The Legend of Mana of 2021 is as close to the original version as you could hope for while still bringing this classic original PlayStation JRPG into the modern era. The sprite work is timeless, and the newly redrawn widescreen backgrounds are just perfect. Legend of Mana is a game I just want to look at and absorb into my eyes as much as I want to play it… maybe even moreso, because while combat holds up, the old-school structure of its story makes it a little tougher to recommend unless you’re going to play with a walkthrough guide open on your phone the whole time. I enjoyed my time with Legend of Mana, don’t get me wrong, but wandering through its world from one unconnected quest to the next makes reaching the end feel like a very long guessing game – and there’s little or nothing that can be done to remedy that without fundamentally altering the DNA of Legend of Mana.
Legend of Mana reviewed on Nintendo Switch by Seth Macy. Also available on PlayStation.