Visions of Mana is the first non-remake entry in the Mana franchise since Heroes of Mana in 2007, and thus it shoulders the responsibility of the myriad games that came before it, and the series' ensuing period of slumber. Mana fans can rest easy knowing that the IP has been faithfully modernized with this new release, and those unfamiliar with the games may find that Visions holds its own against other August releases.
The Mana series has always stood out against its JRPG contemporaries, and Visions of Mana is no exception. Everything from its art design and music to its narrative suggests a far more quaint, almost fairy tale-esque experience, starkly contrasting the often edgy or dark stories in IP like Final Fantasy. This more restrained and simple approach to both storytelling and gameplay may divide JRPG fans, as Visions of Mana sometimes struggles to find the perfect balance between wholesome and bland, especially in its opening hours.
But Visions of Mana is more than its narrative: it has a strong combat framework for players to dig into, though even this aspect isn't revolutionary. For the most part, the gameplay resembles that of the well-received Visions of Mana remake in 2019, centering on real-time combat that feels like a solid evolution of the series' SNES roots, for better or worse. Simply put, Visions of Mana is a Mana game, through and through, and it's this fact, coupled with a few miscellaneous quirks here and there, that will determine whether a player connects with it or not.
Visions of Mana Is a Fitting Return for the Franchise
Visions of Mana follows Val, a 17-year-old boy endowed with the title of Soul Guard. Soul Guards are tasked with ushering Alms chosen by elemental spirits to the Tree of Mana, where they will ultimately sacrifice themselves to keep calamity from befalling their respective homelands. While this sort of compulsory human sacrifice will probably seem horrific to most players, the characters of Visions' world don't view it as such: being an Alm is a sacred and prestigious duty, and many of the game's characters are actually excited by the prospect of laying down their lives for their compatriots.
It's this contradiction between Visions of Mana's cheerful tone and its undercurrent of darkness that makes the story intriguing. There's a constant sense of longing hiding beneath the surface of the game's saccharine presentation, with Alms and their loved ones casually speaking about plans for the future - plans that they know they will never have the chance to realize. Naturally, the plot thickens as time goes on, with events from previous Mana games being incorporated in unexpected, satisfying ways.
The concept behind Visions of Mana's narrative is unique, but its execution is lacking. For one thing, it's an incredibly slow burn, with there being virtually no stakes for the first several hours; there's no real 'hook' to the narrative, in other words. The Mana franchise is known for being somewhat quaint in nature, but Visions of Mana borders on boring at times.
This speaks to a broader issue of pacing. As previously mentioned, the story gets off to an extremely slow start, but rather than mounting its tension over time, it is sprinkled with occasional twists which, while often satisfying on their own, are followed by the story once again grinding to a halt. There's a real lack of momentum to the plot that can be disappointing, especially when the story shows glimpses of greatness.
Still, Visions of Mana's slow pace can make it a pleasant experience and a breath of fresh air for anyone burnt out on epic, high-stakes thrill rides. It helps that the game features a compelling and charming cast of characters, all of whom help flesh out Visions of Mana's gameplay as much as its narrative.
Visions of Mana's World Is a Mixed Bag
Like its story, Visions of Mana's gameplay is somewhat conservative when compared to other AAA RPGs. It's the most expansive game in the Mana series, though it is still linear for the most part. A good way to think about its map is as a dramatically pared-down version of Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth's, where the world is broken up into several large, open-ended biomes, with controlled backtracking locked behind story beats.
Special credit has to be paid to Visions of Mana's environment design. Although its various zones are far from complex or inventive from an exploration or traversal standpoint, they are gorgeously realized. Each area has a distinct visual identity, and clever use of lighting and particle effects make for striking landscapes that are always a pleasure to immerse yourself in. Indeed, Visions of Mana is regularly stunning.
While the game's individual biomes are aesthetically spectacular, the same cannot be said for the gameplay opportunities they provide. The Mana franchise isn't known for its side content, but Visions of Mana makes an attempt to expand the series' formula with a greater number of side quests. In some ways, it perhaps would have been better if the game didn't feature such distractions at all.
Side content in Visions of Mana feels like an afterthought. Nearly all the side quests are some variation of a fetch quest, or they simply have a "go here, defeat this enemy" structure. Proper quest chains are few and far between, and the narrative premises for all of them are so mundane and inconsequential that they are easily forgotten. Rather than fleshing out the game's world with colorful characters or interesting lore, side quests are closed circuits, tasking the player with retrieving some unimportant resource in exchange for resources that are never in short supply otherwise. Put simply, there's no real reason to engage with Visions of Mana's side content, and completionists are likely to find these offerings trite and repetitive.
The game has a few miscellaneous oddities that should be pointed out as well. Small quirks like being unable to double-jump in towns, or how walking will inconsistently cancel special actions in combat, can be frustrating and confusing. Even smaller warts, like being barred from pausing the game and interacting with objects for several seconds after combat encounters, or the prevalence of invisible walls in open-world zones, pile up to make Visions of Mana feel somewhat unpolished at times. These shortcomings are far from deal-breakers, but some players may have a lower tolerance for them than others.
Visions of Mana Takes Off with Its Combat
It can take a while to get going, but once Visions of Mana's mechanics start to get fleshed out, combat can be a great time. Those who played the Visions of Mana demo often remark on how sluggish its combat feels, and while this holds true in the final product, it's not too hard to get used to the slower pace. Combat is less about lightning-fast reaction times and more about clever use of abilities and, perhaps most crucially, build-crafting.
Visions of Mana's class system manages to do something incredible: present JRPG veterans with a truly unique progression model. Instead of choosing a single archetype at the start of the game, each playable character has access to a grand total of nine different classes, unlocked throughout the story as the player collects Elemental Vessels, which each grant access to new classes adhering to the following elements:
- Wind
- Water
- Fire
- Earth
- Moon
- Wood
- Light
- Dark
While each of these elements, alongside each character's starting form, is technically tied to individual classes, the variation between them isn't extremely noticeable most of the time. All characters have three different playstyles/weapon types, which are each connected to three of the elemental classes and offer the most significant mechanical distinction. From there, each class has its own progression tree, with the equipped class simply changing what stats and perks the player has access to.
Like with many things in Visions of Mana, it sometimes feels like this class system doesn't reach its full potential. It offers some room for player expression, but the changes in stats and perks are too small and simple to encourage experimenting with different elemental combinations or party compositions. Perhaps fewer elemental classes, with more variety between them, would have made for a more exciting gear and upgrade pipeline. That said, this approach to classes isn't bad by any means, and it's nothing if not original.
Visions of Mana isn't perfect, nor will it revolutionize the JRPG genre with its approach to combat or storytelling. But for the right player, these issues won't matter, because Visions of Mana has an undeniable charm and allure to it. Its breathtaking visuals, satisfying combat, and likable characters combine for a comforting, stock-standard JRPG, and if you're in the market for that, then Visions of Mana is an easy buy.
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OpenCritic Reviews
- Top Critic Avg: 77 /100 Critics Rec: 71%
- Released
- August 29, 2024
- ESRB
- T For Teen Due To Fantasy Violence, Mild Suggestive Themes
- Developer(s)
- Ouka Studios, Square Enix
- Publisher(s)
- Square Enix
- Engine
- Unreal Engine 4
- Franchise
- Mana Series
WHERE TO PLAY
- Platform(s)
- PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S
- Genre(s)
- Action RPG
- Gorgeous visuals
- Strong combat
- A unique class system
- Intriguing world-building
- Narrative pacing issues
- Weak side content
- A slight lack of polish
- Simple gameplay
Visions of Mana releases on August 29, 2024 for PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, and PC. The Best War Games was given a PC code for the purposes of this review.