Seiken Densetsu 3 comes to life on PS4, Switch, and PC with Trials of Mana. The forgotten gem of Squaresoft now completely renovated for current consoles.
Seiken Densetsu 3, or Secret of Mana 2 as we usually know it around here, was a tremendous gem that only the Japanese could enjoy on Super Nintendo. A true technological and playable beast that broke all the schemes in practically all areas of the game. From an amazing graphic section – and without the help of external chips! – or a soundtrack of the past that also goes through its fantastic replayability.
The video game is not too popular outside the Japanese country and a vast majority are unaware of its existence. After the success of Secret of Mana for Super Nintendo in Europe, Squaresoft thought it was a good idea to continue sending their RPGs across the pond and when it was time to decide what their next game to set foot in foreign lands would be, the decision revolved around to Secret of Evermore or Seiken Densetsu 3. The contest had a winner as you all know and is none other than the first. This caused Seiken Densetsu 3 not to step on European lands and, therefore, we only knew the adventures of the boy and his dog.
With Trials of Mana for PC, PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch, Square Enix has wanted to do some of the justice to one of its greatest titles by renewing it for the occasion with different improvements that we will discuss below. It should not be forgotten that less than a year ago and somewhat by surprise, the company added it to the Collection of Mana for Nintendo Switch entirely in Spanish and with a multiplayer option, two details that are highly appreciated.
Trials of Mana / Seiken Densetsu 3
Trials of Mana tells the story of six unrelated characters who see their lives change when eight beasts confined to stones by the goddess Mana long ago are being released by an unknown enemy. The world is about to go to hell and you and your group are the only ones who can save the world.
For this we have to choose a hero from the six available and two companions thus forming a group of three. This affects the adventure, with different arcs for each and changes in the plot. They are not exaggerated but they do add an extra to the replayability since they even change the archenemies of the adventure according to our main hero. All this has been slightly enhanced in this remake.
The combination of graphical power, spectacular soundtrack, a story that complied, well-measured difficulty and trial-and-error gameplay made Seiken Densetsu 3 magical, a work of art. The sensations with Trials of Mana are somewhat different and what should be a fantastic adventure improved thanks to the current technology ends up being a project at half gas that could have given more of itself.
The little sense of freedom with multiple aids on a minimap that was not in the original greatly reduces scanning. The difficulty of the game has plummeted and it is now very easy even in higher mode; Hard. There are tons of items to collect, very easy enemies to tackle and multiple vases that fill life and magic at every step. Even collecting bright spots along the way – mostly supporting objects – ends up being a less than palatable task due to the accumulation of these.
In addition, the original story, featured some fast food scenes to streamline some moments that remain here, which should not be so given its remake nature. Square Enix has missed a golden opportunity to add more historical packaging to these moments and make the game flow more naturally. In any case, one of the most positive points of Trials of Mana —and surely grateful for his followers— is that this reimagining absolutely respects everything that made him great in Super Nintendo. Dialogues, history, places, enemies, characters … absolutely nothing is missing and we loved that.
Square Enix has also added some little things here and there that help give the video game a breath of fresh air. For example, the search for Cactolillo —Li’l Cactus for friends—, a recurring character in the saga who, after finding him a certain number of times, can grant us unique items or unlock advantages. The New Game + mode has also been added which, among other things, allows us to import statistics, money or number of Cactolillos found into a new game. Of course and most importantly, add a fourth class with variants of light and dark and a new epilogue that somewhat closes the story of each character that we are not allowed to talk about.
Both the abilities of each hero, magic, classes or the time cycle, the hallmark of this video game, remain as in the original. It is not that this last point changes the playable mechanics too much but at least it offers different places visually AND at certain moments it can be an advantage or disadvantage (for the different enemies that appear depending on whether it is day or night or for Kevin, who transforms into a werewolf and improves stats at nightI).
New Features
The remake condition implies that the important pillar of this action rpg, combat, is completely revised. Adapting to three-dimensional technology, the game has lost its cooperative facet since according to the developers, adding it meant altering the experience for a player. Is this section a negative point? Perhaps, it all depends on your modus operandi of playing video games. If you are more than one at home using the entertainment system, you may miss it, if not, you will still enjoy it.
Battles in Trials of Mana are even more dynamic and agile. Shortcuts for special abilities, magic, and items have been added, all in real time and without pausing the action. Automatic combat has been lost along the way, although it is still possible to create an attack / defense strategy for each hero.
Not everything is good, the lock on objective or “lock target” is not entirely comfortable and the camera sometimes leaves you something sold. In the end, the fun is not to use this option and deliver tricks with trot and moche as we did in his day in the Brain of the Beast, so the evil is less.
The best without a doubt, the main menu of Trials of Mana, a delight. Everything simple to understand, full of explanations and with an easy and intuitive navigation system. Gone is the tangled tangle of options of Seiken Densetsu 3, this is another world. Includes up to a small summary of the story so far. A delight.
Just technical section but beautiful in sight
In technical terms, it is perhaps where Trials of Mana is weakest, although it is also true that precious is a long time. The defects of the Unreal Engine are also visible in this Square Enix title as well as somewhat regular textures but everything, taken together, makes us forget about it soon. In fact, the video game is one of the most beautiful in recent years thanks to a powerful and varied palette of colors that enters the eyes instantly. Except in the video scenes, which have a beastly compression and the quality is quite low, with a lot of artifacts that make them ugly until saying enough.
The video game works most of the time at a solid and enviable 60fps, although it is also true that it is not very difficult to obtain this image rate with the low graphic load that the engine handles. Of course at 1080p on a basic PlayStation 4, the console that we have used to analyze the video game.
If you are not a foodie in the technical section and enjoy seeing beautiful and colorful landscapes, Trials of Mana will enchant you. If you're the complete opposite, don't expect to find a technical feat like the recent Final Fantasy VII Remake.
The audio remains fairly faithful to the original, perhaps too much. There are hardly any changes between the original and the renewed soundtrack, although there are. Luckily, the video game brings inside the impressive original melodies dedicated to its version on Super Nintendo and we are sure that this may be your favorite option. Another detail is that now the main characters have dubbing in English and Japanese, this last option being the most recommended. The sound effects – and this enchanted us – are the originals of Super Nintendo whatever the soundtrack you choose, which is all a detail and an attack on the feels. The Spanish translation has no buts and the whole story is perfectly localized with no apparent errors.
CONCLUSION
Trials of Mana greatly respects the original work in almost all its sections. His world is now enjoyed in 3D and the combat is adapted to the times but the core of the game remains. It could have been better, but what has come to us is more than enough, although we feel that the opportunity to do something larger has been lost. The black point that hurts the most is the reduction in difficulty, a hallmark of the original that has been vilified here. Just walking through its fantastic world so beautifully represented in polygons is already a clear purchase intention.
THE BEST
- Visually precious.
- Improvements in menu management and news in endgame
- Translated into Spanish.
- Respect the original work as much as possible, including dialogues and BSO
WORST
- Lost the difficulty and the local co-op of the original
- Upgradable video scenes and textures
- The camera plays tricks on combat.
Good
It meets the expectations of what is a good game, it has quality and does not have serious flaws, although it lacks elements that could have taken it to higher levels.
