When comparing SolForge vs Secret of Mana, the Slant community recommends Secret of Mana for most people. In the question“What are the best Android tablet games?” Secret of Mana is ranked 12th while SolForge is ranked 74th. 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 Simple rules but plenty of strategy to be found
The rules of the game are pretty easy to learn but it is underlying strategy of what decks to build and what playstyles to use that make the game so strategic.
Pro Unique idea for game mechanics
No mana, play two cards per turn to level them up and increase their power, every four turns the deck is reshuffled to include the leveled up cards.
Pro Active and awesome community
Small community, but very active and dedicated to the survival of this game.
Pro Cross platform accounts
SolForge has cross platform accounts, making it easy for users to load up the game on their preferred device and log into their account with all of their progress.
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 Developer has given up
Almost shut down 3 months ago, now the guy running the community is the only one doing anything
Con Few players
Very few play this game.
Con May feel pay to win
Collecting cards in the game can be difficult as no single card can be purchases, you can only get cards in packs that either cost real money or earned in game currency, which takes time and grinding to earn. This is exasperated by the fact that there is no secondary market where people can sell cards.
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.