Episode 295: Trials & Legend of Mana (Patreon)

This week's patron-exclusive episode is exquisitely timed to drop on a highly relevant date! And for once I actually planned this coincidence instead of lucking into it. 

Today sees the U.S. launch of the can't-believe-it's-happening Trials of Mana remake, and to mark the occasion we've continued our look at the Mana series by tackling the original Super NES release of the game. I've played through the remake now (which obviously hadn't happened by the time we recorded this episode), and I'm happy to say the remake addresses a lot of the mechanical and interface issues that dogged the first game—it's really a great overhaul of the original, and shows that Square Enix doesn't have to invest five years and tens of millions of dollars to effectively remake a game from the ’90s. I mean, the Trials remake and FF7 remake are in completely different leagues in terms of presentation and ambition... but that's what's nice about them both. Where FF7 is glorious blockbuster excess, Trials is a pleasantly polished B-game, which is something you don't see a lot of these days. I sincerely love it. Except for Charlotte's dialogue. The original was a promising but flawed game, and the remake realizes that potential.

The second half of this podcast is dedicated to fulfilling a patron request from K-S-O to produce a Retronauts Radio episode on the Legend of Mana soundtrack. I combined the two topics because neither had quite enough meat on its bones to support a full episode's worth of conversation, but together, they combine into a lovely little Voltron of conversation.

Description: Jeremy Parish, Bob Mackey, and USgamer's Kat Bailey look at the original version of the newly remade Trials of Mana, then dive into a discussion of Legend of Mana's stunning Yoko Shimomura soundtrack (by patron request of K-S-O).