This is the game that made me a permanent Mana fan. I had a great time on my first playthrough. Such a great return of a long time Square Enix franchise! I'm hoping this game did well enough for Square to consider a sequel!

I absolutely loved this game! One of my favorites of last year. Here’s hoping we get a brand new game in the series in this vein.

See Balan Wonderworld, this is how you do a better job at being a Disney animated movie

Excellent video man, really glad you ended up enjoying this as much as I did! :)

I still play this game at 2023 and i still love the franchise 😍 i create 3 teams i like them the first is : Duran (Duelist),Riesz (Starlancer) and Kevin (Monk Warrior) The Second : Hawkeye(Rogue) Riesz (Dragon knight) and Duran (Paladin) the 3rd : Kevin,Angela and Charlotte

Another well produced and informative video. Well done, Alex. Thanks for putting in the effort.

Thanks for making this video. This game has been sitting unplayed in my library for ~2 years -- aaand I'm realizing your channel name becomes more and more appropriate to my experience

Adding the extra difficult settings bumped this game up to 9/10 for me. -1 for lack of multi-console multiplayer but meh that's what the original is for!!!

Thank you for your RPG reviews, looking forward to your coverage on future gaming content.

My dude. Been waiting on this!!!

The only acceptable class choice with Kevin is dark/dark. Fatal Fist is disgustingly broken.

Thanks for the well explained review. I'm definitely putting this on my must-play list!

Absolutely love this game. I have to go back and play through it again but also play the post-game content.

omg I love this game !! I'm on my third play through and I'm having the best time with it .

Did you know that for the soundtrack for Secret of Mana, composer Hiroki Kikuta was allowed use of 8 audio channels? From what I've read, the SNES's SPC700 only has 8 channels, which is why sound effects in Secret of Mana would cause instruments in the music to drop out. In contrast, for Seiken Densetsu 3, Hiroki Kikuta was limited to only 6 channels. Though nostalgia is at play, this is probably why I personally always preferred the Secret of Mana soundtrack, but I also believe this is a direct answer to why the respective remake's orchestrated soundtracks are a hit in Trials of Mana and a miss in Secret of Mana. In any case, Hiroki Kikuta tried to make the best possible music in these formats, but what if he designed a soundtrack to be performed in a studio? For that, look no further than the soundtrack to Soukaigi, a 1998 PS1 ARPG that was never released outside of Japan.

Playing on switch right now. Easily one of my favorite JRPGs. Great video glad I found your channel!

Thanks for this one Alex! Looks like another one to add to my personal backlog!

Great review! Just hearing you talk about this game made me realize I liked it more than I think I did. Definitely a throwback and I really enjoyed it!

Great job on this review! I just finished Trials of Mana recently and it's just one of those video games that just clicked with me. It has a lot of charm and I like how simple and satisfying the combat is. Honestly the only gripe I had with it is the party AI not dodging boss attacks.

I really like your taste in games on this channel, subscribed!

Great review Alex. You definitely are the right one for getting me hooked on this game (im two years late, but whtevr) Xeed should be at the helm of more of these kinds of remakes or spiritual successors. Thanks for fixing us up with a music comparison, too. I love it when a reviewer puts in the effort to call attention to this. Happy New Year!

The SFC OST is perfection.

This game looks and plays better than I thought it would. Plus orchestrated tracks from secret of mana are a definite plus for me. I'll add this one to the backlog.

Heard you on Nude Clan Podcast and decided to come check the channel out, not disappointed at all. Can’t wait to watch more.

I've never played Trails of Man's but just watching your review makes me want to give it a try when I can. Great review 👍🏻

I was infatuated with this game the moment it was announced, and I spent way too much time with the demo on all three platforms xD This game is just enchanting, and in my personal opinion, one of the most visually stunning games in recent memory, and a sheer joy to play. I feel like the voice direction problem (actors given no context or visual information to go off) is something that's been sadly common in recent games, perhaps a side effect of limited budget with simultaneous international releases? Either way, I'm happy to see the Mana series back in full swing, hopefully the positive response and solid sales will get us some new Mana titles at this level of quality!

9:58 The slider isn't "use class strikes as soon as you're able". It's "use class strikes without resource restrictions". Most of the sliders are about conserving resources like MP or class strike gauge which is why it says don't use class strikes if it drops the gauge below 25%, 50%, and 100%. The behavior style is more useful in determining how aggressive or supportive the AI is. In general I found the AI to be decent, they usually can dodge out of area attacks, but not always which is probably intentional to get you to use support skills.

I recently bought this game out of curiosity and loving it.

Strangely I was really looking forward for this review

great video thank you

Alright, you’ve pretty much sold me! It looks like you’ve almost got 3 games in one with Trials of Mana, and I’ve always loved the concept of seeing the same stories through multiple perspectives. **notices timestamp is only **5:58**** THERE’S MORE?! Haha I only need so much convincing! xD Also, seeing Odin Sphere in the very first second is the right way to immediately catch my interest lol

Great content as always. I can get by the gripes. Still a great game.

I had a blast with this one, I'll get that 100% trophy completion one day! I got a little burn out since I beat it then beat it again with new game+ back to back. I found out have you have to do it one more time (3 clears with 3 different protags to get 100% and I was like...maybe later!

NGL, I actually dig the English voices in this game. Everyone sounds unique, line reads are usually good, and the only one I was lukewarm on was Riez, and even she was never bad, just kinda flat as opposed to stoic.

Actually this game has revitalised my jrpg love! Have since completed another 8!

This is one of first games I got platinum trophy. Was great wish I would have started it on hard mode though. Honestly this is one of first games where I needed a harder mode than hard haha. Straight demolished everything haha

This is also on mobile and looks better than the Switch. Hopefully they add controller support soon...

This is the game that got me back into playing J-RPGs, I wanted something simple and straight forward to ease myself back into the genre and the game did its job. Great review as expeted.

I'm currently replaying it on my Steam Deck and the game is still so much fun. Really enjoyed it back when it was released on my Switch and now I think I even enjoy it a lot more maybe due to being a little bit older. It's such a good remake imho.

Excellent Review! enjoyed watching it. Who were your favorite party members? Mines were Hawkeye, Angela and Kevin and little bit of Riesz. I feel like Duran and Charlotte's character arks were kind of lackluster but thats just my opinion.

Getting this for the PS4 this looks like "Chicken soup for the soul" for jrpg fans. Love the splashes of color, glad it is a new look but maintains the "soul" of the original.

I just love how this game remind me of Dragon Quest 9 on Ds ..

Yeah I loved this remake having actually played the original SNES on emulator and the one gripe I have is the Remake's unbalanced difficulty's. The Hard Mode was still very easy but the Expert and No Future modes just cranked it up to like 20

It plays pretty good.

all this ng+ discussion makes me rly wanna check this out ...

I absolutely loved this game. It was like playing an old PS2 RPG and that’s not a bad thing. The English VO was hilariously bad, but it kind of added to its charm. Make a party with Angela and Riesz to see what I mean lol.

That point you made about how incompetent your ai controlled teammates are gave me flashbacks when I fought the hidden boss in the game. Your members get literally annihilated in mere seconds of starting the fight, it was funny but in a sad way lol

sword of mana and trials are the best mana games

I played the other Mana remake and I didn't like it. This one looks good, will give it a try as soon as the backlog shrinks a little.

I played the SFC version in 1999 and again in 2012 and again in the Collection of Mana in 2019. I was shocked how they meticulously converted every 2D map into a 3D environment. That with the combat being much faster, fluid and much, much more fun…the excellent visuals, the wonderfully remixed music…this became the game of the decade for me. Only Skyrim and Xenoblade Chronicles come close for me.

I know I have heard from some people who wished that the game did more like the FF7 remake would give the characters more development, add a bunch of stuff that never existed, give the villains more depth and have all 6 playable characters come together and stuff like that but I do prefer the simple approach that this game did. Hell, I was not about to play the game with the dub until I found out that Hawkeye and Rielz's VAs were also in Three Houses and Hawkeye's VA I follow on KZfaq so........yeah I am willing to deal with the sketchy acting and at least I love new game + as an idea, Rielz and Angela are very attractive as are a good chunk of the NPC women, including Belladonna and the remake music IS a lot better then Secret of mana's remake. In the end, soild review Alex!

LETS GOOOOOO

@Backlog Battle hey man i just got this game after a while, i gathered a lot of info and i kinda wanted to main Angela i know not optimal but i'm kinda interested , what i was wondering is which is better disregarding the story changes in your opinion? Angela / Duran / Liesz Angela / Liesz / Hawkeye Angela / Duran / Charlotte Angela / Duran / Hawkeye

Masterpiece.

Its a great remake. Its weakest point is probably the AI, but it has so much more to offer. I always loved the dark/light path class system from the 90s, but what I love more in the remake is the the approachable ability system. Which with more playthroughs unlock chain abilities creating even more options for all classes.

I loved this game I did not finish it yet though I'm about 25hrs in. Really fun though.

Loved this game on PS4 Pro (prefered 60 FPS and better resolution over portability) and got the Plat. Trophy.

If Legend of mana weren't announce, i would be playing Trials. And probably mute the characters voice. Good review tho

One of the few games I've platinumed...72hrs...and damn skippy ide do it again

which version is best between switch ps4 and pc? I heard they censored dialogue on ps4?

Scored a physical copy the other day at eBay games for $20!

7:00 No context given by the director (if there even is one) is often why these dub performances always feel off. That said I did like the dub for the most part.

time to watch even if we own the game

Awesome review as always....haven't played it although it's on my wishlist. The only thing that makes me cringe is The voice acting. Not a fan of it Recently bought .Hack remaster on the PS4. On the SA psn it works out to be under $6 so had to get that Guilty gear RD (I believe) is like just over $1 .

Can you still consider this to be a kids game despite the amount of actual deaths and mild blood violence in it?

Hm.. I loved the original on snes. Magic game. I just played this one to the end, 1 playtrough, and I dont know if I like it, its a okey game but I didnt used magic until the end. It was to much push the fight button in fast battles. To much loading between scens. It killed me. The game was over in 20 hours? (Im not happy to play again with other character, sure new storys but still same world..). Its an okey game, like 6.5/10 for me.

Bought the game for the voice acting to see how bad it can get but ended up loving everything about the game even the acting lmao

i love the original, but in 2020, i just keep wishing this game's combat was more like FF15.

I keep passing on this one during sales and regretting it... One day lol

9/10 for me and the 1 point was just for Charlotte's unrelenting uwu speak.

*Starts watching review.* (15 minutes pass) *buys game*

I was about 20 hours into this on the Switch and had to drop it. My experience with it was nothing like yours. I hated it. I found it bland and nothing special. The vocal work was terrible. What drove me over the edge was the excessive loading screens. At one point when you first change your class it goes through 6 loading screens! Ugh!!! I can’t even imagine playing this game through once let alone 3 times for the full experience.

"in an effort to sound cute and adorable" And failing MISERABLY. God I hate Charlotte's voice, same with Tama in WoFF.