Square's classic action RPG franchise is making a comeback and with this new Mana collection, you can play the first 3 iconic Seiken Densetsu games in one convenient and comprehensive package. Maciejewski playing a Nintendo Switch on June 25, 2019 “Therefore, with the strong push that we received from our Western team members, the development of Collection of Mana for the West became a reality.Reviewed by A.J. “We knew from our experience releasing Collection of Mana on Switch in Japan that if we were to do this, the Switch console would probably allow us to include the localized data without the need to worry about limitations in storage capacity,” says Oyamada. Luckily, years later, the Switch has now made the perfect home for both the 16-bit localization of the game and its remake. For some time, it seemed as if this would be the only way anyone would ever be able to experience Seiken Densetsu 3. Players could download the free, unofficial patch and apply it to ROMs to play in English via an emulator or a special Super Nintendo console with backup capabilities. In 2000, a fan translation project led by Neill Corlett, who had worked on localizations of Final Fantasy and Seiken Densetsu games in the past, was completed and uploaded to the internet. “This meant there was no additional space that could accommodate localized data.” “When the original Trials of Mana was developed, it barely fit within the confines of the data capacity available for the Super Famicom at the time,” Oyamada says. However, according to the Mana team, the decision came down to the technical constraints of the Super Famicom (Super Nintendo). The question of why Trials of Mana never made it to the West in the first place has been a source of speculation in the gaming community, with many pointing to the high cost of localizing the game for Western audiences. “From there, we started with staff assignment and determining the direction we wanted to take with the remake, and we started development in the beginning of 2019. “There were plans already for this new version of Trials of Mana following Secret of Mana, and it was around the end of 2018 that I took on my role for it,” Shinichi Tatsuke, Trials of Mana‘s producer, says. Oyamada and the Square Enix team had already been working on a 3D remake of the original Secret of Mana when the idea to bring Trials of Mana to life in 3D came up. “I think that this helped push us toward making the decision to really go for it in the remake.” “We noticed a lot of feedback, with the general sentiment that what people wanted from the Mana series was to play something more modernized,” says Oyamada. The next entry in the Mana series wouldn’t arrive until 1999 for Western gamers, when Legend of Mana, the fourth game in the franchise, made its way to the original PlayStation. The game introduced a variety of intriguing enhancements, such as a multi-hero narrative, a time progression system and a variety of character classes to choose from. The third entry arrived in the form of Seiken Densetsu 3 on the Super Nintendo in 1995 - but not in the West. Thus, players clamored for another sequel. It earned a considerable amount of praise for its real-time battle system, Ring Command menus, candy-colored graphics and plot. This was the first game to carry the Mana moniker for Western gamers, which made for some understandable confusion among players who had no idea this was a sequel. The series would further evolve in 1993 with the Super Nintendo’s Secret of Mana, which was considered a direct sequel to Final Fantasy Adventure. It was well-received, so much so that critics have referred to it as one of the Game Boy’s greatest adventures. The game was a departure from the classic Final Fantasy formula, combining elements of The Legend of Zelda with RPG mechanics that made for a wholly different experience, though it did include hallmarks from the series such as chocobos. Unlike Final Fantasy, which has been massively popular globally for more than 20 years, the Mana series has had a checkered past in the West, with a somewhat bizarre lineage that began in 1991 with the Game Boy’s Final Fantasy Adventure, or Seiken Densetsu: Final Fantasy Gaiden (which literally translates to “The Legend of the Sacred Sword”).
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |