"Secrets of Mana" originally released in 1993 for the Super NES. More than two decades have passed since the release, but the game is coming back with a remake on Feb. 15, 2018.
An announcement trailer for the "Secrets of Mana" remake was uploaded to PlayStation's YouTube channel on Aug. 25, 2017, and it revealed that the game would be coming to both the PlayStation 4 and PlayStation Vita. The remake will be sure to give old fans a trip down nostalgia lane while inviting in new, younger fans-to-be who know nothing about the original roleplaying game.
The trailer begins with an introduction the game's world.
"Mana. Armies fought for its limitless power, Gods called upon the great mana beasts to join in the fight, leaving the world engulfed in despair. When calamity strikes, a hero wielding the Mana Sword shall lead the world toward peace once again." Following the introduction, the trailer introduces people to the young hero Randi. After stumbling into a lake, Randi finds the Mana Sword embedded in a stone. Curious, he approaches it and pulls it out of the rock's surface. The simple act of freeing the blade kick-starts both Randi's and the player's journey through the world of "Secrets of Mana."
An eleven-minute video of "Secrets of Mana's" gameplay is available on IGN's YouTube channel. The video depicts the initial event where Randi chances upon the Mana Sword, and aside from that, it also gives excited fans a glimpse of the game's upgraded PS4 graphics. The original "Secrets of Mana" used pixel sprites for both the characters and the environment, but the remake drops the old graphics from the SNES era and replaces it with a cartoony rendition of the characters and places.
The art direction and character designs can be seen clearly in the gameplay video, alongside a glimpse of what the fighting mechanics are like and what the overworld map will look like.
Whether or not the remake will live up to the hype will remain a question until the game's release.
