Secret of Magia (PC) review "Regret of Mana"

I've played several obscure, indie RPGs developed by small teams or even single people. About half of the time, they rank on the low end of the awesomeness spectrum, and I've found one factor in common: they all offer bare bones features and functions. Yes, many of them bring some neat ideas and gimmicks to the table, but they never fully flesh them out. You end up playing what feels like the outline for a solid adventure, where everything from towns to dungeons to the campaign as a whole feels abbreviated or rushed.

Games like 7 Pillars and Zodiakalik spring to mind, joined now by yet another skeletal affair: Secret of Magia.

That title sounds familiar, eh? Secret of Mana immediately comes to mind if you were alive circa 1993, or you at least appreciate games from that era. In a way, the resemblance is apt because both games fall into the action-RPG category, where combat on offer is more or less real time. As with Mana, you have a stamina gauge to mind any time you attack, so you can't just rain blows on your enemies and reap the benefits.

Now, combine that feature with stiff movement that doesn't allow for diagonal motion or strikes. Mix that even further with a walking speed that's way too lax and a running speed that far too break-neck. What you have is a clunky combat system where you struggle to dodge anything because you either can't get out of the way quickly enough or you careen everywhere from zipping all over the place. On top of that, physical damage stuns those it affects. Yes, you have a stamina system that prevents repeated hits, but your stamina replenishes faster than your foes' stuns. In other words, you can stun lock your victims for easy victories, and they can sometimes do the same to you.

For instance, one slime you fight early in the proceedings shoots a rapid-fire stream of goo globs, which can kill you quickly. The first one paralyzes you, and the next five or so strip off what's left of your hit points. Even if you survive, you'll have to expend one of your healing items—and perish the thought of restorative magic because no such spells exist. Of course, you can do unto it as it does unto you: back it into a corner and repeatedly slash it to ribbons.

However, don't bother with killing in general because your adversaries' levels scale with yours. As you beef up, you gain no advantage over any of the monsters, not even bosses. Yes, you can even finish this title at a low level and waltz onto the terribly anticlimactic ending...

Even though many adversaries fire projectiles, almost all of them are easy to dodge. You can run right past them, journeying through whole sections of the campaign in mere seconds. I recall one cave during my playthrough that only took about ten seconds to get through. I didn't bother with any of the monsters around and just boogied right on to the exit, which was just north of the entrance.

However, it's not even combat and leveling that comes across as incomplete or shallow, as you also catch glimpses of features that never have a chance to mature. For instance, you collect crafting items throughout your quest, yet only receive a couple of opportunities to create anything worthwhile. You can also upgrade your weapons a whole once upon visiting the second town. I did this with my katana and saw an immediate statistic boost. However, the blade somehow dealt precisely the same amount of damage as before. How does that work?

Hell, the game's tutorial introduces numerous functions that almost never serve a purpose. At one point, it has you equip a hookshot, teasing other handy tools similar to Zelda or Metroid. Except you never receive any such goods like that one and a shovel... Upon checking out the equipment screen, you'll notice two slots for accessories. You never find any, so what was the point of including them? More than anything, you get the impression Magia's developer had a lot of good ideas and plans that never came to fruition for one reason or another.

If you need further evidence of this notion, check out each area's all-around design. You travel to large towns filled with almost nothing. NPCs dispense the usual flavor text, and houses stand empty and bereft of any reason to visit them. Plus, you receive the occasional side quest that crops up in your journal, but only a small handful throughout the campaign—not enough to make the concept feel like it was a necessary inclusion.

And remember that cave I mentioned earlier? It was a good thing I powered my way to the exit upon my initial visit, because a later recheck of the area showed it to be filled with only a handful of turns and corners east of the back egress filled with naught but the same useless enemies. Rather than rewarding exploration, Magia only wastes your time whenever you voyage off the beaten path.

You traverse other dungeons as you would in any RPG, yet they only consist of a single, large chamber that you can clear in a couple of minutes at most. A whopping two different creature types greet you as you enter, and a third serves as a mid-boss. If you find that guy and snuff him out, he'll give you a key. Take that to door at the top of the chamber and you mosey onto a boss. I kid you not when I tell you I completed three of the game's four major dungeons in just over twenty total minutes, including the time it took to travel from one to the next. They really aren't elaborate and don't require much effort.

So yeah, my biggest complaint is that Secret of Magia doesn't feel complete. It comes across as a title still in Early Access, with its developer looking for ways to add some much needed meat to its bones. Sure, you can get this piece cheap and finish it in about an hour or two, but you could also spend that brief amount of time you'll never get back on numerous activities that are more deserving of your attention.

Staff review by Joseph Shaffer (April 20, 2024) Rumor has it that Joe is not actually a man, but a machine that likes video games, horror movies, and long walks on the beach. His/Its first contribution to HonestGamers was a review of Breath of Fire III.