Trials of Mana Mini-Review

Trials of Mana is extremely faithful to the SNES classic — perhaps to its detriment. While it does a commendable job of upgrading its aesthetics to the modern era, many other aspects remain close to the original when they could have used a bit more love. The combat system works well enough in 3D, but it becomes repetitive and tedious outside of the big boss battles. Additionally, side content is bland and uninteresting to engage with, and some gameplay systems are not explained well. Thankfully, the story remains charming, despite its simplicity, and the music is exceptional at conveying the personality and tone of each area and scene, respectively. Ultimately, Trials of Mana is a mostly boring experience. While it can be forgiven for relying on cliché material due to its nature as a remake, it could still have used some love in the margins, such as improving the flow of combat, revising tutorials, or expanding side material.

Pros:

• Strong visual style

• Party building is quite open, allowing for a variety of strategies and builds

• Music is vibrant and works well in giving the world a personality

Cons:

• Combat is quite boring outside of boss battles

• Side content is tedious and uninteresting to engage with

• Some systems are not explained well

Developer: Square Enix

Publisher: Square Enix

Platform: Played on PS4 and PC

Availability: Released April 24, 2020 on PS4, Nintendo Switch, and PC. Released July 15, 2021 for Android and iOS; September 26, 2024 for Xvox Series X/S.

Genre: Action RPG