Trials of Mana version differences

The following is a list of version differences between the various releases of Trials of Mana (also known as Seiken Densetsu 3 in Japan and in the fan translation before its official release in the West in 2019).

Japanese Release (1995)

Seiken Densetsu 3's original japanese title screen

• Original release

Fan-translated game (2000)

Seiken Densetsu 3's Fan Translated Title Screen

• The logo has been completely romanized.
• Japanese calligraphy has been converted to large-font Western text where possible.
• Spell and item names have been translated verbatim, or aligned with Secret of Mana as appropriate. Other names may be abbreviated due to text-space limits.
• Charlotte shifts some "s" sounds to "sh" and refers to herself in the third person.
• Kevin is given rudimentary grammar in his dialogue, much as with a primitive man.

Seiken Densetsu Collection (Japan Only) (2017)

• Released as part of an anthology.
• Original CRT aspect ratio retained by default.
• Bumper wallpaper has been added.
• Savestate features have been added

Collection of Mana (2019)

Most of the differences come from the new official translation.

See Trials of Mana translation article for further examples.

• Some enemies spawn in a different place on the map and some are replaced by other enemies altogether.
• The font is now smaller than the 2000 fan translation and a whole new translation of the game has been added.
  • The speech is a bit more formal and fantasy-esque.
  • Numerals are fully written (8 God Beasts vs Eight Benevodons).
  • God-Beasts are now called Benevodons.
  • Partners are now called companions in the character selection screen.
  • The currency is now called GP instead of Luc like in the fan translation.
  • Morning is now called AM and Night is called evening or PM in the text displayed when interacting with inn keepers.
  • The ring menu separates clauses with slashes instead of spaces and all text is aligned to the left.
  • A lot of locations have their names changed (Navarre vs Nevarl, Byzel vs Beiser, etc.)
  • Names of locations in the game don't use their full title (Holy City Wendel in the fan translation vs Wendel in the 2019 version).
  • The player can now use letters with diacritics (é, à, ê, etc.) upon choosing to name their playable characters.
  • Techs are now called class strikes.
  • Most magic, skills and class strikes have a new name and some of them are nods to the previous Mana title (Secret of Mana), like Reflect Magic being renamed Wall.
  • Some characters' personalities are slightly altered due to the new translation and smaller font allowing for more information. For example, Angela is shown to be a bit less bratty and more tired with her mentor José in her introduction and Duran is more unsure of himself rather and angry at the ferolian beastmen in Jadd.

Cosmetic Changes

• The wavy visual effect displayed in the background during the start of the opening sequence is removed.
• The circle R symbol ® is absent from the title screen.
• Some of the playable character's names have been changed to better reflect their original Japanese names (Carlie became Charlotte, Hawk became Hawkeye and Lise became Riesz). Advancements in ROM-hacking technology circa 2019 allowed the developers to squeeze more data into the space offered by the original ROM, whereas the 2000 fan hack worked within what limits were known at the time.
• Kevin's speech is less blunt and more broken than in the fan translation, implying a degree of nervousness.
• Charlotte's speech is now altered with replacing most L's and R's with W's, similar to Loony Tunes' Elmer Fudd.
• Text color for narration, character names, and locations is no longer yellow, but white like all other instances of text.
• Text for the names of locations are centered, like when read on signs.
• Room transitions, dialogue boxes, and menus are slower in the 2019 version compared to the fan translation.
• Some scenes use smaller text boxes than the regular format used in the fan translation.
• The main menu has been adjusted in some instances.
  • The menu's layout in the lower-right of the screen labels sections with representative symbols instead of words.
  • Time of the day (Lumina or Shade) is now called Hour or Hr.
  • Characters' attributes are now given a new translation and abbreviated. For example, Agility is now called Dexterity or DEX in the game menu.

3D Remake (2020)

Game Mechanics

Major Changes

• Players can now set the difficulty level when starting a new game. This can be switched dynamically in the Settings menu after the player gains control of the Chosen.
• The Li'l Cactus quest grants various permanent bonuses upon finding it enough times throughout the world.
  • Rewards include showing the location of treasure chests in the mini-map, shop discounts, additional items at Beiser's Night Market (i.e. elemental icons, claws, and fangs) and many others.
• Abilities are another major new game mechanic that can grant multiple buffs to a single character or the whole party.
• Chain Abilities can be obtained through interacting with certain NPCs throughout the adventure, defeating certain bosses, and completing certain plot points.
• A fourth class tier has been made for each of the six characters, and can be obtained via defeating an extra boss for each of them in the post-game.
• New Game Plus allows the player to carry over levels, Lucre, seeds, equipment, items, abilities, and Li'l Cactus sightings from a previous playthrough.
  • As of patch 1.10, the player can choose to start from level 1, in addition to selecting the Expert and No Future difficulty modes.

Minor Changes

• 2-Player co-op is no longer available in this version.
• Characters Max HP and MP no longer hit a cap of 999 and 99 respectively.
• The currency is now called Lucre instead of GP in the 2019 version.
• The player has now the option to play out the introduction segment of their other two party member upon meeting them. Any XP and items gained will not carry over once the segment is over, however.
• Kevin's werewolf transformation is now instant.
• Kevin's class strikes had two variants in the classic version; a normal one and a single-target throw/grapple. The second variant is absent in the remake.
• The Nomad class for Hawkeye has been made a little more defensive in order to balance out the multiple nerfs added to his skills and spells.
• Most spells and class strikes now hit several times instead of just once.
• To account for characters' increased max HP, restorative items like Candies and Chocolates now restore more HP.
• Leveling up is now made easier in general thanks to increased experience from boss fights and regular monsters and New Game Plus.
  • Since leveling up has been made easier, enemy levels have been scaled up to reflect this reality.
• Class changing is typically made earlier in the game for both the second and third tiers. The first ??? seeds the player encounter in the game will always give them the six class change items that they need.
• In the classic version, the player had to put training points into Angela's intelligence attribute for her to learn new spells; this is no longer the case as the spell learning has been distributed between the five stats (Spirit for Light magic, Intelligence for Water and Dark, Strength for Fire, Luck for Wind, Stamina for Earth).
• Some class strikes work differently; for example, Angela's Boomerand Spiral (Grand Diviner) can deal area-of-effect damage, and Duran's Spin Slash (Gladiator) no longer makes him spin around and instead creates a tornado in front of him.
• Status aliments now have a chance of success instead of being guaranteed to be inflicted, given that the target must be susceptible to it. This makes skills like Needle Shower much less reliable.
• The new burn status condition has been added. While in effect this limits the player character's peripheral vision and doubles the damage they take.
• If a player character is inflicted with blind, poison, or silence, the status effect can now linger outside of battle.
• Defeated enemies no longer drop treasure chests, but now items, which are then automatically picked up by the party.
• Treasure chests and glowing yellow orbs are now abundant throughout the world.
• Weapon, armor, and accessory upgrades can be found in treasure chests in various dungeons instead of being bought like in the classic version.
• Enemies won't usually counter class strikes like in the classic version.
• The mimic enemy can no longer be spawned by the treasure roulette as this mechanic was dropped in the remake; instead they can be found in dungeons disguised as regular chests.
• Some enemies will now sport magical spheres with a honeycomb pattern surrounding them that act as additional armor and are meant to be broken with power attacks, charge attacks or class strikes.
• Any level of class strikes can be performed regardless of the actual amount of filled CS gauge bars. In the classic version, a character would always use its strongest class strike possible depending on the filled CS gauge bars.
• The CS gauge will now always be depleted upon triggering a class strike, regardless of hitting monsters or not. This wasn't the case in the classic version.
• The CS gauge doesn't deplete itself after combat if isn't used completely.
• Characters can now be interrupted by monsters during casting time.
• Cups of Wishes no longer restore MP like in the classic version. This reverts to how they operate in Secret of Mana.
• Leveling up now fully restores HP and MP of the corresponding character.
• Training points can now be used in the training menu instead of immediately upon leveling up.
• Training points can be stacked on an attribute more than once regardless of any previous pick.
• There are now five attributes (Strength, Stamina, Intelligence, Spirit, and Luck) instead of six.
• Character classes can now be reset to a lower class. This can be done in front of a Mana Stone by using a specific new item, the Goddess Scales.
• The Magic Pot can now be leveled up to ensure better yields upon planting seeds, and up to ten seeds can be planted in a row. Its max level is 5.
• Weapon/Armor seeds no longer exist but they have been replaced by three tiers of rare item-yielding seeds (Silver, Gold, and Rainbow item seeds).
• Item use is no longer instant and the user is now briefly vulnerable before and after using the item.
• The maximum number of different items that can be assigned to the ring menu is now twelve.
• The Minor Mallet can no longer be put on the ring menu.
• Springsteppers are now more common and can be used for traversing obstacles or reaching high places instead of showing an area of the world map.
• There are no longer areas in dungeons that trap the party until they defeat all the enemies. This mechanic was replaced by a feature that turns the field perimeter red when escape is not possible.
• Sleeping enemies will now spot and attack the party if you approach near them, making sneaking through them more difficult.
• Player characters can now jump. This mechanic is widely used in many parts of the game, notably in the Woods of Wandara.
  • In addition, characters can now perform aerial attacks to hit flying enemies.
• Various healing pots for replenishing HP, MP and CS and also containing items can now be found profusely everywhere. They can be identified by the corresponding colors: HP pots are green, MP pots are purple, CS pots are blue, and item pots are brown.
• Large bosses with multiple targets now take increased damage from AOE spells that hit multiple parts.
• Multiple targeting with spells like Fireball or Ice Smash are now tiered within the training system and are no longer considered the same spell.
• Benevodons and end-game bosses don't instantly use their strongest attacks anymore. Instead, they create additional targets on the field that must be destroyed before the spell finishes charging. If the party succeeds in doing so, the boss gets temporarily knocked out so that they can be further damaged. If the party fail to destroy all targets, they get hit by severe damage that most likely deplete all their HP or leave them in critical state.
• Trophies (bronze, silver, gold, and platinum) and Achievements can be obtained in the PlayStation 4, PC, and Xbox Series versions of the 3D remake.
• Numerous spells and skills have been rebalanced or removed in the 3D remake.
  • Instant death spells, like Annihilate and Undead Away, now simply do normal damage instead of dealing 999 damage points to bosses and higher leveled enemies. Additionally, those spells now have a chance to instantly kill the target if a lower level than the caster instead of being guaranteed.
  • The Wall spell now only reflects the next spell that hits the protected target instead of during a limited time.
  • Crystalline now only wards off a single attack instead of lasting for a while.
  • The Nature Aura spell now merely speeds up the rate at which the CS gauge fills rather than instantly maxing it out.
  • Multi-targeting with spells like Fireball or Ice Smash are now tiered within the training system and are no longer considered the same spell.
  • Angela can no longer multi-target her level 1 spells with her default class.
  • Spells that lower maximum HP like Lunatique and Moon Saber no longer work on bosses.
  • Impediment and Accelerate were removed in the game since the Dexterity attribute they affected no longer exist in the 3D version.
  • Stat buffs and debuffs no longer hang around until dealt with or by winning the battle; There is a time limit to all six spells.

Story

• Story progression is now streamlined to specific star markers that the player must interact with before moving forward.
• The player can be shown objectives during playtime, although this can be turned off.
• NPCs in Dior no longer run away from the party before talking with the Elfin Elder; They now respond in ellipses.
• All player characters can now fight the Black Rabite in their respective final story arc after defeating the Benevodon of Darkness.
• It is no longer necessary to activate specific Mana Spirits to advance the story; this is instead woven into cutscenes.
• They are now two segments of the game that make your party teleport to their destination instead of having to travel there manually; the first is when the bridge in Stonesplit Gap falls down, the party automatically get transported back to Maia. The second instance is after escaping Beuca Island, as Vuscav first deposits you on the beach near Maia, the party is teleported straight to Valsena.

Cosmetic Changes

• Characters no longer jump on Flammie upon summoning her. The only instance they do jump on her back is during the Wind Benevodon fight.
• There is no longer a secret music test menu accessible upon starting the game.
• The remake has full voiceworks instead of sound effects for some enemies.
• The opening is narrated.
• Dungeons and general maps layouts are more vast and expansive.
• Paths in dungeons are now more straightforward and less convoluted for the player to get lost.
• There are now environmental hazards in some dungeons, like poison pools and clouds, fire jets, lava, icy floors, and the like.
• Breast jiggle physics has been implemented with Angela and Riesz's models.
• Cannon travel scenes do not show the world map anymore and only show player characters flying out of the cannon.
• Dungeons and field maps are now contiguous, so each part of a location is now show in its entirety instead of segmented into tiny maps like in the classic version.
• Chirry's hair color (a minor child character that saves Angela in her introduction) sports purple hair like Angela instead of blond hair. This was likely made to imply their mother and child relationship more contrasting than Angela and the True Queen's.
• Some character animations have been adjusted since the 1995 original.
  • Angela's Love Typhoon class strike (Sorceress) now bows a kiss at enemies instead of showing her butt.
  • Additionally, every instance of Angela's teasing animation has been edited to a simple akanbe (あかんべえ) (eyelid and tongue pulling gesture).
  • Angela no longer sleeps in the nude.
  • Main characters no longer pull out their weapons when annoyed by NPCs like Von Boyage or Donperi and now tighten their fist toward the NPC in frustration.

Miscellaneous

• There are now twelve available save slots and also cloud save support.
• The game can now be played in five languages (English, German, Spanish, French, and Japanese) and can also switch voice acting between English and Japanese. In the PC version of the 3D remake, the player can also play in three additional languages (Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, and Korean).
• The player can switch between "Original" and "Remake" for the in-game music.

Mobile Conversion (2021)

• New Features: Auto Target which allows the player to target enemies; and Auto Camera: the camera can follow the player party.
• Rabite and Silktail adornments are available even without preordering digitally, and work to boost exp/Lucre until level 17.

Template:Version Differences