TRIALS OF MANA / DEVELOPER & PUBLISHER: SQUARE ENIX / PLATFORM: PS4, SWITCH (REVIEWED) / RELEASE DATE: 24TH APRIL
Hot on the heels of the recent Final Fantasy VII Remake, Square Enix turn their attention to Seiken Densetsu 3. Known as Trials of Mana in the west, this 1995 sequel to classic 16-bit RPG Secret of Mana had never been officially available outside Japan until its appearance as part of 2018’s Collection of Mana, and now returns in a completely reworked format with glorious 3D visuals, a full voice cast and an updated soundtrack.
Trials offers six playable characters to choose from, although you’re only allowed three in a single playthrough (one main character and two companions, all of whom can be swapped between at the push of a button). The characters you choose affect the storyline in various ways – the main goal of defeating the eight “Benevodons,” saving the Mana Tree and restoring balance to the world is always the same, but you’ll come across different primary antagonists and side stories along the way, making it well worth playing through the game at least twice to experience all of the characters’ journeys.
With its roots firmly planted in the mid-90s, the actual gameplay in Trials could be considered a little shallow when compared to modern titles. After travelling to the appropriate part of the map, you’ll be following a linear path to the end of each area before fighting a boss and moving on to the next section. Each character has two standard attack buttons which can be linked together for simple combos, and a range of special moves eventually become available as the game progresses, although these seem to come at a fairly slow rate and never threaten to become overwhelming. Many passive abilities can be learned too, and purchasing new weapons and armour (always visit the merchants when you reach a new area!) helps players to feel like their chosen characters are getting stronger, although again the options for equipment are rather limited.
Your quest to save the world is likely to last somewhere around 15-20 hours (ours was 16 and a half), but the game doesn’t end there. In the interests of keeping things spoiler-free, all we’ll say is that there’s a generous amount of post-game content that follows on from the main game but takes the story off in some unexpected directions…
Apart from an occasional frustration caused by attacking and interacting being mapped to the same button, Trials runs pretty much flawlessly – and this extends to handheld mode on the Switch, which performs tremendously well. It does seem to be quite demanding on the battery though, so keep a spare battery pack or charging lead to hand!
Fans of modern RPGs might feel that Trials of Mana comes up slightly short in the gameplay department, but it’s still a fine way to experience one one of the greatest RPGs of the 90s. Go into it expecting a retro title with up-to-date graphics, and there’s a superb adventure lying in wait for those who take the plunge.
