Then there's Trials of Mana, which is very much a "save the world by clearing these eight dungeons" kind of narrative. Several 1990s Square Enix (then Squaresoft) RPGs have enduring stories that adeptly manage sprawling casts – Final Fantasy VI and Chrono Trigger come immediately to mind. The system opens up loads of variety in terms of combat strategy, so if you're someone who savors boss fights but isn't so big on cutscenes, Trials might be right up your alley.Įach character's abilities expand as you upgrade to new classes. You can change class twice, at level 18 and 38, which allows you to gain access to a host of new abilities. Each character has six possible upgrades from their starting class, divvied up by light and dark. Go all-in on magic users, and you'll be scrambling to heal your delicate heroes all the time.Īn enjoyable character customization system largely addresses these grumbles, though you have to get several hours in to take advantage of it. Select three fighters – as I did – and your ability to use magic will be hampered for a substantial chunk of the game. This bodes very well for replay value, but there's one big caveat: some trios are better than others. You can pick any trio, and while it won't change the story substantially (your main character gets their own brief introductory chapter and endgame scenario), it will have a big impact on the cadence of fighting. Trials of Mana has six playable characters to choose from, and they're mostly time-tested RPG tropes: the spiky-haired swordsman, the quippy thief, the yappy kid, the bosomy mage. (You can still play co-op on the Collection of Mana version.) Playing with another housebound buddy could have made the experience a bit more distinctive and memorable.īoss battle time! Square Enix Characters and world-building The remake of Trials omits the option to play with a friend, and it's a real shame given the timing of the release. Some more distinctive locations pop up once you've got access to transportation by sea and air, but it would have been nice to see more visual variety earlier on.Ĭouch co-op was one of the most memorable aspects of Trials of Mana's predecessor, and I fondly recall being dragged through Secret of Mana's dungeons by my older brother as a kiddo. You'll visit a lot of almost identical caves and fields, and many of the towns in the first half of the 20+ hour runtime are dotted with the same cookie-cutter houses, taverns, shops, and NPCs. This wasn't noticeable in my two-hour demo a few weeks back, but it became irksome the deeper I got into the game. Trials of Mana's environments are vibrant and cheerful, but dungeons lack engaging puzzle elements and seem to rely on a whole lot of pallete swaps. It's not the end of the world, but it can get tedious. While combat is fast and furious, other sections of the game are dragged down by load times on PS4, averaging around 30 seconds – and sometimes even longer – if you're traveling by ship or entering a new dungeon area. Boss battles are plentiful and challenging, but exhilarating once you hone in on a workable strategy.Īngela unleashes a Class Strike. Speedy battles will keep you on your toes strategy-wise, but mercifully there's no noticeable lag or wonky camera issues. FIghts are integrated seamlessly into exploration with no transitions or loading screens, and you can freely toggle between party members. Once it's charged, you unleash a special move to deal whopping damage to either single or multiple targets. Landing blows will steadily fill up your Class Strike meter. Your basic melee attacks are handled in button-mashing fashion, a standard attack and a chargeable strong attack that you'll need to bust through shielded foes. Good news first: Trials of Mana's combat system is a snappy, strategic delight. But its appeal is more niche than broad, making it one for genre diehards only. If you like RPGs without too much chit-chat, Trials of Mana will scratch the itch for a grindy dungeon crawler. (You can play the SNES version as part of the old-school Collection of Mana released last year.) While Trials of Mana's nimble, action-focused combat system and class system haven't aged a day, its hokey storytelling and cookie-cutter dungeons feel like the product of a bygone era. The PS4 version of Trials of Mana remake is a mixed bag, and I suspect it might still best be enjoyed as a 16-bit experience. I've been wanting to play the older version for a while, but decided to hold out for the current-gen remake. For more than two decades, Trials of Mana (known as Seiken Densetsu 3 in Japan) had been a white whale among Western fans of the RPG genre. The sequel to Square Enix's iconic SNES game Secret of Mana, Trials of Manais a top-down remake of a 1995 role-playing game that never made it overseas. Final Fantasy VII Remake is a tough act to follow.
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