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[Aavak]

Well as 'Dusty' Duffy McGander says in 'Perilous Patrol over Pluto':
We may not have a rat's chance in a room full of cats... but we're gonna go after that cheese!

Developed by Square Soft's North American division, and released to NA and Europe between 1995 and 1996, for the SNES, Secret of Evermore is a title which rides close on the tracks laid by Secret of Mana. Perhaps overshadowed as a result (and met with some criticism by fans who were expecting a sequel, given the similarity in name) Secret of Evermore has never the less managed to carve out a home for itself in the hearts of many RPG fans, myself included.

Set in the land of Evermore, the game follows the journey of an unlikely Hero, transported to this world from the sleepy town of Podunk, USA. Who, along with his trusty canine companion, must unravel the mysteries of this wonderfully imaginative world in order to find his way back home, possibly helping some other castaways as he goes.

Although sharing a similar interface and much of the core gameplay elements with Secret of Mana, a game which natively supported up to 3 player co-op, Secret of Evermore does not support any sort of multi-player natively. However, thanks to the efforts of a particularly code-savy fan, this functionality can be patched into the original game. Therefore I shall be joined in this adventure by fellow LPer Revocane... as one might expect, much hilarity follows as we chop, bash, and bite our way through the game.

Now, with introductions out of the way, and Mr McGander's inspirational battle-cry ringing in our ears, let's be off, that cheese wont go after itself!

The story so far:



Memories of times gone by:









All feedback and suggestions are welcome, either in video comments or here

[Aavak]

It's quite surprising how much trouble a young lad and his dog can get into while chasing a cat past an old, abandoned mansion. Though I imagine none are more surprised than they themselves, when they pop out in the surreal land of Evermore!

Now, if only we could recover that bazooka...

[Aavak]

In the previous episode we managed to battle our way through what looks like a prehistoric jungle, complete with raptor-like dinosaurs. But we can always trust on our faithful companion to have our back when things get rough.

Now, having been introduced to Fire-Eyes by the villagers, and learning of a possible way back to Podunk, it's off to the Bugmuck to try and rescue the village alchemist!

[Aavak]

Having learned the secrets of sprinting in the last episode, which we promptly put to use to avoid the sandy whirlpools (or tried to, at least), we finally reached the Bugmuck.

However, after seeing some of the beasties that call this barren place their home, I'm starting to wonder if we've gotten in over our heads. But with our senses tingling, it seems we're getting close to our goal. Let's hope Strong Heart is still in one piece...

[Aavak]

Previously, and with great difficulty, our heroes valiantly stood against the acidic wrath of the Big Bug and won Strong Heart his freedom. However, it seems there are more problems befalling Fire Eyes' village than just a missing alchemist...

Now, with vague directions, and a promise that by helping end the imminent ice-age we'd be getting closer to finding our way home, our brave adventurers set off in search of the rapidly cooling volcano. What they can possibly do to help when they get there, though... well, I'm sure they'll cross that bridge when they come to it.

[Aavak]

As expected, in the last episode we discovered that the path to the volcano lay past (or through) the mammoth graveyard. Of course, the vipers who were using these bones to make weapons and armour weren't happy with our visit.

Now, with that obstacle overcome and the leader of the vipers defeated (for now), it's off to the volcano's summit. But how exactly will we get up there, without any climbing gear?

[Aavak]

So it would seem that in the last episode we answered that burning question; how does one reach the top of a volcano without climbing gear. The answer, obviously, is blasting off from thermal vents!

Unexpectedly however, the summit was a lot more hospitable than we might have imagined, and as is becoming normal in this strange land, a hermit alchemist was only too happy to provide us with the spell we would need to progress.

There's just one catch (isn't there always?) we're going to need a Mud Pepper to cast it. So, in this episode Revocane and I head off to wade through mosquito and bull-toad infested swamplands in search for the fabled vegetable reagent!

[Blankdoor]

Why does no one ever respond to these awesome threads! Hell your art work alone is note worthy, let alone the commentary between you and Rev!

Keep it up man! Even if I am still catching up with all the episodes!

~Blank

[Bluerobin]

Agreed! One of my favorite games, done in a really neat way. I JUST noticed the thread, so I'm still catching up, but I really like what I've seen so far.

[Aavak]

Thanks both

I realise this isn't the most interactive of games, it's more a 'put your feet up, maybe get a cup of tea, sit back and enjoy' sort of affair. A break from the normal 'I will rename EVERYONE!' sort of deals I have going with my other LPs.

Never the less, I really appreciate the comments, and hope you're having half the fun watching these that Rev and I have while recording them

[Aavak]

Having battled our way through the confusing swampy landscape, slaying all manner of annoying creature as we went, we finally came upon the boss of this area: Salabog. Once slain, a helpful (if eccentric) swamp dweller named Blimp, rewarded us with the fabled Mud Pepper!

Now, armed with the reagents needed to cast our new spell, it's back to the base of the volcano, where we will finally be able to clear the path into the Viper's nest.

[Neyvn]

WAY WAY WAY Back when the SNES was the biggest Console still on the market and Video stores were still renting them games. I had fallen sick from a heavy flu and my Father asked me if I wanted to rent out a game for the time off school. Which in itself was a very rare thing of my Father (he still hates that I even play games at my age, 26 incase you were wondering). I asked if he could get the "Secret of Mana" something that I had rented a few months before hand and wanted to play again...

Well, my Father isn't all that with it when it came/comes to technology so he didn't get the right one, he got Secret of Evermore. Now I don't know why but I never could get it to work properly, maybe cause of the weird savesystem that the game had at that time and my youth not understanding it, but I only could ever play it at a very late stage (dog is a poodle or such) and even then I still didn't know what I was doing. I have since replayed it with an Emulator and found it to be quite a clever game in itself...

Its completely worth the time to try it out if your ever interested in playing it yourself...

[Akura]

I asked if he could get the "Secret of Mana" something that I had rented a few months before hand and wanted to play again...

Well, my Father isn't all that with it when it came/comes to technology so he didn't get the right one, he got Secret of Evermore.

Same engine and similar name, so it's not hard to imagine mixing the two up.

Personally, I didn't like it as much as other people did. Can't really explain why.

[Aavak]

That's amusing Neyvn, as the first time I ever played this game was also when I rented it. Didn't really have enough money to buy many games outright, mostly on birthdays/Christmas, so I tended to save up and rent games and play the living daylights out of them over a weekend, lol.

As it happens, the copy of this game that I own is the very same copy I rented, I liked the game so much that I bought it once the rental store put it in the second hand bin! I did the same for Secret of Mana, too

Also, Akura, you would not be the first person I've heard say that actually. It seems that a lot of people who didn't enjoy Secret of Evermore find it a bit hard to put their finger on why they didn't enjoy it. I guess it must be something in the style and humour? Something a bit more nebulous than game mechanics or something concrete like that.

[Aavak]

It seems that once we managed to work our way into the volcano, Mud Peppers became a bit more common, which is just as well given how often we needed to use them to progress past these cunning Viper barricades. How did they manage to move these huge rocks around anyway?

But with much of the path now clear, we are now faced by a Viper Commander. We can only hope that since our last encounter we have grown much more powerful (or it has grown weaker, we'd accept that, too.)