A Squaresoft masterpiece often overlooked by RPG gamers. Don't overlook this one-of-a-kind game!
The main character, a boy with no name, begins the game walking out of a movie theater (he's quite the movie nerd) in a small town called Podunk, U. S. A. He begins chasing his dog which has taken after a cat, and they both end up in an old abandoned mansion on a hill. There, they find a huge machine that literally zaps them into thisworld of Evermore. The first area called Prehistoria revolves around dinosaurs, the ice age, and cavemen. The second, Crustacia, will take you through a place similar to ancient Rome, Egypt, and Greece, including the Great Pyramid and the Hall of Collosia. The third area and my personal favorite is Gothica, which is made up of medieval towns and castles. The fourth area, Omnitopia, is a futuristic space station. While it all may seem a little odd, everything that happens fits together to create a unique story that, if it's not epic, is very enjoyable. The gameplay combines Secret of Mana-style battling and item rings with an innovative alchemy-type magic. Alchemy requires you to gather and/or buy ingredients for alchemy formulas, and it allows you to throw projectiles at an opponent, heal hit points, reveal hidden paths, and much more. Alchemy is by no means required in the game, as it is possible to go through the whole game without using any formulas except Heal. There are three main weapon types in the game: swords, axes, and spears. Additionally, near the end of the game the main character will receive a bazooka, an amazingly powerful and fun to use weapon. A big drawback compared to Secret of Mana is the player options. The dog's only abilities are to sniff out ingredients and to use ihis one attack, giving him little reason to be played over the main character. Also, the dog can not be played by a second player. The graphics are good quality for the SNES. A slight drawback is that this designers made the game look as real as possible and in the process made most of the areas revolve around the colors gray and brown. The main character himself is colorful enough that he stands out from the beautiful scenery and all the alchemy effects are down well.
The music is one of the best characteristics of the game. Unlike almost all other games on the SNES, the music composed by Jeremy Soule thrives for realism rather than being epic or natural. Every song is created specifically for the time period in the game and ambient sounds are used often. One of the best examples is the Marketplace in Nobilia, a romanesque town. All that is heard is the sound of people talking and laughing, farm animals, and the general going-ons of a marketplace. No melody and no bad quality sounds. Soule has done such a wonderful job with this soundtrack, it is impossible to dislike a single song. The value is high. You won't get tired of this game after finishing it five or more times. It is definitely worth whatever price you can find it for, and as I've found, the price should be pretty low too. Don't pass up this Squaresoft classic. This game was made solely by the U.S.A. section of Squaresoft and thus has many unique aspects. Any flaws that this game may have are over-powered by all the other amazing ideas incorporated in this game.