Trials of Mana (2020) - Easy Allies Review 

Brandon Jones - the voice that should be powering all video game reviews.

Man, could you imagine if they remade Chrono Trigger in this exact style? Crazy! :D

i largely disagree with the 7.5 raiting this is a 8.6 every day in every world

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 have noticed that you have added subtitles this time, that's actually great! Always love your reviews.

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

Gonna play this during christmas holiday. Seems like a whimsical journey game, which I love to play during that time each year.

Lil Cactus is my favourite Soundcloud rapper.

If only they had left in the multiplayer, this would have been day 1 for me!

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.

"Lost to the logistics of localization." Okay Blood, I see you out here dropping alliteration on them.

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.

Great review Brandon! Sounds like swimming in 7s in all the best ways.

Still have to go through the original, have the Switch Collection ready to go. Excellent review btw Blood.

LOVE YOUR SWEET REVIEW VOICE

This youtube channel has one of the best gaming review, wish you the best always

As somebody who loved the original, playing the fan translation on an emulator as a child, this is an amazing remake

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.

Hopefully this sells well to give a proper budget Mana game.

I swear that at 8:25 that that VO was done by Ben Moore

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.

In my opinion : Easy Allies makes the best Reviews ! Every score is Perfect and right ! Good work and keep going !

Blood‘s review is the best ❤️

I never gets tired of watching all the review even though I played the demo for myself.

A good surprise this year, i've played the demo twice and decided to pick the game, good review by the way.

I enjoyed playing this on Japanese audio! 9/10 for me.

Best review's in the biz!

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.

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.

Currently playing this game, one of the best, enjoyable and fun experience i have ever felt in recent time. I love it

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!

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.

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.

Thank god I didn't have Charlotte and Kevin in my party with their voice over work. I found this game incredibly easy on normal and only bombed out maybe once or twice the whole game. The most difficult part was probably the post game dungeon and boss, as you'd expect. The music is incredible, as you can hear. A must have for JRPG fans, really fun. Great review, Blood, super accurate.

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.

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.

You want better graphics and sound? Just what game do you think they were trying to make? Final Fantasy 17?

Elemental spells for Angela being spread out in different skills trees was probably to incentivize others to not just dump points all into spirit/intelligence and call it a day. The developers probably wanted to make things a little more interesting. As for the party members being around the town I think was a nice change as it gives them more individuality talking to them about what they are doing and thinking that is related to the town they are at instead of them just being on your main characters behind the entire time. All in all I think this is a fantastic remake with some issues like magic being absolutely overpowered mid to late game and A.I problems.

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).

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.

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

*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.*

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.

God I hope this leads way to a Chrono Trigger Remake

Thanks Blood

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

Who cares about blurry background...it's trivial. Gameplay is the most important

If you plant 6 ??? seeds at once you'll get no duplicates and can choose any of the available classes

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.

This game has me intrigued..... is it worth it?

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.

This music is banging

Might have to get this on PC when it goes on sale. Edit 2:54 WTF? Is there a Japanese voice option?

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 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

What difficulty do you recommend playing on?

2:53 didnt know kyle would go on to do voice acting

Finally!

Hoping they also remake Legend of Mana (1999). BlessRNG

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.

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.

This guy sounds like the Game Trailers guy!

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.

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.

*KARL!*

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.

Holy shit, THAT VOICE!

Yeah Kevin's dialogue made me never want to play the game in English

dude your voice is like OLED display of voice actors, also on PC version there are now TONS of mods such as no popin filter, noquest indicator, rebalance of difficulty and no aoe indicators to name few, If you going to play this game I highly suggest Steam version as you can make the game better both visually and have 120fps

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.

Why does this review comes out weeks after the release?

This reviewer's voice is the same bro from Gametrailers back in PS3 and Wii days.

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.

Intro siunds like Resident evil?

Dont you mean Twials of Mana?

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 demo but I'm holding out for a sale. Will keep replaying yakuza until xenoblade releases :).

Rather low score if you can recommend going at it three times

A 7.5 that is worth giving a shot and coming back to for 3 runs?

Did Nasser program this as well?

Ah shit, 3D movement? My broken joycon can't deal with that.

I gat a wee wee, wee wee bad feewing about it

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.

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.

i got a weewee bad feewing about it guys...

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.

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.

So the combat is somewhat similar to the "Tales of" games?

...huh a 7.5? That actually seems a bit low considering the reviews relative lack of negatives.

Loki is the hardest boss in this game

I’m at a point where watching gameplay videos of a game like this feels like wasting time

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.

Is there a japanese voice option? That baby talk would drive me insane.

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!

trials of mana>ff7r

Hard Allies

ive been spoiled by new games so i find this old game design annoying

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.

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!

Why were you so slow releasing this review?