Trials of Mana (2020)

• Simplistic JRPG with real time combat and cute monsters
• Combat and progression systems are too simple, but mindlessly mashing ◯◯△ is fun for a time
• Re-arranged soundtrack is a nice upgrade from the (timeless) original
• Low production value: lifeless environments, awkward cut-scenes and bad voice acting (JP)
• Very forgettable cookie-cutter story

Overall a downgrade from the gorgeous 1995 game, but still a serviceable low-stress distraction.

Trials of Mana is a remastered version of the classic 1995 RPG for the PlayStation 4 that has received widespread praise for its updated graphics, enhanced gameplay, and true-to-the-original storyline. The music of the game is a standout feature, with a rich and immersive soundtrack that perfectly complements the game's world and characters.

The job system in Trials of Mana is another highlight, offering a unique and engaging gameplay loop that keeps players engaged and coming back for more. The system allows players to choose from a variety of different classes, each with its own strengths and weaknesses, and offers a great deal of replay value as players can experiment with different combinations and play styles.

The character design in Trials of Mana is cute and charming, with a cast of memorable and likable heroes and villains. Although some characters may be objectively better than others, the game's replay value is further enhanced by the fact that players can choose to play as any of the six main characters, each with their own unique story and perspective.

Overall, Trials of Mana is a fantastic RPG that is well worth the time and effort required to platinum it. Despite being a bit under the radar, this game is a hidden gem that is sure to delight fans of the genre and newcomers alike.

Finished Charlotte's route on Hard. I think this version is better than the original in every way! I've said a lot in statuses, so real quick bullet points for your reading pleasure.

• Graphics are basic, but nice, but also a bit uneven. Some areas have great details and beautiful vistas, the water always looks very nice, but characters vary between "this looks like it was made before 2020" and "uncanny valley, yikes Kevin that smile is creepy."
• Combat is much more engaging, strategic, and FUN, than the original.
• New abilities in level ups are needlessly complicated and contribute very little, except for some strategies with the hardest difficulties.
• The translation is clear, voice acting is good, but sometimes text goes by too fast to catch everything. Particularly in transitions from cut scenes into battles, of which there are many.
• The music is the same as the original, but recorded with orchestra and modern synths. I've never loved this score, but it sounds very nice. This is what they should have done with the SOM remake.
• The adjustable difficulty is a nice touch. The game was challenging all the way until the last boss, which for some reason was much easier than everything else. I'm in the post game now, so we'll see how this goes.
• You still have to do the stupid seed farming to get weapons and class change items, but they've done away with gear seeds, and it seems easier to get what you need, despite there being less drops (in my experience).

Trials of Mana is a remake of a game that came out in 1995 on the SNES and never released outside of japan until just recently when they added a translated version of the game in the collection of mana game on the nintendo switch.

This game has 6 main protagonists that you can see the story through. They are: Duran, An swordsman serving the king of Valsena. One night, the kingdom is attacked by the crimson wizard of Altena. Duran is powerless against him, so he leaves his kingdom vowing to get stronger and seek revenge against the crimson wizard. So He leaves to travel to Wendell to ask the priest of light about how to switch to a stronger class. Angela, The daughter of the queen of Altena, which is a kingdom of magicians, however she cannot perform magic. One day she learns her mother is planning to sacrifice Angela to the mana stone to unlock its power. Hearing this, she uses her magic power she's unaware she has, and warps out of Altena before she is captured, upon the advice of a fortune teller she eventually meets, she decides to heads to Wendell to seek the priest of light for guidance. Charlotte, The granddaughter of the priest of light. One day the priest of light senses a evil disturbance in the nearby city, Jadd stronghold and sends a boy named Heath to investigate, who is also in the priest of light's care and I guess is like a brother to Charlotte. Charlotte overhears the priest of light's conversation with Heath and, having some kind of premonition of Heath being in danger, sneaks out to stop him. her premonition ends up being true and some weird guy named Goremand ends up kidnapping Heath. So Charlotte leaves to save Heath. Kevin, a Beastman, is the prince of Ferolia. He is the son of a Beastman and a human mother who is no longer around. So he never could fit in with the Beastman, or the humans. He eventually met a wolf pup that he names Karl which helps him throughout his lonely days. One day however, Karl suddenly becomes a monster at the request of the king of Ferolia to Goremand to demonstrate his powers. Kevin's Beastman side takes over and Kevin strikes Karl down. Kevin buries Karl in a grave he made for him and returns to Ferolia where he learns that the Beastman are planning an invasion on the holy city Wendell. He then overhears the king congratulating Goremand on his spell on Karl, Enraged at the king, Kevin lunges at him only to get thrown out of the castle. Kevin then leaves Ferolia behind to find a way to bring Karl back to life and the whereabouts of his mother (which I think is never even touched upon in his story after he mentioned her in that scene, he never brings her up again o.o) So he sets out for Wendell. Riesz, An Amazonian Warrior and the Princess of Laurent. One day, her Brother is tricked by two ninjas named Bill and Ben, and turns off the protective winds of Laurent and kidnaps him. Laurent is then invaded by Navarl. Riesz's father, the king of Laurent is fatally wounded in the invasion. Riesz manages to escape and heads to Wendell to seek counsel from the priest of light. And finally, there's Hawkeye, A member of noble thieves based in the Navarl fortress. One day, the thieves guild leader, Flamekhan declares Navarl to be a kingdom now. Hawkeye talks about this with Flamekhan's children, Eagle and Jessica as this wasn't like Flamekhan. So Hawkeye and Eagle confront Flamekhan about this while he's talking to his assistant, Isabella. We find out she is controlling Flamekhan. She then casts a spell on Eagle, which makes him attack Hawkeye, Hawkeye defeats Eagle, Isabella then finishes off Eagle and then casts the blame on Hawkeye, so he gets thrown into a prison cell. While he is awaiting to be executed, Isabella tells him how she has placed a Cursed Necklace on Jessica and if he tells anyone what happened with eagle or if Isabella dies, the cursed necklace will end up killing Jessica. Hawkeye's friend, Niccolo manages to get him out out of his cell by blowing up the wall. Hawkeye then travels to Wendell to find out a way to break the curse on Jessica.

The six characters all have a paired or similar storyline, Angela and Duran, Charlotte and Kevin, and Riesz and Hawkeye. other than that, the storyline for most of the game will end up being the same, you'll fight most of the same bosses and go to the same locations finding the 8 elementals, and fighting the 8 Benevodons. the story doesn't really have its unique change until chapter 4 when the characters' antagonist ends up defeating the other two antagonists of the other two paired storylines.

But yeah that's pretty much a summery of the storyline's beginning for the six protagonists. Now I have to say that once again this is a remake of a game that released on the SNES in 1995 and the 3D environment of this world is incredible! you can see how much work when into remaking this world in 3D. I've never played the original one and I admit, I'd love to actually try it out one day. But the way they made the whole world into a 3d game instead of top down like it's original, it's extremely impressive and beautiful, like these characters are amazing remade in 3d, I have a huge crush on Angela now, like Hubba-Hubba! o.o

But I do have to say, despite the world being incredible, the lip synch and voice acting was pretty hard to enjoy, it just feels quite out of place most of the time for me. like charlotte's crying animation, I can't tell if she's crying or laughing with how she's looking :P by the end of the game, when we get to the final boss, Faerie has like 5 words to say and it's taking her like 10 seconds to finish her line as I think her lips are moving constantly with no sound coming out o.o So yeah that felt pretty off.

The gameplay is pretty enjoyable and probably one of its best features for me. Certain enemies might have a shield over them while you are attacking them, I didn't realize it on my first file, but you can easily get rid of that by charging up your strong attack with the triangle button. like a warriors kind of game, you can perform different unique attacks, by combining the square and triangle buttons. X to jump and Circle to roll. Hold L2 and press one of the four action buttons to perform one of your special attacks called Class Strike, which requires CS, you can replenish your CS just by attacking enemies or by breaking the blue jars. Once you reach a certain level in the game, you can change your Class, I believe there are 9 different classes for each character, their starting classes (class 1), then once you reach level 18, you can switch to class 2, there are two classes you can switch too. Then when you reach level 38 and find a specific item for the class, you can switch to class 3, there are 4 classes in class 3, depending on which class you picked in class 2 you'll be able to turn into 2 of the 4 classes. And then finally, once you beat the main game, you'll have a post game story to do which opens up the ability to reach Class 4 once you do the characters special mission to get the sphere item you need for them to achieve class 4, I'm pretty sure there's only two classes for class 4, I'm not sure if it depends on which class you chose on the class 2 route or if it depends on if you chose the light or dark class for class 3 but yeah usually for me, the dark classes looked better so I tended to go that route lol.

As for the Soundtrack, as I always feel the need to say, I don't really know too much about osts and what makes a good Ost, but I did like a few of them throughout the game, they were called Lefthanded Wolf, Different Road, Nuclear Fusion, and Frenzy.

And Finally the rating, After clocking in at least 200 hours, and playing through 3 playthroughs for my platinum, I would rate this game as a 7/10

The Mana series is something that many people seemed to be fond of back in the SNES era. Among the games, Seiken Densetsu 3 is considered a cult classic of sorts, as it never saw a western release until the Trials of Mana remake. I myself never tried any of the Mana games as a kid and had no attachment to the series. I tried playing SD3 with a good friend of mine long ago and quite frankly we couldn’t really bear to make it through. I remember at the time our biggest problem with the game was how incredibly backtracky the game was in the beginning with very little gameplay in between. Said gameplay was also pretty janky though that wasn’t a surprise for an SNES game trying to do action RPG combat. The story wasn’t particularly captivating either nor was the music memorable so it was a game we quickly dropped, though it was a bit fun just by the nature of a coop game being fun with a good friend, regardless of whether it’s bad or good. With the remake, I decided to give it another chance as it was more modernized and I had hope it would rectify my previous issues with cleaner combat, remastered music, and better storytelling/narrative. It… really didn’t do much of that.

The combat is certainly cleaner though it’s honestly pretty barebones for an action rpg in the current times. Your “combos” are incredibly simple and if you happen to pick specific characters for your party you really won’t interact with anything but your basic combos, as anyone not named Angela doesn’t get anything resembling magic or skills until much later on. Co-op is gone which is a shame because the AI is not very good and is prone to dying in the early game if you’re not quickly switching to them to dodge attacks. Especially on hard. Once you make it past the early game though, even on hard the game becomes laughably easy as no enemy poses any real danger that isn’t just basic attacks or the occasional magic spell. Bosses have telegraphed indicators for all their attacks on top of their pool of skills being very limited and won’t really do much to mix things up. It’s quite possible that the game was actually much harder on the SNES due to the nature of the clunkiness of the console.

The story is… not much of anything either. While I don’t want to say it’s bad, it’s really simple and very forgettable. Its only saving grace is the voice acting which is so bad that it borders on being good for its comical value. After getting to the ghost ship I’m almost certain it was done badly on purpose. Even the Japanese voices, while less noticeable, are also pretty bad. I really dislike only ever having three characters in your party because they could have just as easily made it like any other rpg where you can switch your members and experience everyone’s story instead of having to do multiple playthroughs to see everything. Which even then I don’t think its worth it as no one’s story ever really deviates aside from their intro and very few specific bosses. Nor are their stories very interesting to begin with. There’s no sidequests either so the only thing resembling any sort of world building is through its “story” or the mundane things NPC’s say. Which isn’t much of anything either.

Really, I can’t see the appeal of the game in any aspect other than nostalgia. I’m certain that at the time it was definitely a feat to have a game of this caliber be action rpg and co-op. Though with co-op removed and the remake not doing anything to evolve the gameplay or story other than making it prettier, I’d be hard pressed to ever recommend this game to anyone not a fan of the series or the original game when better action JRPG’s already exist. At the steep price of 50$ at that too.