I had played the original Trials Of Mana long ago and I was looking forward to playing the remake. The first thing I noticed when I started the game is how crisp and pretty everything is. The music for the game is great as well and you can switch between the modern soundtrack or the original game soundtrack. When you start the game you have six main characters to choose from. You can choose a main character and then two companion characters. Each one has their own fighting style so it's a good idea to pick a balanced team based on what you want for your fighting style. There are many different combinations of teams to choose from and depending on who you choose for your team you will get different origin stories, villains, and relationships between the characters. This gives you a lot of great replay for the game so you can see all the different paths. I personally went with Hawkeye as my main character, then picked Riesz and Kevin as my companions to round out my party.
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| Hawkeye was my main character. |
Once I had my party chosen, I was ready to start the adventure. Hawkeye is on his own at first so you can see his origin story and get an introduction to the villain of the story. He meets the other two companions later and when this happens, they share their origin stories. You get to play as the companions, but you don't really get to keep the items that you find during those chapters. It's essentially just for the purpose of getting to know your companions.
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| Riesz shares her story. |
Combat in Trials Of Mana is a lot of fun. Instead of the top down of the original, the remake has everything fully 3D and you can see enemies on the map so that you can attack them and enter battle. You have light and heavy attacks which you can chain together leading you to build up enough attack points for special ability area attacks. There are magic spells too of course for healing and attacks as well as items that can be used for healing, upping your defense, or increasing your attacks. Battles are fun and level grinding doesn't feel like a chore at all. Boss battles are epic and make you plan out your strategy and tactics. Another nice thing during battles is that you can switch freely between the characters in your party so you can unleash their special abilities or heal everyone in a pinch. My only real complaint was with the camera. The camera doesn't follow you and you have to spin it around so you can see and sometimes this gives you some really weird angles. That is one thing I wish I didn't have to worry about while I'm in the middle of a hectic fight with a boss. Saving your game is pretty easy with angel statues in various areas of the map and the game has an autosave feature too.
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| Saving the game at a statue. |
The maps in Trials Of Mana are fairly linear and there's really not too much exploration in the towns. It's pretty much the main story quest and not a lot of side quests which isn't too big a deal because the game itself is charming and I found myself invested in the main story. It's simple and feels like a fairy tale, but sometimes simple is what works and with Trials Of Mana it works quite well. At level 18 you can change your job class and then you can change it again at level 38. You have the option between a light and dark class. Depending on what you want for your character and party you can decide which one you want. Each class has its own unique skills and abilities and when you decide their armor changes as you upgrade.
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| Choose between light or dark class. |
There is one fun little mini game throughout the game involving a creature called Li'l Cactus who is a little cactus with a flower on its head. The challenge is to find it in various areas on the map and every time you find it you receive a stamp proving that you found it. After a certain number of stamps you receive a reward such as extra items or discounts at the shops in town. I became obsessed with finding Li'l Cactus on every map because often it was in the last place you would think to look. It's weird, but I always felt excited every time I found this cute cactus and was having fun searching everywhere.
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| Oh look! I found Li'l Cactus! |
There's no fast travel in the game which can make traveling back and forth a bit tedious, but that changes once you get tools you can use for summoning various creatures to help you get around faster by sea or air. The story in Trials Of Mana is essentially the same as the original, just with updated gameplay and graphics. There is a new game plus which gives you all your abilities, points, and items. If you pick the same party that you started with you get some extra chapters with them and they're at their current levels, but if you pick an entirely new party all your items carry over. It adds to the replay factor and the game leaves it entirely up to you to decide. Trials Of Mana is a good game and it's fun to play because of it's JRPG charm and some smart choices on updating the game with a modern feel. It appeals to us older gamers who remember the first one and introduces the next generation of gamers to a new story that is interesting and a game that offers some solid gameplay.
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| Flying around the world on a dragon. |
*Trials Of Mana is available to play on the following platforms: Playstation 4, Nintendo Switch, PC
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