Ultimate Chicken Horse follows on July 3rd, while Neon Giant’s The Ascent returns to the service on July 8th for all three tiers and Minami Lane debuts on July 9th. On July 11th, Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3 + 4 will be available for cloud, console and PC on PC Game Pass/Ultimate. It will also be available for PS4, PS5, and Nintendo Switch for $49.99 (with its Switch 2 price yet to be confirmed).

High on Life rounds out the first wave, also making its return for all three tiers and platforms on July 15th. Several titles will be leaving the service on the same day, but subscribers can purchase them for 20 percent off.

• Flock (Cloud, Console, and PC)
• Mafia Definitive Edition (Cloud, Console, and PC)
• Magical Delicacy (Cloud, Console, and PC)
• Tchia (Cloud, Console, and PC)
• The Callisto Protocol (Cloud, Console, and PC)
• The Case of the Golden Idol (Cloud, Console, and PC)

The remake of Trials of Mana and the remaster of Legend of Mana have both launched for Xbox Series X/S. The former released for Switch, PS4, and PC in 2020, while the latter arrived for the same platforms the following year, in 2021. 

Both classic action RPGs have not only launched for Xbox Series X/S, they are now also available on PC via the Microsoft Store, while both have also been added to the Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass libraries. Check out their Xbox announcement trailers below. 

Trials of Mana and Legend of Mana are both also available on iOS and Android. The franchise also saw the release of a new mainline entry last month for Xbox Series X/S, PS5, PS4, and PC in the form of Visions of Mana.

For starters, if you were hoping that Final Fantasy 9 Remake would change the original game’s combat to the extent that, say, Final Fantasy 7 Remake did, you might be disappointed, with Midori alleging that it is going to be a turn-based game similar to the original.

Meanwhile, the leaker also claims that though the Final Fantasy 9 Remake is a little bit more ambitious than 2020’s Trials of Mana remake in terms of its scope as a project, it’s going to be roughly in the same ballpark nonetheless, having been “similar in style to Trials of mana in many different ways for a period of time,” as per the leaker. Either way, it’s not going to be as ambitious as something like Final Fantasy 7 Remake, while the leaker also says that it’s not going to be an HD-2D game.

Midori has additionally also claimed that Final Fantasy 9 Remake is “very far along” in development and is planned as a multiplatform game. Read more on that through here.

The gameplay is turn-based.

— みどり (@MbKKssTBhz5) June 4, 2024

It was similar in style to Trials of Mana in many different ways for a period of time.

It is a remake that is a little higher than a Mana remake. It is not HD-2D style but it’s also not FF7R style.

— みどり (@MbKKssTBhz5) June 4, 2024

Across 17 titles in over 30 years, the Mana series has sold over nine million units (which includes digital downloads) worldwide. The last major release was 2020’s Trials of Mana, a remake of the Super Famicom classic, which sold over one million copies as of February 2021.

Visions of Mana will launch for Xbox Series X/S, PS4, PS5 and PC and promises the “highest volume of content” in the series, per producer Masaru Oyamada (though the overall playtime can change depending on the player’s pace). Though a release date is still pending, the team is currently in the “middle of optimizing the final game.” Stay tuned for more updates in the coming months.

In addition to that, as was leaked earlier this week, Ubisoft’s open world tactical shooter Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Wildlands also joins the service’s catalog on the same day. Subscribers can also expect multiplayer horror title Dead by Daylight, adventure title Bugsnax, and post-apocalyptic first person shooter Metro Exodus. Trials of Mana, UNO, Monopoly Madness, and Monopoly Plus are also included in the lineup.

Unfortunately, it doesn’t look like Sony is adding any legacy titles to the PlayStation Plus Premium tier library this month. As for the Essential tier, it added a solid lineup of games earlier this month as well. Read more on that through here.

Square Enix and developer Xeen launched a remake of the classic action RPG Trials of Mana in April last year, and though it might not have grabbed headlines the way another remake that launched in the same month did, it grabbed the attention of plenty of players nonetheless. A few months after its launch, in fact, Square Enix said that its sales had surpassed expectations, and now, it has hit another major landmark.

Taking to Twitter via the official Trials series page, the publisher confirmed that worldwide shipments and digital sales for Trials of Mana have surpassed a total of 1 million units. Considering the fact that the game has hit the figure in less than a year, that’s a pretty impressive feat for the action RPG. Hopefully it’ll lead to a brighter future for the series- perhaps even an entirely new instalment.

Trials of Mana is currently available for the PS4, Nintendo Switch, and PC.

https://twitter.com/Seiken_PR/status/1360091890863931393

Earlier this year, we got a revival of Trials of Mana via an HD remake that saw the title redone in a new style very similar and familiar to the original game. The franchise has been one of Square Enix’s many dominant Japanese RPG series. With this and a recent collection, it seems to be making a comeback. The publisher seems impressed with the numbers so far as well.

During an investor Q&A with Yosuke Matsuda, President of Square Enix, he confirmed that the game had not only sold well, but had “signficiantly” exceeded the company’s expectations. Unfortunately, no numbers were given to show what those expectations were, but it seems the company is pleased. Matsuda also mentioned it looked to be part of a trend of their digital catalog titles experiencing growth, meaning that we can hopefully see more titles like this in the future.

Trials of Mana is available now on PlayStation 4, Switch, and PC.

Famitsu’s weekly hardware and software charts for Japan are in, and come with a few surprises, and a few things that are the opposite of surprises. For instance, Animal Crossing: New Horizons still holding on to the top spot with a healthy lead is not surprise at all. Its sales numbers are pretty much at the same level they were last week, and the Switch exclusive maintains a healthy lead over the game trailing it.

That game is debutant Trials of Mana. The remake occupies both, second and third places in the top 10, with the PS4 version selling over 80,000 copies, and the Switch version selling over 70,000. This, of course, means that Square Enix’s fellow recently released RPG remake Final Fantasy 7 Remake has been pushed down to No. 4, though with over 65,000 copies sold, it’s figures are steady. Meanwhile, two more debutants in the top 10 are The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Zero at No. 7 with nearly 11,000 units sold, and Predator: Hunting Grounds at tenth place, selling over 9,000 copies.

On the hardware front, the Switch has seen a massive boost in sales, presumably because of restocking. With over 107,000 units sold across the week, it becomes the top-selling console of the week once more. The PS4 sales are steady though, with over 33,000 units moved.

You can check out the full software and hardware charts from Japan for the week ending April 26 below.

Software sales (followed by lifetime sales):

01. [NSW] Animal Crossing: New Horizons – 283.913 / 3.895.159
02. [PS4] Trials of Mana – 80.383 / NEW
03. [NSW] Trials of Mana – 70.114 / NEW
04. [PS4] Final Fantasy 7 Remake – 65.569 / 839.074
05. [NSW] Mario Kart 8 Deluxe – 15.264 / 2.897.849
06. [NSW] Ring Fit Adventure – 12.351 / 778.943
07. [PS4] The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Zero – Kai – 10.979 / NEW
08. [NSW] Super Smash Bros. Ultimate – 9.636 / 3.665.504
09. [NSW] Super Mario Party – 9.377 / 1.416.280
10. [PS4] Predator: Hunting Grounds – 9.172 / NEW

Hardware sales (followed by last week’s sales):

Nintendo Switch – 107,104 (27,874)
PS4 – 33,056 (34,500)
3DS – 1,784 (1,571)
Xbox One – 242 (53)

[Via ResetEra]

Square Enix’s other remake of a beloved RPG classic, Trials of Mana, is out this week. Ahead of launch, the company has outlined the game’s 1.01 update which will release on the same day. It’s worth noting that the PC version doesn’t have the update included and must download it separately at launch.

The update allows for choosing from one of three Dash options. Normal simply has you pressing the button to enable dashing – it can be disabled by stopping, entering a battle or just pressing it again. Continuous has you dashing until the button is pressed – even entering and leaving battles or stopping won’t disable.

Automatic has you dashing after a second of regular movement and is constantly enabled. Other than these options, the update will feature “minor bug fixes”. Expect more detailed patch notes when the game launches. Trials of Mana is out on April 24th for PS4, PC and Nintendo Switch.

Nintendo Switch™／PlayStation®4／Windows®
『聖剣伝説3 トライアルズ オブ マナ』では、発売日である4/24（金）にアップデートを予定しております。
詳細は、スクウェア・エニックス　サポートセンターhttps://t.co/Q9f4ixF6kO
にてご確認くださいますよう、お願い申し上げます。#聖剣3ToM pic.twitter.com/qTdLIONutF

— 聖剣伝説 -公式- (@Seiken_PR) April 21, 2020

Though the PC version isn’t live yet, Square Enix’s free demo for Trials of Mana is currently available for PS4 and Nintendo Switch. The demo allows for selecting one’s party from the six characters available and experiencing early story content before contending with the Fullmetal Hugger boss. Choosing different characters will affect the story in different ways, encouraging replayability.

More importantly, the demo offers a chance to check out the revamped graphics and combat system on offer. If the experience is worthwhile enough, then you can carry over save data into the full game when it launches. For extensive gameplay footage, head here.

Trials of Mana serves as a remake of Seiken Densetsu 3, which originally launched for the Super Famicom in Japan back in 1995. The original version has since made its way to Nintendo Switch as part the Collection of Mana. The remake is out on April 24th for PS4, Nintendo Switch and PC.