When comparing Vendetta Online vs Secret of Mana, the Slant community recommends Secret of Mana for most people. In the question“What are the best Android RPGs?” Secret of Mana is ranked 8th while Vendetta Online is ranked 24th. The most important reason people chose Secret of Mana is:
Twenty some odd years later and Secret of Mana is still considered one of the best action role playing game experiences there is.
Specs
Ranked in these QuestionsQuestion Ranking
Pros
Pro Cross platform support allows the player to pick up where they left off on any OS they may have the game installed on
With game clients developed for Android, iOS, Linux, Mac and Windows, you can be sure that you can play Vendetta Online on any of your devices. You could use your desktop computer when you are interested in big battles that require lots of screen space and computer power or use your tablet to mine ore and craft items when you are away from your desktop. The game runs great on mobile devices and is always being updated with new content.
Pro Good twitch controls that allow the player to have full control
Vendetta Online has twitch based controls, that allow you, the captain of your ship, to be in total control of the way you fight in battles by not relying on dice rolls or other behind the scenes decisions, VO lets the player's skill in combat determine the outcome, the more you practice the better you get.
Pro Extremely large playable universe where you can spent plenty of time exploring
The playable area in Vendetta Online's universe is huge. It is said that in some regions of the online galaxy you could fly for weeks in the same direction, before you ever reached the end of that sector. In a space game you want to have a very large game area, it is space after all, that is infinitely explorable and gives the player unlimited ways to play the game.
Pro Free demo mode lets anyone check out the game without any commitment
Vendetta Online gives new players a free demo mode to try out the game before purchasing the full version. You are provided with eight hours to get comfortable with your new space ship and the game. After a nice tutorial section, you can choose to play in the single player sandbox or join the galaxy with all of the other VO players.
Pro Has stood the test of time
Twenty some odd years later and Secret of Mana is still considered one of the best action role playing game experiences there is.
Pro Unique ring command system allows for easy menu selection
The ring command system used for selecting equipment and other options is still as innovative today as it was back in 1993.
A first at it's time, the ring command system allowed for users to select their weapons and equipment easily without having to leave the main game screen, making for selecting quite easy.
Pro Shift in gameplay for Squaresoft/SquareEnix made RPGs
Secret of Mana features a top down real time battle system akin to other action role playing games such as Legend of Zelda that at the time was a large shift from the turn based fare that Square created. Even today Square Enix does not foray too often into the action role playing genre, making for a unique experience when it comes to Square created titles.
Pro Considered one of the best stories in RPG's young and old
While the outline of the story is the normal RPG fare, where a young boy is tasked with saving the world, the characters and their journey still holds up as one of the best ever written.
Pro Colorful 16bit era graphics
Secret of Mana was created at the height of the 16bit SNES era and utilized some of the most colorful and stylized fantasy role playing game graphics. While it would have been nice to see Square polish them up a bit for HD devices, they still hold up, especially in a market that has many games designed with bit graphics as a current trend.
Cons
Con Subscription required for decent gameplay
You need to pay $9.99 for monthly subscription to enjoy it to the fullest.
Con Has in-app-purchases
Vendetta Online is free-to-play but does have in-app-purchases that range from $0.99 - $99.99 per item.
Con Cross platform play leads to mobile users having less control in PvP Mobile
Android and iOS players are all playing together with desktop PC players, which means during dog fighting sequences, the PC players have much finer grained controls over their mobile player opponents. This makes for unfair matching that can lead to mobile players loosing out more often than not if they are facing a PC player. This is also exacerbated by the fact that no one is able to know what platform an opponent may be playing on.
Con Graphically, almost a direct port
Square Enix has done nothing to polish the graphics in this port which for the price point is a little disheartening. The black borders on both sides of the screen are also disappointing. To see Square do so little to accommodate HD devices and their swath of screen sizes, it makes one wonder how they get away charging the prices they do.