Currently playing this and having a blast. Amazing they had all these features in a SNES game. Choosing a team. Having different stories and bosses. Having different classes. Ahead of its time
I make the same remarks. They wouldn't have to current ambitious RT battle systems of say... FF15 or 7remake, or even KH without this series. I even remember thinking that as a kid, one day square will really hit the moon with this series. But alas... the popularity of some other franchises overshadowed the need to give this game some true L&R. I dont think its as bad as this review, but no multiplayer co-op? C'MON!!! I think this series deserves a more polished remake, and im not just saying this cause SoM was my first jrpg love, and that its still my favorite after years of roleplaying. This series is legitimately a template for greatness. Simple to learn, yet deep battle system. Great, lovable, colorful characters. Supremely heart-achingly beautiful sountrack. And heart-tugging enthralling yet simple storytelling! I felt this way about metal gear when i first played the NES port in the late 80s. So i think i have a pretty good nose for this. Maybe i just need to make a game in the same spirit. Such a taunting thing to do. Well, atleast i have the art aspect down!
A few notes to add, but most important one I could think of Yes, for characters like Angela, you need to spread your points out for your spells unlike the original version, however....you can also reset your stat points almost at any time you want, making it a very minor note considering you can just respec to whatever elements you want
🎵ay ay ay ay (ya) These are the Trials of Mana (ya) You can't f**k with me cause I'm Fauna (ya) One wrong move, you a goner (ya ya ya) Lil Cactus be sprouting with water (gun noise)🎵
I absolutely loved this game. I actually beat it 2 times and I wanted to play it again but I needed to get to other games in my backlog. I had so much fun with it, and I think it's presentation is high quality enough that I didn't even notice the technical limitations. I was just really enjoying myself. I even liked it more than final fantasy 7 remake. I actually would have given it an 8.5 out 10, but that's just me. It doesn't feel like a 7.5 or lower game to me.
This. I think budget and time would have done this game (and the SoM remake) so much more justice and bring to light the innovative elements that made it so much ahead of its time. The fact that they had to step back features tells me they didn't try hard enough. It makes me almost want to make a game in teh same vein just to show em up! All the ingredients are there square... just make a awesome cake already!!
@@martenas5341 unfortunately Square doesn't give big budgets outside of KH, FF, an DQ because they know this games will sell, and maybe now Nier could joined the trio.
@@martenas5341 Honestly I think they pushed this about as far as the concept will allow. This is coming from someone who has massive nostalgia for the original and beat it 5+ times. As much as I loved the game it was still a simple snes rpg which had some variety in terms of party makeup. Fixing the many bugs of the original, making magic not suck, updating the graphics, adding skills, revamping the combat system with light combos/damage zones and dodging is honestly much more than I expected.
I thought the same thing...multiplayer was one of the best features of the old-school Mana games. It's sad this generation has disregarded couch-co op so much.
I don't know why Square released this game, which looks great, so soon after FF7 remake. Feels like if it had come out in July or august it really would have stood out.
finally :D Been waiting for your review! EDIT: since this is a JRPG, I am a bit disappointed that you failed to mention side-quests, or the lack of, and how that would affect the final score.
There are plenty of JRPGs that don't have side quests, particularly as you look at earlier titles. It's not part of the design, and it doesn't feel like it would need them. (And it likely would have been a mistake to add them.) I'd thought about it here and there, but it doesn't make sense to take time to talk about something that doesn't exist when there are so many more relevant points to discuss both positive and negative. -Bloodworth
Easy Allies yeah, I understand your train of thought, and don’t get me wrong, I respect it along with all your reviews. But I truly believe reviews should address all the aspects of what makes the genre what it is, remakes usually add new stuff and I was hoping for side quests to be added since the world looks gorgeous, taking a minute to say they were not included in the original and are not in this one as well would be perfect, along with your opinion if the game would benefit from such an addition or not. 👌😊 Either way, Love you guys! Keep up the good work and stay safe 🙏 :)
The game's design already takes you through most of the environments a couple of times and as mentioned there's a fair amount of incentive to replay at least once, if not twice. I really think tacking side quests into it would have made things drag, and until the post-game content, this game really sticks very close to the original structure. -Bloodworth
@@EasyAllies Disagree with this take hard. Side quests are and always have been a big important part of JRPGs and you know it. Pretending otherwise is a joke. Should have been addressed.
Completed it, my team was Angela (Main), Duran, Reisz. A big negative i would say is that the story feels very fragmented. Because its split between 6 different paths it can feel either rushed or not indepth enough. The story doesn't feel complete with just 3 characters, i would of made the game a more compelling/well rounded narrative by allowing all party members to be recruit-able. I understand that it wouldn't be a faithful remake then, i do think they should of filled in the gaps
One note about the ??? Seeds is that the remake changed is that they will always give you one of the possible Class items you DON'T own (at least so long as you don't change anyone into Class 3 yet). And since you get a total of 6 ??? Seeds in the Benevodon dungeons, you will ALWAYS have the ability to class change into the class you want by the time you reach the penultimate dungeon.
Yeah I didn't want to really spend a lot of time on the details, but the flaw of how it's designed is that it seems to require you save up all six seeds (or at least however many you need for the 3 classes you want) in order to get the full spread. And unless you know about this flaw, I just can't imagine why anyone would want to wait when they could take their new class 3 into the next dungeon ASAP. -Bloodworth
Went with all female magic team, while majority of the game I didn't opt to use magic with Angela to artificially increase the difficulty. While using Riez as the main physical attacker anf Charlotte as the tank. Went quite well imo.
I'm surprised they talked about production value and didn't mention how there is voice acting for 98% of all dialogue in the game. Considering the amount of voice work people will miss if they only play through once I would say they went above and beyond with this remake, definitely not low effort. I also loved how the character models are so faithful to the art style. When you look at a beautiful piece of Amano art and then compare it to the characters in game they look nothing alike. Playing Trials of Mana remake I was constantly in awe watching the character models move around. It really felt like I was playing with art and not just another attempt at hyper realistic character models. I had so much fun playing through this game four times within the first few days of release. Sure it was easy and a little short, but it wasn't a $60 game ($40 on GreenManGaming) and JRPGs like this don't come around too often. Also Spellbinder Angela OwO The True True Queen!
Because quantity of VO doesn’t negate other issues like dog ass textures, stiff awkward animations, and distant environments looking like an n64 game. Quantity of VO also doesn’t mean much when most of it is hot garbage. Quantity does not inherently equate to quality. I like the game a lot, but it’s pretty janky and rough around the edges in regards to the production Check out dragon quest xi, it’ll blow your lil noodle wide open if you thought trials of mana was awe-inspiring in its presentation
@@peen2804 "Most of the game is hot garbage", by what metric? It's fine to like and dislike games for different reasons, but to say this game was "hot garbage" because you didn't like it is just outright ignorant. By that logic, just about every Switch game is trash. I enjoyed the style here and didn't consider the texture quality to be a detriment, but rather it worked in service to the art style. In that same vein, I wouldn't say that Mega Man looks bad and that Mega Man X is objectively better because of its visual quality. Another thing worth noting is that this Trials of Mana remake launched at only 50 dollars. A small price decrease, but a clear sign that they were aware of the game they were making/selling. Too many reviews and pirates take the price of games, specifically new games, for granted. Without awareness of context, you end up with out of touch comparisons that try to equate passionate budget RPGs with one of the biggest RPG franchises of all time in Dragon Quest. The Mana series is certainly beloved among fans, but I would be willing to bet that more than 80% of gamers would confuse Trials of Mana, Trails of Cold Steel, and Tales of ___, with each other. With Dragon Quest, even gamers who don't know what it is would probably say it's, "The big Japanese RPG that isn't Final Fantasy" or "Oh, the one that looks like Dragon Ball(Z)?" Also, I have played DQ 11, it was really fun and probably my favorite turn based RPG in the last decade for so many reasons. You should really try evaluating games on a case by case basis, it'll blow your little noodle into maturity.
Sure, but it feels like a lesson you have to learn the hard way. I wanted to change classes as soon as I got the first class item, and then I ended up with duplicates, and I think a lot of people are in the same boat. -Bloodworth
@@EasyAllies Oh for sure. There are a few mechanics that the game doesn't quite explain. Story pairings during character choice, which stats will lead to useful spells (before class upgrade), and the seeds overall. Had a great time with the game regardless!
lol that review had me going from intrigued about the game, to wanting the game, and then making me hard pass on the game. Maybe when it's on sale, but some of the aspects about the game are huge turn offs for me. Hopefully the fans who wanted that game are happy with it.
@@fairydust1397 That part was kind of like that last nail in the coffin. The progression system is probably the biggest hurdle. Having to put points into every stat to unlock abilities regardless of the fact if that stat is beneficial is a stupid idea.
@@loonyman83 this is only true for angela. Every other character doesn't have this problem and if they do its much lighter. Its also not needed at all for angela to get spells from different schools as she is very strong eitherway He didn't explain himself well at all. In fact, angela is generally considered one of the best damage dealers
Ever since I first played the original, I have always dreamed of playing a modern version of it. It is flawed (so was the original), but it is one of the best rpgs of its era, and one of Square's most enjoyable. I absolutely loved playing the remake, despite the issues. Absolutely mesmerizing.
The ??? seeds are not actually random. They come in a 6-item sequence and so as long as you find 6 seeds, you will get all the class items for your party. It's actually not a loot box at all, unlike the original game.
Maybe it works that way if you save up six seeds, but changing classes when I got seeds, I ended up getting duplicate items and having to grind for extras. However it might work under the hood, it's still presented as being random and is intentionally unexplained. -Bloodworth
@@EasyAllies if you consume the class item without opening all 6 seeds, the fixed sequence resets unfortunately. You will get the class item you just used. I'm sure they could have done away with this but the devs wanted to make a fairly pure remake. The original was actually random, so you had to do save scumming at the inn lol
4 роки тому+3
Seiken Densetsu 3 is the best game I never played. I need to get a Switch only to play it (the original, not the remake).
Been looking forward to this one. The original was way ahead of its time for JRPG design on the SNES and was one of the most beautiful looking and sounding games on the system. The real fun comes from the party building system. Each character has four endgame options that can play significantly differently, but how much they'll shine will depend on how well they synergize with their teammates. With all the possible party combinations and three separate storylines, if you're into min-maxing you'll have plenty of reasons to replay the game before you feel done with it.
What they did to Angelica was a nerf she needed. Holy hell if all you did was dump your points into her INT stat in the original she would steamroll the game for you.
My favourite game of the year. Even with all of its flaws playing through it put such a wide grin on my face, it simply oozes so much oldschool jrpg charm that I didn't want it to end. I feel the score is warranted but at the same time it has been ages since a game seemed so magical and special to me.
That postgame section takes forever and makes me flee at every battle halfway. The final boss makes my party member glitch out. And I still can't understand why I can't use items in the menu when not in battle. For example, use a magic+1 item you need to set it in the ring, use it, get back to the menu, and set other items back. I also can't understand why I can't check every equipment I have rather than go through everyone's gear menu to see what I have since they only show you what you can equip.
You had trouble with the postgame dungeon? I played through the game twice, on Hard mode, and both times my characters were so ridiculously overpowered by that point, without any extra grinding, that I was effortlessly smashing through everything in my path. I agree about using items from the menu though, that was annoying.
@@Answerofduty1 It just takes too long to fight tons of monsters and the same old dungeon with a different skin. It's not fun for me at that point. Fewer fights and more puzzle solving might be better.
@@zahedzed You fool! The English dub is the only way to play the game! You'd be missing out on gems like that Altenish mage's "Everyone, retreaaaaaat!" or Salamando's "GRAAAAAH"!
I got 100% achievements done on steam which means I replayed this three times. I never once felt that the seed system felt like "loot boxes". Also a lot of weird points were made about that really don't serve any purpose or grounds to be so negative. Such as how the reviewer felt bewildered by how companions disperse in towns. He never mentioned that those companions have new narratives in each new location. Crazy since this is a story driven game
It's because it's a story driven game that it's bothersome. When you walk out of a cave together, and suddenly your companions are gone, it's very strange. When Angela teases Duran when he walks by his house, but she's standing at the inn, ashamed to go outside, the narrative doesn't line up. Your party members comment when you buy things in the shop even though they're standing across town. NPCs refer to you as a group when you walk into their house alone, etc. Regardless of the new snippets of dialogue, there's a very real break in continuity created throughout. -Bloodworth
I really loved this game. I loved it more than FF7 remake. This was my first mana game too. This remake took me back to a simpler time when RPGs were simple and fun.
i wouldnt go that far. secrets of man is not nearly on the level of ff7 remake imo.it still is a good remake. I will be buying it on the next steam sail
The graphics are simple at times but I really love the classic party adventure feel of it. It's a bit longer than it needs to be but it's paced pretty well. The music is awesome but repeats a bit to often at times. It's a game full of passion but many tradeoffs and pointless systems and abilities takes it down a notch. I haven't felt this excited to play an rpg in a long while though. It has a soul I've been missing since the snes days.
Longtime fan of the original. The combat and "most" of the music are improvements, and they included enough items and secrets in the environments to make the most of the transition to 3D. The score seems about right, given that the story and dialogue haven't aged well (the branches, yes, the villains and writing, no). It is simple and easy compared to most RPGs, and even most fights on Hard aren't a challenge. NG+ playthroughs take very little time due to a massive XP bonus passive ability you can equip, so playing through it 3 times only took about 50 hours (and could be done much faster). It's definitely "comfort food" with a pleasant progression and music to enjoy, and that's good enough sometimes.
I played the original via a fan translation a couple years ago, then following up with this so soon was great way to experience the improvements and changes. I loved the original, but this version is definitely the definitive entirely on the quality of life improvements alone (ie. quest markers). They nailed the visual upgrade and the remastered music. Voice acting wasn't great, but I found it charming. I think it deserves a higher rating, it's a retro game re-released today that past perspective really matters.
I wouldn't call the Seed system a loot box. It's more on the lines of a Gacha Game like how Xenoblade Chronicles 2 is with the unlocking rare blades, but it's not as comber-sum because it will give you the seeds you need for your party and farming some is really easy if you know the spots to farm. I believe the original game did this too.
Looks great, but it needs a Japanese audio track (does it have one? not sure I could handle that dub) and its being too easy is my primary concern. Difficulty needs to be higher.
I switched to Japanese after doing Kevin's prologue, but then they started taking outside of cutscenes which made it too hard to keep up with fighting and reading dialogue at the same time, so i switched back to English. I really wish the dub was actually good, as i haven't seen one of this dubious quality in years.
My team was Hawkeye, reisz and Angela and for the most part it was ok with the later 2 being good at times ok for the rest, but Kevin and Charlotte what the hell was square enix thinking, if they put even half the effort to find good english voice actors like they did for ff7 remake I would have been happier luckily the combat is awesome and one thing it does that ff7 remake unfortunately couldn't do good air combat for the melee characters.
Agree. I'd give it 8.5. I played it twice and it's a lot of fun and is very good quality. Some of the objections made in the review are also inaccurate, like the skill trees, the ??? Seeds and the unfair bosses. All of those are play issues or not understanding how the game actually works. ??? Seeds are fixed predictable sequence of class items rather than being random. You also need to take advantage of boss weaknesses. That wall boss is weak to water and water attacks shut down it's flame attacks, weakening him greatly and making him a joke
No, I actually agree with the sentiment. I beat it twice (was going to do a third run but there were other games I wanted to play -- probably still will eventually) and still think 7.5 is an accurate score. The game is of a quality level that relegates it to niche appeal, but if you DO happen to enjoy it, it's got good replayability.
I do agree with this review on a technical level. The game does have some gripes but that didn't stop me from replaying this game 4 times to platinum it. I had so much fun with this game form beginning to end each time. Kevin is best boy, you all know it! There are some characters i can do without but overall I liked my time in this game. Honestly I had more fun with this game then FF7 Remake. So overall i agree that while this game is a 7.5/10 it doesn't change the fact that the game is fun and has alot of replayability. Although Square-Enix didn't go all out for this remake i'm happy with what I got and I hope this means not only is the Mana series making a return but we also see Square-Enix remake some other classics, like Legend of mana
That boss you had trouble with was weak to water, and the game actually gave you 3 poseidon claws in a chest right before the boss to make him a lot easier actually. Not using them would definitely make it feel unfair.
@@eatachodeutube it's pretty easy even on hard honestly. Just attack with water and dodge out of the way as necessary. Ignore the low level shapeshifter enemies. Using water trivializes it
7.5 isn't a bad score, but years and years and years of 'shifting the norm' has created this false impression that anything lower than a 9 isn't worth checking out. Game clearly has its flaws, but that doesn't mean you can't have a good time with it.
Seemed fair given the review (if not a bit high). Bad textures, frequent graphics pop-in, occasional clunky boss fights, mediocre AI, voice acting ranging from okay to awful, no-multiplayer support, and uninspired tacked on endgame all were prominent points in the review. Worth at least 2.5 points off I reckon.
Plenty of negatives were mentioned, but the score is still pretty low considering he recommends it's worth going through 2-3 times despite them. The graphics complaint is kinda dumb. Sure it looks a bit dated at parts, but it also looks fantastic at times.
@@thenonexistinghero The trick is to not buy into seven-shaming. A long, long time ago, game publishers pressured game magazines into giving games higher scores than they probably deserved, to curb negative publicity. That's why a game that was just "okay" would be rated somewhere around 70%, when it would have typically been rated 50 or lower prior to the fact. The original Borderlands was a solid 7 for me, but I must have put over 100 hours into the game. The fact I could do that doesn't mean I should consider it a 10, it just meant that there were a lot of things I thought needed improvement. And finally, don't take numbers too personally, because a lot of things that bother a reviewer may not bother you. Read/watch reviews to see a person's take, and view the score just as how much these things affected their personal experience.
This type of replayability I'm not sure about. Often content like exclusive dungeons is locked with simple excuses when they can be easily worked into the story otherwise. And this party limitation, wouldn't the story be richesr with all characters, plus gameplay options, as you'll have party options? Very often it seems to me like rather than make a better "one time version" of a game, design choices which take away from any individual game run are made, in favour of making subsequent runs more different from each other, but all of lesser quality than could've otherwise been.
Not really to be honest. Tales is hyper focused on its combo system. Even though every game in the series has its differences, at the end of the day the combat in each one comes down to you having to smartly use your resources to string together a long combo full of attacks the enemy is weak to. Trials has absolutely nothing like that. You have a basic attack button and then a heavy attack button. If you use the heavy attack button during a basic combo you'll get a finishing attack (different depending on how far you were into the basic combo before hitting the heavy attack.) That is the entire extent of the melee combat. Don't stand in the enemy attack zones (big red circles like a MMO) and then try and do your 5 hit combo. It's very simplistic and repetitive.
Hope this sells well and they consider a much needed reboot. Love the class system, muliple story lines in the beginning and the action part. God i miss the old JRPG's. Nowadays its just dragons and trolls... and dark souls.... Only problem for me is kevins voice... The rest is okay. I mean its not a huge anticipated game and probably not for everyone so I get it why the budget was not as high as every other game.
Just a lot of work to manage. Sometimes it gets tough for me to find time to carve out to play games, and the project I had before this was bigger than expected. Plus I've had a lot of troubleshooting devouring my time the past few weeks. -Bloodworth
I hope this team gets to make a remake of the GB game and then a new Mana game, they have positive momentum and this game sold way more than Square anticipated, it'd be great to have Mana back these days and it's probably a nice alternative when DQ games take so long to be made.
As was mentioned there is a remake of the game boy game (Final Fantasy Adventure in the US) called adventure of mana, but that is almost a 1:1 remake. There's also sword of mana on the GBA which is a bit different from the original.
Not having the option to play with my brothers like the original is why I won't be getting this one. I don't enjoy getting less features and mechanics than the original tale being remade.
Nevermind the oddities and few flaws in this remake. This with Tales of Arise are an Masterpiece epicness of gems. Of course ''la creme de la creme'' is FF7 Remake. All rpgs/ jrpgs fans should have these in their librairy imo period ! An easy 8.7 for me , 9.5 to Tales of Arise 9.7 to FF7 Remake.
@@danielmales123 yea, 50 is a bit better for sure. I guess it didn't grab me as a launch day title. It looks like fun but still not enough for 50 in my eyes.
Agree with this review. The game is flawed, but still enjoyable.It's obvious that the dev team didn't get as big a budget to work with like FF7 remake did . But they still managed to make a decent game + if I had to give someone their first action JRPG, this would be it. The game ain't too long and the fast combat is easier to sell to the younger players of today.
On the one hand I enjoyed this game for basically being a true conversion of a SNES game to a 3D game. But on the other it really nailed home to me that on a personal level I value the complexity of gameplay we started to see in RPGs in the PS1 era onward. ToM just does not have a good enough combat system to carry it the 25ish hours it took me to beat it (epilogue included.) I know normally people like to argue combat isn't everything but christ man, you spend 85% of your time playing this game just running around beating the crap out of dudes. It absolutely is the main point of the game and it's just not strong enough to carry the experience. Honestly it made me appreciate FF7R even more than I already did. The combat is so good in that game and it actually has the opposite problem of ToM where in FF7 I feel like you don't get enough of it. I beat the game, then beat it again on hard and did all the optional bosses and still wanted more. It's just such an awesome update of the ATB battle system. That said I did not hate ToM or anything. I am absolutely going to do another playthrough eventually, it's just I had my fill after 25 hours. Gonna need a few month break before I go back to it.
I enjoyed the game quite a bit, and I agree with most of this review and the score. And my GOD does this game need a harder difficulty patched in ASAP. It's perplexing to me that they spent time designing not one, but TWO difficulties below the default, when Hard is so incredibly easy as it is. The game would be an easy 8 or 8.5 if there was a difficulty that actually pushed you to use your characters' abilities to their fullest, instead of becoming trivial when you do so.
Definitely. I mean, Hard is decently challenging for a first playthrough and most will get a few gameovers here and there. Thing is, that's actually what Normal difficulty is for. Hard should be about challenging you and your skills. And then NG+ doesn't scale enemy levels nor does it give you the opportunity to reset your levels to 1. I really hope SE gives us a patch for that, so that I can play the game a 4th time and more.
So the EZA Mana series reviews straddle two sides of my mind: the rational side, and the fanatical side. I never played the original, but looove and adore Secret of Mana, the game (i believe) that came before this one. The SNES classic that took advantage of the systems mode7, colorful 16-bt graphics, and sony sound chip. It had a more ochestrial soundtrack, unrivaled to this day. And a story that was simple enough for my then pre-teen brain to handle, but also deep and complex enough for my adult brain to still appreciate. The thing i like about the mana-series in general is its simplistic/likable approach to storytelling. Easy to learn, difficult to master. Similar to say... the combat in Batman Arkham series! I see that they are struggling with teh remakes. Its like... how do we take something so charming, yet so simple; and bring it easily to the modern era. I think the answer is simple... time, and money. But because these square classics arent as popular as say... FF7 (wrongfully so i might add) i think they get the quick 3d treatment, wich doesnt do it justice. I think that these games Realtime battle mechanics & multiplayer aspects, as well as the cycle wheel select system, were way ahead of its time, and may even be a pre-cursor to games like FF15 and FF7 remakes real time/strategy approach. An approach that i was expecting & anticipating the mana series to perfect & pioneer in. Unfortunately, square/enix has not taken this opportunity to do so, and really enhance & embrace the forward thinking of the mana series & bring it to a whole new generation. Plus no local multiplayer co-op? This essence of the 3 party real-time system? I must say though... it still looks so much fun despite the shortcomings, and this reviews relentless focus on it. Perhaps blood felt it could do better, or couldn't help but compare it to other (ahem) more robust and financed remakes. I am glad that Brad didnt review this, as i feel some sort of apprehension to give the series it due compared to other square games. I know he loves Kingdom Heart & FF7, so it perplexes me when he considered aspect of the Mana series... convoluted! Ha!!! From a KH fan, thats just pure uncut hilarity! Even Blood used the C word in his review. WTF? To me, Mana has this way of transporting you to a simpler, purer time of storytelling in squares history. FF4, Chorno Trigger, and SoM have this space in my head where the never ending story dwells. Just adventurers traveling across continents, and exploring lush, rich environments. Encountering exotic locals, enemies, and monolithic bosses. All while cruising to the best, most soothing, and encompassing orchestral-like music. Personally, i understand the shortcomings of this as a re-make. But cant help but wonder how a 30+hour game with repeatability like Bloood claims it has, can get as low as a 7.5 (same as the damn shark game "yall reviewed?) Well... that shark game "Man Eater" does look fun. But still, i think Mana is atleast a step above! But hey... maybe thats whats wrong with review scores on as a concept. These review actually put this game on my radar, as i simply go back to the SNES SoM. I actually didn't play the remake too much, which maybe makes me Hypocritical as well. Well... time to pony up, and put my money where my mouth is!
Only a fleeting mention of the lack of multiplayer? That was an absolute dealbreaker for me. As soon as I realized it was missing, it went from an auto-buy to hard out, especially with FF7R around to whet my single-player appetite. Absolutely baffling.
the first time i herd charlotte talk. i restarted my game with a deferent party member. her voice is that annoying too me. every other voice so far in the first part of the game is good but her voice got on my nerves.
This game looks good, however, there isn't anything different about it either - Tales games, Mana games, the new Y's Ix game, are all the same, they use the same style/formula - open field and multiple characters that travel together. Heck, if you can only afford one of these games, just close your eyes and point to one and get that one because the others will be just like that one is. Another Good Review though. Thumbs Up
I hate to say it but Duran's dumb hair is making me not want to play this. Looks like Raditz took a dump then called it a day. Eh, but if I can pick another character it may be worth it... I'm shallow ik ik.
I'm trying to clear my games backlog before Cyberpunk releases. Cleared this game 3x to get the platinum trophy lol. I enjoyed this WAY more than FF7R...
I beat my first playthrough of this game for my Nintendo Switch about a couple of weeks ago and then during that weekend played through the after game content getting my characters to Class 4 and taking down Anise unlocking New Game Plus Mode! This first playthrough I played on Hard mode using Kevin as my main character with Reisz and Charlotte as my two companions! As annoying as Charlotte can be with her speech impediment baby talk voice she on the other hand was essential for me to have on my team since I unlocked her ability to heal my entire team! That is one of the reasons I was able to beat my first playthrough on Hard mode including it's post game content with using Charlotte's ability to heal your entire team!
Just a lot of work to manage. Sometimes it gets tough for me to find time to carve out to play games, and the project I had before this was bigger than expected. -Bloodworth
First playthrough was okay but the second and third were so tedious I didn't care about their individual stories. I started with Hawkeye/Riesz, then Duran/Angela, and last Kevin/Charlotte. I think the load times and the sameness of the stories were a big problem. I hope they fix this if they want to do Chrono Trigger in this way.
Personally I enjoyed Trials of Mana remake more than Final Fantasy VII remake. But I always enjoyed the original Super Famicom game more than the PS1 game too. I have the Platinum trophy in both, but I would have given Trials a 9.0 and VIIR an 8.5. My only issue with Trials was some of the performance issues, I don't care about the dub because I always played it in Japanese.
Brandon Jones - the voice that should be powering all video game reviews.
This comment should be pinned to the top of every Easy Allies (and old school gametrailers) reviews.
His voice is so familiair
i largely disagree with the 7.5 raiting this is a 8.6 every day in every world
Man, could you imagine if they remade Chrono Trigger in this exact style? Crazy! :D
I wait for the day.
Squeenix loves pandering around while wasting millions instead to actually listening to what fans want
Currently playing this and having a blast. Amazing they had all these features in a SNES game. Choosing a team. Having different stories and bosses. Having different classes. Ahead of its time
It was definitely the prettiest game on the snes probably as well. And I love the soundtrack. Such a great game. I enjoyed the remake immensely too.
I make the same remarks. They wouldn't have to current ambitious RT battle systems of say... FF15 or 7remake, or even KH without this series. I even remember thinking that as a kid, one day square will really hit the moon with this series. But alas... the popularity of some other franchises overshadowed the need to give this game some true L&R. I dont think its as bad as this review, but no multiplayer co-op? C'MON!!!
I think this series deserves a more polished remake, and im not just saying this cause SoM was my first jrpg love, and that its still my favorite after years of roleplaying. This series is legitimately a template for greatness. Simple to learn, yet deep battle system. Great, lovable, colorful characters. Supremely heart-achingly beautiful sountrack. And heart-tugging enthralling yet simple storytelling!
I felt this way about metal gear when i first played the NES port in the late 80s. So i think i have a pretty good nose for this. Maybe i just need to make a game in the same spirit. Such a taunting thing to do. Well, atleast i have the art aspect down!
Square was incredible in those days. They made this and Chrono Trigger and FFVI (with all its branching character plotlines) all within about a year.
A few notes to add, but most important one I could think of
Yes, for characters like Angela, you need to spread your points out for your spells unlike the original version, however....you can also reset your stat points almost at any time you want, making it a very minor note considering you can just respec to whatever elements you want
Lil Cactus is my favourite Soundcloud rapper.
🎵ay ay ay ay (ya)
These are the Trials of Mana (ya)
You can't f**k with me cause I'm Fauna (ya)
One wrong move, you a goner (ya ya ya)
Lil Cactus be sprouting with water (gun noise)🎵
@@GlassheartRecords brap brap brap ouu ouu
Beat me to it!
I have noticed that you have added subtitles this time, that's actually great! Always love your reviews.
I absolutely loved this game. I actually beat it 2 times and I wanted to play it again but I needed to get to other games in my backlog. I had so much fun with it, and I think it's presentation is high quality enough that I didn't even notice the technical limitations. I was just really enjoying myself. I even liked it more than final fantasy 7 remake. I actually would have given it an 8.5 out 10, but that's just me. It doesn't feel like a 7.5 or lower game to me.
totally agree.
Hopefully this sells well to give a proper budget Mana game.
This. I think budget and time would have done this game (and the SoM remake) so much more justice and bring to light the innovative elements that made it so much ahead of its time. The fact that they had to step back features tells me they didn't try hard enough. It makes me almost want to make a game in teh same vein just to show em up! All the ingredients are there square... just make a awesome cake already!!
@@martenas5341 unfortunately Square doesn't give big budgets outside of KH, FF, an DQ because they know this games will sell, and maybe now Nier could joined the trio.
@@martenas5341 Honestly I think they pushed this about as far as the concept will allow. This is coming from someone who has massive nostalgia for the original and beat it 5+ times. As much as I loved the game it was still a simple snes rpg which had some variety in terms of party makeup. Fixing the many bugs of the original, making magic not suck, updating the graphics, adding skills, revamping the combat system with light combos/damage zones and dodging is honestly much more than I expected.
Apparently it sold very well!
"Lost to the logistics of localization." Okay Blood, I see you out here dropping alliteration on them.
That’s the subtitle of the next DQ game: Dragon Quest XII: Lost to the Logistics of Localization
Gonna play this during christmas holiday. Seems like a whimsical journey game, which I love to play during that time each year.
If only they had left in the multiplayer, this would have been day 1 for me!
I thought the same thing...multiplayer was one of the best features of the old-school Mana games. It's sad this generation has disregarded couch-co op so much.
I don't know why Square released this game, which looks great, so soon after FF7 remake. Feels like if it had come out in July or august it really would have stood out.
I completely agree with you.
Ff7 is only on PlayStation though and this one is available on steam.
In my opinion : Easy Allies makes the best Reviews ! Every score is Perfect and right ! Good work and keep going !
@Char Aznable i hope its a bad day thats made you so bitchy and you're not always this way.
finally :D Been waiting for your review!
EDIT: since this is a JRPG, I am a bit disappointed that you failed to mention side-quests, or the lack of, and how that would affect the final score.
There are plenty of JRPGs that don't have side quests, particularly as you look at earlier titles. It's not part of the design, and it doesn't feel like it would need them. (And it likely would have been a mistake to add them.) I'd thought about it here and there, but it doesn't make sense to take time to talk about something that doesn't exist when there are so many more relevant points to discuss both positive and negative. -Bloodworth
Easy Allies yeah, I understand your train of thought, and don’t get me wrong, I respect it along with all your reviews. But I truly believe reviews should address all the aspects of what makes the genre what it is, remakes usually add new stuff and I was hoping for side quests to be added since the world looks gorgeous, taking a minute to say they were not included in the original and are not in this one as well would be perfect, along with your opinion if the game would benefit from such an addition or not. 👌😊
Either way, Love you guys! Keep up the good work and stay safe 🙏 :)
The game's design already takes you through most of the environments a couple of times and as mentioned there's a fair amount of incentive to replay at least once, if not twice. I really think tacking side quests into it would have made things drag, and until the post-game content, this game really sticks very close to the original structure. -Bloodworth
Easy Allies cool! Thanks for the feedback! :)
@@EasyAllies Disagree with this take hard. Side quests are and always have been a big important part of JRPGs and you know it. Pretending otherwise is a joke. Should have been addressed.
I enjoyed playing this on Japanese audio! 9/10 for me.
As somebody who loved the original, playing the fan translation on an emulator as a child, this is an amazing remake
You want better graphics and sound? Just what game do you think they were trying to make? Final Fantasy 17?
I swear that at 8:25 that that VO was done by Ben Moore
Still have to go through the original, have the Switch Collection ready to go. Excellent review btw Blood.
Completed it, my team was Angela (Main), Duran, Reisz.
A big negative i would say is that the story feels very fragmented. Because its split between 6 different paths it can feel either rushed or not indepth enough. The story doesn't feel complete with just 3 characters, i would of made the game a more compelling/well rounded narrative by allowing all party members to be recruit-able.
I understand that it wouldn't be a faithful remake then, i do think they should of filled in the gaps
Then some people might have complained XD
@@joegreen3802 Yeah but as it stands it feels like a very fragmented experience
One note about the ??? Seeds is that the remake changed is that they will always give you one of the possible Class items you DON'T own (at least so long as you don't change anyone into Class 3 yet). And since you get a total of 6 ??? Seeds in the Benevodon dungeons, you will ALWAYS have the ability to class change into the class you want by the time you reach the penultimate dungeon.
Yeah I didn't want to really spend a lot of time on the details, but the flaw of how it's designed is that it seems to require you save up all six seeds (or at least however many you need for the 3 classes you want) in order to get the full spread. And unless you know about this flaw, I just can't imagine why anyone would want to wait when they could take their new class 3 into the next dungeon ASAP. -Bloodworth
Went with all female magic team, while majority of the game I didn't opt to use magic with Angela to artificially increase the difficulty. While using Riez as the main physical attacker anf Charlotte as the tank. Went quite well imo.
I'm surprised they talked about production value and didn't mention how there is voice acting for 98% of all dialogue in the game. Considering the amount of voice work people will miss if they only play through once I would say they went above and beyond with this remake, definitely not low effort. I also loved how the character models are so faithful to the art style. When you look at a beautiful piece of Amano art and then compare it to the characters in game they look nothing alike. Playing Trials of Mana remake I was constantly in awe watching the character models move around. It really felt like I was playing with art and not just another attempt at hyper realistic character models. I had so much fun playing through this game four times within the first few days of release. Sure it was easy and a little short, but it wasn't a $60 game ($40 on GreenManGaming) and JRPGs like this don't come around too often. Also Spellbinder Angela OwO The True True Queen!
Because quantity of VO doesn’t negate other issues like dog ass textures, stiff awkward animations, and distant environments looking like an n64 game. Quantity of VO also doesn’t mean much when most of it is hot garbage. Quantity does not inherently equate to quality. I like the game a lot, but it’s pretty janky and rough around the edges in regards to the production
Check out dragon quest xi, it’ll blow your lil noodle wide open if you thought trials of mana was awe-inspiring in its presentation
@@peen2804 "Most of the game is hot garbage", by what metric? It's fine to like and dislike games for different reasons, but to say this game was "hot garbage" because you didn't like it is just outright ignorant. By that logic, just about every Switch game is trash. I enjoyed the style here and didn't consider the texture quality to be a detriment, but rather it worked in service to the art style. In that same vein, I wouldn't say that Mega Man looks bad and that Mega Man X is objectively better because of its visual quality.
Another thing worth noting is that this Trials of Mana remake launched at only 50 dollars. A small price decrease, but a clear sign that they were aware of the game they were making/selling. Too many reviews and pirates take the price of games, specifically new games, for granted. Without awareness of context, you end up with out of touch comparisons that try to equate passionate budget RPGs with one of the biggest RPG franchises of all time in Dragon Quest. The Mana series is certainly beloved among fans, but I would be willing to bet that more than 80% of gamers would confuse Trials of Mana, Trails of Cold Steel, and Tales of ___, with each other. With Dragon Quest, even gamers who don't know what it is would probably say it's, "The big Japanese RPG that isn't Final Fantasy" or "Oh, the one that looks like Dragon Ball(Z)?"
Also, I have played DQ 11, it was really fun and probably my favorite turn based RPG in the last decade for so many reasons. You should really try evaluating games on a case by case basis, it'll blow your little noodle into maturity.
Wow, I'm here from Game Trailer days because I loved Brandon's awesome game reviews!! So glad to discover this channel. Keep up amazing work.
Great review Brandon! Sounds like swimming in 7s in all the best ways.
Bloodworth did the review.
This youtube channel has one of the best gaming review, wish you the best always
If you plant 6 ??? seeds at once you'll get no duplicates and can choose any of the available classes
Sure, but it feels like a lesson you have to learn the hard way. I wanted to change classes as soon as I got the first class item, and then I ended up with duplicates, and I think a lot of people are in the same boat. -Bloodworth
@@EasyAllies Oh for sure. There are a few mechanics that the game doesn't quite explain. Story pairings during character choice, which stats will lead to useful spells (before class upgrade), and the seeds overall. Had a great time with the game regardless!
lol that review had me going from intrigued about the game, to wanting the game, and then making me hard pass on the game. Maybe when it's on sale, but some of the aspects about the game are huge turn offs for me. Hopefully the fans who wanted that game are happy with it.
Game is great. Review was not
Let me guess, the loot boxes bit? You can get 6 of those and you will 100% get all the class items you need
@@fairydust1397 That part was kind of like that last nail in the coffin. The progression system is probably the biggest hurdle. Having to put points into every stat to unlock abilities regardless of the fact if that stat is beneficial is a stupid idea.
@@loonyman83 this is only true for angela. Every other character doesn't have this problem and if they do its much lighter. Its also not needed at all for angela to get spells from different schools as she is very strong eitherway
He didn't explain himself well at all. In fact, angela is generally considered one of the best damage dealers
Ever since I first played the original, I have always dreamed of playing a modern version of it. It is flawed (so was the original), but it is one of the best rpgs of its era, and one of Square's most enjoyable. I absolutely loved playing the remake, despite the issues. Absolutely mesmerizing.
The ??? seeds are not actually random. They come in a 6-item sequence and so as long as you find 6 seeds, you will get all the class items for your party. It's actually not a loot box at all, unlike the original game.
Huh, that's kinda cool.
Maybe it works that way if you save up six seeds, but changing classes when I got seeds, I ended up getting duplicate items and having to grind for extras. However it might work under the hood, it's still presented as being random and is intentionally unexplained. -Bloodworth
@@EasyAllies if you consume the class item without opening all 6 seeds, the fixed sequence resets unfortunately. You will get the class item you just used. I'm sure they could have done away with this but the devs wanted to make a fairly pure remake. The original was actually random, so you had to do save scumming at the inn lol
Seiken Densetsu 3 is the best game I never played. I need to get a Switch only to play it (the original, not the remake).
God I hope this leads way to a Chrono Trigger Remake
Been looking forward to this one. The original was way ahead of its time for JRPG design on the SNES and was one of the most beautiful looking and sounding games on the system. The real fun comes from the party building system. Each character has four endgame options that can play significantly differently, but how much they'll shine will depend on how well they synergize with their teammates. With all the possible party combinations and three separate storylines, if you're into min-maxing you'll have plenty of reasons to replay the game before you feel done with it.
What they did to Angelica was a nerf she needed. Holy hell if all you did was dump your points into her INT stat in the original she would steamroll the game for you.
My favourite game of the year. Even with all of its flaws playing through it put such a wide grin on my face, it simply oozes so much oldschool jrpg charm that I didn't want it to end. I feel the score is warranted but at the same time it has been ages since a game seemed so magical and special to me.
That postgame section takes forever and makes me flee at every battle halfway. The final boss makes my party member glitch out. And I still can't understand why I can't use items in the menu when not in battle. For example, use a magic+1 item you need to set it in the ring, use it, get back to the menu, and set other items back. I also can't understand why I can't check every equipment I have rather than go through everyone's gear menu to see what I have since they only show you what you can equip.
You had trouble with the postgame dungeon? I played through the game twice, on Hard mode, and both times my characters were so ridiculously overpowered by that point, without any extra grinding, that I was effortlessly smashing through everything in my path.
I agree about using items from the menu though, that was annoying.
@@Answerofduty1 It just takes too long to fight tons of monsters and the same old dungeon with a different skin. It's not fun for me at that point. Fewer fights and more puzzle solving might be better.
Blood‘s review is the best ❤️
Might have to get this on PC when it goes on sale. Edit 2:54 WTF? Is there a Japanese voice option?
There is definitely a JP voice option
Yeah the Japanese voice acting is so much better than the english. IMO its the only wway to play this :)
Yeah. This is the first game in years where I've actually switched to the Japanese voices. Idk what the hell happened with the English dub.
@@zahedzed You fool! The English dub is the only way to play the game! You'd be missing out on gems like that Altenish mage's "Everyone, retreaaaaaat!" or Salamando's "GRAAAAAH"!
yes their is an option to turn the voices to Japanese if you want too
*Many flaws aside, this is now on my Top 10 Favorite Video Games of all time. Just a spot below Chrono Trigger and Final Fantasy VI.*
A good surprise this year, i've played the demo twice and decided to pick the game, good review by the way.
I got 100% achievements done on steam which means I replayed this three times. I never once felt that the seed system felt like "loot boxes". Also a lot of weird points were made about that really don't serve any purpose or grounds to be so negative. Such as how the reviewer felt bewildered by how companions disperse in towns. He never mentioned that those companions have new narratives in each new location. Crazy since this is a story driven game
It's because it's a story driven game that it's bothersome. When you walk out of a cave together, and suddenly your companions are gone, it's very strange. When Angela teases Duran when he walks by his house, but she's standing at the inn, ashamed to go outside, the narrative doesn't line up. Your party members comment when you buy things in the shop even though they're standing across town. NPCs refer to you as a group when you walk into their house alone, etc. Regardless of the new snippets of dialogue, there's a very real break in continuity created throughout. -Bloodworth
I really loved this game. I loved it more than FF7 remake. This was my first mana game too.
This remake took me back to a simpler time when RPGs were simple and fun.
i wouldnt go that far. secrets of man is not nearly on the level of ff7 remake imo.it still is a good remake. I will be buying it on the next steam sail
@@supersaiyaman11589 we all have different tastes my dude
@@supersaiyaman11589 well ff7R ruined the story I loved so I’m with trials of mana :!
The graphics are simple at times but I really love the classic party adventure feel of it. It's a bit longer than it needs to be but it's paced pretty well. The music is awesome but repeats a bit to often at times. It's a game full of passion but many tradeoffs and pointless systems and abilities takes it down a notch. I haven't felt this excited to play an rpg in a long while though. It has a soul I've been missing since the snes days.
Oh and play with Japanese voices! It's so much better.
Longtime fan of the original. The combat and "most" of the music are improvements, and they included enough items and secrets in the environments to make the most of the transition to 3D. The score seems about right, given that the story and dialogue haven't aged well (the branches, yes, the villains and writing, no). It is simple and easy compared to most RPGs, and even most fights on Hard aren't a challenge. NG+ playthroughs take very little time due to a massive XP bonus passive ability you can equip, so playing through it 3 times only took about 50 hours (and could be done much faster). It's definitely "comfort food" with a pleasant progression and music to enjoy, and that's good enough sometimes.
I played the original via a fan translation a couple years ago, then following up with this so soon was great way to experience the improvements and changes. I loved the original, but this version is definitely the definitive entirely on the quality of life improvements alone (ie. quest markers). They nailed the visual upgrade and the remastered music. Voice acting wasn't great, but I found it charming. I think it deserves a higher rating, it's a retro game re-released today that past perspective really matters.
Currently playing this game, one of the best, enjoyable and fun experience i have ever felt in recent time. I love it
Who cares about blurry background...it's trivial. Gameplay is the most important
I wouldn't call the Seed system a loot box. It's more on the lines of a Gacha Game like how Xenoblade Chronicles 2 is with the unlocking rare blades, but it's not as comber-sum because it will give you the seeds you need for your party and farming some is really easy if you know the spots to farm. I believe the original game did this too.
2:53 didnt know kyle would go on to do voice acting
Looks great, but it needs a Japanese audio track (does it have one? not sure I could handle that dub) and its being too easy is my primary concern. Difficulty needs to be higher.
Yes, it does have a Japanese audio track, although you need to exit to the main menu to switch languages. -Bloodworth
Yeah Kevin's dialogue made me never want to play the game in English
I switched to Japanese after doing Kevin's prologue, but then they started taking outside of cutscenes which made it too hard to keep up with fighting and reading dialogue at the same time, so i switched back to English. I really wish the dub was actually good, as i haven't seen one of this dubious quality in years.
My team was Hawkeye, reisz and Angela and for the most part it was ok with the later 2 being good at times ok for the rest, but Kevin and Charlotte what the hell was square enix thinking, if they put even half the effort to find good english voice actors like they did for ff7 remake I would have been happier luckily the combat is awesome and one thing it does that ff7 remake unfortunately couldn't do good air combat for the melee characters.
Rather low score if you can recommend going at it three times
Agree. I'd give it 8.5. I played it twice and it's a lot of fun and is very good quality. Some of the objections made in the review are also inaccurate, like the skill trees, the ??? Seeds and the unfair bosses. All of those are play issues or not understanding how the game actually works. ??? Seeds are fixed predictable sequence of class items rather than being random. You also need to take advantage of boss weaknesses. That wall boss is weak to water and water attacks shut down it's flame attacks, weakening him greatly and making him a joke
No, I actually agree with the sentiment. I beat it twice (was going to do a third run but there were other games I wanted to play -- probably still will eventually) and still think 7.5 is an accurate score. The game is of a quality level that relegates it to niche appeal, but if you DO happen to enjoy it, it's got good replayability.
I do agree with this review on a technical level. The game does have some gripes but that didn't stop me from replaying this game 4 times to platinum it. I had so much fun with this game form beginning to end each time. Kevin is best boy, you all know it! There are some characters i can do without but overall I liked my time in this game. Honestly I had more fun with this game then FF7 Remake. So overall i agree that while this game is a 7.5/10 it doesn't change the fact that the game is fun and has alot of replayability. Although Square-Enix didn't go all out for this remake i'm happy with what I got and I hope this means not only is the Mana series making a return but we also see Square-Enix remake some other classics, like Legend of mana
That boss you had trouble with was weak to water, and the game actually gave you 3 poseidon claws in a chest right before the boss to make him a lot easier actually. Not using them would definitely make it feel unfair.
Still very annoying to fight
@@eatachodeutube it's pretty easy even on hard honestly. Just attack with water and dodge out of the way as necessary. Ignore the low level shapeshifter enemies. Using water trivializes it
...huh a 7.5? That actually seems a bit low considering the reviews relative lack of negatives.
7.5 isn't a bad score, but years and years and years of 'shifting the norm' has created this false impression that anything lower than a 9 isn't worth checking out. Game clearly has its flaws, but that doesn't mean you can't have a good time with it.
Seemed fair given the review (if not a bit high). Bad textures, frequent graphics pop-in, occasional clunky boss fights, mediocre AI, voice acting ranging from okay to awful, no-multiplayer support, and uninspired tacked on endgame all were prominent points in the review. Worth at least 2.5 points off I reckon.
Plenty of negatives were mentioned, but the score is still pretty low considering he recommends it's worth going through 2-3 times despite them.
The graphics complaint is kinda dumb. Sure it looks a bit dated at parts, but it also looks fantastic at times.
thenonexistinghero “a bit dated at parts, but fantastic at times” sounds pretty 7.5 to me
@@thenonexistinghero The trick is to not buy into seven-shaming. A long, long time ago, game publishers pressured game magazines into giving games higher scores than they probably deserved, to curb negative publicity. That's why a game that was just "okay" would be rated somewhere around 70%, when it would have typically been rated 50 or lower prior to the fact.
The original Borderlands was a solid 7 for me, but I must have put over 100 hours into the game. The fact I could do that doesn't mean I should consider it a 10, it just meant that there were a lot of things I thought needed improvement. And finally, don't take numbers too personally, because a lot of things that bother a reviewer may not bother you. Read/watch reviews to see a person's take, and view the score just as how much these things affected their personal experience.
I never gets tired of watching all the review even though I played the demo for myself.
Best review's in the biz!
This type of replayability I'm not sure about. Often content like exclusive dungeons is locked with simple excuses when they can be easily worked into the story otherwise. And this party limitation, wouldn't the story be richesr with all characters, plus gameplay options, as you'll have party options? Very often it seems to me like rather than make a better "one time version" of a game, design choices which take away from any individual game run are made, in favour of making subsequent runs more different from each other, but all of lesser quality than could've otherwise been.
So the combat is somewhat similar to the "Tales of" games?
without the focus on combos, perhaps.
Not really to be honest. Tales is hyper focused on its combo system. Even though every game in the series has its differences, at the end of the day the combat in each one comes down to you having to smartly use your resources to string together a long combo full of attacks the enemy is weak to. Trials has absolutely nothing like that. You have a basic attack button and then a heavy attack button. If you use the heavy attack button during a basic combo you'll get a finishing attack (different depending on how far you were into the basic combo before hitting the heavy attack.) That is the entire extent of the melee combat. Don't stand in the enemy attack zones (big red circles like a MMO) and then try and do your 5 hit combo. It's very simplistic and repetitive.
Hope this sells well and they consider a much needed reboot. Love the class system, muliple story lines in the beginning and the action part. God i miss the old JRPG's. Nowadays its just dragons and trolls... and dark souls....
Only problem for me is kevins voice... The rest is okay. I mean its not a huge anticipated game and probably not for everyone so I get it why the budget was not as high as every other game.
it has sold over 1 million copies world wide
This game has me intrigued..... is it worth it?
Hoping they also remake Legend of Mana (1999).
BlessRNG
Lil Cactus came from Legend of Mana so you never know. 🙏🤞
Why does this review comes out weeks after the release?
Just a lot of work to manage. Sometimes it gets tough for me to find time to carve out to play games, and the project I had before this was bigger than expected. Plus I've had a lot of troubleshooting devouring my time the past few weeks. -Bloodworth
I hope this team gets to make a remake of the GB game and then a new Mana game, they have positive momentum and this game sold way more than Square anticipated, it'd be great to have Mana back these days and it's probably a nice alternative when DQ games take so long to be made.
GB game remake already exists, for Vita and smartphones. They renamed it to Adventures of Mana
As was mentioned there is a remake of the game boy game (Final Fantasy Adventure in the US) called adventure of mana, but that is almost a 1:1 remake. There's also sword of mana on the GBA which is a bit different from the original.
Not having the option to play with my brothers like the original is why I won't be getting this one. I don't enjoy getting less features and mechanics than the original tale being remade.
This reviewer's voice is the same bro from Gametrailers back in PS3 and Wii days.
Yep, we're all from GT. Welcome back! -Blooodworth
This guy sounds like the Game Trailers guy!
He sure does
While most people that bring it up aren't joking, I am guessing this time around they are. -Bloodworth
@The Ostrich yeah, its a joke (overdone at this point, but still)
Intro siunds like Resident evil?
Nevermind the oddities and few flaws in this remake. This with Tales of Arise are an Masterpiece epicness of gems. Of course ''la creme de la creme'' is FF7 Remake. All rpgs/ jrpgs fans should have these in their librairy imo period ! An easy 8.7 for me , 9.5 to Tales of Arise 9.7 to FF7 Remake.
A 7.5 that is worth giving a shot and coming back to for 3 runs?
Loki is the hardest boss in this game
I enjoyed the demo but I'm holding out for a sale. Will keep replaying yakuza until xenoblade releases :).
Yea its already kinda discounted with i think its 50$
@@danielmales123 it launched at $50 though
@@tigerfestivals5137 yea still not the standard full price
@@danielmales123 yea, 50 is a bit better for sure. I guess it didn't grab me as a launch day title. It looks like fun but still not enough for 50 in my eyes.
@@reed1645 yea tops 40 or 30$ would be ideal
Agree with this review. The game is flawed, but still enjoyable.It's obvious that the dev team didn't get as big a budget to work with like FF7 remake did . But they still managed to make a decent game + if I had to give someone their first action JRPG, this would be it. The game ain't too long and the fast combat is easier to sell to the younger players of today.
Did Nasser program this as well?
On the one hand I enjoyed this game for basically being a true conversion of a SNES game to a 3D game. But on the other it really nailed home to me that on a personal level I value the complexity of gameplay we started to see in RPGs in the PS1 era onward. ToM just does not have a good enough combat system to carry it the 25ish hours it took me to beat it (epilogue included.) I know normally people like to argue combat isn't everything but christ man, you spend 85% of your time playing this game just running around beating the crap out of dudes. It absolutely is the main point of the game and it's just not strong enough to carry the experience.
Honestly it made me appreciate FF7R even more than I already did. The combat is so good in that game and it actually has the opposite problem of ToM where in FF7 I feel like you don't get enough of it. I beat the game, then beat it again on hard and did all the optional bosses and still wanted more. It's just such an awesome update of the ATB battle system.
That said I did not hate ToM or anything. I am absolutely going to do another playthrough eventually, it's just I had my fill after 25 hours. Gonna need a few month break before I go back to it.
Thanks Blood
I’m at a point where watching gameplay videos of a game like this feels like wasting time
I enjoyed the game quite a bit, and I agree with most of this review and the score.
And my GOD does this game need a harder difficulty patched in ASAP. It's perplexing to me that they spent time designing not one, but TWO difficulties below the default, when Hard is so incredibly easy as it is. The game would be an easy 8 or 8.5 if there was a difficulty that actually pushed you to use your characters' abilities to their fullest, instead of becoming trivial when you do so.
Definitely. I mean, Hard is decently challenging for a first playthrough and most will get a few gameovers here and there. Thing is, that's actually what Normal difficulty is for. Hard should be about challenging you and your skills. And then NG+ doesn't scale enemy levels nor does it give you the opportunity to reset your levels to 1.
I really hope SE gives us a patch for that, so that I can play the game a 4th time and more.
So the EZA Mana series reviews straddle two sides of my mind: the rational side, and the fanatical side.
I never played the original, but looove and adore Secret of Mana, the game (i believe) that came before this one. The SNES classic that took advantage of the systems mode7, colorful 16-bt graphics, and sony sound chip. It had a more ochestrial soundtrack, unrivaled to this day. And a story that was simple enough for my then pre-teen brain to handle, but also deep and complex enough for my adult brain to still appreciate.
The thing i like about the mana-series in general is its simplistic/likable approach to storytelling. Easy to learn, difficult to master. Similar to say... the combat in Batman Arkham series!
I see that they are struggling with teh remakes. Its like... how do we take something so charming, yet so simple; and bring it easily to the modern era. I think the answer is simple... time, and money. But because these square classics arent as popular as say... FF7 (wrongfully so i might add) i think they get the quick 3d treatment, wich doesnt do it justice.
I think that these games Realtime battle mechanics & multiplayer aspects, as well as the cycle wheel select system, were way ahead of its time, and may even be a pre-cursor to games like FF15 and FF7 remakes real time/strategy approach. An approach that i was expecting & anticipating the mana series to perfect & pioneer in. Unfortunately, square/enix has not taken this opportunity to do so, and really enhance & embrace the forward thinking of the mana series & bring it to a whole new generation. Plus no local multiplayer co-op? This essence of the 3 party real-time system?
I must say though... it still looks so much fun despite the shortcomings, and this reviews relentless focus on it.
Perhaps blood felt it could do better, or couldn't help but compare it to other (ahem) more robust and financed remakes. I am glad that Brad didnt review this, as i feel some sort of apprehension to give the series it due compared to other square games. I know he loves Kingdom Heart & FF7, so it perplexes me when he considered aspect of the Mana series... convoluted! Ha!!! From a KH fan, thats just pure uncut hilarity! Even Blood used the C word in his review. WTF?
To me, Mana has this way of transporting you to a simpler, purer time of storytelling in squares history. FF4, Chorno Trigger, and SoM have this space in my head where the never ending story dwells. Just adventurers traveling across continents, and exploring lush, rich environments. Encountering exotic locals, enemies, and monolithic bosses. All while cruising to the best, most soothing, and encompassing orchestral-like music.
Personally, i understand the shortcomings of this as a re-make. But cant help but wonder how a 30+hour game with repeatability like Bloood claims it has, can get as low as a 7.5
(same as the damn shark game "yall reviewed?) Well... that shark game "Man Eater" does look fun. But still, i think Mana is atleast a step above!
But hey... maybe thats whats wrong with review scores on as a concept. These review actually put this game on my radar, as i simply go back to the SNES SoM. I actually didn't play the remake too much, which maybe makes me Hypocritical as well.
Well... time to pony up, and put my money where my mouth is!
I gat a wee wee, wee wee bad feewing about it
Ah shit, 3D movement? My broken joycon can't deal with that.
Holy shit, THAT VOICE!
*KARL!*
Only a fleeting mention of the lack of multiplayer? That was an absolute dealbreaker for me. As soon as I realized it was missing, it went from an auto-buy to hard out, especially with FF7R around to whet my single-player appetite. Absolutely baffling.
Is there a japanese voice option? That baby talk would drive me insane.
You can switch between English and Japanese voices yes. Fortunately, if you don't put Charlotte in your party you don't have to see her much.
the first time i herd charlotte talk. i restarted my game with a deferent party member. her voice is that annoying too me. every other voice so far in the first part of the game is good but her voice got on my nerves.
ive been spoiled by new games so i find this old game design annoying
i got a weewee bad feewing about it guys...
This is on the list. Being poor sucks, don’t recommend it for anyone.
This music is banging
This game looks good, however, there isn't anything different about it either - Tales games, Mana games, the new Y's Ix game, are all the same, they use the same style/formula - open field and multiple characters that travel together. Heck, if you can only afford one of these games, just close your eyes and point to one and get that one because the others will be just like that one is.
Another Good Review though. Thumbs Up
Finally!
While the english voice acting sucos, the japanese is very well done. Every speech will have subs anyway.
I hate to say it but Duran's dumb hair is making me not want to play this. Looks like Raditz took a dump then called it a day. Eh, but if I can pick another character it may be worth it... I'm shallow ik ik.
I'm trying to clear my games backlog before Cyberpunk releases. Cleared this game 3x to get the platinum trophy lol.
I enjoyed this WAY more than FF7R...
I beat my first playthrough of this game for my Nintendo Switch about a couple of weeks ago and then during that weekend played through the after game content getting my characters to Class 4 and taking down Anise unlocking New Game Plus Mode! This first playthrough I played on Hard mode using Kevin as my main character with Reisz and Charlotte as my two companions! As annoying as Charlotte can be with her speech impediment baby talk voice she on the other hand was essential for me to have on my team since I unlocked her ability to heal my entire team! That is one of the reasons I was able to beat my first playthrough on Hard mode including it's post game content with using Charlotte's ability to heal your entire team!
Ps4 the better version
Why were you so slow releasing this review?
Just a lot of work to manage. Sometimes it gets tough for me to find time to carve out to play games, and the project I had before this was bigger than expected. -Bloodworth
First playthrough was okay but the second and third were so tedious I didn't care about their individual stories. I started with Hawkeye/Riesz, then Duran/Angela, and last Kevin/Charlotte. I think the load times and the sameness of the stories were a big problem. I hope they fix this if they want to do Chrono Trigger in this way.
Personally I enjoyed Trials of Mana remake more than Final Fantasy VII remake. But I always enjoyed the original Super Famicom game more than the PS1 game too. I have the Platinum trophy in both, but I would have given Trials a 9.0 and VIIR an 8.5. My only issue with Trials was some of the performance issues, I don't care about the dub because I always played it in Japanese.