Welcome back to The Game Collection! Recently the unthinkable happened. Square Enix after 25 years finally localized a game I had long since given up hope on. And then not only that, but it's getting a remake?! That's great and all, but sometimes there's nothing better than the original. So how about it? Is Trials of Mana still worth playing today? Let's find out! I am SuperDerek, and this is Trials of Mana!
Back in 1995, the team over at Squaresoft released a game that some would go on to call the best Action RPG on the Super Nintendo. Seiken Densetsu 3. Western fans of Secret of Mana were waiting with baited breath to hear of we would receive the game state-side. Preview Magazines were abuzz with this “Secret of Mana 2” talking about the multiple characters, calendar system, and all kinds of new features. Would we get it in the West? Unfortunately with the launch of the Nintendo 64 just around the corner, that dream would go unanswered by Squaresoft for decades.
But sometimes it is darkest just before dawn. And though our cries to Squaresoft for Seiken Densetsu 3 fell on deaf ears, there were fans with the skills and drive to make those dreams a reality. Neill Corlett, Linda Chan, Nuku Nuku, and SOM2Freak, would go on to make one of the most famous fan translations of the era, eventually released in 1999. Finally after 4 years, players with a firm grasp on a moral gray area could experience what would became a cult-classic of legendary proportions. Knowledge of this patch spread far and wide, purely through word-of-mouth, spread in hushed whispers in school lunch cafeterias and some darker corners of forums across the Internet.
It was in one of these such dark corners that I first heard the legend of Seiken Densetsu 3, and acquired the forbidden codes needed. The Rosetta Stone that would change these indecipherable runes into English words, unlocking the gates for any old schlub to experience this greatness!
I only got a couple of hours in before dropping it. Nothing against the game, I just have a weird mental block that kills my drive to finish games when I emulate them. So I never really got to experience the game in its entirety back in the day. But time flows like a river. And now Square Enix has seen fit to bring Trials of Mana to the West in the Collection of Mana on Switch, featuring the first 3 Mana games: “Final Fantasy Adventure,” “Secret of Mana,” and the newly christened “Trials of Mana.” Now I can complete my review of the trilogy. With a physical copy in-hand I got to work with renewed fervor! Was Trials of Mana worth the wait?
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