Trials of Mana (remake)

Trials of Mana, fully titled Seiken Densetsu 3: Trials of Mana and alternatively titled Trials of Mana 3D or Trials of Mana HD, is a 2020 remake of the 1995 game of the same name and the third game in the Mana series produced by Masaru Oyamada for Square Enix. Following on the surprise release and localization of the original title in 2017 and 2019, the 2020 edit is an enhanced remake that preserves and expands upon the story and lore of the original. Several gameplay mechanics have been completely overhauled or otherwise reworked for the transition to a 3D world, built from the ground up using Epic Games' Unreal Engine v4, adding full voice acting and detailed cutscenes to an already robust game. Developed by Square Enix with assistance from xeen, Inc., the game was first released for both PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch in late April 2020, and then for iOS/iPadOS and Android in mid-July 2021.

Major changes

 * Players can now set the difficulty level when starting a new game. This can be switched dynamically in the Settings menu after the player gains control of the Chosen.
 * Li'l Cactus quest can grant various permanent bonuses upon finding it enough times throughout the world.
 * Rewards include showing the location of treasure chests in the mini-map, shop discounts, additional items at Beiser's Night Market (e.g. elemental icons, claws and fangs) and many others.
 * Abilities are another major new game mechanic that can grant multiple buffs to a single character or the whole party.
 * Chain Abilities can be obtained through interacting with certain NPCs throughout the adventure, defeating certain bosses, completing certain plot points.
 * A fourth class tier has been made for each of the six characters and can be obtained via defeating an extra boss for each of them in the post-game.
 * New Game Plus allows the player to carry over levels, lucre, seeds, equipment, items, abilities and Li'l Cactus sightings from a previous playthrough.
 * As of patch 1.10, the player can choose to start from level 1, in addition to selecting the Expert and No Future difficulty modes.

Minor changes

 * 2-Player co-op is no longer available in this version.
 * Characters' Max HP and MP no longer hit a cap of 999 and 99 respectively.
 * The currency is now called Lucre instead of GP in the 2019 version.
 * The player has now the option to play out the introduction segments of their other two party member upon meeting them. Any EXP and items gained will not carry over once the segment is over, however.
 * Kevin's werewolf transformation is now instant, and now only takes place while in battle.
 * Kevin's class strikes had two variants in the classic version: a normal one and a single-target throw/grapple. The second variant is absent in the remake.
 * The Nomad class for Hawkeye has been made a little more defensive in order to balance out the multiple nerfs added to his skills and spells.
 * Most spells and class strikes now hit several times instead of just once.
 * Restorative items like Candies and Chocolates now restore more HP since characters have more of them.
 * Leveling up is now made easier in general thanks to increased experience from boss fights and regular monsters and New Game Plus.
 * Since leveling up has been made easier, enemy levels have been scaled up to reflect this reality.
 * Class changing is typically made earlier in the game for both the second and third tiers. The first ??? seeds the player encounter in the game will always give them the six class change items that they need.
 * In the classic version, the player had to put training points into Angela's intelligence attribute for her to learn new spells; this is no longer the case as the spell learning has been distributed between the five stats (Spirit for Light magic, Intelligence for Water and Dark, Strength for Fire, Luck for Wind, Stamina for Earth).
 * Some class strikes work differently; for example, Angela's Boomerang Spiral (Grand Diviner) can do AoE damage and Duran's Spin Slash (Gladiator) no longer makes him spin around and instead creates a tornado in front of him.
 * Status aliments now have a chance of success instead of being guaranteed to be inflicted, given that the target must be susceptible to it. This makes skills like Needle Shower much less reliable.
 * The burning status condition from previous games has been added and limits the vision of an affected character as they also take HP damage,
 * If a player character is inflicted with blind, poison or silence, the status effect will still linger outside the battle.
 * Treasure chests are no longer dropped by enemies and items are instead automatically picked up upon defeating enemies.
 * Treasure chests and glowing yellow orbs ("sparkles") are now abundant throughout the world.
 * Weapon, armor and accessory upgrades can be found in treasure chests in various dungeons instead of being bought like in the classic version.
 * Enemies won't usually counter class strikes like in the classic version.
 * The mimic enemy can no longer be spawned by the treasure roulette as this mechanic was dropped in the remake; instead they can be found in dungeons disguised as regular chests.
 * Some enemies will now sport magical spheres with honeycomb pattern surrounding them that act as additional armor and are meant to be broken with power attacks, charge attacks or class strikes.
 * Any level of class strikes can be performed regardless of the actual amount of filled CS gauge bars. In the classic version, a character would always use its strongest class strike possible depending on the filled CS gauge bars.
 * The CS gauge will now always be depleted upon triggering a class strike, regardless of hitting monsters or not. This wasn't the case in the classic version.
 * The CS gauge doesn't deplete itself after combat if isn't used completely.
 * Characters can now be interrupted by monsters during casting time.
 * Cups of Wishes no longer restore MP like in the classic version.
 * Leveling up now fully restores HP and MP of the corresponding character.
 * Training points can now be used in the training menu instead of immediately upon leveling up.
 * Training points can be stacked on an attribute more than once regardless of any previous pick.
 * There are now five attributes (Strength, Stamina, Intelligence, Spirit and Luck) instead of six.
 * Character classes can now be reset to a lower class. This can be done in front of a Mana Stone by using a specific new item, the Goddess Scales.
 * The Magic Pot can now be leveled up to ensure better yields upon planting seeds and you can now plant up to ten seeds in a row. Its max level is 5.
 * Gear Seeds and item-specific seeds no longer exist, but they have been replaced by a 3-tier system of rare item-yielding seeds: Silver, Gold and Rainbow item seeds.
 * Item use is no longer instant and the user is now briefly vulnerable before and after using the item.
 * The maximum number of different items that can be assigned to the ring menu is now twelve.
 * The Minor Mallet can no longer be put on the ring menu.
 * Springsteppers are now more common and can be used for traversing obstacles or reaching high places instead of showing an area of the world map.
 * There are no longer areas in dungeons that trap the party until they defeat all the enemies. This mechanic was replaced by a feature that turns the field perimeter red when escape is not possible.
 * Sleeping enemies will now spot and attack the party if you approach near them, making sneaking through them more difficult.
 * Player characters can now jump. This mechanic is widely used in many parts of the game, notably in the Woods of Wandara.
 * In addition, characters can now perform aerial attacks to hit flying enemies.
 * Various healing pots for replenishing HP, MP and CS and also containing items can now be found profusely everywhere. They can be identified by the corresponding colors: HP pots are green, MP pots are purple, CS pots are blue, and item pots are brown.
 * Large bosses with multiple targets now take increased damage from AOE spells that hit multiple parts.
 * Multiple targeting with spells like Fireball or Ice Smash are now tiered within the training system and are no longer considered the same spell.
 * Benevodons and end-game bosses don't instantly use their strongest attacks anymore. Instead, they create additional targets on the field that must be destroyed before the spell finishes charging. If the party succeeds in doing so, the boss gets temporarily knocked out so that they can be further damaged. If the party fail to destroy all targets, they get hit by severe damage that will most likely eat up all their HP or leave them in critical state.
 * Trophies (bronze, silver, gold and platinum) can be obtained in the PlayStation 4 and PC versions of the 3D remake.
 * Numerous spells and skills have been rebalanced or removed in the 3D remake.
 * Instant death spells, like Annihilate and Undead Away now simply do normal damage instead of dealing 999 damage points to bosses and higher leveled enemies. Additionally, those spells have a chance to instantly kill the target if a lower level than the party instead of being a garanteed kill.
 * The Wall spell now only relfects the next spell that hits the protected target instead of during a limited time.
 * Crystalline now only wards off a single attack instead of lasting for a while.
 * The Nature Aura spell now merely speeds up the rate at which the CS gauge fills rather than instantly maxing it out.
 * Multiple targeting with spells like Fireball or Ice Smash are now tiered within the training system and are no longer considered the same spell.
 * Angela can no longer multi-target her level 1 spells with her default class.
 * Max HP down spells like Lunatique and Moon Saber no longer work on bosses anymore.
 * Impediment and Accelerate were removed in the game since the Dexterity attribute they affected no longer exist in the 3D version.
 * Stats buffs and debuffs no longer hangs around until dealt with or by winning a battle. There is a time limit to all six spells.

Story

 * Story progression is now streamlined to specific star markers that the player must interact with before move forward.
 * The player can be shown objectives during gameplay, although this can be turned off.
 * NPCs in Dior no longer run away from the party before talking with the Elfin Elder; they now respond in ellipses.
 * All player characters can now fight the black rabite in their respective final story arc after defeating the Benevodon of Darkness.
 * It is no longer necessary to activate specific Mana Spirits to advance the story; this is instead woven into cutscenes.
 * There are now two segments of the game that make the party teleport to their destination instead of having to travel there manually; the first is when the bridge in Stonesplit Gap falls down, the party automatically get transported back to Maia. The second instance is after escaping Beuca Island, as Vuscav first deposits the party on the beach near Maia, the party is teleported straight to Valsena.

Cosmetic changes

 * Characters no longer jump on Flammie upon summoning her. The only instance when they do jump on her back is during the wind Benevodon fight.
 * There is no longer a secret music test menu accessible upon starting the game.
 * The remake has full voiceworks instead of sound effects for some enemies.
 * The opening is narrated.
 * Dungeons and field map layouts are more vast and expansive.
 * Paths in dugeons are now more straightfoward and less convoluted for the player to get lost.
 * There is now environmental hazard in some dungeons, like poison pools and clouds, fire jets, lava and icy floors.
 * Breast jiggle physics have been implemented with Angela's and Riesz's models.
 * Cannon travel scenes do not show the world map anymore and only show player characters flying off the cannon.
 * Dungeons and field maps are now contiguous, so each part of a location is now show in its entirety instead of segmented into tiny maps like in the classic version.
 * Chirry's hair color (a minor child character that saves Angela in her introduction) sports purple hair like Angela instead of blond hair. This was likely made to imply their mother and child relationship more contrasting than Angela and the True Queen's.
 * Various censorships and toned down scenses have been implemented.
 * Angela's Love Typhoon class strike (Sorceress) has now been censored to blowing a gigantic kiss to enemies instead of showing her buttock.
 * Additionally, every instance of Angela's teasing animation has been edited to a simple Akanbe (あかんべえ) (eyelid and tongue pulling gesture).
 * Angela no longer sleeps in the nude.
 * Main characters no longer pull out their weapons when annoyed by NPCs like Von Boyage or Donperi and now tighten their fist toward the NPC in frustration.

Miscellaneous

 * There are now twelve available save slots and also Cloud save support.
 * The player can now play in five languages (English, German, Spanish, French and Japanese) and can also switch the voice acting between English and Japanese. In the PC version of the 3D remake, the player can also play in three additional languages (Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, and Korean).
 * The player can switch between "Original" and "Remake" for the in-game music.

Development and release
The Trials of Mana remake began to take shape almost as soon as it was announced in the same 2019 news conference that featured the Collection of Mana. The early spring presser set the release of the new anthology for June 11 of the same year. While it remains unclear exactly when the development process was started, an early demo had been circulating on the Internet for some time. A more refined demo version was released by Square Enix for various trade shows over the later spring and summer months; by that time, the company was projecting a release date of February 2020. But, instead of confirming the projected date, Square Enix released a statement in September 2019 that the remake would be pushed back to a final date of April 24, 2020 so that the team working on it could deliver a quality game. A full demo version—the same as was offered in the prior trade shows—was published to Steam, Sony and Nintendo digital stores in March of 2020, ironically as the COVID-19 pandemic began taking hold across the globe. However, events of the time did little to impact what was already being planned as a digital-first title. Players who pre-ordered the game would receive exclusive access to any of several system customizations as well as a DLC accessory designed to assist new players: the Rabite Adornment. The offer continued through May for other early adopters.

Unfortunately, the published demo also had a dangerous loophole for Steam users that also involved hacked copies of the full game, which in turn forced Square Enix to pull back the demo for several more weeks in order to correct said loophole. The issue has since been resolved.

Released as expected, the remake received glowing reviews despite some initial bugs and missing features that were patched in the months that followed. Later reviews, however, complained that the game was almost too easy even on its highest difficulty setting; and so, in early Fall 2020, Square Enix published details of an expansion patch that ultimately released in October as version 1.10. The update added two "nightmare" difficulty levels along with several enhancements to the class system and the costumes derived from it.

Further news about the remake surfaced in June 2021 during the series' 30th Anniversary event, when it was announced that Trials of Mana would be ported to smart devices. It was released for both iOS (including iPadOS) and Android just three weeks later, on July 16, 2021.