Trials of Mana is a perfect little fantasy

Role-playing games can be intimidating. They involve all this math, stats and different mechanics to memorize and track. Enemies might explode into a treasure trove of new items with benefits harder to read than your insurance policy.

Meanwhile, every new town in Trials of Mana offers you exactly one new weapon. No need for spreadsheets on the “loot grind” and decoding cryptic algorithms. Just get the one sword, which you know is stronger because it has bigger numbers than your last sword.

The brilliance of Trials of Mana is how it distils several core gameplay features to its truest sense. Sometimes towns really don’t function as much else besides places to stock up on things and maybe get some loose context for the world. Sometimes, a simple classic like Trials of Mana is all you really need.

It’s the direct sequel to the Super Nintendo classic Secret of Mana, which attained near-mythical status for collectors and retro gamers, becoming a 16-bit milestone.

This Japanese role-playing remake is far more faithful, in spirit, to its classic roots. Super Nintendo role-playing stories were often mere outlines of grand epics, and Trials of Mana makes little-to-no effort to update its dialogue and writing.

What’s different, is how it implements modern action role-playing design concepts into an old but classic formula. The combat is now fully 3D and moves in real time like an action game. There’s one button for basic attacks, another for slower attacks that hit harder, a jump button and a dodge button. Big enemy attacks will be telegraphed by red flashing lights on the floor, which is the player’s signal to move. Massive multiplayer online RPGs have used this system for years, and it’s a neat visual trick to implement in real-time combat.

It’s almost impossible to get lost in this game. There are no side quests to distract your attention, and every quest is a simple matter of getting from Point A to B.

Trials of Mana reminds us of why we fell in love with these games in the first place. The rules are simple, the rewards are immediate and obvious. There’s no better formula for escapist fantasy.