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Seiken Densetsu (聖剣伝説) is a computer role-playing game series from Square Enix (formerly Square Co., Ltd., created by Koichi Ishii.
 Seiken Densetsu 2 screenshot (Secret of Mana 1993 SNES). Started in 1991, Seiken Densetsu is known for its action (rather than turn) based battle system and fantasy theme. A literal translation of "Seiken Densetsu" gives "holy sword legend", or "Legend of the Holy Sword". Originally intended to be a handheld "Gaiden", or "side story", to Square's flagship franchise Final Fantasy, most of the Final Fantasy styling was dropped by the second installment, but this did not affect the commercial aspects of the series. In Japan, this series generally lags behind Square's Final Fantasy and SaGa in terms of sales, but Seiken Densetsu 2 still managed to sell more than 1.5 million copies domestically and more overseas.
Seiken Densetsu
Seiken Densetsu: Final Fantasy Gaiden (Final Fantasy Adventure in the U.S. and Mystic Quest in Europe), released in 1991, was the first game in the Seiken Densetsu series. Released on the original monochrome Game Boy, its gameplay was roughly similar to that of the original Legend of Zelda game. Being a Final Fantasy "Gaiden", the artistic style of the game was very similar to that of the main Final Fantasy series, down to the menu screens with the thick, shaded borders. In particular, the game bore many similarities to Final Fantasy III, which was then the most recent installment in the series. Final Fantasy mainstays, the chocobos and moogles, also made appearances here. A male character named "Sumo" (according to the manual), the protagonist, is out for vengeance of his parents, who were killed by Dark Lord. The main female character is "Fuji" (again, according to the manual). The antagonists are Julius, and the Dark Lord.
Seiken Densetsu later received a 32-bit remake for the Game Boy Advance. See "Shinyaku Seiken Densetsu" below.
Seiken Densetsu 2
Seiken Densetsu 2 (or Secret of Mana) was released for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System in 1993. It is the best known game in the Seiken Densetsu series. The gameplay is similar to that of Nintendo's The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past. SD2 also features three-player gameplay. It stars the main character Randi, a girl named Purim, and a sprite child named Popoi (either male or neuter), and a notable non-playable character named Dyluck.
One day, Randi stumbles across a sword that is thrust into a rock. Upon looking at it, there is a brilliant light, and a ghost appears telling him to remove the sword. Randi removes the sword, and uses it to cut through bushes and fight his way back into town. Upon entering town, the inhabitants are enraged at what Randi has done. It is said that the sword has protected the village for as long as anyone could remember, and removing of the sword meant that they were no longer protected. Randi was thusly banished from his hometown, Potos. A mysterious man named Jema tells Randi that he needs to recharge the sword, and that he should take it to the water palace. This is the start of the adventure.
Secret of Mana was cursed with a fixed-width (or monospace) text font and limited dialog space. This limitation caused a poor English translation. Fans addressed this problem via an emulation-related modification project, Secret of Mana: Variable Width Edition, resulting in a retranslation. It became a professional-looking translation like that of its successor Seiken Densetsu 3.
Seiken Densetsu 2 was originally announced for North American release under the title Final Fantasy Adventure II. Squaresoft (the American division of Square Co., Ltd.) developed Secret of Evermore, using the same basic engine as Secret of Mana but the graphics and scenes were tailored to a more American audience. Many fans blame Squaresoft's focus on the critically and commercially unsuccessful Evermore for preventing an American release of Seiken Densetsu 3'.
Seiken Densetsu 3
 Seiken Densetsu 3 title screen (from the fan-translated version). Seiken Densetsu 3 (or Secret of Mana 2) was released for the Super Famicom exclusively in Japan on September 30, 1995. It was originally planned to be released in North America, but Square opted in favor of Secret of Evermore, cancelling the North American localization. However, it was unofficially translated into English in the year 2000, and later into French, and German from the English fan translation project. The translation project was very complex. A variable width font was used, and it resulted in a professional looking fan translation. The title logo was changed from Kanji to Romaji. Like Final Fantasy VI and Bahamut Lagoon, Seiken Densetsu 3 has sophisticated graphics. Seiken Densetsu 3 has been regarded by many (including non-Japanese gamers) to be the best game in the Seiken Densetsu series, despite the fact that the combat and multi-player systems were simplified somewhat. Unlike in Seiken Densetsu 2, there is only one kind of weapon per character, which can be bought in stores; the forging/upgrading has been completely removed. The magic system was also slightly simplified: now, when a spell is learned, it is complete and at its full potential, without any need to level it up. Seiken Densetsu 3 introduced an interesting addition to the character evolution system, in class changing. After a character reached level 18, it could change to a more advanced form (class), which meant new spells, abilities and of course, a large improvement to the character's stats. Class changes needed a mana stone to be performed. When touching the stone, the player is asked to choose the type of the new class - either "light" or "dark". There is also a second class change at level 38, but this one requires additional items to "unseal" the incredible powers acquired by it. Like most Dragon Quest games, Seiken Densetsu 3 has a day-and-night feature. The Seiken Densetsu 3 soundtrack (composed by Hiroki Kikuta) features catchy rhythms, and lots of strings, and xylophones. Today, as of the 128-bit era, Seiken Densetsu 3 has been considered an import classic in the United States and Europe.
Seiken Densetsu 3 puts the player in the shoes of Duran, Lise, Kevin, Carlie, Hawk, and Angela. At the beginning of the game, the player chose a party of only three playable characters. Seiken Densetsu 3 generated the storyline on the basis of the player's selection of characters. Duran, the son of Loki, is the swordsman of the Kingdom of Forcena. His father died trying to defeat a powerful dragon and his mother died of an illness. Duran and his younger sister, Wendy were raised by their great aunt Stella. Lise is from the Wind Kingdom of Rolante, the kingdom that Duran saved after an attack by the soldiers of Navarre, Hawk's country. Angela is a runaway princess of Altena, the Kingdom of Magic. Carlie is the granddaughter of the priest of the Holy City Wendel, which was attacked by Kevin's homeland, the Beast Kingdom. The six characters define 3 major plots, which all share the basic situation: the Mana Tree is dying and the forces of evil are awakening throughout the world.
Square Enix has announced that there will be a new story in the Seiken Densetsu series for the Nintendo DS. While there are no details at the time of writing, many fans believe it will be a stateside release of Seiken Densetsu 3.
Seiken Densetsu 4
Seiken Densetsu 4 (Legend of Mana) was released in 2000 for the Sony PlayStation.
While featuring much of the same gameplay as its predecessors, it created a more expansive world in which the player could interact. Different areas of the game are represented using "artifacts" and placed by the player onto a "world map" (a small portion of the total map with which the player chooses to place his/her artifacts in), and different artifact placements allow the players to obtain different items, an idea later used in such games as Final Fantasy Tactics Advance. The player is also able to have temporary "sidekicks" (be they NPCs, other players, or pets/golems that you can breed/build and sell), create and temper weapons (both physical and magical(which are musical instruments) and armor, and grow crops which can be sold or fed to pets. Multiple difficulty levels and a vast quest-driven storyline made LOM a critically-acclaimed and easily-replayable favorite for many, but almost as many feel that the game doesn't live up to its' potential or the expectations it garners from being part of the Seiken Densetsu family.
Shinyaku Seiken Densetsu
Shinyaku Seiken Densetsu (Sword of Mana) is an enhanced remake of the original Game Boy Seiken Densetsu (Final Fantasy Adventure), released on the Game Boy Advance in 2003. It features two-player game play, as long as each player has a copy of the game. At the beginning of the game, the player is able to choose to play as the male lead (Sumo) or as the female lead (Fuji). They each have a different quest, however the plot remains similar. The most important thing about this remake, however, is the "de-Final Fantasification" of it -- many elements from the original that had an origin in Final Fantasy were removed in favor of elements from other Seiken Densetsu games (for example, the chocobo is replaced by Cannon Travel). One notable exception to this are moogles: they originally appeared in Final Fantasy III, but remained in the game (and also appeared in Secret of Mana). Shinyaku Seiken Densetsu was made to resemble the graphical style of Seiken Densetsu 3.
See also
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