15 years after a long series of remasters, remakes and collections, Square Enix finally dares to create a fully-fledged new main title for the Mana series. The announcement of Visions of Mana last December was certainly surprising. The colorful action RPG will be released this summer under the supervision of producers Masaru Oyamada. We went to Hamburg to finally play Visions of Mana ourselves. In around 90 minutes we took a close look at the combat system and the high fantasy world with its little puzzles. The opportunity to ask the producer some questions about the development and history of Visions of Mana also came in handy.
Mana began in 1993 as a spin-off of Final Fantasy under the name “Mythic Quest Legends”, better known to us as Final Fantasy Legend. So the roots of the Mana games are clear. A total of 17 games followed, all with particularly cute fantasy worlds and creatures. Mana Creator Koichi Ishii is also responsible for the design of the monsters in the new game.
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Producer Oyamada tells us that Ishii's monsters naturally appear in every game. “After we have placed the common monsters, we look at the history or other special features of the current title and add new enemies and allies.” This is probably how the cute mount will be too Pikuli which we were also able to try out.
Visions of Mana – Preview
We can't reveal too much about the story yet, because our demo version mainly focused on the combat system. However, even in the latest game, the journey to the mana tree remains the motivation to experience a wide variety of adventures. Hina and Val serve as the chosen ones who make a pilgrimage to the big tree to fill it with magic. In our game version we meet Careena from the dragon people and the cat person Morley.
So how does Visions of Mana play? You can of course see most of the answers in the video above, but overall I quickly felt a sense of pleasant nostalgia. This is helped by the semi-open areas, which are filled with cute enemies, brightly colored collectibles, cute NPCs that offer side quests and hidden treasures. As you jump through small mountains while solving puzzles to unlock the many treasures, the music emphasizes this feeling of “retro”. If you look closely, you will discover small Easter eggs in the form of well-known characters from the series, which are suitable for Easter.
The combat system, which not only focuses on solid sword strikes or magic attacks, but also makes full use of vertical space, is already a small highlight. At the push of a button you switch between three characters that control themselves very differently. The fights are not particularly complex, but at the same time they are not too easy either. Especially with bosses, you are asked whether you are familiar with fighting in the air and whether you manage to reach your opponents' weak points. But the overview doesn't always work well. Nevertheless, playing it aroused a strong urge to explore more enemies, areas, acquaintances, nostalgic puzzles and different combat systems, which will hopefully be waiting for the full version.
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Visions of Mana appears in Summer 2024 for PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X|S and PC. According to the producers, it will be released at the same time in Xbox Game Pass not planned.