Trials of Mana Introduces Its Protagonists with Trailers and Screenshots

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Affiliate Link, Gameplay, Haccan, Masaru Oyamada, News, Nintendo, Originals, PC, Platforms, PS4, Seiken Densetsu, Seiken Densetsu 3, Shinichi Tatsuke, Square Enix, Switch, Trailers, Trials of Mana, Video
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Square Enix revealed many new details on Trials of Mana. We have some new artwork by Art Director Haccan, screenshots that most notably show the world map and dragon Flammie, and 3D models for each protagonist’s classes. An introduction trailer for each protagonist was published as well.

The original game, usually known by Seiken Densetsu 3 or “Secret of Mana 2”, released on SNES in 1995, and had a really cool class change system. When your characters reached level 18, you could choose between a Light attribute class or a Dark attribute class. When reaching level 38, they could once again pick between two classes. These two classes were different depending on whether you picked Light or Dark. Counting their starting class, it means that each character had seven different classes in total. This class system is back in the remake, and each class has been rebalanced, making each one of them worthwhile for even more replayability.

Trials of Mana is also a game with six different protagonists. The player picks their main protagonist and two side protagonists, for a party of three characters. Out of the six protagonists, three of them share more or less the same story, so there are three different stories in total. And all the stories mostly share the same main developments as well.

Anyway, let’s take a look at the six protagonists, with all their artworks, 3D models, and intro trailers. These trailers reprise the prologue for each protagonist, along with the intro cutscene you’d get in the original game when recruiting them. These will grab you right in the feels if you’re a fan of the original game, as this remake does everything perfectly. Even each protagonist’s comical running style is reproduced.

We first have Duran, voiced by Takuya Eguchi. Here’s his profile:

Duran is a proud young soldier from Valsena, Kingdom of the Plains. Though he comes across as hot-headed and ready for a fight, the whole kingdom acknowledges his skill with a blade. Duran has nothing but love for his kingdom and respect for the Hero King, a good friend of his departed father, Loki the Golden Knight.








And here are Duran’s artwork and the 3D models for his seven classes: Fighter, Knight, Gladiator, Paladin, Liege, Edelfrei, Duelist.

Duran is basically the most protagonist-like character among the protagonists. He’s a well-balanced character and can heal with most of his classes. I’d recommend putting him in your team if you’re a first-timer.

Next, we have Angela, voiced by Rumi Okubo.

Angela is the only daughter of the True Queen of Altena, the snow-covered kingdom of magicians. Because Angela’s mother hardly spent any time with her as a child, the princess was prone to act out to get attention, wearing gaudy clothes and playing pranks on people in the castle. Despite this, her love for her mother runs deep. Angela never got the hang of casting magic spells, a problem that plagues her to this day.








And here are Angela’s classes: Magician, Sorceress, Mysticist, Grand Diviner, Archmage, Rune Seer, Magus.

I absolutely love each protagonist’s story, but Angela’s story is particularly moving, so I’m really looking forward to seeing it again in the remake. I’m also a huge fan of her seiyuu, Rumi Okubo, who voiced Mia Ageha in Pretty Rhythm.
As a side note, among the Japanese fandom of the game, Angela has a reputation of being a super weak and useless character no one picks. Hopefully, the rebalancing in the remake will renew her reputation.

Duran and Angela share the same story, antagonists and key characters. They are all regrouped together in this incredible artwork by Haccan. The artwork most notably features villain Crimson Wizard, voiced by Yuichi Nakamura in Trials of Mana.

Next, we have Charlotte, voiced by Sumire Morohoshi (My favorite role she did is Ichigo Starmiya in the Aikatsu franchise).

Charlotte is the granddaughter of Wendel’s Priest of Light. She looks much younger than she is thanks to the elfin blood in her veins. Perhaps because of this, she has always been coddled by the people who raised her in the temple. Charlotte’s bright and outgoing personality can be both an asset and a hindrance. Though curious, she’s superstitious and a bit of a scaredy-cat.








And here are Charlotte’s classes: Cleric, Priestess, Enchantress, High Cleric, Sage, Necromancer, Warlock.

I’ll probably end up picking Charlotte in my first playthrough of the remake, seeing she’s the one I picked in my most recent run of the original game. This way, I’ll be able to better compare both versions.

Next, we have Kevin, voiced by Ryota Osaka.

Kevin is heir to the throne of Ferolia. His father is the king of the beastmen, but his missing mother was a human woman. Kevin’s father raised him to be a fighting machine, which affected his social skills. He is unused to conversing with humans, which can make him hard to understand at times. The ice around the young boy’s heart only began to melt after making friends with Karl the wolf pup.








And here are Kevin’s classes: Grappler, Monk, Brawler, Divine Fist, Warrior Monk, Fatal Fist, Enlightened

Kevin was pretty much the strongest character in the original game, so it’ll probably be the case too in Trials of Mana.

This is the artwork for Charlotte and Kevin’s story. At the top right, we have Goremand, one of the antagonists, voiced by Tomokazu Sugita in Trials of Mana. I’m really looking forward to his scenes, seeing how creepy he was in the original game.

Next, we have Hawkeye, voiced by Yuki Ono.

Hawkeye hails from the desert fortress of Nevarl, home to a guild of noble thieves. He was raised as the orphaned ward of Flamekhan, the leader, together with Flamekhan’s own children, Eagle and Jessica. Hawkeye comes across as a laid-back and charming young man, making it hard to tell when he’s being serious. But at his core, Hawkeye is a fiercely loyal friend. Nothing gets past his honed senses and quick wit.








Here are Hawkeye’s classes: Thief, Ranger, Ninja, Nomad, Rogue, Ninja Master, Nightblade.

Hawkeye was a pretty tricky character in the original become of bugs making some of his classes nearly useless. So this remake will pretty much be the first time we can see how fun his classes can actually be.

Lastly, we have Riesz, voiced by Mikako Komatsu. (My favorite roles she did are Marika Kato in Bodacious Space Pirates, and Ito Suzuno in Pretty Rhythm)

Riesz is the young princess of the mountainous kingdom of Laurent and captain of the renowned Amazon guard. She has a will of iron and down-to-earth manner. Though some might call her stubborn, Riesz is always there to lend a hand to those who need it. She lost her mother as a child and since then has tried to help raise her little brother Elliot. Her topmost priorities are her father, brother, and kingdom.








Here are Riesz’ classes: Amazon, Valkyrie, Rune Maiden, Vanadis, Starlancer, Dragon Master, Fenrir Knight.

Riesz is one of the most popular characters ever in Japan, especially when it comes to erotic fanart, because of her touching story in the original game and her cute but sexy outfits. While Seiken Densetsu 3 originally released in 1995, Riesz still regularly gets new fanart to this day. Square Enix is also aware of all this, and none of the risque outfits of Angela and Riesz were toned down. Everything is really faithful if you compare it with Yuuki Nobuteru’s artworks for the original game:

I personally disagree with the claim that Japanese games with sexual fanservice are inherently sexist, but I always found Trails of Mana interesting in that regard. Because some of Duran and Kevin’s outfits actually show a lot of skin too, though they don’t show as much as Angela’s. I’m also pretty sure Duran’s Duelist outfit showed even more in the Yuuki Nobuteru artwork for the original game. Anyway, my point is, none of this got censored on PS4. Sony does censor things in a way I believe is illegitimate since their policy change last year, but they aren’t censoring every single thing either nor they are killing Japanese games.
I’m personally really happy with how the artwork for Trials of Mana turned out. Haccan’s character design was pretty much the only good thing about the Secret of Mana remake, so I’m happy to see it’s still just as gorgeous here.

This is the artwork for Hawkeye and Riesz’s story. At the top left you can spot Belladonna (also knows as Isabella), voiced by Yoshino Nanjo.


Additional artwork for Hawkeye’s Ninja class and Riesz’ Valkyrie class were also shared on PlayStation Blog, along with comments from Mana-series producer Masaru Oyamada:

For Riesz, she has many classes based on Norse mythology, such as her third classes, Vanadis and Fenrir Knight. Her second Light class, Valkyrie, is no exception, and we wanted to depict her with a mighty and powerful Valkyrie design. In the 16-bit version of Trials of Mana, the class designs were directly tied to the weapon artwork. As such, we envisioned her equipped with the Valkyrie mail. In the original release, her Valkyrie class pixel art was characterized with a dark purple armor. However, in this game, we limited the purple to the shadows of the design. I think this also helped capture her prim and proper nature very well.

For Hawkeye, his first Dark class brings an image of an assassin. However, his second class Ninja is more intermediary. As the game already has a traditional ninja design with the Nevarlan ninja forces, we limited the traditional Japanese-style feel, and went for a ninja design that incorporates more fantasy elements. Additionally, we wanted to make his second class design more of a low or mid-ranked ninja, since there is also a third class, Ninja Master.

In the end, while incorporating the green from the original pixel art, I think the final design came out very Hawkeye-esque, looking very slim and cool.



Next up, we have new artwork showing the fairy Faerie, voiced by Maaya Uchida, the marine turtle Vuscav, and the dragon Flammie.

Faerie accompanies the protagonists in their quest. I’m personally hoping the remake will be adding more dialogues, especially among the protagonists themselves. In the original, most of the talking was done by Faerie, and in a sense, she was the true protagonist of the story. Vuscav is unlocked after a certain point in the game and is basically the typical JRPG boat. Meanwhile, Flammie is unlocked at the beginning of the second part of the game. Flammie is basically the JRPG airship and is a recurrent character of the Mana series.

Lastly, new screenshots with some dungeon exploration and battles can be found below. Overall, this remake is everything I wished for, except for the lack of multiplayer, which is regrettable.

Trials of Mana will be out on April 24, 2020, for PS4, Switch, and PC. It’s definitely the JRPG I’m looking forward to the most in 2020, above Final Fantasy 7 Remake.

You can check the game’s TGS 2019 trailer and some gameplay. We’ve also previewed the game at various events.
















The post Trials of Mana Introduces Its Protagonists with Trailers and Screenshots by Iyane Agossah appeared first on DualShockers.



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