Trials of Mana is unapologetically traditional and, yet, still makes itself accessible to all JRPG fans, both new and old. The dedication that the developers show as they retain the fantasy appeal of this classic title with updated systems is what ultimately shines during every moment of this adventure.
If only Square Enix dropped subpar English dubbing and instead focused their efforts on more polished visuals and multiplayer modes, the game could have been a perfect remake.
Trials of Mana Remake on PS4 Pro/PS5 is a great homage to the original! Everything is intact with some extras here and there to make the gameplay more fun. Graphics have been heat to the original vision of the sprites but made 3D and it wasn’t like the failed attempt that was the Secret of Mana game that came out a few years back. The music is nicely done and sounds beautiful. It’s orchestrated yet it keeps the original vision of the SNES’s music to a tee. There are some quality of life improvements, like the Lil’ Cactus’s you can find all over the world of TOM. The more you collect the more benefits you can have like more occasional XP from battles, discounts to stores, and free nights at the hotels. It’s amazing! The characters you know and love are still there and you can have up to 3 party members total our of the 6 characters there are. Each have their own techniques and strengths and weaknesses. You can pick which ever 3 out of the 6. For my original playthrough I did Kevin the Beastman Prince, Charlotte the little Priestess, and the Swordsman man. I changed from PS4 Pro to PS5 and my data got erased so I had to start over. This time I picked Kevin, Charlotte and Angela the Mage class. I finished it with the latter party and the game was very good, it can get long and tedious but it’s okay because the fighting is in real time and it’s so much fun! You get to see your characters grow throughout the game as you get more Mana Stones and more of the iconic Mana elementals. Moving forward I just want you to know that I stopped playing the original Trials of Mana to play the Remake because the Remake was easier to move forward with the Stars point the way to do what’s next. That’s great when you’re an adult and don’t have all day to wonder what to do next so those stars are much appreciated and makes your time feel valuable and respected. Just wanted to say that if I leave out stuff that was in that one compared to this one towards the middle and end of the game. After you beat the game and have the fun you know and love with some additions there is added content and another evil that awakens. It actually is supposed to take place before you fight the last boss, but it happens after you beat the game so there is more to do! Apparently there is an awesome 4th class you’re able to get as well. Then there is the vile witch named Anise who wants to destroy the world too, but decides to halt that to challenge the chooses mana warriors. You! After you beat her and the normal boss you’ll unlock New Game Plus! It wouldn’t be a fun, and classic RPG without that feature introduced for the 1st time ever through Chrono Trigger which is one of the greatest RPG’s of all time! You are very strong by the end and feeling very powerful. I started another save with the other 3 characters I didn’t play with originally which are Duran, Riesz, and Hawkeye. So gonna enjoy that now. As you grow stronger and level up and get more Mana Stone and Icons, you will get more classes which are more powerful. In addition to that you must collect ??? seeds and plant them in the item seed planter thing. After that you’ll have the certain item for the certain character to switch to the new class. The game is a lot of fun and I felt very good when I finally beat it. It’s RPG Gold at its finest. I recommend it to anyone who loves real time beat em up combat and all RPG’s in general. It wasn’t released in the USA so I was happy to finally get my hands on it. I give Trials of Mana a 10 out of 10! A must have for your collection! Peace, love and gaming everyone! On to New Game Plus with new characters!
This is my first game in the Mana series, but I unexpectedly ended up loving it. Very charming world and characters. Surprisingly long with lots of content. I hope more games get remakes like this.
Despite some presentation issues and some lack of difficulty, Trials of Mana is fantastic fun. It knows what it is and delivers on its promises as a remake with confidence. The world of Trials of Mana is one I won’t soon forget.
Trials of Mana is a delicious, fun, old-fashioned RPG reminiscent of better times. It's the delicious, familiar glass of lager you want to enjoy after you've experienced the layered complexity of a cabernet sauvignon like Final Fantasy VII Remake.
Squaresoft's hidden gem returns to current consoles and PCs with a visual facelift and keeping everything from the original game. Approved scraped in the graphic and sound but just as magical as ever.
Trials of Mana was a very, very good JRPG... 25 years ago. This remake retains some enjoyable features of the original but fails to jump on the new century wagon.
The original game’s cast of characters already lacked personality, and the new visual redesign is most successful at bringing that deficiency into sharper relief.
Beautiful graphics with a simple, yet engaging story that falls short when you're near the end and as in all japanese rpgs of this sort it gets kinda tedious and boring near the end.
Trial of mana is a cute type of ARPG. The story is on the border line generic, with a fair emotional ending. The graphics are superb but they lack a variety of expressions. The animations feels robotic when a character talks. The fighting is the most interesting part. It' s very smooth and easy to control. The power's upgrade is ok but not extremely deep. There is no crafting of any kinds. Changing classes is dubious and barely interesting. The worst of this game are the loading screens. They are so many of them. Example: the ending is a succession of 9-10 loading screens between small sequences of 30-60 secondes. Yet they can push a credit sequence of 12 minutes without interruptions. So, horribly optimized on that end. The sounds are really good, and very nice music. The voice overs are unequal. I give it 75%. It's a quality game, but some poor design choices didn't elevate it. The game lasted around 22 hours on easy.
This game is so bad and out of place that amazes me audacity in the price tag. The graphics **** in a level that is beyond any conceivable argument. The voice acting tends to be worse. The story should work if you're < 10yo, but I'm not sure. It just doesn't belong to this age of videogaming. You have to do better with the resources available.
Controls are not great and combat is almost decent, but not enough to carry the game. A bad experience all in all.
I tried to like this game with all my heart. I love old good RPGs and I was excited to play a classic I never had the chance.
What a disappointment!
Th gameplay is sooo boring. ALL characters are sooo generic. They didn't even created more than 2 or 3 models for each area. It's sooooooooooo repetitive.
The story is bad.
The characters are bad.
The grindind is still there.
I played 25 hours and, at the final dungeon I got to fight recycled bosses I knew couldn't go on.
Smash buttons, win the fight, cure your party, repeat. I cannot play JRPGs that stick to the old boring formula ever again.
Only thing I can say that's good are the cute graphics and the reasonable music.
SummaryWhen the world was shrouded in darkness, the Goddess of Mana drew forth the Sword of Mana to smite the eight Benevodons, monsters of destruction. She sealed the horrors inside the eight Mana Stones, bringing the realm back from the brink. Weakened from rebuilding the world, the Goddess changed herself into a tree and fell into a deep sle...