The upcoming remake of Square Enix's Trials of Mana is being released for modern machines, but feels like a lost treasure from the PS2 era – but in a good way! Originally released in 1995 for the Super Famicom, Trials of Mana, also known as Seiken Densetsu 3, was never brought over to the West in its initial heyday. That changed in 2019 with the release of Collection of Mana in territories outside of Japan. Now, all will be made right in 2020, with a full 3D remake of Trials of Mana scheduled for a simultaneous worldwide release across Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, and PC. At a recent press event in New York City, we got to spend nearly two hours with the game, and came away impressed by the cozy vibes of this fresh take on a certified classic.
In contrast to the previous 3D Mana remakes – Adventures of Mana for mobile and PlayStation Vita and Secret of Mana for PlayStation 4, Vita, and Switch – Trials of Mana aims to add more than a fresh coat of 3D paint to the existing game. With camera control mapped to the right stick, new combat mechanics, and numerous other changes, Trials of Mana feels like a whole new game, and is sure to appeal to hardcore Mana fans and series newcomers alike.
If there's one thing that makes Trials of Mana feel truly unique, it's that it doesn't feel like a modern game, like Final Fantasy VII Remake. That being said, it certainly doesn't feel like an old SNES game, like the 2018 Secret of Mana remake. Instead, Trials of Mana fits right in the middle; it looks and feels like a PlayStation 2 action RPG, but in a good way!
Trials of Mana follows the same structure as the original game, with nigh-identical town, castle, and dungeon layouts, but with corridors made wider to accommodate the new 3D camera system. The enhanced art style is very anime-inspired, and the graphics don't feel up to 2020 standards, but they're certainly leaps and bounds beyond the previous 3D Mana games. The bold colors and basic geometry of the environments are arguably archaic, but they don't feel outdated. Instead, Trials of Mana feels like a warm blanket, a comfy couch, a nostalgic trip back to the PlayStation 2 era of JRPGs, by way of a lost Super Nintendo adventure.
From the start, it was obvious Trials of Mana was never going to command the budget of something as huge as Final Fantasy VII Remake. It just wasn't in the cards. But Square Enix wisely decided to do more than essentially paint over the old art with 3D assets. Instead, they tried a different tactic, rebuilding the game from the ground up, but using an engine visually reminiscent of the oft-overlooked PS2 entry in the series, Dawn of Mana. Obviously, the display resolution is much higher than what was possible on PS2, and the textures pop more thanks to the stellar art direction compared to the drab Dawn, but the general style owes a lot to the PlayStation 2 era. Likewise, the combat has been enhanced to work in 3D, but it's still rooted in the same systems that defined the SNES original, 25 years ago.
Square Enix seems to have made the right choice with Trials of Mana, completely remaking the graphics and gameplay so it doesn't feel like an uprezzed Super Nintendo game, while also not aiming to create something with the massive production budget of Final Fantasy VII Remake. By splitting the difference, Square Enix has created a version of Trials of Mana that feels like a true evolution of the Super Nintendo original, but stopping short of completely reinventing the wheel. Trials of Mana feels like a lost PlayStation 2 game, a love-letter to that bygone era of RPG adventures that delivered drama and intangible comfort in equal measure.
Trials of Mana releases for PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, and PC on April 24, 2020. A free demo for the title will be available starting March 18.