...two and a half decades later, lolol. Also, it took me almost 3 months to do, from my initial start to finish... but actually, I liked it rather well. Even though most my play sessions were like a half hour to an hour at a time, and it went on the back-burner for a sizable chunk of December and January (when I went back to Oblivion and Skyrim, for whatever reasons). I always vaguely knew this was the multiplayer JRPG, though it was kinda hidden behind games like Chrono Trigger and the Final Fantasies. Way back in the day, I watched my younger cousin running around in it, talking to Santa Claus, etc. I remember there was a member on this site that had a Neko-themed avatar/sig combo, too, though I didn't know he was from this game (or was it a different FF forum? lolol...). I watched the two (short-lived) Game Grumps series of this, etc., etc.

I bought a SNES Classic some time in early November (total impulse buy), and this was the only RPG on it that I hadn't played, so yeah. It is also the only game I've spent a lot of time on on that system. I'll probably spend time on some other games now that I've beaten this, but anyway.

I really like this game's soundtrack. I dunno if it is my favorite OST for the SNES--that might either be Chrono Trigger's or Final Fantasy 6's--but is has some really good tunes, even with the limitations of the SNES's sounds. "Into the Thick of It," "Danger," Ceremony," and "The Oracle" come to mind, as far as that is concerned. They lent a good deal to the overall atmosphere of the game pretty well. There were a couple that weren't too great too, however, like the Dwarf City theme or the Mushroom City theme (whatever those were called). Also, the composer made this, apparently:

The character designs were also pretty charming. I liked all the goofy enemy mobs in this game the best, to be honest. "Water Thugs," "Duck GI's," "Chobin Hoods," etc. Most of them were totally non-threatening-looking, but oh well. The settings were also pretty cool.

So, pretty much what I'm saying is that the art direction and the sound direction were the two biggest draws for me, for this game.

I found the combat in this game to be really annoying. For a little bit, I was really annoyed by what I thought was a flawed hit detection, but in reality, was just the game rolling a 20-sided dice for me to see if I hit or not. When I realized that, I started to grind more, and that is when the game became a bit more of a chore for me to play. I spent a lot of time in the Todo Village and the surrounding area, grinding. That is one of my clearest memories of this game. That, and the Haunted Forest/Elinee's Castle, the second of which was probably my favorite area in the game. Though it was also the area that made me realize I needed to grind more. Somehow, it just felt the most nostalgic to me. I dunno.

While I rather enjoyed this game, it is no Chrono Trigger or Final Fantasy 6. I only have a vague understanding of the story--maybe because it took me so long to beat, but yeah. There were plot points brought up by characters late in the game, as if they'd been gone over before, that made me wonder whether they were covered earlier in the game, and I'd forgotten.
SPOILER!!:
Specifically, the fact that Popoi was going to be sent back to "his own world" after the Mana Beast was defeated. At that point, I don't even recall when the game explained that he was from a different world, lol...
On the other hand, there was apparently a lot of the game that was cut out, too, because it was originally going to be a game for the SNES CD-ROM add-on, or whatever.

This game doesn't inspire really strong emotions in me, I guess. It was fun while it lasted. It's worth playing, if you're into retro gaming at all.