Remaking older games can be a pretty tricky task, but Square Enix has proven that they know what it takes to remake the magic of their classic titles. With a lot of care, passion, and effort, they've managed to craft an excellent new game that still carries that 90s JRPG spirit.
Although, surprisingly, I'm not talking about Final Fantasy VII Remake this time. In a weird bit of scheduling, Square Enix has released two JRPG remakes in the same month, and it's safe to say that one of them has far overshadowed the other. It's possible that they simply forgot that this project even existed since they were in the middle of putting out one of the most highly anticipated games of all time. However, despite its lack of attention, Trial Of Mana is a solid remake of the 1995 title, that perhaps leans a little too heavily on the cliches and tropes of classic RPGs, but provides a fun,🌱 monster-slaying experience.
A Story That Was Practically Written By A Super Famicom
This is a full 3D remake of the original Trials Of Mana, AKA Seiken Densetsu 3, that was a sequel to Secret Of Mana. It was never officially released in North America until last year when it arrived as part of the 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Collection Of Mana. When it came to Final Fantasy VII Remake, Square Enix decided to take a few liberties with the game's story and change or alter some events. For the most part, these changes were pretty good and made the narrative work a lot better. Trials Of Mana, however, seems to stick incredibly close to the original plot, to the point that it's practically a perfect encapsulation of what a typical Super Nintendo JRPG plot would be.
The gist of the story is that there was a goddess who created the Sword Of Mana and fought off eight evil beings, known as the Benevodons, who were then sealed into Mana Stones. That took a lot out of the goddess, so she decided to take a long nap by turning into the Mana Tree. After several years, her magical force is fading, and humanity is beginning to go to war with each other over the last shreds of her power. One of the tree's caretakers - a fairy whose name is predictably Faerie - finds a chosen hero, bonds with them, and together they set out to find the eight elementals and obtain the Sword Of Mana to help save the world from evil.
It's about as boilerplate of a story as you could find in a JRPG, although it does have the occasional bit of wackiness thrown in. It also has the neat gimmick of six selectable heroes, one of which you choose to lead the party with two others as support. Each of the heroes has a particular main villain to pursue and the story changes based on who you pick. This adds a level of replayability as they all have different moves, classes, skillsets, and weaponry to experiment with as well. But don't expect Shakespeare here, as the individual stories aren't all that deep. One of them is so basic that it involves a knight whose literal goal is to change classes so he can beat up a wizard. You certainly won't be taken on a wild ride narratively, but it has moments of humor and is almost charmingly nostalgic in its simplicity.
This game also boasts full voice-acting, and it seems pretty obvious that most of Square Enix's casting budget went towards to FFVII Remake. The voice-acting here is spotty at best, although I thought the actors for Duran and Angela did a solid job. Almost everyone else is either grossly miscast or practically sleep-walking through their line reads. A special shout-out should go to Charlotte's voice actor who has to perform the entirety of her role while adopting an Elmer Fudd-esque speech impediment. I don't envy anyone who has to try to make a character like that sound palatable.
Slaying Adorable Animals For Fun & Profit
The combat is similar to FFVII Remake, although not quite as complex. It's an action RPG which means you whack enemies with your sword while occasionally dodging, hitting them with moves or spells, and healing the team with items. As mentioned before, each hero has their own unique class, so you can create some interesting team-ups and synergies with your three chosen characters. When they level up, you assign points to one of the five attributes, and that unlocks new moves along with abilities that can be equipped to add buffs or stat boosts. It's quite an enjoyable system and it makes for a pleasant adventure.
In fact, that's probably how I'd describe the game in general: pleasant. Trials Of Mana never becomes especially difficult. Throughout the journey, the game is absolutely littered with items, treasures, and money to pick up off the ground. You won't really need to worry about buying healing items, as your pockets will be overflowing with them. There are some challenging boss battles along the way, but for the most part, it's a pretty easy game on Normal difficulty.
But I actually didn't mind this, as Trials Of Mana is fun and breezy enough that I had a great time even when I wasn't being pushed to my limits. There was just enough going on in the battles to keep my attention and engagement. For all you hardcore RPG players though, you may want to try it on Hard mode to kick things up a notch.
The Nostalgic Sights & Sounds
The graphics are colorful and lively, but the characters can sometimes look a little dead-eyed and blank. Especially during some of the cut scenes where the mouths barely open and everyone moves with stiff, awkward animations. It kind of reminded me of the early days of cut scenes, like something from a Sonic Adventure game. Trials Of Mana probably wouldn't have looked out of place if it came out in the latter days of the Xbox 360 or PlayStation 3. There were also some times where you can clearly see the textures loading in and some strange instances of the framerate chugging to about 20 FPS.
While the graphics are a little bland, the soundtrack is full of incredibly catchy versions of Trials Of Mana songs. Most of the overworld music is a collection of earworms led by woodwinds and marimbas that I still have caught in my head. They're not full orchestrations, but they sound great and provide some nice tunes to smack rabites to.
Even Without Cloud Or Motorcycle Chases, It's A Pretty Good RPG
Trials Of Mana is undeniably the second-best JRPG remake Square Enix has made this year, but that's not a complete knock on the game. It was never going to receive the same attention as Final Fantasy VII Remake in terms of development or fanfare, but what's here is still delightful. It's a light, fluffy little title that still has the fun gameplay of a JRPG and the feeling of a lost SNES classic that most of us in North America never got to play.
If you want a game that offers some simple yet addictive combat mechanics and a relaxed atmosphere with just enough challenge, then Trials Of Mana is a great 🍎choice for a game to play after you come down from the high of escaping Midgar.
A PlayStation 4 copy of Trials Of Mana was provided to TheGamer for this review. Trials Of Mana is availabl𒈔e on Playstation 4,♉ PC, and Nintendo Switch.
Trials of Mana is a full remake of the SNES cꦿlassic RPG, as six heroes from different backgrounds seek the fabled Mana Sword. It reworks everything from the graphics to the control system, adding new mechanics to freshen up the action.