Man, I WISH I had Evermore…
I never understood why some people like SoE. When I read about it in NP when I was young, I was really hyped up about it. Then it came out and it turned out to be fucking awful. The old guard of RPGC agrees with me on this but for whatever reason we have seen an influx of younger people that think it is the shit, for reasons that I have yet to hear explained.
I like the game, but I have notoriously low standards in games. I find the general theory of the game interesting, and all the cheesey cliche plots, like the evil robot twins and “THE BUTLER DID IT!” To be amusing. The actual concept of the Created World of your Desires also was done rather well, and it was fun running through the worlds… I think my favorite part was actually running through the Bazaar before the coliseum battle, tog et everything of worth, and all the armor that’s worth getting, too. The alchemy system is novel, or at least WAS novel, back then, with the whole “use items instead of MP to cast your magic” system. Also, the fact that this is a story about A Boy and His Dog also earns a few amusement points. Overall, yes, it could have been way, way, WAY better, but I still enjoy playing it every so often.
is that feasible enough explanation?
Most of what VE said, plus I found it to be funny, and much more challenging than SoM. I also think the music was good, one of the really good early attempts at ambient music in a video game. I think Secret of Evermore was more of a disappointment for people who were around when it first came out, probly because it was so different from Secret of Mana. But yeah, I love the game, other than fighting the very first boss, who is unnecessarily hard at that point in the game.
I always get the bone crusher to level 2 before Thraxx 
I usually upped the femur of fury to level 3 (Only ‘sword’ type weapon I bother leveling up, btw) followed by a bone spear rage due to that #"#%!% durable piece of swamp spelunkerer, Salabog. UGH.
Discovered Evermore on the last days of SNES game sales… and then truly mastered the game. I, too, was baffled by the INTENSE NOBILIA MARKET EXPERIENCE and all the hype on Official Nintendo Magazine (hey, it was one of the few RPGs to actually land in Europe… Secret of Mana, Breath of Fire 2 and SoE, in that order, being my first contacts.)
Speaking of a game I always wanted and waited years for it…
Megaman X4, via the Megaman X collection.
Same here, I found it at a flea market for 15 dollars.
By level 2, I meant it starts at level 0… so yeah, level 3 I guess 
And yeah, I just won’t fight Salabog without 2 spear charges. Killing frippos to get there is a pain in the ass though.
I get all the space age weapons to level 3, and then stick with the neutron blade. The silver sheath makes it the most powerful weapon in the game next to the bugged bazooka, and energizer puts it over the top. Sometimes I’ll just get bored with one weapon and switch to another for kicks though. Usually the atom smasher because, come on, who actually uses axes in this game?
Also, the first time I played SoE, I fought pirates until I could actually afford to buy an Annihilation Amulet. I didn’t know you could just trek it
I think Richard Garriot’s Ultimas had done that long before. Anyway, these systems usually cause me not to cast spells at all (except for TOTALULTIMATEDESTRUCTIONSPELLs) as I can’t be bothered gathering ingredients. Item grinding and exp grinding? Not for me.
If SoE was all about the dog and eased you better into the game instead of making you search and grind, I may have bothered to play it more.
I rented this one back when it came out (also tried to buy it but the copy hardly functioned anymore so I returned it for MM X), and I didn’t like it at first (I was also a victim of the Secret Switch-a-roo) but as I got older I started to forgive it some more (it helped that since then I figured out what happened to the Mana series between Secret and Legend). What I hated about it (and still hate to this day) was the Alchemy system since it had the skill level system used in SoM but instead of having a group of spells with a shared element to share skill levels they had them individually. Worse still was that some of them were near impossible to level like Atlas due to limited quantities of some of the ingredients which made leveling/grinding them so counterintuitive. Weapon levels and that currency business were other aggravations but they were forgivable to an extent. And while the concept and some of the ideas have been criminally underused since some of the writing was a bit ahead of it’s time (namely the obscure puns which demands another playthru now that I’m older and have seen shows like Doctor Who since then).
That said I when through the game (as much as I did since I accidentally saved over my file with another by someone else) I whacked a bunch of things while using maybe a few spells throughout the game until I started playing that other guy’s file in which I settled on the Lance spell (I got it up to level 7 I think) and got the bazooka then I cruised/grinded my way to the final boss and beat the game.
By the way did anyone learn that one spell in the desert? I remember not being able to find that one despite the advice given in NP (plus this was on a rental so I didn’t have the luxury of time back then).
Back to the subject on hand there has been one game that’s been bugging me for the last two years called Yggdra Union. I didn’t get it back when it first came out due to the fact that I ended up getting four other Atlus games (and FF VI Advance). After awhile I learned that it was related to a game that I missed completely Riviera, plus I wasn’t certain of the quality either, plus other games were also comming out in droves like FF XII. Eventually I added it to my list of wanted games but by that time I learned that it’s aforementioned prequel Riviera was rereleased on the PSP and so I’ve been waiting to see if the PSP version was worth getting over the GBA (it is due to the GBA’s rarity). Of course I don’t own a PSP, but since the has just been rereleased, I may just go for it anyways before this one disappears as well.
I think you get sting in the desert, and it sucks. Lance kinda sucks too imo.
The only offensive spell worth using on a regular basis is crush, because you get it early, it costs almost nothing to use, and it’ll kill some of the most frustrating monsters in the game in one shot every time… flying skulls.
I wanted a SNES like crazy growing up 
Mum and dad didn’t cave on that though, probably deciding that my life was eaten up enough by the NES (and books. Lots and lots of books, but they didn’t exactly disapprove of that). Good call, really XD Unfortunately, now there’s nothing but my very tiny conscience in that matter keeping me from playing too much (I have way too much free time :P).
Never did get a SNES, but I’ve played almost every RPG released on that anyway. Shh… trust you me, I’m getting them on my Wii as they arrive on the VC.
I tried Legend of Mana out at some point, just the beginning. I recall sitting there slackjawed at the intro, after spending most of it wondering what was up with the music, until it finally hit me that the lyrics were in Swedish. Funny what your brain fails to catch up with when it’s the last thing you expect XD Also, in my defense the sound quality was not very good.
I can beat that. I picked up two copies of Suikoden II in two different pawn shops, one for 10 bucks (pretty good condition) and one for 5 (like new)… but I digress…
The game I wanted the most was FF6. This was back in the days before I had internet, and I borrowed it from my friend John, and it completely blew me away. I remember giving it back to him, and then seeing it at a pawn shop. I almost bought it but decided in my ignorance that I could “always just borrow it from John if I want to play it”, so I didn’t buy it. Of course, John sorta faded out of existence, and I started jonesing for some FF6, but I couldn’t find it anywhere. I remember even considering renting it from a video store, claiming I lost it, then just forking over the dough for it and keeping the rental copy. I’m not sure how many years went by without me having that game, then I found it again at the same pawn shop for a mere 2 bucks.
Maybe we should have another thread about the people we’ve mooched from in order to play this game or that…
The closest thing for me is probably FFVI. I had a SNES growing up, and was always getting games from Blockbuster. They had a box on the shelf for FFIII, but every time I went, it was gone. Finally, when the N64 came out and they started selling their games, I asked about buying it. Turns out it had been missing and no one had taken it off the shelf 
However, soon after this, I discovered emulation, and by extension, RPGClassics. Now I own the GBA remake too 
Although I’ve played it a lot, I have been waiting ages for a DQIV remake, as it’s probably my all time favorite RPG and (Square)Enix likes to re release their older games. I even “accidentally” bought a Japanese Strategy Guide for it. I can’t wait
Symphony of the Night. Brilliant game. Ah yes, the RPG, the Side scroller. It was quite dramatic, and had absolutely wonderful music.
“What is a MAN!!? A MISERABLE LITTLE PILE OF SECRETS!”
Man i’ve collected so many games over the years its hard for me to decide which game I wanted the most, Super Mario RPG and Secret of Evermore are certainly up there for sure.
Oh I know! Clock Tower! When I first received a PlayStation I also got a demo disk for the game, at the time i was only 13, and still easily scared, so when Scissorman popped out for the first time I panicked and scrambled across the room to turn it off. after that I didn’t play it again for 2 years. when I finnaly mustered up the courage to play through it I loved the game. and so I began my search to find a full copy of it, and along the way I gathered the others games in the series as well. but the first clock tower game [technicly second but thats a whole nother topic XP] was the most difficult, It took me till last year to find a copy. ^^
Disgaea. About 2 years I’ve been looking for it (being told by several different shops it was out of print…only a year after its release) and I found a used copy just yesterday. It took all I had to not jump for joy in the shop.
This is a little different than your actual question, but when I was a kid, for years I had always wanted to own Ogre Battle and EVO. I rented each one a few times, but never completed them. Once I started going online and discovered emulation, I was able to find both as roms and complete them.
I remember when I went looking for Disgaea. I was looking all over the place for that game (this is back when it was still rare and expensive to find). Usually, when I saw it in game stores, it was going for $60! Nowadays, since they reprinted it, they go for under $20. Still can’t hardly find SMT:Nocturne though…I’m still pissed that’s there only really two places where I can go to get older-generation games.