Topic: Trials of Mana Remake

Somebody said cut-price DQ and that is right on the money for my first impressions. The score is atrocious. Compare to the luscious orchestral DQ11 music as case in point.

Hrm… couple hours in the demo so far, and I agree with some other people: kinda feels like DQ11 without as much love and attention. I mean, the similarities are immediately apparent. Controls feel pretty much the same, graphics eerily similar (pretty sure some things are exactly the same - some of the boxes/jugs). I guess I can't knock it too much, though. You're gonna release a couple remakes of big RPGs in rapid succession, I guess you reuse assets wherever you think you can get away with it.

Skipping through the text doesn't flow as well as it does in DQ11. Music isn't as good, like others have said.

Combat is...fine, I guess. Honestly I'm disappointed overall and just found myself wanting to play the original. I was so psyched for this, but maybe artificially because I'm not an Animal Crossing fan and just needed something to look forward to.

@rallydefault hmm I'll give this a play through tonight. It's concerning what you're saying as I've been hyped for this one beyond belief. Maybe the demo will save me 50 bucks, or reconfirm my day 1 purchase.

How long is the demo anyway?

@NintendoByNature
Not sure. I'm about 2-3 hours right now and right around level 5, I believe. They let you level to 7. I've seen people saying about 5 hours, perhaps.

It's not terrible, I'm just disappointed. I definitely won't buy it at full price. It just feels too much like a poor man's DQ11 remake, which is the risk you run when you remake a bunch of games in such a short span of time while reusing assets and engine and all that.

Maybe you'll really like it, though. It's a lot like the original (obviously) and even Octopath Traveler in that your experience could start off great or bad depending on the main character you pick and how much they resonate with you in terms of story, moveset, etc.

@rallydefault good to know thanks. Ill check it out and see what's up.

@rallydefault while playing it I’m literally thinking I wish I was playing DQ11 right now

@NintendoByNature The demo ends right after you get the first mana spirit. It took me about 3 hours, but you could get more out of the demo if you decide to play all of the characters' stories. I actually quite enjoyed it, and I don't think DQ11 is a proper comparison to be honest. With the combat it's more similar to DQ Heroes if anything.

@Cynas for sure. I've been playing for about 30 min. My only gripe is I'm not sure if you can map the quick attacks to y and dodge attacks to b. Also a lock on feature would be cool

@NintendoByNature right stick is lock on

@scoobdoo odd choice but Thanks!

@Cynas
I don't think they are good comparisons in the gameplay space, but in almost everything else (sound, environments, out-of-combat control/movement, wandering enemy AI, etc.) I think the two are reaaaaaaaaaaally similar so as to invite valid comparison.

In-combat gameplay, sure. That's a different story with one being turn-based and the other being action. The combat is certainly my favorite part of the demo.

@NintendoByNature You can re-map the action buttons in the options. I put jump on B, dodge on A, light attacks on Y and heavy attacks on X.

@Quarth glad there's people like you who actually know what theyre doing lol. Sweet news. I'll fiddle with it some more.

The person who narrates the title screen calls the game "Twials of Mana." I don't know why that bothers me so much.

@Quarth I was disappointed the game wouldn't let me re-map the dash to the triggers. It's not like I was using them for anything, and I hate pressing in on the left stick.

@NintendoByNature Haha, well, at least sometimes. I experimented a little and came to the conclusion that the settings I mention above suited me the best.

@Ralizah Yeah, that sucks, I agree on that. I hate it when games put often used actions on the sticks. Those are better used for maybe showing the map or something like that, not dashing.

Can i change my character to take control the battle as leader based on SNES version?

@Quarth yea for sure. Honestly I probably would be fine but im swapping between mana and darksiders 2 and the buttons are completely different making it hard to get used to after 18 hours of darksiders 2. Either way, I think the demo has been decent thus far. Once im fully finished with It, I'll know for sure if I'll still call it day 1 or not. Looking like day 1 still, thus far.

@NintendoByNature Yeah, I think it's a day one for me too. If one looks past some of the issues, which are minor stuff like the inconsistent graphics and the bad voice acting, it's quite a good game.

@Quarth voice acting isnt great, but that type of stuff never bothers me. It's actually kind of entertaining. Graphics weren't really something i noticed as an issue either.