Assignment 12: Games as a Medium

"Whisper And Mantra" by Natalie Palumbo

One of my favorite games from childhood is the Super Nintendo game “Secret Of Mana,” also known as Seiken Densetsu 2 in the Japanese release. When I was very young, I would watch my older brother (who has low-verbal autism) play this game for hours. It was the first time I witnessed expansive storytelling through a game, and we both loved the music. The main characters were given official names in later iOS releases. However, in the early SNES port, you could input any name you wanted for all three main characters. I would beg my brother to type “Natalie” as the girl character (later known as “Primm.”) Only six typed characters were allowed, so my name was entered as “NATTIE.” This ended up sticking with me as a nickname.

A major feature of this game is the sound effects and the original soundtrack. One of my favorite songs entitled “Into The Thick Of It” actually pushes the sound quality on the Super Nintendo to the limit bordering on more realistic sound and emotionally driven melodies. The composer, Hikori Kikuta, had only composed soundtracks for three games, including Secret of Mana. While he never had any formal musical training, his influences came from movie scores and orchestral soundtracks. From time to time, I will listen to the soundtrack from “Secret of Mana” while I'm working and missing my brother.

The main character, Randi, along with two boys from the village of Potos, disobey their Elders and trespass to the local waterfall where there is rumor of a lost treasure. Randi accidentally stumbles into the lake when he hears a disembodied voice guiding him to a rusty sword embedded in stone. The voice instructs him to free the sword, and monsters are released along with the sword. Randi is then banished from the village of Potos forever.

Randi meets a traveling knight named Jema. The knight encourages him to re-energize the sword by visiting the Mana Temples. Randi meets Primm (a magical healer) and Popoi (A Mana sprite abandoned with no memory of his family), and they all decide to go on the quest together. (Sprites live through the existence of Mana.) The Emperor starts pursuing the young travelers because of the potential power of the Mana Sword. The main antagonist is an ancient sorcerer named Thanatos who is manipulating the Emperor and his followers. Thanatos claims he wants to create a “new peaceful world”. The sorcerer's body is deteriorating, so he wants a young body to possess and continue his hunt for the Mana Fortress. He captures a boy named Dyluck, and a girl named Phanna, and plans to possess Dyluck for his final quest.

The Empire unsealed all eight Mana Seeds for Thanatos who promised them “peace” for their effort. However, Thanatos betrays and murders them so he can seize control of the Mana Fortress for his own power. Randi, Primm, and Popoi locate the Mana Tree to re-energize the sword, which is the focal point of the world’s life energy. Thanatos, who anticipates their arrival, positions the Mana Fortress over the tree and destroys it. The charred remains of the tree speaks to the three heroes to warn them that a giant dragon, known as the Mana Beast, will be summoned to combat the fortress. Despite the good intentions of the dragon, the tree warns it has little control over its rage, and is likely destroy the world while destroying the fortress. The tree reveals she was once the wife of Serin, the original Mana Knight, and he was Randi’s father. She further reveals that she was the disembodied voice guiding Randi at the waterfall.

The three heroes travel to the Mana Fortress to confront Thanatos, who is attempting to transfer his mind into Dyluck. With his last burst of energy, Dyluck warns that Thanatos sold his soul to the underworld, and is restricted from gaining control of the Fortress. Dyluck then commits suicide, which forces Thanatos to take the form of a skeletal lich. The three heroes defeat this form when Mana Beast arrives to attack the Mana Fortress. Randi is apprehensive about killing the beast because if the Mana are dispersed, Popoi (being a sprite who exists through Mana), will disappear. Despite this, Popoi encourages Randi to slay the beast with full energy from the Mana Sword. The Dragon explodes and transforms into snow, and Popoi is transformed into a spirit. At the end of the game, Randi places the Mana Sword back in it’s original location beneath the Potos Waterfall.

One of the most interesting aspects of this game is the complexity of the attack system and items used for battle. The functions were designed for players to customize gameplay. Even though I was too young to appreciate the design complexities, I was still able to enjoy the game visuals, characters, story, music, and the animated elements. While I never got around to completing the game (since I preferred to watch my brother play while I did my schoolwork), I sincerely consider “Secret of Mana” one of my artistic influences. Being low-verbal with autism, my brother and I still bond over things we loved as children. The soundtrack alone takes me right back to my childhood. I hear the music and I'm little again sitting happily on the couch next to my big brother watching him play.