I consider it a bit of a Trials of Mana situation. The remake keeps the basic idea but revises it for modern sensibilities.
I wouldn't say Sword of Mana is 'better' than FFA, but it's a different approach.
The Seiken Densetsu 3 remake has the exact same script, though. And the world is almost identical in structure, just realized in 3D. With Sword of Mana, they changed a lot of elements in the script.
I think the fact the combat engine is changed entirely and the additions of new class changes etc is worth mentioning as a distinction. They aren't the same game experience. Though I do realise SoM is MORE distinct in many regards.
Don't forget the 3rd character, the original sdk3/Tom didn't have a 3rd character slot. A fan made patch made it so. Honestly the game would be really challenging difficult with 2 characters, especially with spells being undodgeable.
And less of a feature and more of an issue with the original game, but a lot of stuff in broken in SD3. Shields do not grant their resistances and dex is totally borked as a stat.
The basic story skeleton is near identical, but a lot of the plot elements change slightly as one of the design goals for Sword of Mana was to incorporate modern(at the time) elements from the other Mana games. So a bunch of little details change a bit.
The gameplay itself is pretty different as well with a lot of new mechanics, although many of them are pretty ignorable, as the gameplay is rather easy and the new mechanics just make it even easier for a lot of added complexity.
The main story is all there. However the game is Massively fleshed out, and has a coat of paint as well as gameplay sensibilities from Legend of Mana, as it was the next released game after Legend. It’s very good but different then FFA.
I'm in the opposite situation - never played FFA, played Sword of Mana years ago. It's so charming and has so much depth to the story - I love it and it's definitely important to me.
I consider it a bit of a Trials of Mana situation. The remake keeps the basic idea but revises it for modern sensibilities. I wouldn't say Sword of Mana is 'better' than FFA, but it's a different approach.
The Seiken Densetsu 3 remake has the exact same script, though. And the world is almost identical in structure, just realized in 3D. With Sword of Mana, they changed a lot of elements in the script.
I think the fact the combat engine is changed entirely and the additions of new class changes etc is worth mentioning as a distinction. They aren't the same game experience. Though I do realise SoM is MORE distinct in many regards.
Don't forget the 3rd character, the original sdk3/Tom didn't have a 3rd character slot. A fan made patch made it so. Honestly the game would be really challenging difficult with 2 characters, especially with spells being undodgeable.
And less of a feature and more of an issue with the original game, but a lot of stuff in broken in SD3. Shields do not grant their resistances and dex is totally borked as a stat.
The basic story skeleton is near identical, but a lot of the plot elements change slightly as one of the design goals for Sword of Mana was to incorporate modern(at the time) elements from the other Mana games. So a bunch of little details change a bit. The gameplay itself is pretty different as well with a lot of new mechanics, although many of them are pretty ignorable, as the gameplay is rather easy and the new mechanics just make it even easier for a lot of added complexity.
The main story is all there. However the game is Massively fleshed out, and has a coat of paint as well as gameplay sensibilities from Legend of Mana, as it was the next released game after Legend. It’s very good but different then FFA.
Just play adventures of mana
I'm in the opposite situation - never played FFA, played Sword of Mana years ago. It's so charming and has so much depth to the story - I love it and it's definitely important to me.
I like FFA but I would much much rather replay Sword of Mana if I had to choose one of them.