Ah yes, Trials of Mana aka the third title in the Mana series of games with six different playable characters, 3 different paths to take and 3 rather annoying end bosses, does the remake of this 1995 classic hold water let’s find out in this review of Trials of Mana. Let’s first take a look at the story for the game, which if you have ever played the original is pretty close to home.
Story: Evil is once again on the rise and the mana of the world is withering, meaning the legendary Sanctuary of Mana is in danger because with mana draining from the world, the rise of the mythical Benevodons will happen and three groups are seeing to this, each group being a faction in the world. Each one of the three factions corresponds to a specific storyline, each storyline varies on which is the main character you select so for the storyline of the Nevarl Thieves you’d play either as Hawkeye or Riesz, the story of the Altena Magicians you’d play as either Duran or Angela. For the final storyline, you would have to choose either Kevin or Charlotte which sees you taking on the third faction in the game, The Masked Mage’s faction.
Each moment of the story is somewhat riveting as you never know what to expect till it happens, but if you have played the original you have a pretty good idea of what occurs. Overall the story is as solid as it could be for a Mana series entry and provides a decent challenge as well as good entertainment value.
Audio: In terms of this entry’s audio it’s lacklustre and not one of the game’s strong points. with the English dialogue callouts being somewhat annoying. This remake has good music don’t get me wrong, but the voiceovers and such during basic gameplay are a lot left to be desired. If you are playing the game, I highly recommend switching to the Japanese callouts and voiceovers as the script sounds a lot better there. Overall audio wise it is so-so with a very lacklustre script and annoying callouts, but strong music is what holds it together.
Gameplay: As far as gameplay goes for a Mana series entry, it’s solid, combat is crisp, fluid and fun. Each character has their specific move set, specific things they are good at on the field of battle and overall can traverse the battlefield with the greatest of ease during combat. Outside of combat is pretty good as well, with the exploration being the main facet of the game, finding all those hidden items and hidden spots in the game. The only major downfall is how the game has to hold your hand the entire way through, basically pointing to where you need to go next to progress the story, or hit specific objective points to continue.
However there is one huge thing I think should be pointed out, and that is the Light/Dark class system. Each character has a Dark class and a Light class they can evolve into during the game and each has different aspects to gameplay, so there are multiple class combinations and choices to mix and match with. This has some major fun into it as you can turn your healer into a battle mage or your fighter into a Berserker. Gameplay is fast, fun and frenetic with this entry into the series, with six different characters to choose from and class choice galore. The combat is solidly very fun and enjoyable, standing out as one of the game’s strongest points as this is what the Mana series is all about.
Overall: Trials of Mana is a faithful remake of the 3rd entry into the Mana series and provides a good, fun challenge for those looking for one, with six characters to play and three stories to experience, this is easily a good entry into the series and you should pick it up for your Playstation 4, PC and Nintendo Switch. It is fun, fast-paced and easy to pick up, while also providing a good challenge to those people who love to complete role-playing games, a must-have for any library.