A boy and his dog stumble into an abandoned mansion’s experiment chamber and wake in Evermore, an imagined world split into Prehistoria, Antiquia, Gothica and Omnitopia, each ruled by figures who turn out to be trapped guests from the same experiment. Secret of Evermore is a Western-developed SNES Action, RPG wearing Square’s coat, and its B-movie identity is deliberate: a protagonist who quotes fictional films, era-specific currencies (Talons, Jewels, Gold Coins, Credits) with exchange NPCs, and a shapeshifting dog whose form changes per era. The episodic rescue structure hides an evil twin scheming in every era, with a robot butler behind it all. The unreliable narrator’s closing line reframes the whole adventure in classic B-movie fashion. Pop-culture surprises (a playable market barter economy, a pig race, an out-of-nowhere Cecil cameo selling Final Fantasy IV gear) keep the charm topped up.
The ingredient-based Alchemy system is the favourite part of the whole game and genuinely original: instead of magic points, spells consume purchasable ingredients (wax, oil, water, limestone), and once spells are levelled the system becomes a real power fantasy that curbstomps the final third of the game. Not being limited by magic points, only by ingredients that can always be replenished, changes the entire rhythm of engagement. Weapons level by killing blow and spells by use, rewarding commitment to a chosen kit. A faster-magic modification (disclosed) cut the grind the vanilla economy would otherwise demand. The system is very unique, and it carries the whole package.
The four-world structure with era-specific currencies, gear tiers and returning characters keeps the roughly fifteen-hour journey fresh, and the finale loops back through previous regions in a satisfying Four-Corners shape. The market barter chains in Nobilia and Ivor Tower are tedious but rewarding, trading goods in sequence for the real prize. Bosses’ health pools barely scale until the very end, making mid-game fights rush past once Alchemy levels. The final stretch turns the dog into a powerhouse (toaster armour, one-shotting rooms) and hands out effectively unlimited bazooka ammo for the last boss. The escalation is generous to a fault.
The Secret of Mana combat percentage system draws repeated fire: waiting for the attack bar, frequent misses even at point-blank, and awkward hitboxes make melee feel worse the longer the game runs, with the miss-feeling compared unfavourably to RuneScape. Leaning on Alchemy to bypass melee entirely is the pragmatic response, and the magic really is quite overpowered, which is probably why levelling it was made such a grind. The very first boss, Thraxx, is disproportionately punishing for a blind run: roughly 700 HP, an area-of-effect acid rain that wipes the dog, and a summons cycle that forces an early detour into farming. Tiny’s teleporter boss feels obtuse on first encounter, cycling random teleports for ten-plus minutes before the same-pad realisation. The combat feel is the game’s oldest wound.
Alchemy ingredient costs and availability gate the fun: spells are expensive to feed, environments drop only trace amounts, and vendors are scattered across eras, with most ingredients only obtainable by purchase in fixed lots of five. A one-at-a-time quest item (mud pepper) epitomises the tedium. The Ebon Keep dungeon’s known soft-lock bug (the boy-cell puzzle) traps the unwary twice, with the only escape a save-state restart and the fix (opening cells in a specific order) undiscoverable in-game. Labyrinthine dungeons plus the old screen-scroll camera produce regular disorientation, from dark tunnels to a lost-woods forest to the Hall of Collosia. Limited visibility and backtrack-heavy layouts are the design’s dated core.
The B-movie framing (a 1965 experiment, a boy and his shapeshifting dog, an unreliable narrator) gives the whole adventure an identity distinctly not-Square, and the villain reveal lands as tragedy disguised as Saturday-matinee plotting. The grandfather twist is the kind of joke only this game would make. Era-hopping progression and the alchemy economy reward players who enjoy systems over spectacle. For a cult classic, the ambition holds up better than the dungeon design. All things considered, it is a really good game.
Overall, a flawed but deeply charming SNES Action, RPG whose ingredient-based Alchemy system remains genuinely original, becoming a power fantasy that elevates the whole journey above its percentage-combat frustrations, ingredient scarcity and Ebon Keep soft-lock. The four-era structure and B-movie identity keep the roughly fifteen hours fresh, and the charm outlasts the dated dungeon design.
