The Secret of Mana Iceberg Explained

What started out as a side story for the final fantasy series, evolved into a franchise that was capable of rivaling the greats. Some even argue that this franchise has grown to be square's best RPG series to date. Let's examine the West's first official look at the mana series.
This is the secret of mana iceberg.
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I use this Text to Speech Program to Narrate using my own voice:
www.descript.com?lmref=b4h-LQ
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Sources:
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Background Boss Footage:
• Secret of Mana (PS4 Re...
Intro Video:
• Secret of Mana - A 2D ...
Parody Cannon Fail:
• Secret of Mana Parody ...
Hard Mod:
www.nexusmods.com/secretofman...
Glitches video:
• Secret of Mana - Weird...
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Music:
Secret of Mana: Resonance of the Pure Land, An OC ReMix Album (Trailer):
• Secret of Mana: Resona...
Ｓｅｃｒｅｔ　ｏｆ　ＭａｎａＷａｖｅ ¦ 聖剣伝説 (A LoFi Hip-Hop/Vaporwave Remix Of Secret of Mana):
• Ｓｅｃｒｅｔ　ｏｆ　ＭａｎａＷａｖｅ ¦ 聖...
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#SecretOfMana #SeikenDensetsu #JRPG

[@Maker1]

Support the channel and purchase the fan translated Secret of Mana 2: amzn.to/3prdC9r

[@NewRetroGame]

Here are a little special fact: The translator of the german-version claude moyse, wrote many eastereggs and references in the game. The Goblins which want to cook randi want to see "Lindenstraße", a german TV-show. In every town there is one npc, which ask, if you have a mark. Mark was the german currency before the euro. And there are some more Eastereggs in the game. Do you know eastereggs and references in other Versions of the game?

[@kenmorrow86]

You should have also mentioned that Seiken Densetsu 3 was officially translated for the Collection of Mana. And it's called Trials of Mana.

[@glarryg2318]

Regarding Primm's arranged marriage: it is possible to find the brat fiance in the SNES version. You have to poke around in Pandora castle early in the game (I think you're expected to go to the Water Palace at the time and passage into/through Pandora isn't even mentioned); you'll run into Primm leaving a room where she and her father had been talking to the fiance. He's a palette-swap of Elliot from Potos, and it's the only time he appears in the game. He never shows up anywhere after that.

[@blooDeeJay]

Small difference: You can meet the brat, when not talking to Dyluck or the soldiers, heading to the water palace, not getting captured by the goblins and then going to Pandora castle. Before going to the Water Palace, they will not let you enter Pandora.

[@glarryg2318]

@@blooDeeJay That's right; I remember now. It's one of the ways you can meet Primm other than the goblin rescue.

[@secretofmana-ananimatedtri3820]

Hey, thanks for featuring my animation clip! Always glad to see other people giving love to that fantastic game :D

[@secretofmana-ananimatedtri3820]

@20NintendoFan01 this game is truly a gem. People experiencing it today might find it way too basic and unimpressive even compared to other RPG of that era (FF6, Chrono Trigger...), but for me this game as something undescribable that other games don't have. It's just pure fun to play.

[@AmethystSpeaks]

The "unintended paths" is actually intentional, but was left over from unreleased content. The SNES port was initially to be a Nintendo PlayStation game, and they had to cut down areas, animations, stories, and sprites. The cut content, including multiple endings with time travel, was later repurposed as Chrono Trigger. PS: the scrolling error in the lofty mountains is also from removed content. When you leave Sage Joch's, the background scroll is changed, because the mountains were meant to be taller.

[@elliscook9794]

Btw, concerning the girl's magic, you can power level her up at the Wind Palace. As long as your weapon is out you get max xp, and you are next to the sprite elder to get back your MP for free.

[@osurpless]

I often forgot that, as while no-Magic run (aside from Cure) are my standard now, powering up Dryad to last more than a few seconds for both is ideal there.

[@eduardofernandes9881]

Water Palace also works

[@gwgux]

I really like the amount of depth you put into these videos. It really is like an iceberg where once you get past the surface, who knows how deep it goes. I loved this game in my childhood and have seen tons of articles/blogs/videos about it and you still managed tell me something I didn't know! XD

[@anon123214]

'I may be benevolent, but don't cross me.' Undine's roots aren't sinister, if you think about it. It actually adds to the character in general, and any other like it. The story suggests a benevolence about them, but as soon as you cross them, that side is cut off and you are met with an unfortunate fate. How is it sinister if it's rightfully earned?

[@Demokaze]

I see some things in early Square RPGs that lead me to believe they were inspired by the film Kin no Tori. Like the design of the robots in the Mana series look like they came straight out of that film, Emperor Mateus hairstyle in the old FF2 FMV and Ultimecia's hairstyle look like the witch's, too. Not to mention it's a story about a king who sends a hero with a sword on a quest. There is even a flying mount that helps the hero go places.

[@elliscook9794]

Well, characters of Secret of Mana and Crono Trigger were both drawn by Aikra Toriyama. Pity they couldn't use it in the remakes. :\

[@TheMichaelMidKnight]

So very appreciated to see this pop up in my feed. Thank you for taking the time to put this together.

[@Maker1]

My pleasure!

[@thepaper888]

I love how there's multiple mana game collections on switch now.

[@james441]

How?

[@RowdyBoy82]

@@james441 It's called Collection Of Mana in the Nintendo Switch store. It contains Final Fantasy Adventure from the Game Boy, Secret of Mana from the SNES, and Trials of Mana which was previously unreleased in the U.S. It costs around $30 USD and is totally worth the money.

[@james441]

@@RowdyBoy82 I have it, it’s just he said there was multiple collections

[@kylehanson7345]

The artwork depicting "Thanatos" is actually the Emperor from before the world turns dark and the fortress rises. Love the videos though. Subbed.

[@djbrotherson]

I would have loved to seen the original actual game that was meant to come out. They had enough cut content to make Chrono Trigger?! That's insane!

[@balzac308]

Totally missed out mentioning the cut armor piece, the ruby armlet. Mentioned in Nintendo Power and other publications it was never programmed into the game. Was meant to be found in the desert area.

[@EVERYWHERE_MAN]

Man all these nostalgia this channel is giving

[@lloydnorval1989]

This game was my first ever RPG. Without prior knowledge of this game, i may have never found the love for Final Fantasy VII that i originally did :)

[@Sencilia]

I love Secret of Mana. We didn't have an adapter, but my brother, dad and I would play together on 1 file. We'd swap between who got to play and we loved it. I hope they remake Sword of Mana.

[@elmoisred616]

From what I can tell sword of mana is a GBA remake of the original final fantasy adventure for game boy. Since then they have already remade final fantasy adventure and call it adventure of mana

[@Sencilia]

@@elmoisred616 Ohhhhh.

[@elliscook9794]

@Vegesther No, impirum crypt is right.

[@tiagoc9754]

Nice vid! Please cover SD3 and Legend of Mana as well!

[@brandonwilliams6119]

The Anime Intro looks so sick I never saw it until now! I’d love a Secret of Mana Anime, Where can I find it?

[@tiagoc9754]

The video I was waiting for!

[@studlytheknight]

I don't know whether this is still the case but at least in my snes version of secret of mana you can kill the mana beast without the mana sword or using the mana magic. One of the charges of one of the projectile weapons pierced the beast's armor and actually did some decent damage. (I did it years ago so I don't remember exactly which one it was... but I think it was javelin level 5 charge) If you use the magic shield every attack, have max faerie walnuts, and do the attack every possible turn you can kill it before you die yourself even at a fairly low level.

[@ezkiel0]

i can vouch for this, as the first time i beat the game (on a real console) my english was terrible and i didn't understood you had to use both magics at the same time and with the boy holding the sword, and still beat the game. i remember i always used the sword with the girl, and most the time the spear with the boy, and whatever higher damage ranged with the sprite.

[@me2632]

It was the spear. At least it was for me.

[@systemafunk]

No other weapon does any special amount of damage. However, if you power up a weapon enough and can critical hit, you can do some damage. There is actually a way you can lose a party member. Sometimes, if someone is turned into a snowman, they will "melt". Not literally, but when they recover from being a snowman, they will just disappear. This actually happened to me in one playthrough with the boy. It happened in the Mana Fortress (from the Tsunamis). I managed to beat the Mana Beast with the Girl, with the lvl 9 spear (Daedalus Lance). You need to use Moon Energy and Lunar Boost, and hit the Mana Beast with as high of a powered up hit as possible. It takes a lot longer, and it can be a pretty big drain on your resources. Obviously having fully powered up magic is very helpful, and it also helps to buy barrels to protect against the fire blasts a few times without having to use Lucid Barrier.

[@christianmana7662]

Well, the guy who did the German translation had no script at all and had to do the job in 3 days. Mr Moyse is as same Legend and also inserted puns and phrases based on the German culture it was meant to approach with the translation there. I've met him on an interview and they gave him a vague idea what the game is about and handed him the game with empty textboxes. He literally wrote the story from scratch, hence the huge differences in names and story. He simply had no English script to go by since that was currently in the making, but there was no time to wait. As a huge fan of the game and series, I was given the nickname "Manamaniac" in the community who held the interview. I basically know all games of the series as well as the most of all game details. I'm also acquainted to the people who made the German translation patch for the Secret of Mana 2 game. Been asking them to link em in a video series if they want. I really love all the details n stuff about this game series.

[@thomashernandez6536]

I just got my emulator running to my phone saying you dropped this. Amazing.

[@Maker1]

Woot! I need to get one set up myself. Hope you enjoy! 🥂

[@retrodrummer]

Very interesting and accurate content, subscribed!!

[@Maker1]

Thanks and welcome!

[@blacklikethesun]

you just gonna make an iceberg of all my favorite games!? Cool

[@JMSK248]

Thank you so much for saying "Mana" correctly.

[@KawaiiKaabii1993]

hopefully there will be a final fantasy v iceberg explanation uploaded soon

[@soldierprincess8422]

6:06 that pissed me off a lot back in the day completely broke the immersion

[@sageneodraconus]

Is it possible to glitch the extra sword orb in the remake? I couldn't get it to happen. Didn't want to risk my file either

[@MrBroken030]

the 3d remake looks like craaaaap

[@lockesaban7717]

Pro-tip: Sylphids temple is considered a battle area and not a town so you can literally level Primm up there easily and free instead of paying for an Inn because the old man heals you. I'm surprised you didn't know this or am I the only one that knew this?

[@guardianrandy]

That's always been my go-to place for leveling magic. I use Luka's Palace in the early game, but Sylphid's is definitely better for getting the sprite's magic up since you don't have to run down a million stairs to get to the closest enemies. Haha

[@elliscook9794]

Ah, I just mentioned the Wind Palace before, since the elder there gives you back hp/mp for free also.

[@lockesaban7717]

@@guardianrandy it's also considered a fighting area since you have your weapons drawn so I tried the girls magic and realized it gave full xp lol.

[@lockesaban7717]

@@elliscook9794 yeah that's what I'm saying. And the fact the girl gets full magic xp there.

[@wickanchaos7781]

Undyen ~ lol Undeen

[@Trashfoe]

Addition to 5:00: In the german translation, the Sprite is referred to as female.

[@mattsumner9157]

awesome vid! lufia 2 someday lol

[@son_60han]

There are also another glitch using remedy when fighting the mana beast so u can denied the damage from it breath attack

[@systemafunk]

It's not specific to Remedy. That's just the cheapest spell. If you use it at the right time it can prevent damage from most attacks. Normally this isn't too useful because you can just heal everyone for only 2 MP, but if the attack hits everyone and does enough damage, then 1 MP is worth it.

[@mountaindewherbert]

Angela isn't naked. You can see her from the roughly midriff and up, normally, above the covers, while she is pretty skimpily dressed - and seems to skim down at night - she seems to sleep on her right side, with her right shoulder further covering the bits from the birds eye view. Below the covers, she's got underwear covering her bottom. I believe there's times where your party may sleep WITHOUT covers so this was something they thought of - but it's been a long time since I played. When I googled this, what I found was she sleeps "mostly naked" and I mean she's "mostly naked" when she's awake too.

[@kamikaseiken5774]

FFA and 'A Link Awakening' was the best rpg combo to have back in the 90's.

[@darqetsu]

The only Zelda games to date that are rpgs are Zelda II and Breath of the Wild.

[@jamessargent2270]

You should make a video about the EBF games

[@Qardo]

Huh. In FF14: Endwalker. The players end up going to the Moon. On said moon, in one part of the map, there is a mound of moon surface that you come across. Yet when you gain flight and fly high enough, you see the mound is a face. Either the face on the Moon is a reference of Secret of Mana (being it is a Square Title) or just a reference to the real photo taken of the real moon. Personally, I say it is a game reference.

[@PytD]

In FF4/2 When you get the lunar whale you visit the moon and there is a face to be found there as well.

[@ezkiel0]

oh, i never knew about different moons in the ending. pretty sure i always got the same.

[@NordkapSounddesign]

Well, you show the emperor while speaking of thanatos.

[@evansidley5081]

What text to voice software do you use?

[@ravenebony2267]

One of my favorite games of all time.

[@markmessi9020]

The girl would be named Karen. All she does is complain how they're not like Dyluck 🤣

[@JelloFluoride]

I need to go back to potatoes and get my fucking power wrist.

[@evilblitz]

You should do a demonslayer iceberg... great vid👍

[@SonGara]

Gloves are the worst weapon? With those charged up combos with the right elemental boost, it can pretty much one-shot a lot of the bosses.

[@calvinmatthews1527]

The remake got done the dirtiest!

[@PyccoloSantos]

I like to think Crono and Jeff are brothers.

[@GameArts1]

Imo the magic chain glitch is to much game breaking to be fun. It's indeed a shame some of the weapons are imbalanced as well and that the combat systems just didn't age all to well. Don't get me wrong, I still think it's a classic and well designed for it's time, but given the choice I rather revisit Seikendensetsu 3. A true remake for me would be this game in the octopath traveler graphic design, cool pixel art and backgrounds with a more modern version of the combat system (e.g. omit the 0-100% thing and change it in weapon attack delay like SD3).

[@nocloud4u]

why is chrono on the thumb?

[@Joe_from_Rio]

06:46 : this is Emperor Vandole, not Thanatos.

[@MrGanon360]

Need one of secret of evermore

[@everonlyallforthee]

Great game 👍🏻

[@ManaNek]

I think the screenshot you’ve included of the face isn’t of FF2 it’s FF4

[@ezkiel0]

well, i guess he can say the "american" final fantasy II, since he refered to the "american" secret of mana also. final fantasy IV would imply him to say seiken densetsu 2. just kidding xD

[@elliscook9794]

@@ezkiel0 Not wrong though lol

[@flammy66]

Secret of mana, my favorite J-RPG on my life ^^

[@thepaper888]

Hell yes

[@davidweber3900]

Why did you put Chrono in your Thumbnail bro ? another video about the Theory that Chrono trigger tells the story of the Bible ,would be great

[@thelastsidewalk]

My favourite game of all time. Though certainly not perfect. Attack magic for example, is completely broken. (Though you can just play without it..) Also.. I didn't think 4:50 is true.. if you glitch the 9th sword orb, and then cast Mana Magic, the Mana Sword turns into the Lvl.1 glove.. I did learn some new stuff about censorship and glitches though. Thanks for putting this together.. I wish it had got the same remake treatment that SD3 received. But the new Trials of Mana is brilliant.

[@elliscook9794]

For me the lvl 9 sword would turn back to the lvl 1 rusty sword. lol

[@andrewsingsthehymns9567]

Its actually not true that the only way to damage the final boss is with the mana sword at lvl9. You can damage it with any weapon as long as you charge it to at least lvl5. In the snes version anyway. Firat time i beat the game i did this and had to ask all my buddies why the sprite died. LOOPHOLE.

[@SifuSong78]

That's a lot of mana's.

[@sal8972]

guess how many times the word "mana" was use in this video.

[@civilwildman]

I noticed that the remake artwork used in the thumbnail more or less sexualizes Primm (aka the girl/princess). She didn't have visual cleavage in official artwork of the original game.

[@FrogSkinner101]

16:45 mana mana mana mana mana mana... mana...

[@Maker1]

Yeaaahhh. Believe it or not.. I actually trimmed OUT some too. I could have phrased it better but it was difficult to interpret and explain their reasoning.

[@FrogSkinner101]

@@Maker1 Haha don't get me wrong, fantastic video!! I listen to your videos while I work. It is kind of difficult to discuss a topic such as 'mana' while not bringing up the word a couple of times. Keep up the good work!

[@sahilhossain8204]

Lore of The Secret of Mana Iceberg Explained momentum 100

[@darinstaley1993]

Primm is cute

[@Arehexes]

Kinda odd you are telling people to buy a fan translation of Secret of Mana 2 when the official one is out.

[@WaketheSheeple]

Finally a iceberg for *the best rpg game in history*

[@michaelglover9214]

Super nintendo... secret of evermore.... p2 could control the dog... and oddly similar UI...

[@exokill5206]

Anyone else think this guy talks like microsoft sam or some Text-To-Talk voice? no? just me? I Think he's an alien, Or an A.I. lol

[@Maker1]

I'm simply in my transition from man to machine. Pardon the awkward middle stages.

[@exokill5206]

@@Maker1 AH!, totally explains it. Carry On Fellow "Man". lol

[@ZioNello_]

Moogles are found in ff8 They're friend with chokobos

[@MinecraftMartin]

Why would having predetermined names be vital to a story? Names are 100% arbitrary. Weird

[@Atlessa]

"The West's first official look at the mana series." Really? Wasn't the first game of the series out 3 years before Secret of Mana? Or are you ignoring it just because it doesn't have the word "Mana" in it's title.

[@user-bw4jm1bv1i]

I prefer the way you pronounce Mana (mun-ah, rather than man-ah).

[@mashtonish]

It very much seems like the "voice" in these videos is auto-generated. The repetition and mispronunciation is rampant. Your videos may as well just be a readout of wikipedia pages.

[@thomashernandez6536]

Brrooooo!!!!!!

[@Maker1]

I was literally just typing sorry for not bringing it on Monday!!!

[@thomashernandez6536]

@@Maker1 I'd rather have it now so I can watch it twice now, and twice then!

[@Maker1]

Glad it worked out! Appreciate your engagement and support as always!

[@Blakobness]

Legend of Mana best Mana.

[@usaskjock]

Why are you using footage from the god-awful 3-D remake? Use the footage of the original

[@d.sack2727]

Popoi always seemed like a girl to me.

[@osurpless]

Tantalus, son of Pluto and Zeus? The Greek Gods were capricious alright, but not quite to the level of gender shifting on a whim…

[@orztaku]

points out the original japanese names of the characters and how the us manual uses some sh***y "americanised" names (nothing new here) ..... then plainly referencing "Final Fantasy III"...which was actually Final Fantasy VI and only renamed to 3 for the US because it was the 3rd Final Fantasy to be released in the US.... Make up your mind....

[@darkcloudoblivion17]

Yeah she always seemed like a Karen

[@lindenstromberg6859]

Sword of Mana was one of the worst remakes I've ever played. It broke pacing, story, and wasn't any fun. Adventures of Mana is much better.

[@kyrasoze516]

Automated voices suck, even if it's your own. Boo.

[@crimsonkingtphful]

Because they don't want the Western snowflakes to melt.........lololololololol

[@jhsrt985]

Lol Karen, 😂oh Japan 🇯🇵, oh square soft