This is reflected in the game’s unusual narrative structure. In keeping with the classic feel, the focus is more on an ensemble cast of adventurers over a single protagonist or player cipher. Everyone still looks like a classic JRPG archetype, secure in the Dragon Quest school of fantasy fashion.
And it is shiny! Trials of Mana seems to bring the detailed character design work to life, at least as far as the named characters go. But where one seems determined to subvert nostalgia-tinged expectations, the other favors repackaging a classic experience in shiny new wrapping.
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It takes a classic JRPG and updates it for the modern age, mainly by adopting full 3D graphics and production values. There’s a lot Trials of Mana shares with other unnamed remakes. Trials of Mana (PS4, PC, Nintendo Switch) That said, I can say that while it feels like a throwback in some ways, Trials of Mana is, thus far, a refreshing and speedy romp, one that proves that a remake need not be hyper-ambitious (like a certain other classic JRPG revival released this month) to feel like it’s got the right idea. As a result, I never got the chance to get attached to the Mana franchise, much less understand why people called for Seiken Densetsu 3 to be localized with similar fervor to the folks who still call for Mother 3 to cross the pond. Secret of Mana was one of the games that passed me by as I spent my time with other games, like Final Fantasy VI (then III), Metal Warriors, and the few other SNES carts I could afford on my allowance. I don’t say that because I have mixed feelings about this game, but because I have basically no history with Seiken Densetsu. I couldn’t tell you right now if Trials of Mana, the modernized 3D remake of the now-legendary 1995 SNES classic Seiken Densetsu 3, does justice to its 25-year-old forebear.