Trials of Mana

This article is about the original Super Famicom release and its Collection of Mana adaptation. For the game's 3D remake, see Trials of Mana (remake).

Trials of Mana
Developer	Square
Publisher	Square
Platforms	Super Famicom, Nintendo Switch
Release date	September 30, 1995 Worldwide: June 11, 2019
Genre	Action role-playing
Mode(s)	Single player, multiplayer
Media	Cartridge
Input	Nintendo controller

Trials of Mana is the third installment of the Mana series, developed by Square under the direction of series creator Koichi Ishii. Larger and more complex than the previous installment for the Super Famicom (Secret of Mana), the game takes place in a new world where, once again, the Mana Tree is under threat from an ancient evil thought sealed away. Players choose three from among six heroes as the chosen wielder of the Mana Sword and their two companions on the journey to claim the holy blade and preserve what remains of mana power.

The game itself gained notoriety for its introduction of a class system as well as its difficulty and replayability when it was first released in 1995, drawing the interest of a team of dedicated fan-hackers led by Neil Corlett, after Nintendo reportedly refused to release an official English version for the Super Nintendo. The Corlett project was released in the year 2000. However, no further details in reference to the game were available for 16 years.

With the Japanese release of the Collection of Mana anthology to Nintendo Switch in 2017, Square Enix began working on its official English translation, citing strong fan demand. The project culminated in a complete port of the anthology for worldwide audiences in June 2019. Square Enix further announced that a full 3D reboot of the game would become available early 2020; but even with a near-complete demo version circulating in established trade shows, the company pushed the release of the reboot from February to April of the same year.

Names

Because of its outward similarity to Secret of Mana, Seiken Densetsu 3 was often called Secret of Mana 2 within early fan communities, such as those established in Usenet newsgroups and on small fansites that comprised much of the Internet around the time of its release. This, however, proved to be less enduring than using the original Japanese name. Square Enix's choice of "Trials of Mana" has its roots in consultations between present Square Enix teams and Kōichi Ishii himself. Ishii is said to have suggested "Trials of Mana" with a twofold purpose: first, to represent the individual sagas of the six heroes; and second, to use the Latin prefix tri- to refer to the game's ordinal position as the third in the series.

Story

Title screen

When the world was shrouded in darkness, the Goddess of Mana drew forth the Sword of Mana to smite the eight Benevodons, monsters of destruction. She sealed the horrors inside the eight Mana Stones, bringing the realm back from the brink. Weak from rebuilding the world, the Goddess changed into a tree and fell fast asleep for years. However the forces of evil sought to free the Benevodons to gain control of the world. They started a terrible war to further their plot and destabilize the kingdoms. Peace was at an end. Mana itself began to disappear from the world and the Mana Tree to wither…

In a time long ago, eight great beasts of the elements, the Benevodons, wrought havoc in the void of space. The Mana Goddess appeared, and with Her golden wand in hand, she battled and subdued the beasts, sealing each inside a Mana Stone of its same element. With their power, She created the world. Weary from Her labors, She became the Tree of Mana, and Her wand became a sword, resting at Her feet. Countless centuries pass as the world flourishes. Nations form around the Mana Stones and their rulers come to an agreement on how to keep their power safe, for if any harm were to befall the Stones, destruction would reign anew.

Around twenty years prior (see Heroes of Mana), a series of battles awakened three great evils that were subsequently subdued. It seemed that humanity had kept the peace and the balance of mana power intact, but at great cost. Many great heroes of the era never return. Mana is critically weakened.

With the recent shift in the power of mana, the nations of Altena, Ferolia and Nevarl wage war between themselves and against the world at large in a race to open the portal to the Sanctuary of Mana, retrieve the fabled Mana Sword and rule the world. One hero from each of five nations escapes their troubled lives in hopes to find guidance from the Priest of Light in Wendel.

Nevarl, at one time a den of do-gooder thieves, moves against the mountain fortress of Laurent to its north when the former's leader, Flamekhan, is rescued by a woman who becomes his advisor. To seize the Windstone, she manipulates Flamekhan into disbanding his thieves' guild and anointing himself as king. The king's son Eagle and his best friend Hawkeye smell a rat, but the woman, "Isabella", and a vampire co-conspirator quickly catch onto them. Isabella uses dark magic to provoke Eagle into attacking Hawkeye, forcing the latter to strike the former down. Hawkeye is subsequently framed for murder and sent into confinement, with a warning that if he should speak the truth of what he saw, his friend Jessica will die. He escapes with the help of his feisty feline friend. Amid the ensuing siege of Laurent, its princess and captain of the guard is stripped of all she holds dear, and must search for the only family she has left.

Altena moves against Valsena. As a mysterious figure in red calls the shots in this particular conflict with the goal of making his nation the mightiest in the world, a princess sought for sacrifice escapes. A young knight, meanwhile, feels he must atone for failing to defend his kingdom.

Ferolia moves against the high holy city of Wendel, with seemingly no other motive than vengeance against its oppressors. Its exiled prince is pushed to the edge in his battle with his father, who drove him to kill his only friend. At the same time, he seeks to revive his friend.

Meanwhile, in Wendel's Temple of Light, the clergy sense the shift in mana, believing it to be at the root of recent strange happenings around the world. The Priest of Light sends his foremost protege, Heath, to look into as odd light near Astoria and discern whether it relates to these events. As Heath prepares to leave, he advises his mentor to erect a magic ward to keep invading beastmen from approaching Wendel. This also rouses the Priest's granddaughter, Charlotte, who senses an ill omen from Heath's mission and decides to go after him out of fear for his safety and well-being. However, Charlotte's physiology relative to her true age has kept her under the watchful gaze of the temple guard, and so she must depart from the temple under cover of night with help from a young acolyte she befriended. One of the other five recovers Charlotte and takes her to Astoria's inn. The next morning, Charlotte heads into the Rabite Forest to search for Heath and finds him being accosted by beastmen. A dark jester figure then arrives on scene. Heath direct's Charlotte out of harm's way, but soon vanishes with the jester. A flabbergasted Charlotte rushes back to town for help and, finding none, makes it her mission to rescue Heath. She must first report back to Wendel and tell her grandfather what has happened. She stumbles on her way there (if she is not the Chosen).

After escaping from Jadd Stronghold (or the Rabite Forest in the case of Charlotte), one of those six individuals finds a weakened Faerie in the nearby woods who grant them the title of the Chosen. Meanwhile, the invading Ferolian forces destroyed the lakeside town of Astoria, setting now their sight on the holy capital of Wendel itself. The Chosen finds another adventurer near the sealed waterfalls who chooses to tag along after learning that Faerie can unlock the path.

After reaching Wendel, they meet with his Eminence to inquire about each of their predicament, but Faerie reveals her story to be of much more importance, as the Mana Tree is withering, causing Mana power to disappear from this world. The Priest of Light fears this might cause the eight Benevodons to break free from their respective Mana Stones and explains how the Mana Goddess created the world and sealed the eight fearsome monsters inside. The Chosen was selected by the Faerie and thus must wield the Mana Sword to restore peace onto this land. With the fabled blade, the hero could resolve their conflict that forced them to exile in the first place. The Priest of Light adds that by activating the Mana Stones, the portal can be opened again. If they borrow the powers of the elementals residing next to the Mana Stones, Faerie could open the portal. According to locals, the Lightstone is said to be found inside Cascade Cavern.

After venturing in an alternate path of the cave, they confront a huge crab-like monster and rescue Lumina, the light elemental. However, the Mana Stone is inaccessible at the moment. The party is captured on their way back by invading Beastmen whose leader Ludgar thanks Faerie for erasing the barrier, making their raid to Wendel easier. The adventurers wake up inside a jail cell next to their last party member who gladly joins them and the now fully fleshed team escapes Jadd by hopping on a ship sailing to Maia. In the port city, they learn that the Priest of Light has gotten severely ill from erecting an emergency barrier around town. As they press on to Golden Road and then to Stonesplit Gap to reach the Valsena territory, they meet with Altenish guards who trap the party on the bridge and blows it up, severing the only link to the kingdom. As the party look for an alternate route, they learn from an inventor in Maia called Von Boyage he is about to finish a Cannon able to blast people from place to place. The kooky old man asks the party to fetch him some Nitromyte from the Dwarfs near Stonesplit Gap. Inside, they learn about the item shop owner Watts wandering in the tunnels nearby. The party successfully nabs the fuel and heads back to Von Boyage.

The inventor is revealed to be a lousy shot, as he blasts them in the middle of Molebear Moors. The team finds their way to reach the Kingdom of Valsena only to find it invaded by Altena. Making their way to the throne room, they save the Hero King Richard from the Crimson Wizard’s grasp and learn about the remaining Mana Stones of the world. According to His Majesty, their next target should be the Windstone of Laurent. The party takes a ship from Beiser to Palo but finds the town overtaken by the Nevarlan army. After some scouting, they hear from a bartender speaking about a flowerfield nestled in the nearby Heavensway. As they go there, the Somnosa flowers immediately makes them lose consciousness. They wake up inside Laurent’s Hideout where the Amazonian forces plot to retake their lost citadel from Nevarl. The elder asks the party to seek the aid of Domperi the Koropokkur as he was an invaluable asset in ancient times to win battles. After acquiring the Minor Mallet in Beiser’s Night Market the party heads to the Rabite Forest where the tiny village is said to be.

There, the jolly little tactician reveals they must use Sylphid’s power to blow the Somnosa flowers onto the citadel to put the invaders to sleep. The wind elemental is said to reside in Gusthall near Laurent. The party heads there and discovers a strange black-clad knight draining energy from the elemental. The cursed spirit transforms into a flying monster that the team takes care of. Back in his former self, Sylphid joins the party and summons a gust of wind in the vicinity of the citadel, putting the Nevarlan soldiers into a lull. The Amazonian guard storms the fortress, successfully pushing their enemy away. Victorious, the party bids farewell to Laurent and boards a ship to Valsena.

They wake up in the middle of the night wondering why they are still sailing. They are about to realize they boarded the Ghost Ship when Faerie notices the presence of a Mana spirit. After searching the vessel, they beat the evil entity leading the ship, and meet Shade the dark elemental. Alas, the Mana Stone was lost during the ancient war and is nowhere to be found. With no supernatural activity powering the ship, it starts to sink and the party washes up on Beucca Island. Unfortunately for them, the volcano is about to erupt and they must find the Ruler of the Seas to escape their dire fate. They find him in the depths of Seaside Cavern, and hop on his shell all the way to Valsena.

The Hero King welcomes the heroes back to his kingdom and reveals the last four Mana Stones locations. He gives them the Ferry Flute to call on the marine creature that saved them earlier at will. The adventurers sail to the northern fields of Altena, where they find the Darkshine Knight from before summoning an army of Machine Golems as roadblock. They defeat them, but Altenish forces have already released the seal from the Waterstone inside the Labyrinth of Ice. They pair up with Undine, the water elemental, then set the Burning Sands as their next destination. There they meet with the Nevarlan leader Belladonna holding a girl hostage. Fortunately, the lady is set free and but the Firestone’s energy is released. Salamando the fire mana spirit teams up with the rest of the party.

The second-to-last Mana Stone is said to be deep within Duskmoon Forest, where Beastmen call their home. Inside, the heroes confront their commander and a unsettling adviser at the foot of Chartmoon Tower. The leader ends up being slain but Luna, the moon elemental, revives him as an infant. Now setting sail to the Lampbloom Woods, the party finds the secret path to Flowerburg, the elfin village. There, they learn about the Woodstone being nearby and successfully rescue Dryad the Wood spirit from a gargantuan plant monster.

With all eight elementals in hand, the heroes head to Oblivisle to open the path to the Sanctuary. However, Mana power is so weak that the portal opens by itself in the sky, prompting each of the three evil factions to rush toward it. With no way to reach it by foot, the adventurers head back to Laurent where they befriend the Winged Defender atop Celestial Peak. They fly to their destination, only to find the three factions slaughtering each other inside the Sanctuary.

The Chosen finally finds the Mana Sword resting at the foot of the Mana Tree, but Faerie is kidnapped as they pick up the holy blade. The Mana Goddess appears before them, telling them Faerie was taken by evil forces. She gives them the Flammie Drum to summon the white dragon wherever they go. They find the kidnappers at the Sanctuary’s entrance. Using Faerie as a bargaining chip, they ask the Chosen to give them the Sword in exchange. They reluctantly do so, but the sword resists the evildoers at first. Hoever, the blade quickly adapts to the darker side, allowing the villains to release the Benevodons from their shackles. The party must now defeat all eight powerful creatures before reclaiming the holy blade. After slaying seven of them, they learn about the mythical city of Pedda. They time-shift to the past there and learn about the Darkstone’s location. After wandering near the enemy’s base, they find the Mana Stone and defeat the Benevodon inside. Doing so makes all eight of them fuse with the Mana Sword, making the leader of the evil faction all-powerful. Confronting them proves to be quite the challenge as they destroy the Tree of Mana and the Mana Goddess along with it, making their delusional world domination a reality. They attempt to kill the party, but Faerie revives them, allowing the heroes to engage them into a long and grueling fight. They eventually succeed and defeat the villain, but Faerie and the Mana Goddess are gone, leaving the world empty of Mana. However, a spirit of Faerie appears before them, stating she shall be reborn as the next Goddess of Mana. It may take a thousand years to restore the world’s Mana back, but the newly appointed Goddess is willing to commit to it. Having completed their tasks, the heroes return to their homelands, back to their families and friends they left behind.

Gameplay

Controls

Overworld

Action	Function	SNES
Move	Move in the four cardinal directions. Pressing two directions close to each other at once will make the player character move in diagonals.
Attack/Interact	Strike with your weapon in areas with enemies. Also makes your character interact with an NPC or an object if in range.
Class Strike	Makes your character interact with an NPC or an object if in range. When the Class Strike (C.S.) meter is flashing (at 4, 6, or 8 filled slots), your character is able to perform a class strike.
Dash	Hold this button while using the directional cross to dash in all directions. Only works when there's no enemies.	(Hold)
2nd Controller	When pressed during battle, enables another person to play as a character in the party.
Switch leader	Switch character in the lead.
Switch Ally 1/Ally 2	Switch between playable characters.	or

Menus

Action	Function	SNES
Open/close main menu	Open or close main menu.
Open/close ally character ring command	Make an ally character Ring Command open or close. Switches to an ally character Ring Command if on the main controlled character's.
Move (Ring Command)	Move left or right in the currently viewed Ring Command.	(left or right)
Switch ring commands	Move up and down to switch to another Ring Command.	(up or down)
Move (Main Menu)	Move around the main menu screens in all four cardinal directions.
Confirm	Confirm various actions in the main menu and the ring commands such as selecting items, moves, equipping gear, etc.
Cancel	Cancel various actions in the main menu and the ring commands such as selecting items, moves, equipping gear, etc.
Open Storage Menu	When pressed outside of batte, opens the storage menu.

Menu

Trials of Mana uses a mix of a main menu and the Ring Command introduced in the previous entry Secret of Mana to organize information. There are three menus available to the player.

• The Main Menu, layed out in nine pannels that the player can access by pressing .
• The Ring Command for each playable character acting as item & magic selection. Opened by pressing .
• The Storage Menu, used for storing and sorting excess items. Opened by pressing .

Main Menu

The Main Menu can be accessed by tapping . Pressing it prompts a 9-tiled menu to appear starting at its center. Players can exit the Main Menu by pressing .

Initial Screen

The Initial Screen shows the current party members, displaying in each window their name, level, class title, hit points (HP), and magic points (MP). A small window on the right shows the current and the week cycle and hour cycle (day/night). Above it is another window showing the current held gold pieces (GP).

Text Window

The Text Window screen (upper left corner) displays eight background patterns to choose from for dialogue boxes. Players can edit it by tapping , choose their selection, then press again to confirm. A smaller window will be shown below, prompting the player to choose the hue and brightness of their dialogue boxes. Players can use to navigate the two sliders, then confirm their choice by pressing .

Trade Storage

The Trade Storage screen (middle upper screen) allows players to swap equipment & items, be it weapons, headgear, body armor, accessories or other consumable items. By pressing , the player can access the menu, then select the merchandise they want to trade.

Equipment

The Equipment screen (upper right corner) displays the party's equipment. The current character's stats are shown in the upper left corner: ATK (Attack), DEF (Defense), EVD (Evade) & MGC DEF (Magic Defense). In the upper right corner, the current equipped gear is shown (from top to bottown: weapon, headgear, body armor, accessory, and shield (Duran's light classes only)). Pressing allows players to select equipment and swap it with other gear from the lower window. Equipped gear in the bottom window are shown with a checkmark.

Battle A.I.

The Battle A.I. screen (middle left screen) allows players to edit the battle behavior for each party member controlled by AI by pressing . Players can first chose which strategy to adopt for each character (focusing on separate monsters, helping allies, etc.), then tap to confirm and chose the class strikes to activate or disable.

Moves

The Moves screen (middle right screen) display moves and class strikes known by a party member. Each moves are displayed by an icon sitting on a pedestal while class strikes are shown in the leftmost window. Pressing allows players to check each moves and class strikes for a quick description. A small window on the upper right side shows a small text describing the current character.

Save Files

The Save Files screen (lower left screen) shows the three slots used for save files. The files cannot be edited, however, as the player can only save at inns or by interacting with Mana statues.

Statistics

The Statistics screen (middle lower screen) displays a party member's stats in greater detail than the Equipment screen, shows their class tree and their experience points. The lower left window shows the six stats that can be increased with each level up: STR (Strength), DEX (Dexterity), STA (Stamina), INT (Intellect), SPRT (Spirit), and LUCK. The class tree shows the current character class with two arrows pointing to their next class, one light and one dark. Finally, the Experience window informs about the total experience points gained by a character and their required experience to reach the next level.

Configuration

The Configuration screen (lower right corner) allows players to change their button mapping on their controller by pressing . They can navigate the left window with and by pressing any button to assign it. They can select the "Done" option at the bottom and confirm with to end the button mapping.

Ring Command

Returning from Secret of Mana is the Ring Command, which can be accessed by pressing . Players can navigate the menu by tapping left and right on and toggle between the item and move menus with up and down. Pressing or can switch from another ally menu. Players can exit the menu by tapping .

The Item ring menu displays the currently held items for the party and won't change by selecting other character item ring menus. Each consumable items can hold a maximum of nine units and receiving or purchasing more than that will send the excess in the storage menu. The maximum different items the Item ring can hold is 12. The Move menu displays a character's known moves.

In some circumstances, players will be asked to select a Mana spirit to further the plot. A message stating "(What will you do?)" will appear, automatically sending the player to the elementals menu after pressing . The navigation is the same as the other ring menus.

Storage

Pressing will open the Storage menu where players can view, sort, and switch their extra items.

Level Up

After battling foes for a while, character will gain experience points and eventually gain levels. When this happens, a menu will pop out and prompt the player to select one of six stats to increase by one point (see the Statistics menu). The stat can be selected like any ring menu by using left and right on File:SNES Dpad button.webp and then confirm by pressing File:SNES A Button.svg. Below is a rundown on each stat.

• Strength or STR influences the phyiscal damage dealt to enemies.
• Dexterity or DEX influences the evade stat, the hit rate of the character's physical attacks and the speed of trap roulette in chests (the higher the Dexterity stat, the slower the wheel). It also affects the power of throwing moves like Silver Dart, trap moves like Mines and all of the Nightblade's new moves. Note that items that emulate those moves are also affected.
• Stamina or STA influences the defense stat as well as HP.
• Intellect or INT influences the magic defense stat, MP growth as well as most of the offensive magic power (All of Angela's moves except Lumina based ones and Annihilate, Hawkeye's ninja moves and Fetid Breath. Note that items that emulate those moves are also affected.
• Spirit or SPRT influences a hidden spirit magic defense stat, MP growth as well as some offensive and most supporting magic power (lumina spells, Healing Light, all summoning moves). Note that items that emulate those moves are also affected.
• Luck or LUCK influences many things in the game. It affects the rate of critical hits of physical attacks, how many "OK" icons that show up during trap roulettes, the rate the player get the rarer item drops from enemies. Additionally, the higher a character's Luck stat is, the less likely they are targeted by enemies's single target magic and special moves. This also rings true with getting hit with opponent's counter attacks when they are hit with a character's magic or tech. Finally, having high luck can prevent a character from dying from an enemy attack, surviving with 1 HP.

Battle System

Upon meeting an enemy, player characters will draw out their weapons and move slower, preventing dashing. Players can choose to either use physical attacks by pressing by selecting an item or a move from the menu to defeat the enemies. Each monster has their name and level displayed above them at all times until killed. Experience yield is shown in flashing green text upon defeat. The battle ends when all monsters on screen are slain, prompting a textbox saying: "You won!". A treasure box may or may not appear after battle.

Weapon Attacks

Main article: Trials of Mana weapons

Each character has a specific weapon type assigned to them, meaning no character can equip a weapon from another character and vice versa. In Trials of Mana, weapons have no utilitary use and are only designed for combat.

• Swords are Duran's favored weapon. He starts out his adventure equipped with a Bronze Sword.
• Staves are favored by Angela. She debuts her story with the humble Wand.
• Gloves are worn by Kevin. He begins his adventure with the Leather Glove.
• Flails are Charlotte's favorite weapon. She dons the Flail at the start of her story.
• Daggers are Hawkeye's weapon of choice. He uses the Flint Knife in his opening scene.
• Spears are used by Riesz. She travels with a Bronze Spear at the beginning of the game.

Class Strikes

During battle, each character has the ability to perform a Class Strike or C.S. for short. After each successful hit with their weapons, a bar will fill with blue slots. Filling the bar will allow an ally to deal more damage by using their Class Strike by tapping . Each class strike is tied to a character's class, gaining one for every Class change for a total of three. Some Class Strikes can hit multiple targets at once while some only deal damage to one foe. A default class's Class Strike needs four weapon hits to activate, turning the bar green, a middle-tier class one needs seven slots (yellow bars), and a highest-tier class one needs nine slots (red bars). Defeating all enemies or exiting the area will revert the C.S. bar to zero.

Each C.S. follows the following damage calculation:

• Tier 1 C.S.: 1.67 x the character's attack power
• Tier 2 C.S.: 2.0 x the character's attack power
• Tier 3 C.S.: 2.5 x the character's attack power

Kevin is the only character to have two distinct Class Strikes per class: one for his human form and another for his werewolf form.

Magic Attacks

Main article: Trials of Mana magic

Called moves in Trials of Mana, magic spells can either be summoned by Mana spirits or not. Each of the eight elementals have six moves tied to them, totalling 48 elemental moves. These moves are learned after befriending the corresponding Mana spirit. There are 36 moves not linked to any Mana spirits which can be learned without recruiting them. Most moves has stat requirements in order to be learned. In stark contrast to Secret of Mana, some moves like Healing Light can be learned by multiple characters and they are not tied to Mana spirit levels.

• Lumina, the light elemental, is strong against demonic and dark-elemental enemies. The spirit is recruited in the Cascade Cavern after defeating Fullmetal Hugger.
• Gnome, the earth elemental, easily takes care of bird-like and airborne foes. The elemental is found deep within the Dwarf Tunnels.
• Sylphid, the wind elemental, trumps critters lurking underground. The spirit must be befriended in Gusthall to help the Laurent army retake their citadel.
• Shade, the dark elemental, defeats holy or light-elemental enemies with ease. The Mana spirit is encountered aboard the Ghost Ship.
• Undine, the water elemental, easily douses foes aligned with fire and heat. The elemental is recruited inside the Labyrinth of Ice.
• Salamando, the fire elemental, scorches down icy and aquatic creatures. The spirit joins the team upon visiting the Fiery Gorge.
• Luna, the moon elemental, uses her cosmic magic to impede on enemies and bolster the party. She agrees to help the party after confronting Ludgar near Chartmoon Tower.
• Dryad, the wood elemental, can aid the party by using a variety of support and offensive magic. She is rescuded from Grapplavine deep within Lampbloom Woods.

Status effects

Status effects temporarily add a negative effect to a party member. In the 2D version, when a party member or an enemy is inflicted with a status effect, a text window will briefly display the aforementioned status (example: Poisoned!). Most status ailments can be cured by casting Twinkle Rain or by using an item such as a Medical Herb.

Name	Effect	Healing Method
Poison	If a character gets poisoned, they'll receive poison damage periodically until healed.	Twinkle Rain move Medical Herb
Sleep	If a character falls asleep, they'll start to slumber in position until healed, leaving them open to enemy attacks.	Twinkle Rain move Medical Herb
Silence	If a character is silenced, they'll be unable to use magic attacks until healed.	Twinkle Rain move Medical Herb
Petrify	If a character is petrified, their body will turn to stone and stop moving until healed. If all party members are defeated or petrified, it's game over for you.	Twinkle Rain move Medical Herb
Freeze	If a character is frozen, they'll be covered in a thick layer of snow and unable to move until healed.	Twinkle Rain move Medical Herb
Moogle	If a character gets moogled, they'll gain a cute moogle body until healed. Unfortunately, that means they can't attack or use magic.	Twinkle Rain move Medical Herb Moogle Pin
Shrink	If a character gets shrunk, they'll become a miniature version of themselves until healed. Shrunken characters lose attack power and can't use class strikes.	Twinkle Rain move Medical Herb Minor Mallet

Interactable Objects & Services

Fields & Dungeons

• Mana statues: Pray to these idols to save your game. Gold ones even restore the party's HP and MP!
• Magic Pot: Plant a seed into these prodigious vessels to see a flower sprout instantly, nabbing the player an item.
• Demon Statues: Strange statues often found in their lonesome. Interacting with them sometimes yield unexpected results.
• Springsteppers: befitting their names, stepping on these cute gadgets will make your party soar to new heights.
• Wind Statues: Exclusively found in Gusthall, these statues gushes out strong winds and can be rotated to change the direction of the gust.
• Mana Stones: A mystical stone containing a Benevodon inside. Players can interact with it to change their class.

Towns

• Inn: The party can rest at inns for a small fee to restore HP and MP & saving the game. Players have the option of being woken up during the day or at night, also affecting the week cycle.
• Shops: The party can stock on items and buy weapons in various sundries scattered inside towns.

Special

• Von Boyage and his siblings operate the cannon travel agency helping the party navigate the world of Fa'Diel by blasting them to their desired destination.

Items

See also: Trials of Mana items

Like its predecessor, the original Trials of Mana is a top-down 2D action RPG in the vein of The Legend of Zelda, allowing the player to attack enemies, use items, and cast magic in real time from the Ring Menu system. The player takes direct control of the party member in position 1 at all times while observing combat from an overhead view. Up to 2 players can simultaneously control two of the three characters while engaged in battle.

Trials of Mana adds several elements new to the series:

• Calendar system: In-game time is based on a seven-day week, with each day being divided into AM (Wisp) and PM (Shade) periods, which affects the types and numbers of enemies fought as well as altering the flow of the main story. Each day is tuned to one of six Mana Spirits, with their magic becoming stronger on their assigned day without necessarily weakening the others: Salamander, Undine, Jinn, Gnome, Dryad, and Luna. The seventh is the Mana Day, in which all magic is balanced and all inns offer to rest the night at no charge.
• Class-change system: As the player progresses through the story, they can choose one of several predefined roles for each hero selected; each begins in a default class, then advances through a second intermediate class on a Light or Dark path, and finally evolves through a third advanced class with another Light or Dark selection. Each class choice determines the balance of the chosen hero's stats and provides for them to use more powerful abilities with greater range and accuracy. Players also gain new abilities by selectively augmenting individual stats with every experience level gained.
• Class Strike system: As the player lands different attacks, heroes can now build energy reserves to use special moves that defeat multiple foes with the touch of a button. Up to three moves are learnt by each hero, increasing in power with each class selected. While at first glance an evolution of the Spirit Gauge system of previous titles, the player is now able to control precisely when to use heroes' special moves as they would the use of a spell or item.
• Item synthesis: Using special seeds obtained in combat, players can utilize Magic Pots to grow randomized items while visiting an inn. Each new item is immediately given to the player when sprouted.
• Item overflow storage: Should the player's Item Ring fill to capacity on any single item, the excess can now be tucked away in a bag that works behind the scenes. The player can transfer any items to or from the bag at any time outside of combat.
• Trap roulette: Round and round it goes; where it stops, the player will never know. Players may encounter dropped treasure chests with a randomized wheel of traps, building on the Secret of Mana trap chest feature. Unlike the previous game, players will almost always get an item, albeit at potentially great cost to the party member opening the chest.

Characters

Heroes

• Duran: An aspiring young swordsman from the central plains kingdom of Valsena who dreams of becoming an elite knight as his father, Loki, had been in service to the kingdom. Years ago, however, Loki vanished on a mission alongside the Hero King to put an end to the Dragon Lord, who once laid waste to Valsena. Loki's departure left behind his ailing wife Simone, Duran, and his daughter Wendy; and when Simone's illness took her life, the children were raised by Simone's sister Stella. Duran grew to be a capable swordsman and competed in several tournaments as the years passed, which earned him a position in the castle guard. His skills are put to the test when a mysterious red-cloaked figure from neighboring Altena sneaks into the fortress and sets his sights on the Hero King. Duran intervenes, but is quickly overwhelmed by powerful magic. Believing himself to have failed in a key mission, Duran goes into self-imposed exile and makes for Wendel to become a more powerful warrior in order to slay his assailant.
• Angela: The rebellious princess of the magical kingdom of Altena in the northern snowfields. Her mother, the True Queen, has employed mana power to maintain a springlike climate in and around the city; but the shift in mana now weakens her efforts. The Queen is then advised by her red-cloaked confidant to take the Mana Stones and the Sword of Mana to power her spell, only for Angela to try to stop to the both of them. Instead, the Queen opts to cast the forbidden spell and use her magic-less daughter as the offering. Angela objects, but escapes in an instant to the cold wilds beyond Altena. Angela quickly succumbs to the weather, but is rescued by a single mother and her daughter and taken to Alrant to rest a night. Waking the next morning, Angela stumbles into the local pub, where an old fortune-teller is heard rambling about a destiny awaiting in Wendel. She becomes intrigued, and wishes to become the mightiest mage in the world so that her mother will respect her.
• Kevin: The somewhat-nervous and slightly inarticulate half-blood prince of the western realm of Ferolia, kingdom of the lycanthrope beastman tribe. Kevin was born to the King of Ferolia and a human mother, and is ostracized by his fellow tribesmen as a result. He wanders the nearby Duskmoon Forest with a howler pup named Karl. Kevin returns to the castle to witness his father in league with an undead jester named Goremand, who then hatches a twofold plot to invade Wendel for its Mana Stone and provoke Kevin into metamorphosis. Goremand turns Karl on Kevin using dark magic, forcing Kevin to morph and kill the pup. Enraged, Kevin seeks vengeance against his father and storms off. When he returns to the forest, Goremand teases Kevin with the promise of bringing Karl back to life, and points him to Wendel to meet the Priest of Light.
• Charlotte: An effervescent half-elf cleric-in-training who describes herself as the "famous beauty of Wendew" due to a speech impediment. Her grandfather is the Priest of Light sought by the other heroes. Haunted by dreams of the family she lost, Charlotte becomes involved when her grandfather notices several signs of a shift in mana power and sends his disciple and her surrogate brother Heath to investigate a disturbance near Astoria. Charlotte receives a premonition upon overhearing the conversation. She shadows Heath for a short time, and soon witnesses him mobbed by the beastmen. Her fears prove true when Goremand arrives on the scene and Heath suddenly disappears. Though stunned to the point of inconsolable grief, Charlotte resolves to rescue him. Little does she realize, her role in world affairs is about to become much larger than even she could anticipate.
• Hawkeye: A cunning thief with a heart of gold and a member of a noble thieves' guild based in Nevarl, an eastern fortress on the fringes of the Burning Sands. When the guild's leader, Flamekhan is rescued by a mysterious woman in the middle of the desert, he is immediately possessed by the desire to re-fashion Nevarl into a kingdom in order to seize control of the Mana Stones. Hawkeye's best friend and Flamekhan's son Eagle suspects his father as up to no good, so the two team up to investigate. They inadvertently eavesdrop on Flamekhan acting with two demonic conspirators and are caught in the act, prompting one of the demons to take hold of Eagle and forcing Hawkeye to strike Eagle down. Hawkeye is then framed for Eagle's murder and escorted to the fortress prison. Meanwhile, the demons seize Hawkeye's love interest and Eagle's sister Jessica to place a cursed choker on her neck; if Hawkeye should speak the truth of what he saw, Jessica dies. Fortunately, the guild's crafty feline thief Niccolo breaks him free to go to Wendel and find a way to save Jessica.
• Riesz: An heir to the throne of Laurent, Kingdom of Wind, and the captain of its elite Amazon Guard. During a routine training session, Riesz and her father, the blind clairvoyant King Joster, receive separate premonitions of an ill omen concerning the future of the kingdom. Meanwhile, Prince Elliot, Riesz's younger brother and her charge since the death of their mother, is slacking off somewhere on the castle grounds. As Riesz frantically searches for him, twin ninjas from Nevarl, Bil and Ben, materialize and lure the boy into dampening Laurent's protective winds, creating an opening for the Nevarlans to seize the citadel and knock out its defenses. The assault further results in Joster's assassination and Elliot's kidnapping by the invaders. Distraught, Riesz recalls her father's final words about seeking the Priest of Light in Wendel for answers to perplexing predicaments. With few options left, she sets out for Wendel as the sole survivor of the invasion. She now searches for her brother and for a way to release him from Nevarl's grasp.

Villains

• The Benevodons: Eight colossi with little more than an insatiable appetite for chaos and destruction, existing before the creation of the world. The Mana Goddess sealed each creature in a Mana Stone of their respective element to put an end to the carnage wrought.
• The Dragon Lord: Duran and Angela's ultimate nemesis. An evil tyrant who sought to conquer the world years before the events of the story. Loki and the Hero King once traveled on a quest to defeat him.
  • Crimson Wizard: A wizard originally from Altena who seeks power above all else. As a younger man, he sacrificed half of his life force to revive the man who would become his lord and master. He returns to his homeland to serve the True Queen as her second-in-command.
  • Darkshine Knight: A mysterious black-armored knight who has sworn absolute fealty to the Dragon Lord.
  • True Queen: The current Queen of Altena and Angela's mother, who seeks to secure her reign through control of mana power and to maintain her perfect realm. It is she who, advised by the Crimson Wizard, orders the strike against Valsena as well as the sacrifice of her only daughter, with whom she has been estranged.
• The Masked Mage: Kevin and Charlotte's ultimate rival. A former high priest of Wendel, corrupted by dark magic as was once used to save a dying girl from an illness. Its aftereffects rendered him a power-mad revenant, who now seeks to become a god through his control of mana power.
  • Tainted Soul: A mysterious youth corrupted by the Masked Mage, who now serves him without fail.
  • Goremand: The "Devourer of Souls" who serves the Masked Mage toward his own ends, an undead jester who possesses the ability to draw out and consume the life energy of the weak and enfeebled before their death.
  • King of Ferolia: The ruler of the beastmen and Kevin's father, whose only interest is his retribution against humans for their continuing oppression of his people. He forms an uneasy alliance with Goremand, if only to advance his own cause and harden his timid son.
  • Ludgar: A general of Ferolia and Kevin's personal rival, who leads his king's armies in battle against humankind. He spearheads the invasion of Wendel as part of the broader offensive.
• His Dark Majesty, the Prince of Mavolia: Hawkeye and Riesz's archenemy. The demihuman ruler of the netherworld who was once the prince of an unnamed kingdom adjacent to Laurent. His mortal family rejected him for the evil within. Demons took him in, only for the corrupted prince to seize power from a previous ruler. His Dark Majesty attempted to conquer the mortal realm in an act of revenge, but he was destroyed and reduced to remains. His most loyal followers now seek to resurrect him.
  • Belladonna: The Prince's second-in-command, who has an unrequited infatuation with her master and seeks to develop a fuller relationship with him. As one of Mavolia's most powerful demons, it is her magic and cunning that drives Nevarl to seize Laurent and corrupts Flamekhan.
  • Malocchio: A vampire serving as Belladonna's wingman and a powerful mage in his own right, who also seeks to revive his master. He abducts Elliot in order to give the Prince a living body upon resurrection.
  • Bil and Ben: A pair of ninja formerly in service to the thieves' guild, corrupted by Belladonna to invade Laurent and deliver Prince Elliot to the Prince of Mavolia. At one time friends of Hawkeye, they become his personal rivals.
  • Flamekhan: The leader and mentor of the Nevarl thieves' guild, and the father of Jessica and Eagle. After an incident in which he was stranded, Belladonna rescued him and took him back to the fortress. From there, his mind is slowly poisoned by Belladonna, who desires a kingdom to seize control of the Mana Stones and mana power itself.

Differences in other versions

Collection of Mana

• Released as part of an anthology.
• Original CRT aspect ratio retained by default.
• Bumper wallpaper has been added.
• Savestate features have been added.

Most of the differences are from the official translation:

• Some enemies spawn in a different place on the map and some are replaced by other enemies altogether.
• A condensed, fixed-width font is used for all non-Japanese scripts.
  • The speech is a bit more formal and fantasy-esque.
  • Numerals are fully written (8 God Beasts vs Eight Benevodons).
  • God-Beasts are now called Benevodons.
  • Partners are now called companions in the character selection screen.
  • The currency is now called GP instead of lucre.
  • Morning is now called AM and Night is called evening or PM in the text displayed when interacting with inn keepers.
  • The ring menu separate clauses with slashes instead of spaces and all text is aligned to the left.
  • A lot of locations have their names changed (Navarre vs Nevarl, Byzel vs Beiser, etc.)
  • Names of locations in the game don't use their full title (Holy City Wendel in the fan translation vs Wendel in the 2019 version).
  • The player can now use letters with diacritics (é, à, ê, etc.) upon choosing to name their playable characters.
  • Techs are now called class strikes.
  • Most magic, skills and class strikes have a new name and some of them are nods to the previous Mana title (Secret of Mana), like Reflect Magic being renamed Wall.
  • Some of the heroes' personality traits appear to have been slightly altered in order to better fit certain cultural norms. For example, Angela is shown to be a bit less bratty and more tired with her mentor José in her introduction and Duran is more unsure of himself rather than angry at the Ferolian beastmen in Jadd.

Cosmetic changes

• The registered trademark symbol ® is absent from the title screen.
• The playable character' names are taken directly from the original Japanese script. Advancements in ROM-hacking technology circa 2019 allowed the developers to squeeze more data into the space offered by the original ROM.
• Kevin's speech is broken rather than primitive, implying a degree of nervousness.
• Charlotte's speech is now altered with replacing most L's and R's with W's, a bit like Elmer Fudd of Looney Tunes shorts.
• Text color for narration is now white like every other text instead of yellow and so are the character names and locations.
• Text for the names of locations are centered, like when read on signs.
• Room transitions, dialogue boxes and menus are slower in the 2019 version compared to the original.
• Some scenes use smaller textboxes when in the fan translation use the regular format.
• The main menu has been revamped in some areas.
  • The mini-map on the lower right angle of the screen sports symbols of each menu's sections instead of words.
  • Time of the day (Lumina or Shade) is now called Hour or Hr.
  • Character's attributes are now given a new translation and abreviated. For example, Agility is now called Dexterity or DEX in the game menu.

Gallery

For this subject's image gallery, see Gallery:Trials of Mana.

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  Angela

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  Charlotte

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  Duran

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  Hawkeye

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  Kevin

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  Riesz

Names in other languages

Language	Name	Meaning
Japanese	聖剣伝説3 Seiken Densetsu 3	Legend of the Sacred Sword 3

	Randi --"Whoa! What's a Rabite doing in a place like this?"
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