Undoubtedly, the Trials of Mana remake is and was overshadowed by Final Fantasy VII Remake. While the fanbase is smaller, it’s really interesting to see Square Enix taking this new initiative in the west. They are bringing series that are considered monumental staples in the RPG genre over to western fans who, in many cases, haven’t had a chance to go hands-on with them for years. First, it was with the western release various Dragon Quest titles, and now it appears to be the Mana series.
Trials of Mana is an outlier when compared to Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest as it’s the only one that relied on action RPG mechanics whereas the other games were turn-based. Masaru Oyamada, a producer on the game told DualShockers that “Secret of Mana was very popular, the original version, even before the remake. We knew that many fans wanted a new title and for Seiken Densetsu 3, as it was called originally, to come west. We wanted to challenge ourselves with providing the original version of Trials of Mana and the new version as well. We embarked on a new direction compared to Secret of Mana.”
EA has announced it will engage in a shareholder-pleasing share buyback program just a couple of months after mass layoffs at the studio.
For Xbox’s hugely expanded gaming division, anything that isn’t Call of Duty is now a failure, and that’s a problem
Honestly, If I worked presently for Microsoft's gaming division, I would update my CV and look for work elsewhere...
"Now"?
How about "ever"?
They closed so many of their dev teams during the second half of the Xbox 360 era. Have we forgotten history so quickly?
Dummy fake journalists acting so surprised over these recent closures, when this is something that's been going on for well over a decade now with MS.
"The sudden closure of several video-game studios at Microsoft Corp.’s Xbox division was the result of a widespread cost-cutting initiative that still isn’t finished.
This week, Xbox began offering voluntary severance agreements to producers, quality assurance testers and other staff at ZeniMax, which it purchased in 2020 for $7.5 billion, according to people familiar with the company’s plans. Others across the Xbox organization have been told that more cuts are on the way.
Speaking about the closures more broadly, Booty said that the company’s studios had been spread too thin — like “peanut butter on bread” — and that leaders across the division had felt understaffed. They decided to close these studios to free up resources elsewhere, he said.
Game Pass has not seen the massive growth that Xbox boss Phil Spencer may have been hoping for."
"Speaking about the closures more broadly, Booty said that the company’s studios had been spread too thin — like “peanut butter on bread” — and that leaders across the division had felt understaffed. They decided to close these studios to free up resources elsewhere, he said"
So what you're saying is...you bought all these studios and you guys can't run them.
Jesus.
Reports are suggesting that Game Pass will be getting a price hike soon and that Call of Duty may not be added to the day one offering. I honestly have a hard time believing this but it does beg the question why exactly did GP fail? I think the answer is that it just didn't get the growth that it anticipated. Jim was right but I wish he wasn't because at the end of the day, its gamers, devs and other front-line workers who have to absorb the blow for Spencer and team's miscalculations.
For all the armchair executives who were calling for Sony to release its big-budget AAA games on PS+, the same exact thing would have happened at PlayStation. Game Pass has killed Xbox. Congrats.
Unlike the remake they did of the original SNES game this had game some tlc put into it.
I'm glad to see Square showing the Mana series some love. I hope we the same for the Saga series. It would be amazing to see a Saga title built from the ground up on current or next gen consoles.
Haven’t seen a Mana game with this high a production since 2007’s Dawn of Mana