Current Events > Playing through Trials of Mana for the first time (original version)

(+) Yeah! (+)

As in the non-remake version included with the Collection of Mana pack.

Secret of Mana was one of my favorite games growing up as a kid (even if most of its flaws were apparent even then). It crushed me that the sequel never made it stateside during the SNES's lifetime, and I never bothered to track down a [legitimate download] of Seiken Densetsu 3 over all the years I kept hearing about it. I dl'ed the Collection when it first became available, but had been putting off finally playing it until about a week ago.

Seems...pretty fun, so far. Kid-me probably would've been gaga over it. It's definitely a more tightly-crafted game than SoM. I just wrapped up meeting Shade and then escaping the volcano island. I went with Angela, then Kevin and Hawkeye - Kevin is carrying the party thus far. I feel like I'm missing some finer points of the combat and just rely on button-mashing. Couple key issues I'm having with the game thus far:

• I appreciate being able to carry more than 4 of each item - especially when these dungeons drag on and I don't have a healing spell - but it sure is tedious to keep going back and forth between storage. Were the menus always this slow, or is this an issue with the port? It's also tedious as hell to have to go to separate menus to manage equipment, especially compared to SoM where everyone was on the same ring.
• The soundtrack is...falling a bit short of expectations. SoM's as a whole was a work of art that elevated the experience beyond its flaws, so it's got some big shoes to fill. The tune that plays in port cities like Maia and Beiser is my jam, but so far that's the only one that's stuck out. Is it just my nostalgia talking here?

Menus were always that slow, yeah.

The 3D remake I highly recommend in general as they add in a few more quirks to combat (dodge, AoEs, a jump function, etc) and some passive skills you can customize with.

It's a very fun game I've replayed tons of times thanks to the dark/light customization tree and how your chosen MC will provide you with a ~10% variation in storyline and one or two cool scenes and different bosses.

Kevin and Hawkeye are both top tier imo. Double attack is just that strong, haha.

If you want to break the game, there's the night market in Beiser. You can buy magic items which recreate spells (like AoE heal light, all sorts of elemental attacks, and stat up/stat down ones).

Edit: I think it's rather funny how the absolute worst party (which is still quite strong) is the "Secret of Mana" party of Duran, Angela, and Carlie.

I hate how for Charlotte they added the lisp in the dialog text. Like it's annoying enough in the voiceover, but I feel like I'm having a stroke when I read the textbox.

Glad to hear Kevin was a good pick in the long run, I had a nagging concern that the game would eventually throw a wall up and make 'punching the hell out of shit' no longer effective.

I haven't leveled up enough yet to change classes (think I was lvl. 11 at the Wind Stone), but I wasn't aware there was a light / dark dynamic at play there. Does the game have any moral consequences for going 'dark?'

And yeah, I've heard the 3D remake is very good (didn't hear very good things about the SoM remake by comparison), and definitely plan to give it a spin. But I wanted to do my kid self a favor and give the OG version at least one playthrough first.

EDIT and thanks for the tip about the Night Market. I scrolled through those items but wrote them off because I assumed they wouldn't be very effective (plus by nature I generally don't rely on consumables when they're optional).

masterpug53 posted...

I scrolled through those items but wrote them off because I assumed they wouldn't be very effective

Oh, they're awesome. And it plugs any holes you have from party composition. Like the only way you'll get AoE healing is taking Kevin on the light path, but in doing so you don't get "badass werewolf". Hawkeye, if he goes Light, can also get the debuffing items which would normally be the incentive to him going dark. I suggest trying to abstain from that market as much as possible, but the option's there.

There's no moral consequence for going light or dark, you just get different stats and spells and color palette. Sometimes you'll get a Full Screen Tech (FST) and those tend to be awesome for when your weapon gauge is that high.

Oh cool, thanks for the clarification! Dark sounds more fun / powerful for a first runthrough. I feel like I'm reaching a point where I'm getting through boss battles by the skin of my teeth, so I don't mind going the OP route on a first run.