• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

Trials of Mana demo now available

EricB

Member
I was able to tolerate the bad voice acting...until I got to the first Spirit, Lumina. Dear god: immediate Switch to Japanese voices, where I will stay unless I get some kind of guarantee that Lumina never speaks again for the duration of the game.

Despite that, I am loving this game—it is like a dream come true to be playing both a translated original and remake of Seiken Densetsu 3 in 2020.
 
Last edited:

sublimit

Banned
Ok i finally finished the demo! Man that was one of the longest demos i've ever played. And i absolutely loved it.Btw i never played the original. Actually i never played any of the Mana games except the Secret of Mana remake. And in this one looks like they have put a much bigger effort (and budget) into it than Secret.

I picked Duran as main character along with Angela and Charlotte. I played all their flashbacks and explored every nook and cranny even though the game tells you that during flashbacks none of the items you find will remain in your inventory.Story and characters were typical cliche stuff but i wasn't expecting something really deep in the first place. In fact lately i really appreciate straight forward and non-pretendiously "mature" stories so i more than welcomed the simplicity.

The combat was ok.I played it on normal and it was still very easy. Which is fine. Not everything needs to be frustratingly challenging.
For me the strongest points of the demo was its world and the exploration.Yes the game looks like an HD PS2 game in terms of geometry but that works more on its favor than against it. The simplicity in the environments brings back a retro nostalgia which i'm sure it was intentional by its developers. The world and exploration gave me vibes of DQVIII in terms of how a lot of items were hidden.
The art-direction also gave me vibes of Dragon Quest in terms of architecture and environments and made me want to explore the world even more. I wish they had put more effort in the dialogues of NPCs though. Unlike the NPCs in DQ games in this demo 90% of their dialogues were boring mundane stuff.

The music was very good! The Japanese voice acting was also really good. I haven't tried the English one.

Some of the cons were its technical performance (although barely noticable except sometimes for some slow texture loadings in cutscenes) and the time transitions. Whenever the later happened it felt strange and broke the immersion. The character acting in cutscenes sometimes felt ackward and out of place. Like the whole scene when Duran finds Angela. That felt out of place.
Also what's with the creepy dance of most of the merchants? Man those merchants will give me nightmares. :p

Now i need to check if there will be a physical version available for Europe. Btw i checked its price on the EU store and it costs 50€. I loved the demo but i think that is a bit too expensive for a game of its budget. 30€ would have been more reasonable IMO.
 
Last edited:
Too bad the demo stops before anything interesting happens, but it was still more than long enough. Can't really well have a "demo" that makes you play till you can change class...
The soundtrack is still ace.
The translation feels... weird. I'm not sure if I'm just used to the old fan-translation of the original, or if Squeenix' localization team did a half-assed job, but I am pretty sure some of Hawk's lines were slightly censored (again, whether by the localization team, or if that was also changed in the Japanese script, I can't tell).

Won't buy on Steam anyway as long as there's Denuvo.
 

ethomaz

Banned
Not feeling it.

- Graphics are bad to the point the SNES versions looks better respecting it limitations... hell even some PS2 and PS3 JRPGs looks better.... generic, bland, uninspired.
- Gameplay is boring and lack strategy found in the original.
- The UI and menus are good.

I know it is a demo but it suck a let down :(
I’m starting to appreciate FFVII Remake more after play these others bad remakes.
 
Last edited:

Yamisan

Member
Enjoyed it a lot, too easy though. Going to wait a month or two as it'll likely fall to $15 extremely fast like Secret of Mana did.
 
Not feeling it.

- Graphics are bad to the point the SNES versions looks better respecting it limitations... hell even some PS2 and PS3 JRPGs looks better.... generic, bland, uninspired.
- Gameplay is boring and lack strategy found in the original.
- The UI and menus are good.

I know it is a demo but it suck a let down :(
I’m starting to appreciate FFVII Remake more after play these others bad remakes.

It's good that you're seeing the light of reality vs expectations, at least in regard to FF7R. Understanding limitations is an important factor, in grand scheme of things. You see I love both games for different reasons, but one thing they have in common they tackles both projects understanding the limitations of what's achievable on 7 year old tech, and how incredibly optimized FF7R is on the system it's on. It seems they learned their lesson from FFXV, with FFXV they bit off more than they can chew, the result was Insomnia and Altissia were barely explorable. Now Midgar is fully explorable, the city is dense, full of detail and atmosphere, no empty space like FFXV, this allows them to focus on the open world aspect in part 2 and it will be glorious.
Trials of Mana is also a remake, but it's more of a cartoony remake, it's not going to push the hardware to the limit like FF7R, nor does it need to since it looks great as is. Instead they learned their lesson from Secret of Mana remake this time around, and improved every aspect of it while staying true to the original, except the voice acting, which if you compare to FF7R stellar voice acting, you now understand what bad voice acting sounds like. Still Trials of Mana is a great remake imo, which for a game on a budget similar to Secret of Mana remake, is impressive, I would love a Secret of Evermore in the same style tbh. As for FF7R to be a full game, Trial of Mana graphics is a good indication of what could've been if contrarians had their way on an all in one game of FF7R, it just wouldn't be feasible any other way with PS4 limitations in mind, at least not without cutting corners like FFXV was on the same hardware.
 

cormack12

Gold Member
Is the combat in this real time action? Just with persona 5 and fire emblem I dont think I can stomach another turn based game right now.
 

Lanrutcon

Member
Is the combat in this real time action? Just with persona 5 and fire emblem I dont think I can stomach another turn based game right now.

It's super similar to the first one. As in, real time, but it pauses when you're in a menu selecting an item to use or a spell to cast.
 
I'm not pleased with this remake, but that's just me being biased in favor of SNES version.




I will probably play SNES version + MSU1 hack (streaming music from this remake version) when it eventually becomes available.
 
Last edited:

lyan

Member
Ok i finally finished the demo! Man that was one of the longest demos i've ever played. And i absolutely loved it.Btw i never played the original. Actually i never played any of the Mana games except the Secret of Mana remake. And in this one looks like they have put a much bigger effort (and budget) into it than Secret.

I picked Duran as main character along with Angela and Charlotte. I played all their flashbacks and explored every nook and cranny even though the game tells you that during flashbacks none of the items you find will remain in your inventory.Story and characters were typical cliche stuff but i wasn't expecting something really deep in the first place. In fact lately i really appreciate straight forward and non-pretendiously "mature" stories so i more than welcomed the simplicity.

The combat was ok.I played it on normal and it was still very easy. Which is fine. Not everything needs to be frustratingly challenging.
For me the strongest points of the demo was its world and the exploration.Yes the game looks like an HD PS2 game in terms of geometry but that works more on its favor than against it. The simplicity in the environments brings back a retro nostalgia which i'm sure it was intentional by its developers. The world and exploration gave me vibes of DQVIII in terms of how a lot of items were hidden.
The art-direction also gave me vibes of Dragon Quest in terms of architecture and environments and made me want to explore the world even more. I wish they had put more effort in the dialogues of NPCs though. Unlike the NPCs in DQ games in this demo 90% of their dialogues were boring mundane stuff.

The music was very good! The Japanese voice acting was also really good. I haven't tried the English one.

Some of the cons were its technical performance (although barely noticable except sometimes for some slow texture loadings in cutscenes) and the time transitions. Whenever the later happened it felt strange and broke the immersion. The character acting in cutscenes sometimes felt ackward and out of place. Like the whole scene when Duran finds Angela. That felt out of place.
Also what's with the creepy dance of most of the merchants? Man those merchants will give me nightmares. :p

Now i need to check if there will be a physical version available for Europe. Btw i checked its price on the EU store and it costs 50€. I loved the demo but i think that is a bit too expensive for a game of its budget. 30€ would have been more reasonable IMO.
The harder difficulty is quite fair keeps it engaging enough imo, might want to try that out.
Those dances are a thing brought back from the original, was quite creepy back then too lol.
 

Lanrutcon

Member
Man, do I ever feel bummed. Loaded up the original and got 2 God Beasts in before quitting. That game has NOT aged well. Combat is janky, controls are unresponsive, menus take forever, bosses spend more time being invulnerable than actually fighting, the inventory system is terrible and save points are hidden so you can just walk right into a boss while exploring.
 
Last edited:

Kacho

Gold Member
My buddy said this demo was awful, I enjoyed it though. A little too linear but it’s the early game.

Combat was simple sure, but felt nice and snappy. I kinda dug it.

Music was ace. Holy shit they don’t make stuff like that anymore. AAAA soundtrack.
 
Last edited:
D

Deleted member 471617

Unconfirmed Member
Finished the demo a week or so ago. Really enjoyed it. Been wanting a JRPG for a while and this will be the one. Love the art style as it looks so like cheery. lol. Voice acting is fine. I'm just happy that the protagonist(s) all talk instead of being mute. Story seems interesting from the demo but loved the gameplay and combat. No shitty random battles. Pure hack and slash action oriented combat in real time and enemies on screen which is a huge positive for me. Played the entire demo in maybe 6 hours. Only negative I had was playing on hard, I didn't die once which was surprising. Wouldn't be shocked if they adjust that for the final release. Either way, after REmake3, Trials of Mana Remake will be my next new 2020 game release purchase.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Whoever wrote Carlie's script (and by "wrote" I mean "ran a script replacing every 'l' and 'r' by a 'w') should be fired, and black-listed form ever working in the industry again.
 

Rentahamster

Rodent Whores
Whoever wrote Carlie's script (and by "wrote" I mean "ran a script replacing every 'l' and 'r' by a 'w') should be fired, and black-listed form ever working in the industry again.
That was kinda annoying. It reminded me of FF14 where all the marauders talk like pirates and all their dialog is pirated up to the max. It was a chore to read.

I appreciate the effort guys, but c'mon lol.
 

Kacho

Gold Member
Played a bit more and I’m definitely gonna cop it. Really like how quick the gameplay is. You just hop from encounter to encounter and nothing overstays it’s welcome. It’s refreshing in the age of unnecessary bloat.

Also liked the shield break mechanic which forces you to switch it up instead of mindlessly quick attacking the whole time.

Also also dat music 🥰
 
Last edited:

Lanrutcon

Member
They've datamined a lot of shit from the demo. Seems like the different classes are very similar to their original counterparts.
 

mango drank

Member
Man, do I ever feel bummed. Loaded up the original and got 2 God Beasts in before quitting. That game has NOT aged well. Combat is janky, controls are unresponsive, menus take forever, bosses spend more time being invulnerable than actually fighting, the inventory system is terrible and save points are hidden so you can just walk right into a boss while exploring.

I remember loving it back in the day, and playing it with a fan translation mod. I do remember battles feeling like complete chaos though, where I might as well have been button mashing and only able to see this on screen:

rNR9IH3.jpg
 

jshackles

Gentlemen, we can rebuild it. We have the capability to make the world's first enhanced store. Steam will be that store. Better than it was before.

That's awesome. But wouldn't a fourth class change have more than two variants? If I remember correctly, the class changes in this game are like a decision tree (Light / Dark). So the first class change there are two choices, but then the third class change your light or dark choices sort you into your final class based on your original choices. Essentially, each character in the original has 8 "ending" classes they could possibly be. Shouldn't a fourth class change have 16 variants for each character, if they did it correctly?

Sounds like they're just doing a single "light or dark" ending class that has no bearing from your original decision tree, which feels really tacked on.
 

Northeastmonk

Gold Member
One thing I don't understand is why Squuenix is releasing this game so close to Final Fantasy 7 Remake

That’s what I was thinking, but launch day isn’t the only day the game sells right? The Nintendo Switch doesn’t get the Remake either. I bought this for Switch. I definitely see your point. If I hadn’t paid off FF7 I would have gotten that instead.

I was tired of only having a repo cart of this. I bought it from the eShop.
 
The demo has been removed from the Steam store:


Hey Everyone,

We hope you're enjoying the game!

Due to unforeseen circumstances, we need to temporarily take the Trials of Mana Demo on Steam offline, we hope to have it back up again very soon.

Please rest assured, all progress made by those who have downloaded and played the demo will remain and be carried over when it’s back online.

Thank you for your patience.
Those "unforeseen circumstances" being probably people bypassing the demo's "wall" and play the full game on it...
 

Northeastmonk

Gold Member
It’s awesome seeing parts of the game in full 3D. I got through the haunted ship yesterday and it was very cool. If you’ve played the original 2D version then you’d more than likely really enjoy this.
 

Malakhov

Banned
Kids were asleep so I'm like let's play some trials of Mana before going to bed. Game was pretty easy so far but wtf is up with Zehnoa? 😂

Took me a few tries but got him. Was that the slap in the face and the game just got real or that's the toughest bitch in there?
 

D.Final

Banned
Kids were asleep so I'm like let's play some trials of Mana before going to bed. Game was pretty easy so far but wtf is up with Zehnoa? 😂

Took me a few tries but got him. Was that the slap in the face and the game just got real or that's the toughest bitch in there?

Just let the things goes on
I suppose
 
Top Bottom