Visions of Mana (and Mana in general)

[null]

Didn't see any trailer discussion. I don't know if anyone else still cares about this series, but I feel like the vibrant setting and lore still have a certain charm. Plus nostalgia from Mushbooms getting whacked.

So here we have Not Randi going around doing Randi things. There also appears to be a Not Flammie in the party along with some demi humans. (Not sure if the human girl died, was kidnapped or turned into the sword.) At a glance it seems more open-worldy than the SoM and Trials remakes, which is a huge plus because those both felt really claustrophobic. Hopefully the battle system takes after Trials because I enjoyed that (minus how overpowered the characters became at higher levels).

 

[Ghost X]

Must get around to playing one of the game from this series. I remember in the late 90s, my friends at the time were big fans of Secret of Mana, which suggests it was a good game. Hopefully this one follows suit.

 

[ForceStealer]

I've never played any of the Mana games, but I thought this trailer looked excellent

 

[Dawnbreaker]

I saw that trailer the other day. It's gorgeous! I played a little SoM back in the day. Really feel like it was unrated. I can still hear the overworld theme music in my head. *goes off to play it on youtube*

Can't wait to see more!

 

[null]

Yeah, Secret of Mana was one of the Wonders of Ancient Square. A two-player action RPG! A white mage worth a shit on offense! An overworld map rendered with cutting edge Mode 7 (pre-dating FFVI), customizable AI strategies for your party, gorgeous maps and sprites, and of course that legendary OST. Sadly the gameplay just didn't age that well, and the remake had a pretty mixed reception.

After that came my favorite of the bunch: Trials of Mana. This one increased the number of characters to six, with each one playable as a main, and plot-wise grouped into three pairs. This gives us three parallel, interwoven† storylines with multiple endings and end bosses. On top of that it introduced a kick ass class system with light/dark paths. I enjoyed the remake, though it does feel like a 2D game in a 3D body.

Unfortunately, Trials was only released in Japan originally. The rest of us got... Secret of Evermore. A "boy and his dog" plot, developed in North America... kind of the forgotten black sheep of the family. I mean, it's ok and still playable, but after all these years I still wonder who thought we'd prefer this goofy turd over Trials.

† That is not a typo, they are parallel AND interwoven