Trials of Mana Nintendo Switch review – the other remake

The original Trials Of Mana are much less famous than Final Fantasy 7 and until very recently had never been released in the West. It was originally released on SNES in 1995 and was known in import circles as Seiken Densetsu 3. The first entry in the series is a Game Boy game that was originally known in Europe as Final Fantasy Adventure and received a new version as Sword. Of Mana in Game Boy Advance.

The most famous entry is Secret Of Mana, which was available in Europe and is often described as Square Enix’s answer to The Legend Of Zelda. But while the graphics and combat were similar (and technically far superior to contemporary A Link To The Past), there were no proper puzzles or any real depth to the game. It received a very cheap and unambitious new version in 2018 and while it has a lot of problems, we can at least say that Trials Of Mana is better than that.

The original Trials Of Mana launched in Europe last year as part of the Collection Of Mana series for Switch. That was a direct port, which retained the original top-down view and 2D graphics, but this is a proper remake with 3D graphics and voice acting. Low-tech visuals betray the fact that it’s been designed primarily for the Switch, despite the fact that it’s also available on PlayStation 4 and PC, but the cartoon art style is relatively charming and surprisingly close to the original. Even if SNES was the latest technology for its time and this certainly is not.

Trials Of Mana is not a direct sequel to Secret Of Mana, but it does have a giant mana tree, which in this case is a sleeping goddess who sealed eight monsters that the bad guys try to wake up because … they are bad. . Secret Of Mana, famous, had a cooperative option of three players, although that was reduced to two for Trials Of Mana. However, the new version is strictly single-player, although it has a group system similar to the original where you can choose the main character and two allies from a possible six.

You can switch between any of the three characters during battle, but the main one is who the story focuses on, which if nothing else adds considerable replayability for a second play. You’re more likely to end up restarting the game after an hour or two, once you realize how the characters work and why making such an important decision from the start, with just a vague description of class type, is a leap. untimely of faith.

Once established in a team, it quickly becomes apparent that, just like the original, this is an action roleplayer where combat is almost the only activity. The story is shallow and the characterization is almost embarrassingly childish, especially considering the voiceovers of the fan hour. Clearly, the game bets on a familiar Dragon Quest style, but that has left the game with nothing of substance to hold on to, except combat.

Things start out very simple, but the game’s real-time combat slowly evolves into something that finally feels like a junior version of Devil May Cry. Different characters have specialties that include melee and ranged combat, but they can all perform increasingly longer combos and use magic items and abilities. With a nice twist, combat still feels like the original game too, with the emphasis on charging for heavy attacks and using each character’s special attacks.

The latest game updates get more and more obtuse, with the game barely trying to explain how it’s supposed to work, but still the action is clearly the best part of the game. However, it’s not interesting enough to make up for everything else, with endless setbacks, no interesting side quests, and nothing to look forward to except endless fights.

The weak narrative and focus on combat are due to the fact that this is a remake and that’s fair enough … to some extent. But when it results in such a unique and repetitive game, you have to wonder if a new version was really a sensible idea after all. Surely a new sequel, using a similar combat system, would have been a better idea, especially given how nearly unknown the original is in the West.

The other core problem is that the two things that Secret Of Mana, and by association all of its related games, are best known for are its great graphics and cooperative gameplay. And neither of them is present for this new version. No one is going to spend money from Final Fantasy 7 Remake to fund a new version of Trials Of Mana, but then again, that only suggests that maybe it wasn’t a good idea in the first place.

Formats: Nintendo Switch (revised), PlayStation 4 and PC
Price: £ 44.99
Publisher: Square Enix
Developer: Xeen and Square Enix
Release Date: April 24, 2020
Age Rating: 12