Special Feature: Seiken Densetsu 3’s Localization Fate — The Legendarily Elusive Mana

There was light celebration when Square Enix announced the Secret of Mana remake. It marked first opportunity to play the game after missing the original for some, while others simply wanted to reexperience the game in a new way. But anyone who likes colorful sprites to get past the switch from them to drabber polygons to play it, who found the style to be a step down from those present in older Mana games.

The original Secret of Mana wasn’t the prettiest Super Nintendo game, since it predated most titles that qualify for such an accolade, but it nonetheless contained great sprite work. The remake’s polygons weren’t as appealing thanks to this title being done on a budget, and partly due to personal preferences. The comparison is further unflattering upon observing sprite-based projects like Legend of Mana or Sword of Mana.

Still, even those who didn’t like the polygons celebrated this remake for a different reason: It could lead to the remake of the third game. Unlike the first two, Seiken Densetsu 3 for SNES was never officially localized. (Note: The Mana series is known as “Seiken Densetsu” in Japan.)

Former Squaresoft employee Brian Fehdrau, who worked as lead programmer for Secret of Evermore, said in an interview with Nintendo Life the Japanese version of Seiken Densetsu 3 contained glitches that would have required serious work to fix before it could pass Nintendo of America’s certification process. Retro Gamer magazine also discussed how text-heavy it is, and said it would have been too costly for Squaresoft to localize this large a game so late in the console’s life cycle. Fortunately, a fan translation was released in 2000, which is playable on an emulator or an SNES console with a special device.

But there was hope that the Secret of Mana remake receiving good sales and a good reception would lead to the third game receiving the same treatment, and getting the first-ever official localization. Unfortunately, the chances of that appear drearier than before, thanks to the remake receiving a middling reception at best.

The biggest issue with the remake is how it sticks to close to the original game, even retaining flaws many wouldn’t have minded the removal of. In other cases, those flaws are exacerbated. For instance, the AI partners’ pitiful pathfinding was bizarrely retained for this version, as they can still get stuck behind environments they should be able to walk around, and have issues dodging enemies. Combine that with how some enemies are more precise with shooting arrows in this version, and it can make for a frustrating time. And that’s not getting into the remixed soundtrack, which sounds bizarrely bad despite original composer Hiroki Kikuta being involved in its supervision. Fortunately, the original soundtrack is included as an option, but the other flaws are unavoidable.

The reception is enough to think Square Enix could put the series back on ice, and that the west will once again be snubbed with receiving a Seiken Densetsu 3 localization. But we shouldn’t throw in the towel just yet. Current Mana producer Masaru Oyamada was asked about the chances of a localization by Siliconera, and while his answer was non-committal, it wasn’t a denial. He said the transition would be smoother if they remade it, and that they simply don’t have the resources to localize the port and developer a remake.

A remake would ostensibly be the best way to attract new and newer fans, but this will be even trickier to create than Secret of Mana’s. Seiken Densetsu 3 was one of Squaresoft’s later SNES/Super Famicom releases, meaning it’s one of the most beautiful-looking sprite-based games around. It’s tough to imagine it being given the same polygonal treatment as its predecessors. And given the criticism the Secret of Mana remake received, there’s the question of whether there’s desire for a remake using polygons.

But only one using polygons, since there’s another way. The remake of Romancing Saga 2 used modified versions of the old sprites, with pretty results. This could be a good way to satisfy most of the audience interested, and hopefully they’ll consider it.

Oyamada also mentioned how the company was considering localizing the Seiken Densetsu Collection for Nintendo Switch during an interview with USGamer, a trilogy set which included the first three Mana games released in Japan last June. It was previously considered a lost cause thanks to the amount of time that’s passed between its release, and again, the massive amount of text that would have to be localized for Seiken Densetsu 3. But that may not be an issue if there’s sufficient demand for it. The port also wouldn’t have to be a Switch-exclusive, and could be released on every platform around.

It’s tough to figure out which decision Square Enix will go with here, but let’s hope it doesn’t involve forgetting the franchise exists for years on end again. In addition to the remakes, some have wanted to see a brand-new installment for years, which hasn’t been done in an action RPG form since Dawn of Mana released on PlayStation 2. Note that Heroes of Mana and Rise of Mana released after that game, but were real-time strategy and free-to-play mobile games, respectively. We’ll have to see if the Secret of Mana remake does well enough for Square Enix to see what happens next… if anything happens next.