The Trials Of Mana demo is surprisingly the best demo I’ve played in a long time. I don’t say that lightly either, as after I played the demo, my expectations though high, have been greatly surpassed. The first thing you’ll noticed when playing the demo is how the game slaps you in the face with its newly remade visuals.
A New Look
The environments are colorful, vibrant , and welcoming yet almost blinding. The menus are beautiful, well detailed, and easy to navigate, as well as not being too complicated or overwhelming. Other than the amazing 3D visuals, the music also complements the retro JRPG feel reminiscent of the original games.
When I wasn’t staring in awe of the visuals, I also enjoyed the new fast-paced combat system. It’s all in real-time, with simplistic yet flashy combos and moves, so you won’t have to go into multiple menus for each and everything you do. I also enjoyed using the new dedicated jump button used to transverse some parts of the levels to attain some items and treasures. It’s also as useful in traversal as it is in combat, letting you jump attack enemies in the sky.
But No Challenge
My only concern with the gameplay was that it’s a tad too easy at the moment. This may change as this is only the beginning of the game, but I did not encounter any challenges whatsoever throughout my time with the demo. The enemies telegraph their attacks and hit much slower compared to the player character. And after switching to Hard difficulty, I was still able to defeat the final boss of the chapter easily.
I also noticed how the game uses an autosave system that not a lot of JRPGS use, making it even easier, especially as the game already provides you with statues to save your progress while also topping off your health. Hopefully, the challenge will increase suitably later on, as if it stays like this, its enjoyment wouldn’t last long.
When not in combat, you’ll be sitting through cut scenes which again, have amazing 3D visuals, but the English voice acting was a bit off, and filled with mostly cheesy dialogue. Luckily the game gives you an option of switch between Japanese and English Voice, which helps make it less awkward to listen too.
Final Thoughts
Overall, I enjoyed my time with the Trials Of Mana Demo. It’s surprisingly quite generous on the content as it will take you about an hour or two playing your first go at it, before you eventually switching to another character to play their side of the story. The download size was about 7GB on PlayStation 4, so not that bad.
If you choose to play the demo, your data would be carried on to the full game should you decide to purchase that as well. Trials Of Mana has successfully improved on a lot of things holding it back in the earlier games while also not losing the charm it’s had from the beginning. So while the demo had its notable downsides, I still advise RPG fans to try it out as it is worth the time. The demo is currently available on PC, Nintendo Switch, and PlayStation 4.
Are you a fan of Trials Of Mana? Have you played the demo yet? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.