The general scenario of Trials of Mana asks us to find the Mana Sword, necessary to prevent the decay of the Mana Tree, which actually happens to be the Goddess of Mana, who has locked evil creatures in eight Mana Stones. At least we know what series we are in! The adventure begins with a phase of character selection, quite innocuous in appearance but very important in reality. The choice is given to us between Duran the heroic warrior, Kevin the asocial werewolf, Hawkeye the lucky handsome kid, Riesz the orphan in search of her brother, Angela the princess repudiated by her mother, and Charlotte, whose elven origins give her the appearance of a young child when she is actually fifteen years old. These different heroes naturally have specific skills, respond to different archetypes (mage, healer, defender, etc.) and can even change class during the adventure.
But, beyond the scriptwriting common core, each of them follows its own story. And when the game asks us to choose a main hero and two companions from the six available, it does not tell us everything. Indeed, some dungeons, bosses, events and entire passages of the game depend directly on the main character. This is a system that ensures good replayability, and which is supported by a very nice little novelty, since this remake offers us the possibility of playing, in the form of flashbacks, the prologues of our two companions when we meet them. for the first time. Another significant addition to the original adventure is also in this version, since we are entitled to an additional chapter at the end of the game. This will pleasantly surprise players who have already gone through the scenario in the Collection of Mana . The latter will also appreciate the fact of being able to select English or Japanese voices, and to be able to choose between original or re-orchestrated music.
IT'S KEN IN HIS UNDERWEAR (OK BOOMER)
Remake requires, the graphics have of course been completely redone. The sublime 2D gave way to an acceptable 3D, but far from being great. It feels more like a game dating back one or even two generations than a 2020 release. Some sets seem very empty, the character modeling is not extremely detailed, and the animations are very summaries, especially during cutscenes. As for the very cartoony and colorful artistic direction, it risks dividing the players. At least it has the merit of being faithful to the spirit of the original game, even if the kawaii side of twirling fairies, wild "lapyns", walking mushrooms, "spring men" and characters with large eyes were still better in 2D. But the bottle doesn't matter, as long as you get drunk! The combat system is indeed quite satisfying. It asks us to manage our three characters (switching from one to the other when we want), to make simple but effective combos, to break armor with charged blows, and to make the best use of many skills.
Placement is also essential since attacking from behind will inflict more critical hits, while you have to dodge any area displayed in red on the screen, because it indicates an imminent enemy attack. As you hit, you fill up an AC gauge, which allows you to trigger extremely powerful class attacks. We will also have every interest in using them as soon as possible, because the game offers us a small experience bonus when we overcome a fight quickly, without taking any damage, or by finishing off the opponent with the one of those class attacks. In addition, it is possible to define in the menus the strategy of the AI, so that our companions behave in a rather offensive or defensive way. This setting is fine enough not to be a simple gadget. On the other hand, we can only regret the behavior of the camera, which tends to be very badly placed during the clashes and which must be constantly cropped. As far as pieces of equipment are concerned, the most interesting concept is certainly that of item seeds, which must be planted in magic pots in order to obtain a random reward. A kind of early lootbox! Small disappointment on the other hand with regard to the disappearance of the co-op mode, which nevertheless suited the original game very well. In the end, this remake of Trials of Mana is pleasant and much better than the remake of Secret of Mana released in 2018... but not as exciting as the original game could have been when it was released.
