Trials of Mana

About Trials of Mana

Trials of Mana is a 1995 role-playing game developed by Square. It released on Satellaview, Super Nintendo Entertainment System and Super Famicom, holding a 8.7 / 10 aggregate score.

Trials of Mana is the third installment of the Mana series, developed by Square under the direction of series creator Koichi Ishii. 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 the Mana power.

JRPG details

Developer	Square
Publisher	Square
Platforms	Satellaview Super Nintendo Entertainment System Super Famicom
Genres	Role-playing (RPG)Adventure
Themes	Action Fantasy Open world
Modes	Single player Multiplayer Co-operative
Perspective	Bird view / Isometric
Series	Mana
Languages	English Japanese
Tags	anime shoot 'em up magic bullet hell female protagonist action-adventure multiple protagonists overworld multiple endings princess artificial intelligence revenge otaku day/night cycle leveling up world map human loot gathering party system multiple storylines special attacks original soundtrack release save point sprinting mechanics treasure chest branching storyline real-time combat a.i. companion stat tracking coming of age non-linear storytelling sleeping skill tree tech trees pausable real time combat mana drop-in drop-out not-so-bad guys ancient advanced civilization technology poisoning sleeping enemies monster capturing status effects on-the-fly character switching tragic hero hero turned evil class change kill quest pom-pom buddy system japan only fan translation - english fan translation - portuguese late localization

Story

The story takes place in a fictional world where Mana represents an ethereal, but finite, energy source. Some time in the past, the Mana Goddess created the game's world by forging the powerful Sword of Mana and defeating eight monsters of destruction, the Benevodons —"God Beasts" in earlier translations— with it, sealing them within eight Mana Stones, before turning herself into the Mana Tree and falling asleep.

The game is set at a time when Mana starts to fade and peace has ended, as several people plot to unleash the Benevodons from the stones so as to gain ultimate power.