

When a stat reaches a set amount, that character will gain a new ability or permanent buff. When one of your characters levels up they get an ability point to put in towards one stat. The amount of combos starts disappointingly low and may lead to many people finding the gameplay stale, but thankfully there’s enough to mess around with in items usable in battle and special abilities you gain by leveling up. It’s a standard action game with a light and heavy attack, and combining them in different ways lets you perform a range of combos.

It feels less clunky to engage in battles and thanks to the 3D perspective and lock-on mechanic I never felt like I missed an attack unless it was actually my fault. From what I played of the original I have to say that I enjoyed the combat here much more. Each character has a different kind of class type and unique moveset that grows the more you play. What Trials of Mana excels at is its main characters, in both how they respond to the events around them and how their personalities end up showing through in the gameplay. It’s a very ambitious goal to recreate the sprawling world of the original game in 3D, and the world looks absolutely gorgeous in the game’s art style, but it seemed that the animation budget was an afterthought. The dramatic moments didn’t land to me thanks to the very stilted presentation of the character animation and cinematography but for the most part, I think the game does very well for being a lower budgeted Square Enix game. It’s nice every once in a while to just sit back and play a JRPG with a very straightforward and predictable plot, and this has enough fun moments between the characters to keep me engaged. For the time it originally released I’m sure it stood out more than it does now, but I can’t really call it bad. The story and general character interaction are solid at best and passable at worst, so you’re in for a very simple yet enjoyable adventure. I don’t think this system works flawlessly, but it goes a long way to encourage replaying the game because the events you see will always change in each playthrough which is really nice. It would have been nice if there was more of an attempt to make interactions from the conflict between Hawkeye and Riesz, but I do appreciate the attempt the writers made to flesh out these characters compared to the original game. I picked Hawkeye as my protagonist with Riesz and Duran as the other party members, and while Duran sometimes felt like a bit of a third wheel at points due to having a different main antagonist than the others he still felt like a natural part of the group. Your cast will have different dynamics depending on the backgrounds of each character, and even though there are some characters with “optimal” interactions based on the goals of their story it’s almost impossible to get a bad party.

The main story you experience will be dependent on your protagonist, but the combination of companions you chose changes quite a lot of neat details as you experience the plot. There are six unique playable characters and at the outset of your journey, you have to pick a party of three. Trials of Mana carries over most of the structure of the original SNES game. It’s a huge step above that game, and despite its imperfections (and low budget) Trials of Mana was a fun way to experience a game that so many people consider to be a beloved classic. I among many was hesitant to dive right into it given the lackluster remaster of Secret of Mana, but I have to say I was left surprisingly impressed by this latest outing of the Mana series. This version would expand on the gameplay and add in voice acting in both English and Japanese while keeping faithful to the original game’s story and world.
#Trials of mana playable characters full
Alongside this exciting news, Square Enix also announced a full 3D remake of the game was in development set for a 2020 release. They would have had to wait a very long time to play it officially since it wouldn’t be until 2019 that the SNES gem finally got localized in Collection of Mana as Trials of Mana. After Secret of Mana captured the hearts of so many people, there was excitement to finally get the next entry in the series. Seiken Densetsu 3 has been a game many western Mana fans had been waiting for since 1995.
