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Seiken Densetsu (聖剣伝説) is a Role-playing game series from Squaresoft (the company behind the Final Fantasy series), now Square Enix (Enix is the maker of the Dragon Quest series), created by Koichi Ishii.
Started in 1991, Seiken Densetsu is known for its live-action (non turn-based) battle system and original fantasy theme. Seiken Densetsu translates literally as "holy sword legend", or "Legend of the Holy Sword". Originally intended to be a handheld "Gaiden", or "side story", to Square's main franchise Final Fantasy, Seiken Densetsu managed to drop most of its Final Fantasy styling by the second installment without affecting the commercial aspects of the series. In Japan, this series generally lag behind Square's Final Fantasy and SaGa in terms of sales, but Seiken Densetsu 2 still managed to sell more than 1.5 million copies domestically and more overseas.
Seiken Densetsu 3 was not released in the US because Square opted for Secret of Evermore. However there are unofficial fan-made translations circulating the Internet in English, French, and German. It is sometimes referred to as "Secret of Mana 2."
Secret of Evermore, although not part of the series, used the same engine. It was only released in the US in October of 1995.
Shinyaku Seiken Densetsu (Sword of Mana) is a remake of Seiken Densetsu (Final Fantasy Adventure). It features two-player game play, but that mode requires two copies of the Sword of Mana.
Seiken Densetsu uses gameplay mechanisms similar to those of Legend of Zelda, but it is combined with RPG elements like classes, experience and levels.
Spoiler warning: Plot or ending details follow.
Seiken Densetsu: Final Fantasy Gaiden (called Final Fantasy Adventure in USA and Mystic Quest in Europe) is the first game in the Seiken Densetsu series. Like most early Game Boy games, it was monochrome. Gameplay was very similar to the original Legend of Zelda. Being a Final Fantasy "Gaiden", or "Sidestory", the artistic style of the game was very similar to that of the main Final Fantasy series, down to the menu screens with the thick, shaded borders. Final Fantasy mainsteams, the Chocobos and moogles, also made appearances here. A male character named "Sumo" (by the manual) is the protagonist, because his parents were killed by Dark Lord. The antagonists are Julius, and his close friend Dark Lord. The main female character, named "Fuji" (by the manual) is captured twice throughout the game. She is first taken to a box in a dungeon, then later captured on an airship and taken where the final confrontation takes place. In Jadd, Amanda's brother Lester was cursed by Devius, and Sumo had to take her with him. Amanda is later tainted by Medusa, turns into a statue and dies. (In the American version she is 'possessed' from the bite, sort of like a vampire's victim and for a brief moment while she is calmed by her brother's song she begs Sumo to kill her and he does.) Sumo placed Amanda's tear (blood in American Version) drops on Lester to uncurse him. Lester had to avenge his sister's death. The Chocobo was later changed to a Chocobot, so it can walk across bodies of water. After Sumo defeated Julius, Fuji became a Mana tree after her mother died. Sumo guarded the Mana tree afterwards.
Seiken Densetsu later received a 32-bit remake for the Gameboy Advance as in Shinyaku Seiken Densetsu in Japan and as Sword of Mana in North America. At the beginning of Shinyaku Seiken Densetsu, the player gets to choose to play as the male lead character (Sumo) or as the female lead character (Fuji). They both have a different quest, but the plot is still similar. The most important thing about this remake, however, is the complete "de-Final Fantasification" of it - all elements from the original that had an origin in Final Fantasy were removed in favor of elements from other Seiken Densetsu games (i.e. the chocobo is replaced by Cannon Travel). Moogles had their origin in Seiken Densetsu, not in Final Fantasy. Shinyaku Seiken Densetsu was remade to resemble Seiken Densetsu 3.
Seiken Densetsu 2 (or Secret of Mana) was released for the SNES in 1993. It is the most famous game in the Seiken Densetsu series. The gameplay is similar to that of The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past. It also features three-player gameplay. It stars the main character Randi, a girl named Purim, and a sprite child named Popoi (either male or neuter), and a notable non-playable character named Dyluck. For a long time, the Mana Sword was sleeping stuck in a rock. But one day the sword called for Randi to take it. But removing the sword from the stone brought monsters upon Potos village (Randi's home), and the villagers blamed the danger all on him. First, he battled a miniboss in the Potos underground. Afterwards the blame was delivered, and he was banished from Potos Village by the village's elder, Timothy. Randi went on a trip to Water Palace and met with Luka. Then the guard of the Kingdom of Pandora was informed so that Randi can pass through Kingdom of Pandora to enter Gaia's Naval cave. Dwarves live in this cave. There, Randi met Watts, and Watts tempered his sword and forged an axe. The final confrontation was against the Mana Beast, taking place at the Mana Fortress.
Secret of Mana was cursed with a fixed-width (or monospace) text font and limited dialog space. This limitation caused a poor English translation. It was broken by an emulation-related modification project, Secret of Mana: Variable Width Edition, resulting in a retranslation. It resulted to be a professional-looking translation like that of its successor Seiken Densetsu 3.
A less successful spin-off of Secret of Mana was developed and released by Square USA and was entitled Secret of Evermore. It used the same basic engine as Secret of Mana but the graphics and scenes were tailored to a more American audience.
Seiken Densetsu 3 (or Secret of Mana 2) was released for the Super Famicom exclusively in Japan on September 30, 1995. It was originally planned to be released in North America, but Squaresoft opted for the substandard Secret of Evermore, canceling the North American localization. However, it was unofficially translated into English in the year 2000, and later into French and German from the English fan translation project. The translation project was very difficult. A variable width font was used, and it resulted in a professional looking fan translation. The title logo was changed from Kanji to Romaji. Like Final Fantasy VI and Bahamut Lagoon, Seiken Densetsu 3 has sophisticated graphics. Seiken Densetsu 3 has been regarded by many (including non-Japanese gamers) to be the best game in the Seiken Densetsu series, although the combat and multi-player systems got simplified. Unlike in Seiken Densetsu 2, there is only one kind of weapon per character, which can be bought in stores; the forging/upgrading has been completely removed. The magic system also got slightly simplified: now, when a spell is learnt, it is complete and at its full potential, no need to level it up. Seiken Densetsu 3 introduced an interesting addition to the character evolution system: class changing. After a character reaches level 18, it can change to a more advanced form (class), which means new spells, abilities and of course quite a bit of improvement to the character's stats. Class change needs a mana stone to be performed. When touching the stone, the player is asked to choose the type of the new class - either "light" or "dark". There is also a second class change at level 38, but this one requires additional items to "unseal" the incredible powers acquired by it. Like most Dragon Quest games, Seiken Densetsu 3 has a day-and-night feature. The Seiken Densetsu 3 soundtrack (composed by Hiroki Kikuta) features catchy rhythms, and lots of strings, and xylophones. Today, as of the 128-bit era, Seiken Densetsu 3 has been considered an import classic in the United States and Europe.
Seiken Densetsu 3 puts the player in the shoes of Duran, Lise, Kevin, Carlie, Hawk, and Angela. The player gets to choose a party of only three playable characters. Seiken Densetsu 3 gets the storyline making done on the basis of the player's selection of characters. Duran, the son of Loki, is the swordsman of the Kingdom of Forcena. His father died trying to defeat that powerful dragon and his mother died of an illness. Duran was raised by her aunt Stella. He has a younger sister named Wendy. Lise is from the Wind Kingdom of Rolante, the kingdom that Duran saved after an attack by the soldiers of Navarre, Hawk's country. Angela is a runaway princess of Altena, the Kingdom of Magic. Carlie is the granddaughter of the priest of the Holy City Wendel, which got attacked by Kevin's homeland, the Beast Kingdom. The six characters define 3 major plots, which all share the basic situation: the Mana Tree is dying and the forces of evil are awakening throughout the world.
Square Enix has announced that there will be a new story in the Seiken Densetsu series for the Nintendo DS. While there are no details at the time of writing, many fans believe it will be a stateside release of Seiken Densetsu 3.
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