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BORNEO BULLETIN SATURDAY
JUNE 13, 2020
3
4
5
Ways for travel
lovers can
change their
perspective
DoubleTree’s
chocolate chip
cookie recipe
almost tastes
like a vacation
A long-ago
trek helps
me survive
quarantine
‘Trials of Mana’, a perfect
little escapist fantasy
A screenshot of the ‘Trials of Mana’ gameplay. PHOTO: SQUARE ENIX
There’s no better way to get into the genre than through one of its classics.
THEWASHINGTON POST - Role-playing games can
be intimidating. They involve all this math, stats
and different mechanics to memorise and track.
Enemies might explode into a treasure trove of
new items with beneits harder to read than your
insurance policy.
Meanwhile, every new town in
Trials of Mana
offers you exactly one new weapon. No need for
spreadsheets on the “loot grind” and decoding
cryptic algorithms. Just get the one sword, which
you know is stronger because it has bigger num-
bers than your last sword.
The brilliance of
Trials of Mana
is how it dis-
tils several core gameplay features to its truest
sense. The “loot grind” to gain more equipment re-
ally comes down to comparing smaller and bigger
numbers. Sometimes towns really don’t function
as much else besides places to stock up on things
and maybe get some loose context for the world.
Sometimes, a simple classic like
Trials of Mana
is all
you really need.
This game is mythical. It’s the direct sequel
to the Super Nintendo classic
Secret of Mana
, a
name whispered with just a little less reverence
than one use for
Chrono Trigger
or
Final Fantasy
VI
. Known as
Seiken Densetsu 3
, it was only ever
released in Japan in 1995, at the tail end of the
Super Nintendo console’s life. Despite this lack
of attention, Japanese gamers and intrepid im-
porters praised the game as a celebration of all
things that were great about the 16-bit era of role-
playing games. The game attained near-mythical
status for collectors and retro gamers, becoming
a 16-bit milestone.
Last year,
SeikenDensetsu3
was inally released
in the West as
Trials of Mana
under the
Collections
of Mana
. And now, in 2020, here is a full-bore 3D
remake of that same game for the PlayStation 4,
PC and Nintendo Switch.
Trials of Mana
is perfect for two types of play-
ers. First, there are folks like me who grew up with
the 16-bit classics, and would love for a chance to
dive back into that charming world of simple and
immediate rewards.
Yes, this is a 2020 remake, but don’t expect
anything as luxurious or literally game-changing
like
Final Fantasy VII Remake
. This Japanese role-
playing remake is far more faithful, at least in spirit,
to its classic roots. Super Nintendo role-playing
stories were often mere outlines of grand epics,
and
Trials of Mana
makes little-to-no effort to up-
date its dialogue and writing.
It’s almost impossible to get lost in this game.
There are no side quests to distract your attention,
and every quest is a simple matter of getting from
Point A to B, another example of this game’s ability
to distil gameplay concepts to their barest core.
All of this is introduced pretty slowly, but cer-
tainly not slower than some of the tutorials in to-
day’s most complicated games. And the game is
easy, even on its “hard” dificulty. Players who want
high-octane engagement need not imply, but what
if those new to the genre suddenly get bored half-
way through the game?
The graphics are pretty, but rely mostly on the
strength of its colourful character designs. Good
art direction goes a long way to hide any techni-
cal issues, and Square Enix’s designers were on ire
during the ‘90s.
But
Trials of Mana
was never meant to wow
anyone with ireworks. It’s a simple updated re-
make of a legendary game. Time has humbled its
legacy, as developers and studios iterated on the
formula of the 16-bit adventure.
Trials of Mana
re-
minds us of why we fell in love with these games
in the irst place. The rules are simple, the rewards
are immediate and obvious. There’s no better for-
mula for escapist fantasy.