Virtual 100 – Game 29
Well, look at that. Fresh off the heels of the Secret of Mana 3D remake, I find myself wrapping up on the Trials of Mana 3D remake. And thank goodness this one was better. If you read my write-up about Secret, you’ll remember that I had a high amount of respect for the original 16-bit version, and that my recent experience with the remake was a huge let-down.
Thankfully that wasn’t the case with Trials of Mana. While this playthrough wasn’t fueled by nostalgia, that was probably a good thing. I don’t think the 16-bit Trials ever released in the U.S. until the Mana Collection came out a little while back, but pior to that there were fan translations that you could get a hold of, if you’re a fan of sailing. In any case, I went into Trials of Mana with a fresh mind, and with the trauma of Secret having recently been replaced with the trauma of Dark Forces.
Luckily, there was no new trauma introduced this time. And that’s a relief, because I was getting a bit tired of playing games I truly wasn’t enjoying. I thoroughly enjoyed my time with Trials of Mana. It’s an extremely simplistic action RPG wrapped in a pretty intricate story. Not that it’s the most complicated story, but it is told through multiple perspectives, and depending on which characters you choose at the beginning, there will be multiple starting zones, and whatever story angle you see will depend on who you chose as your main character.
The RPG structure is classic 90’s JRPG through and through. The game starts out in a fairly linear fashion, with nowhere to go but forward. The zones are small and littered with treasure and items to find, and by and large, the only method of getting new weapons and gear is to purchase them from the merchants in each town you visit. New towns usually have more powerful gear, and you’ll be buying new stuff and selling off old stuff regularly. It’s extremely straightforward. If the item has ‘UP’ arrows next to it, buy it. Sell off or ignore everything that has ‘DOWN’ arrows. I will be honest; sometimes I wish games were still this simple. Later on, you can get better gear through the item seed box, but until then, it’s shopping time.
I played this game on whatever the default difficulty was set to, and it never got truly difficult. That was probably because I employed the age-old JRPG method of “grind at least one or two levels out of every area,” one that always kept me a few levels ahead of the curve. It also helps to ensure I have the cash to buy up all the new gear every time I waltz into town.
The one thing I didn’t really like was the Class System. Or rather, the way you have to level up in the Class System. Each character has four classes that will level them up. Essentially, they have a limited number of skill slots, low level spells and special moves, etc., until they level up their class. The first time the characters can level up is when they reach Level 18. Which is great, the player can choose the first evolution of their class, between a Light and Dark version. I don’t really know if the Light and Dark play into the story at all— I don’t think they do— but it will affect which spells and abilities are available to them.
The problem arises with the next evolution of the class, which happens at or above Level 38. At this point, each character requires a “class item” to evolve, and the class evolution they choose depends on which class item they have. This is where I have the problem. Because the player can only get a class item from a ??? Item Seed, which the player has to plant in the seed box I mentioned earlier. So you play the game, find a ??? Seed, and then plant it in the seed box. The class item that pops out is random. I repeat, the class item is RANDOM. That means a character can get repeatedly passed over, and the player can get stuck with a character in a Phase 2 class, long after the others have moved on to Phase 3. And then, when they finally DO get a Class Item, it might not be for the class evolution you want.
For example, I was running with Angela, Riesz, and Hawkeye. There was a point in the game where all of my characters were over Level 50, and Riesz was still stuck in her Phase Two class. When I finally did get her Phase Three item, it wasn’t for the class I wanted for her. But she was already well over level 50, and I was getting late into the game, and I needed her more powerful moves and extra ability slots. So I succumbed to practicality and proceeded with the move to Phase Three.
There is a way to switch classes, but apparently that’s not until almost the end of the game, in which case what’s the point? By that time you’ve already spent so much time getting your move set and your buffs and debuffs and all that RPG shit figured out, why would you change it at the last minute?
That continued to be my biggest gripe with the game, but luckily the classes I chose (or was stuck with) never really seemed to be much of a detriment, and as long as I stayed a few levels ahead of the curve, it was fine.
I do think I did myself a disservice in the early going though, due to the characters I chose. Like I said, I went with Angela, Riesz, and Hawkeye. I chose Angela as my main because she was the magic user— and she was wearing a skimpy outfit. I chose Riesz because she was a Valkyrie type support character who looked kinda cool— and she was wearing a skimpy outfit. And then finally I went with Hawkeye because he looked the least annoying out of the other characters and he was supposed to be the Thief-type character, which I thought could come in handy later. In hindsight, he was not very handy, and in fact turned out to not be much use at all.
In the process, I ignored Duran and Kevin, who are obviously the pure-bred melee fighters. And I think that hurt for a good chunk of the game, because Angela and Hawkeye both start out pretty weak, defensively. On top of that, I ignored Charlotte, because I have ears and she was extremely annoying. But she’s also the game’s only healer. Which is complete bullshit. So I essentially stuck myself with two support characters and one magic user, even though Riesz turned out to be an alright fighter, eventually. But I had no offensive melee fighter, and no healer. Which the game may have told me and I either didn’t realize it because I was too busy staring at skimpy outfits, or because the only healer was an annoying ass kid and there was no way in a blue hell I was gonna listen to that shit for 30 hours. It was one thing when they were little pixel-art sprites and a wall of text, but fully voiced? No thanks.
Ultimately, the game was beatable, even with my wonky character choices, which I guess is a testament to the balancing of the game. I can think of several more recent, bigger budget games where I’d have been totally screwed if I chose the wrong class for a fight.
After I beat the game, I was able to finally get ahold of the item required to change classes, and after some trial and error with some ??? Seeds, I was able to change Angela’s class to the one I actually wanted. Of course, there wasn’t much of a point to it, except for the fact that there is an endgame quest that the player can take part in should they so choose. This quest allows for a fourth class, the highest the characters can achieve, and tasks them with taking on a new threat to the realm. Why do bad guys always want to destroy the world? What the hell could that possibly get them? I never understood this. Anyways, this final quest puts the players through a literal gauntlet as the dungeon is extremely long.
I tried to power through it, and it took a fair bit longer than I expected, but I eventually made it to the final-final boss, and of course she changed forms. She was Level 75, and my characters were sitting about 71-72. By the time I had wittled her down to about a quarter health, all my resources were spent and two of my characters were down. It was a valiant effort, but a futile one. And that was all I could manage that night.
I came back a day or two later and spent a little bit of extra time grinding a few levels, and looking for the little cactus guy to get some more bonuses. Then I went back and essentially whupped her ass. That unlocked the New Game + option, which once upon a time I would have been more than willing to give another go. But my time being constrained as it is and the list being so long, it’s gonna go on the shelf for now.
I actually enjoyed playing this one quite a bit though, so who knows, maybe I will come back to it one day. I love New Game + playthroughs, especially if I can just plow through and wreck shit.
This gets me within one game of number 30. Perhaps my next few games will be a bit on the shorter side. I need to get some games done.
