The remake was announced at E3 2019, with the localization requiring simultaneous translation into eight languages. The soundtrack by Hiroki Kikuta was arranged by a large team, with Kikuta supervising. Originally a near-direct remake with plans for multiplayer as in the original, the team instead went for a 3D single-player experience which tweaked some aspects and added content while remaining faithful overall. Production of Trials of Mana was spurred on by Western demand, as the original game had not been localized. The remake was conceived in 2017, during production of a remake for Secret of Mana (1993). New to the gameplay and storyline is a post-game chapter with an unlockable class. In gameplay, the player controls three out of six characters, navigating field environments, fighting enemies in real-time combat, and making use of character classes. The story follows six possible protagonists in their respective quests, which lead them to obtain the Mana Sword and fight a world-ending threat. It is a 3D remake of the 1995 Super Famicom title of the same name, the third game in the Mana series. A mobile port released the following year. The voice acting in this game really has to be seen to be believed.Trials of Mana is a 2020 action role-playing game developed by Xeen and published by Square Enix for Microsoft Windows, Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 4. Even the subtitles are in baby talk! It’s funny… for about five seconds, and then you realise that you have to deal with constant baby talk for the next 20 hours. A character named Charlotte recently went viral, and rightly so, for solely speaking in baby talk. I played as Angela, who inexplicably made loud hamster-squeaking sounds whenever she jumped or attacked - two things you have to do all the time. To be fair, I played the game with English voice acting turned on - and it was a terrible experience. The main story can get interesting every now and again, but you’d have to get past the overtly childish dialogue and awful voice acting. NPC dialogue isn’t very interesting, so you end up avoiding striking up conversation with passers-by, making towns feel that much less interesting. When it tries to be dramatic and emotional, it just gets cheesy. The game’s writing doesn’t do a good job of keeping you hooked, either. For example, after playing through the main character’s backstory, you’re given the task of rounding up elemental spirits - which doesn’t seem like the most exciting thing to start off doing, and it doesn’t get much better from there. Trials of Mana’s story is technically 25 years old - so it shouldn’t come as a surprise that it seems a little dated. Trials of Mana really starts you off on the wrong foot that way. I restarted my game once, because my choice of characters bored me to tears - only to find that my remixed cast of characters weren’t much different. Most of the characters are princes or princesses of royalty, with generic and overly similar backstories. There are six whole characters to choose from, so there was plenty of opportunity to diversify them and make them more unique to each other - but this game doesn't do that. When you start the game for the first time, you’re not given much information on these characters to work with - and it’s very likely that you’ll end up regretting your choices a couple of hours into the game. That being said, this system is also pretty flawed in its execution. This is a really, really unique way to play through an RPG, and lends it a ton of replayability (with six storylines to experience) while giving you the freedom to choose who you want to play as. The three characters left unchosen will still pop up during the game’s story, but disappear quickly - going through their own journeys in the background. Depending on which main character you chose, you’ll start in entirely different locations and play through lengthy backstories, before you meet up with your companions and start your true journey. The game will then unfold in one of six different ways. When booting up the game for the first time, you are given six different characters to choose from - one to be the main character, and two more to act as companions. Right out of the gate, Trials of Mana does a great job of differentiating itself from other RPGs. So, where does Trials of Mana land on the spectrum of remake quality? A little lower than Resident Evil 3 and Final Fantasy 7 admittedly, but it still has its charms. Games are getting remade left and right - so of course the iconic Seiken Densetsu 3 would get similar treatment, given its iconic stature as an RPG from the Super Famicom era. Between Resident Evil 3, Final Fantasy 7 and Pok é mon Mystery Dungeon: Rescue Team DX, we’re pretty much living in a golden age for nostalgia.
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