Who had the majestic return of the Mana series on their 2024 bingo card? I certainly didn’t. And yet, I’ve spent nearly eight hours with Visions of Mana, and I couldn’t be happier with its direction. Visions of Mana is Mana at its utmost, a game oozing with charm, vibrancy, and an underlying melancholy.
The early hours of Visions of Mana catalogue the journey of the Soul Guard, Val, and his ever-growing entourage of Alms. Alms journey to the Mana Tree to offer up their souls in exchange for prosperity for the world they live in. The Soul Guard, as the title implies, guards them along the way. Val’s girlfriend, Hinna, is chosen as the Alm of Fire, a seemingly horrible turn of events. However, the people of their world know no higher honour than to ensure its future. Val is ecstatically happy that Hinna is about to sacrifice her life, but that’s society for you. At least they get to see the world together beforehand.
It’s a nice change to have the male and female leads already have some form of established relationship. They hold hands, cuddle, and hug, and don’t blush and stammer when NPCs mention their relationship. Hinna herself isn’t a playable character, though she does help in battle with buffs and healing. However, she also serves as the game’s narrator, and in this way, I can’t help but feel that despite never playing as her, I know her best of the cast.
The party includes (but is likely not limited to) Careena, a one-winged dragon girl with a southern twang, Morley, a cat boy with a dark past, and Palamena, a chipmunk girl with a penchant for magic (and kicking monsters in the face). While none of the characters have surprised me, they are all lovable and deliver banter at a steady clip as you see the sights.
I can’t mention the world of Visions of Mana without highlighting its magical translation of classic Mana concept art into 3D environments. Everything is lush with detail; plants, animals, water features, and rock formations fill the landscape in a painterly style that perfectly evokes Secret of Mana artist Hirō Isono. The first adventure zone, the Charred Passage, is easily my favourite so far, as it feels like stepping into the Secret of Mana that lived in your head as a child. Screenshots and words cannot do justice to Visions of Mana’s art direction. The game needs to be played to be believed. There is a demo you can check out, but, unfortunately, the areas in it are some of the less impressive the game has to offer.
Visions of Mana takes many gameplay cues from the Trials of Mana remake, but it doesn’t just rest on its laurels. There is a lot of inspiration here from games like Xenoblade Chronicles in its large zones packed with collectibles and monsters — some too powerful for you to face when you first encounter them. It will definitely be a while before I can go back to those ruins crawling with level 50 monsters.
Combat is simple and explosive. You have normal attacks, special attacks, and can dash. Visions of Mana feels like a button masher at first, but as you unlock more options, greater depth starts to show. The party obtains Elemental Vessels during their travels, and each one unlocks new things to do in the world and, more importantly, classes.
Each character can have one elemental vessel equipped that determines their class. Each class has a delightfully named Elemental Plot, a linear skill tree from which you metaphorically grow the seeds of new abilities. At first, these Plots can seem restrictive as they don’t have the branches you may expect from a skill tree. However, any active abilities learned in a class can be used by that character no matter their class. I only just unlocked a third elemental vessel near the end of the preview window, so I am curious to see what kind of builds I can accomplish with all eight. Even with just three Vessels, I can already give Careena both a spell that buffs attack and one that debuffs defense, a rather devastating combination.
Elemental Vessels also grant an extra ability to their owner; for example, the water vessel unleashes a blast of water that traps enemies in bubbles. There are opportunities to put your best builds to the test as well. Powerful named enemies with unique movesets roam the countryside, and elemental trials against waves of enemies await.
I will note that the game doesn’t run perfectly on PS5 in quality mode. I have seen occasional hitches, not to mention some jankiness in how the characters move about the landscape or target enemies in battle. Performance mode does seem smoother, but I have seen more graphical artifacts when using it. I think this is all smoothed over by the game’s ambition and depth of style, but these issues can be a deal breaker for some.
I’ve dashed, double-jumped, and rode Pikul back from the volcano-side village, Tianeea, to the capital city, Illystana. I’ve met charming characters, faced familiar foes, experimented with elemental classes, got lost in breathtaking vistas, and hummed some truly cozy tunes. Eight hours with Visions of Mana passed in the blink of an eye, and all I want is to dive back in.
We’ve had lots of coverage for Visions of Mana, so if you want to see more, check out Mike’s impressions when he went hands on in March, or our two interviews with producer, Masaru Oyamada, conducted by Scott, Mike, and Hilary.
Visions of Mana releases on August 29th, 2024, for PlayStation 4 and 5, Xbox One and Series X|S, and PC via Windows and Steam.
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