Update: The Trials of Mana HD remake will release April 24, 2020 on Switch, PS4, and PC, Square Enix has announced. If you pre-order or purchase the game on any platform by May 21, 2020, you’ll be rewarded with the Rabite Adornment DLC, which increases the amount of EXP earned until level 10. Pre-order or purchase the game on PS4 by the same date for an exclusive avatar set, or on Steam for an exclusive wallpaper.
Original Story: There was a whole bunch of good stuff in the Nintendo E3 2019 (opens in new tab) Direct, and not all of it is 10,000 years away. The Cadence of Hyrule release date (opens in new tab) is this week, for one, and the three-part Collection of Mana is now available on the Switch eShop. Mana fans can also look forward to an HD remake of Trials of Mana, which was previously only available in Japan as Seiken Densetsu 3, coming to Switch, PS4, and PC in 2020.
There’s been a bit of confusion around these games, so let’s set the record straight. The Collection of Mana (opens in new tab) comes with three games: Final Fantasy Adventure (Game Boy), Secret of Mana (Super Nintendo), and the 1995 original Trials of Mana (Super Famicom). All three games belong to the Japanese Seiken Densetsu series, but their names were switched up considerably during localization. Don’t think too hard about the seemingly random Final Fantasy tie-in. The Collection of Mana is exclusive to the Switch.
The Trials of Mana remake (opens in new tab) is its own deal. It’s not part of the Collection of Mana, and again, it’s not out yet. It looks pretty good, though. The original Mana games have aged pretty well, but the remake not only looks better visually – not to diss pixel art – but seems to have updated the game’s combat and other systems considerably. Here’s hoping they keep the old fast-travel system, which is basically just shooting yourself into the stratosphere using a super-charged slinkie.
Stay up to date on all the other developments this week with our E3 2019 schedule (opens in new tab) and our round-up of all the big E3 2019 games (opens in new tab). If you’re looking for some more experimental and compact titles, check out our list of the best indie games (opens in new tab) we’ve seen at E3 2019.