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After the announcement at the 2023 Game Awards Show, Square Enix is ready to show us more of Visions of Mana. This is the first mainline Mana game since Dawn of Mana released in 2006. With almost 20 years between installments, Visions of Mana has a lot to live up to.
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With a few months between announcements, Visions of Mana has even more to show its fans. New gameplay reveals how the franchise has been updated for a modern audience, especially in the wake of competing fantasy games like Genshin Impact and Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom.
The Story & Characters
This new story follows four main characters: Val, Hinna, Careena, and Morley. Though we have limited story information, we do know where our journey begins. Every four years, alms are chosen to travel to the Tee of Mana to rejuvenate its power. Val acts as a soul guard, ensuring the alm’s safe pilgrimage to the Tree. When his childhood friend, Hinna, is chosen as an alm, Val joins her on a journey across their world.
The World
Visions boasts a colorful, bright world that encourages you to explore. You can avoid enemies or walk right into them. You can jump (and double jump) and find every piece of treasure marked on your minimap. You can fight everything in your way and get sidetracked with side quests, or you can move forward and progress the story.
Overall, you can adapt your experience to your preferences. This game can be as intense or as calming as you want it to be. And, for those with choice paralysis, there will always be a direction to go.
Gameplay & Combat
Like the past mainline titles, Visions is an action/adventure RPG with a linear story. You can jump, double jump, dodge, sprint, and perform combat combos. Each character has a unique combat style. For example, Morley has a high attack speed, making him the easiest option for button-mashers. Val has a normal attack speed (for any veteran RPG players) with combos that require a bit more attention and timing.
Despite this, all characters are easy to use thanks to their highly responsive controls. Though there is a learning curve for any new RPG players, it’s more of a gentle slope than an intimidating incline. There’s enough of a challenge to keep combat interesting, but it will never make you rage quit. The open world setting will familiarize you with what your characters can do, how they feel, and what abilities their Elemental Vessels will give them.
Elemental Vessels
Elementals return to the Mana series in the form of Elemental Vessels. Applicable both in and out of combat, Vessels add another layer to your world exploration and fighting style. Each character can be equipped with an Elemental Vessel, which grants them different attacks and abilities.
However, these abilities extend outside the battlefield. Frequently, you will use Elementals to interact with the world around you. Like most RPGs, not everything is readily available to you at the beginning of the game, urging you to explore that area later instead of ignoring it.
Overall, Visions of Mana presents itself as a fun, colorful journey through a world filled with magic. Though you have a set goal and plenty of enemies, nothing about the game makes you feel desperate or hopeless. Some fans may prefer the darker, edgier installments, but Visions is not that. Visions is the closest an action RPG can get to cozy, and that’s all it needs to be.
Visions of Mana is slated for release in Summer 2024. The game will be available on PlayStation, Xbox, and PC.
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