dog comes along and starts chewing on the wires. Lights blaze to life and the machine drags both the boy and his dog into an alternate dimension called Evermore.
Gameplay
Secret of Evermore revolves around combat and exploration, and to that end there are many systems in place to help. First and foremost is the ring menu. Unlike other games, which bring up a screen-covering menu at the touch of a button, Secret of Evermore has all of the menu icons form in a ring around the character that called it, which is one of the few things that Secret of Evermore and Secret of Mana fully share. From this menu, the characters change equipment, use items, cast spells, and target enemies, among other things. This allows the player to remain aware of the action while navigating menus.
Combat
As far as battle goes, there are two important elements of combat, weapons and alchemy. Of the two, weapons will be used more often, and alchemy will get more attention. There are three types of weapons in Secret of Evermore: Swords, Axes, and Spears. Swords swing quickly, and execute a triple strike when charged. Axes have the longest normal range, and execute a powerful double strike that can break some barriers when charged. Spears have the shortest normal range, but can be thrown when charged. The leveling system for weapons is time-based. After so much time actually using the weapon in question, it will go up a level, and that level of charged attach will become available. Each weapon has three levels of charge, and while the first charge level automatically regenerates, the other two have to be actively charged by holding down the weapon button. These attacks are very powerful, and will be used very frequently later in the game.
Alchemy
Alchemy is the spellcasting system in Secret of Evermore. The basic premise is that you learn formulas, put the specified ingredients together, and... boom! There is no turning metal into gold, but there are enough explosions, acid rainclouds, resurrections, and giant clay hands of death that it balances out. The ingredients for alchemy can be acquired in two ways. The easiest way is usually buying them. This allows for ingredients to be bought in bulk at a constant location. The alternative is to collect ingredients wherever you go. Depending on where you are in Evermore, the ingredients you want could be miles away, or all around you. Finding ingredients doesn't cost anything, but if a certain area is exhausted of resources, then it will not be replenished for a while. Luckily, these two methods are not mutually exclusive, so ingredients found laying around can be supplemented with those bought in a store. Like weapons, alchemical formulas can be levelled up, but they go all the way to level 10. Even though they generally start out weak, their power greatly increases as they gain levels until they are an extremely powerful part of your arsenal.
