A whole lot of thoughts on Ever Oasis for the Nintendo 3DS

I bought a copy of Ever Oasis all the way back in early 2018--when Walmart was clearing out its stock of 3DS games for some reason or other. Sadly, it sat on a shelf, unopened and unloved, until a couple of weeks ago.

While considering which game I should take on vacation with me at that time, my stress-addled brain kindly reminded me of Ever Oasis. So, I stuck the cart into my trusty OG 3DS and tossed the whole she-bang into my carry-on bag.

Surprisingly, I avoided both like the plague on my nine-hour flight as well as throughout the rest of my two-week vacation. I came to my senses on the trip home, though. Not only did I start my way through Ever Oasis during this lengthy leg of the journey, but I put more than four hours into its desert-focused adventure before I landed in Austin.

If you follow me on Facebook or Twitter, you may have seen the posts I've published in the week-plus since I returned home that extol Ever Oasis' virtues. None of them went into much detail about why I've enjoyed the title so much up to now (or which aspects have done their darndest to keep me from enjoying it), though, so I thought I'd rectify that here.



It's gorgeous--Visually, Ever Oasis reminds me of a trio of other games I similarly adore: Fantasy Life, Miitopia, and Secret of Mana. All three are cute as buttons and feature chibi-ish character and enemy designs, of course, but that's only part of what I'm talking about here. The main aspect that ties these four titles together for me is they all use warm, soft color palettes that call to mind sherbet and beachy sunsets. As a result, I basically never tire of looking at them--Ever Oasis, in particular.

The soundtrack gives off serious Secret of Mana vibes, too--And by that I mostly mean there's a breezy, laidback feel to the bulk of it. The rest is made up of atmospheric tunes and tunes that are bombastically epic. All in all, it's an pleasingly eclectic soundtrack that cuts its own path while also offering a bit of nod to one Hiroki Kikuta forged many years earlier.

Fighting in Ever Oasis is a ton of fun--In fact, combat in this game feels a lot like the combat that's front and center in another 3DS game I just mentioned, Fantasy Life. I'd argue it's even more satisfying here, though, thanks to the fact you typically control a three-member party, and each party member tends to hoist different weapons and have different abilities that can be put to creative use while exploring as well as in battle.



I love the unique weapon designs--I'm especially smitten with the hammers wielded by Ever Oasis' portly, frog-like Serkah characters. One has a spiky cactus for a head. Another is capped with a giant pinecone. All of them put a smile on my face. The same is true of many of this game's other weapons, too--from its bolas, to its bows, to its magical wands. Sadly, only Serkahs can use the aforementioned hammers, but that's a pretty minor complaint, all things considered.

That said, I think there are too many weapons in Ever Oasis--I can't believe I'm saying such a thing, to be honest. Usually, I welcome any and all weapons an RPG is willing to throw at me. In Ever Oasis, though, you have to craft--or "synthesize"--the vast majority of them out of materials you collect while in the field. Only a select few can be bought from one of the game's rarely encountered merchants. As a result, you quickly build up a sizable cache of weapon "recipes" that overwhelms more than it impresses.

On the flipside, I wish there were more outfits in the game--I've found about seven turbans so far and maybe 15 coats or robes. That's not a whole lot, especially compared to the slew of weapons Ever Oasis offers up. Still, I'd be fine with this dearth of clothing options if what was available were more useful. Instead, the coats and robes and turbans are purely superficial. Accessories like anklets and rings and mirrors do boost your defenses in a couple of ways, but they're not visible during play--another big bummer for me.



The strategic aspect of the dungeon-crawling here is surprisingly engaging and intriguing--It's quite Zelda-esque in this regard. In fact, one could argue it one-ups Nintendo's classic series now and then thanks to the vast number of ways you can solve its puzzles. An unfortunate downside of this aspect of the game: you have to switch out party members with annoying regularity. Doing so is a lot easier than it could be thanks to the game's "aqua gate" function, but it's still pretty exhausting.

Speaking of which, I'd like this game even more than I do now if I could switch out party members via the pause menu--Considering the "aqua gate" mechanism I just referred to is far from realistic, I wish Ever Oasis' developers had taken things one step further and let players change party members quickly and easily via the game's pause menu.

That seems to be Ever Oasis' only missing "quality of life" component, however--Ever Oasis may fumble a bit with the above, but it makes up for it elsewhere. Don't like gardening? Ask some of your residents to handle it for you. Restocking their shops--or "Bloom Booths"--with materials you gather while spelunking is made similarly easy after a certain point. Early on, you have to go door to door to accomplish this task; later, it requires little more than the press of a button. The game is full of such shortcuts, and they help make it as tedium-free as possible.



I could do without a lot of this game's town-building and NPC-pleasing--Many like to describe Ever Oasis as a spiritual successor to Square Enix's Mana series. And while that makes some sense--especially since Secret of Mana's director, Koichi Ishii, also served as this title's director--it only tells half the story. That's because overworld-stalking and dungeon-crawling are just a part of Ever Oasis' gameplay loop. The other part focuses on town-building, material-gathering, and NPC-pleasing. Those actions are a nice diversion at first, but for me they became increasingly tiresome and time-consuming as I delved ever deeper into the game.

It's a crying shame you can't recruit any of the adorable Noots as party members--As much as I like the designs of most of Ever Oasis' controllable characters (of which there are many), I can't help but feel sad the developers of the title didn't allow players to add even one of the game's cute-as-hell Noot beings to their dungeon-crawling parties. Maybe they saved it for a sequel?

Note: the screenshots showcased here are from this wonderful Ever Oasis walkthrough and guide

Nice Package! (Seiken Densetsu 2 and 3, Super Famicom)

Square Enix's recent unveiling of the Seiken Densetsu Collection for Switch (due out in Japan on June 1) prompted me to think about a few games I haven't pondered in years.

Specifically, it prompted me to think about Seiken Densetsu 2 and 3, which were released for the Super Famicom in 1993 and 1995, respectively. (The former came to North America later the same year it hit Japan, while other regions had to wait until 1994.)

Actually, I mostly thought about Seiken Densetsu 2, known as Secret of Mana in the West. That's because I've never played the third Seiken Densetsu game, although I was keenly aware of and interested it in the run-up to its Japanese release.

Anyway, back to Seiken Densetsu 2, I remember when it first started appearing in North American game magazines like Electronic Gaming Monthly and DieHard GameFan, which often referred to it as Final Fantasy Adventure 2.



I loved everything about it from the word go--the colorful backdrops, the surprisingly large (for the time) character and enemy sprites, the plethora of useable weapons and the real-time combat.

I'm pretty sure my brother and I obtained this game as soon as we were able, which likely meant I received it as a birthday gift or we got it for Christmas.

Regardless, we spent a lot of time playing through it together shortly after it hit store shelves in our neck of the woods.

Is there any chance I'll finish Secret of Mana--or Seiken Densetsu 2--if I pick up a copy of the Seiken Densetsu Collection for Switch? (You can pre-order it via amiami.com, by the way.) I kind of doubt it, but who knows?



Far more likely would be for me to finish the first Seiken Densetsu--renamed Final Fantasy Adventure when it was brought to North America--or even Seiken Densetsu 3.

Speaking of the original Seiken Densetsu, here's a post I wrote and published about its beautiful packaging (outer box, cartridge and manual) a while back.

Of course, this post is supposed to be about the beautiful packaging the folks at Square Enix--Squaresoft back then, actually--produced for Seiken Densetsu 2 and 3, so maybe I should start talking about that.

On that note, I think the photos included throughout this write-up are pretty self-explanatory, don't you think?

One comment I'd like to add: Seiken Densetsu 2's box art (see top photo) is one of my all-time favorites.

Also, the clay models of that game's main characters, which can be seen in the snapshot of its instruction booklet, have always brought a smile to my face.

Seiken Densetsu 3's manual is pretty awesome, too--its cover, especially.

What do you think of the boxes, cartridges and manuals made for Seiken Densetsu 2 and 3? And what do you think of the games themselves, if you've played them?

See also: previous 'Nice Package!' posts about Cid to Chocobo no Fushigi na Dungeon (DS), Final Fantasy (Famicom) and Shining Force (Mega Drive)

Some of my favorite SNES games in honor of the system's 25th anniversary

If you asked me earlier in the week what I did back on Aug. 23, 1991, I would've answered, "I have absolutely no idea."

Today, though, I know exactly what I did on that date: I, along with my older brother and our parents, waltzed into the local Toys R Us (or Shopko, or Kohl's--I can't remember this particular detail) and bought a Super Nintendo Entertainment System.

It was the first game system I ever got the day it came out, by the way. Previously--with the NES, TurboGrafx-16 and GameBoy--I waited months or even years before jumping on board.

There was no way my brother and I were going to wait for the SNES, though. Both of us had followed the console's development and Japanese release like our lives depended on it, so we did whatever we had to do to ensure we'd be able to nab Nintendo's second system the minute it was available.

Sadly, that meant selling our precious NES and our enviable catalog of games. (The latter included such treasures as Bionic Commando, Duck Tales, R.C. Pro-Am and pretty much every other Nintendo-published title worth owning.)

On the flip side, it allowed us to get our hands on a SNES and a copy of Super Mario World pronto, so at the time the sacrifice seemed acceptable.

I still have that SNES, by the way. I also still have a handful of the carts my brother and I accumulated in the years that followed the console's debut--Final Fantasy II, Final Fantasy III and Yoshi's Island among them.

Speaking of which, none of those games are discussed in this nostalgia-filled post that's supposed to celebrate the SNES' 25th anniversary. Also ignored here: A Link to the Past, EarthBound, Super Mario Kart and Super Metroid.

That's not because I dislike any of those classic games, mind you. On the contrary, I dearly love each and every one of them. No, the reason I'm not devoting any space to them is they're honored all the time (and rightfully so) for their greatness.

You'll also notice no Japan-only SNES--or Super Famicom, if you want to be technical--games are named here. That's because Aug. 23 was the 25th anniversary of the console's North American launch. So, I'll only ruminate about that region's releases. (Believe me, if I expanded this write-up's reach in that way, it'd feature blurbs about Ace wo Nerae, Pop'n TwinBee, Tetris Battle Gaiden, Torneko no Daibouken, Umihara Kawase and more.)

What does that leave? It leaves the following nine SNES titles, all of which are near and dear to my heart, and all of which did a stupendous job of showing what Nintendo's entry in the 16-bit game-system wars was capable of when the right people were involved.

ActRaiser--I still remember my initial reaction to this early SNES game. Teenage me thought it was so beautiful that someone at developer Quintet must have sold his or her soul to create such brilliance. Do I feel that way today about this ambitious title, which dares to combine the action-platformer and city-building genres? Yes and no. On the positive side, ActRaiser's looks still bring tears to my eyes. I also continue to appreciate some of its bold gameplay choices. On the negative side, though, I find the side-scrolling sections to be a bit stiff and unforgiving these days. Oh, well, as they say: two out of three ain't bad.

Final Fantasy Mystic Quest--Unlike ActRaiser, this Final Fantasy spin-off (in Japan it was called Final Fantasy USA) didn't immediately trip my trigger. In fact, I turned my nose up at it for a good long while. What changed? I rented it one weekend when no other game appealed to me. What I discovered during the ensuing two days was that, while the game strays far from the traditional Final Fantasy fold, it does so in some really interesting ways. (Much like Square's Mana and SaGa series.) I especially like the rock-leaning soundtrack conjured up by Ryuji Sasai and Yasuhiro Kawakami.

The Legend of the Mystical Ninja--It's kind of hard to believe this game, part of Konami's long-running Goemon series, made the trip across the pond when it did. At the time, most "wacky Japanese" titles stayed put in their countries of origin. Thankfully, the higher-ups at the company that Castlevania built took a chance on this one. It's still one of the system's best looking and sounding games, in my opinion--despite the fact that it's one of its earlier offerings.

Pocky & Rocky--Here's another unconventional game (according to Western tastes, at least) that a company had to take a chance on and that immediately appealed to me. I've got to say that I like this scrolling shooter, which actually is a sequel to Taito's KiKi KaiKai, a bit more than the action-adventure title mentioned above. Every single aspect of it is spot-on--a fact that explains why even loose copies of it tend to go for shy-high prices on both sides of the globe.

Secret of Mana--I know it's now popular to poo-poo this action RPG, but I love it. Always have, always will. Granted, you're talking to someone who gleefully ogled early screenshots of this "real-time Final Fantasy" for what seemed like ages before it finally saw the light of day. Plus, for me, its still-stunning aesthetics and wide variety of weaponry trump any of its gameplay or performance niggles.

Stunt Race FX--Did Nintendo's first Super FX title, Star Fox, blow me away upon it release in early 1993? You bet it did. To be honest, though, this second such game blew me away even more. That's likely because Stunt Race FX's genre and graphical stylings are more my cup of tea than those of its rail-shooter counterpart. Sadly, it's harder to ignore this game's big flaws--a pitifully low frame rate and a slow overall speed--these days than when it first hit store shelves. Even so, I continue to take it for a spin now and then just to bask in its goofy, googly-eyed glow.

Super Bowling--Although no one's likely to call this KID-made sports cart one of the SNES' best offerings, that doesn't mean it's not one of its most enjoyable--especially if you're in the mood for a multi-player romp. There's not a ton of depth here, admittedly, but the various characters, as well as ball, lane and gameplay options, provide more than enough content--not to mention fun--to make the price of admission worthwhile if the idea of a digital bowling title sounds interesting to you.

Super Tennis--This is one of a handful of video games produced by Japanese textbook publisher Tokyo Shoseki, so you might assume it's a bit of a turd. In reality, it's one of the best tennis titles ever created. It's not the most realistic, mind you, but it controls so well and feels so smooth that only the biggest tennis snobs will care. My only complaint: after you've spent a good amount of time with it, you'll be able to pick off most of the computer-controlled opponents with ease.

Zombies Ate My Neighbors--My brother, friends and I put an ungodly amount of time into this cartoonish run-and-gunner back in the day. That's the only way to play Zombie Ate My Neighbors, by the way--with another person sitting by your side. Which is too bad, in a way, as the designers and developers at LucasArts did a bang-up job on the game's controls, music, looks and even humor. The fact is, though, it's just not much fun if you go it alone. So, be sure to grab a pal or lover--or both--before you boot it up to get the best experience.

Another Year of the GameBoy: Seiken Densetsu

Like most people my age who have enjoyed video games since they were youngsters, I distinctly remember my reaction to Seiken Densetsu's unveiling in the early 1990s.

"It's like Final Fantasy and The Legend of Zelda blended together!"

(And in case you're wondering, yes, this is the exact same reaction I had to Secret of Mana's unveiling a few years later--which makes sense, as that game's Japanese title, as most of you surely know, is Seiken Densetsu 2.)

Did the reality of Seiken Densetsu live up to that fantasy once I finally was allowed to put it through its paces? I'd say so.

Sure, the game--renamed Final Fantasy Adventure in North America and Mystic Quest in Europe--isn't as deep as its 16-bit sequel, but it was more than deep enough for my teenage self. Hell, it's more than deep enough for my no-longer-teenage self.

Which should go a long way toward explaining why I finally picked up a complete-in-box copy of the Japanese version of this much-loved action RPG a couple of months ago.

I'm not sure why I waited so long, to be honest. I mean, just look at the photos included in this post. I'd want to own that box and cartridge and instruction manual even if I only kind of liked Seiken Densetsu's gameplay.

I especially love the little enemy illustrations that are hidden on the box's inner flaps. 

Seiken Densetsu's cartridge label is pretty darn nice, too--don't get me wrong. I guess it's the least exciting portion of this particular package thanks to the fact that it uses elements that also can be found on the front of the game's outer box, but I like that cart art is more minimalist.

As for this GameBoy title's manual, well, just take a gander at the snapshot above. A number of similarly great illustrations fill the remainder of its instruction booklet. 

Speaking of which, I'll do my best to scan and share--in another of my "Manual Stimulation" posts--the Seiken Densetsu manual in its entirety sooner rather than later. I know I've said that before, but I hope to make good on all of those promises shortly.

In the meantime, are any of you fans of Seiken Densetsu--or Mystic Quest or Final Fantasy Adventure? If so, please share your thoughts and memories in the comments section below.

See also: previous '(Another) Year of the GameBoy' and 'Nice Package!' posts

Happy ever-so-slightly belated (20th) anniversary, Secret of Mana!

On Aug. 3, 1993, one of my favorite games of all time hit store shelves across Japan. The game in question, of course, was Seiken Densetsu 2 (aka Secret of Mana).

Those of you who weren't glued to an SNES growing up may not know much about this awesome 16-bit title, so here's my horribly brief description of it: take three parts Final Fantasy (music, graphics, general RPG aspects), two parts The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past (real-time battles, top-down perspective) and another two parts "WTF in a good way" (the ability to play as three characters at once, plus the game's "Ring Command" menu system) and you have a loose approximation of the gem that was and is Secret of Mana.



I put many an hour into this expansive adventure as a teen--after spending nearly as much time drooling over early screenshots of it (back when it was still known as Final Fantasy Adventure 2 in the west) in DieHard GameFan, Electronic Gaming Monthly and other gaming rags of that era.

Sadly--and oddly, given what I just said--I haven't gone back to it for some time. Maybe I should consider doing just that after my Animal Crossing: New Leaf obsession fades a bit?

Do any of you have fond memories of this colorfully charming (as well as challenging) title? If so, I'd love to hear about them in the comments section below.

Five favorites: Super Famicom games I'd play with my husband (if he actually played games)

Why'd I decide to limit the contents of this post to Super Famicom games? Actually, my first thought was to focus on Famicom games. Shortly after, I changed my mind, broadened the scope and altered the headline to "games I'd play with my husband (if he actually played games)."

The first three games that came to mind, however, were released for the Super Famicom (or SNES, if that's your thing), so I altered the header for a second time to the one you see above.

Don't worry, I plan on writing up a "Famicom games I'd play with my husband (if he actually played games)" post soon enough, and I'll probably devote another to "PC Engine games I'd play with my husband (if he actually played games)," too.

This time around, though, I'm going to focus on the following five titles, all of which appeared on Nintendo's super second console.

1. Pocky & Rocky--Although I'm listing this Natsume release first (simply because I'm an alpha-order kind of guy), I have a pretty good feeling that it wouldn't go over all that well with the hubs if I introduced him to it early on. That's because, like most overhead run-and-guns, Pocky & Rocky can be both difficult and frustrating. Still, I think he might like the adorable protagonists and the colorfully wacky setting--you know, if he had any interest in gaming at all.

2. Sanrio World Smash Ball--Now here's a game that I think anyone would like--yes, even anti-gaming crumudeons like my husband. It's barely more than good ol' Pong turned on its side, but for various reasons--such as its selection of cute-as-buttons characters and its wonderfully cheerful soundtrack--this Tomcat System-developed, Character Soft-published title a lot more enjoyable than that ancient classic.

3. Secret of Mana--Can you believe I've only ever played this game solo? That surprises me, as my older brother and I used to play games together all the time, and I'm pretty sure he was still living at home (as opposed to in a college dorm) when I first acquired this one. Anyway, as a result, I've always wanted to see what it's like to play through this epic, Final Fantasy-meets-The Legend of Zelda ARPG with another human being. In all honesty, I think my husband would find it boring, but you never know--the pastel graphics and soothing music may just win him over.

From the back of my boyhood closet, part five

The following photo shows off the fifth (as well as sixth, seventh and eighth, I guess) game-related treasures I pulled from the closet of my childhood bedroom over the holidays. For those of you who can't quite make out the names of the SNES games in said snapshot, the one at the front of the line is Secret of Mana, followed by Final Fantasy II, Super Tennis and Yoshi's Island.

Would you believe it if I told you these games are among my all-time favorites for Nintendo's 16-bit system? Well, it's true.

Secret of Mana, for instance, will forever have a spot in my heart thanks to its lush graphics, laid-back soundtrack--and gobs of loot. Super Tennis, on the other hand, earned a place within my left ventricle (or is it my right one?) by bringing tons of late-night enjoyment to me and my childhood BFF during our frequent sleepovers.

Anyway, as stoked as I was to dig these four titles out of my old closet, I was saddened that I didn't also find a few other SNES games I know I used to own, such as Chrono Trigger, Final Fantasy III, The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past, Super Mario Kart and Super Mario World.

Oh, well, there's always eBay, right? Speaking of which, I'm going to need to pay a visit to everyone's favorite auction site at some point in the near future in order to pick up either an SNES or a Super Famicom system, as I'm currently unable to play any of the above-mentioned games.

See also: Previous 'from the back of my boyhood closet' posts