Visions of Mana: Hands-On Preview (PS5) – Where Square Enix have been laser-focused on growing and expanding their evergreen franchises, it’s heartening to see that their legacy is being respected with the upcoming release of Visions of Mana.
Standing as the first totally original outing in over 15 years, Visions of Mana aims to bring this beloved series back into the spotlight for a new generation and I’ve been lucky enough to take an early look at this latest offering from Square Enix and to be able to share my thoughts on this anticipated title.
The opening hours of Visions of Mana grab you by the arm and waste no time in getting you acquainted with the world and the characters that you’ll be travelling with on the way to the Mana Tree, and I’m impressed by this strong start.
The Mana series is an underappreciated pillar of Square Enix’s pantheon of titles and this new entry is aware of that heritage and looks to be taking the series to a new height indeed.
Visions of Mana Hands-On Preview (PS5) – A Strong Vision Indeed
The Start of a Long Journey
Visions of Mana puts you in the shoes of Val, a Soul Guard on a quest to safely escort a convoy of Alms to the Mana Tree of fame from previous entries. There’s no time wasted on long-winded introductions, the central premise of the game is laid bare for you to see as you begin your long journey. The opening chapter of the game is far more interested in getting you moving and enjoying the relationships between the main party.
Val is what you would expect out of an RPG protagonist, an optimistic young guy who does everything in his power to keep spirits high and the party moving forward. There’s a certain charm to an earnestly happy protagonist like Val and the opening does a good job of establishing him as a hopeful yet approachable character that doesn’t swing into overly peppy.
His interactions with other party members echo this, I found myself quickly enjoying the dynamic between himself and the Alm of Fire, Hinna, as they set out on their quest to the Mana Tree. Even in the short time I’ve spent with this pair, I find myself buying into a genuine bond that has existed for a long time, even if I’ve yet to learn quite everything about their history.
The same is largely true of the other party members that I’ve been introduced to; Morley is a wonderfully stoic and soft-spoken calming presence in the party, whereas Careena is a loud and boisterous first impression, with – what I’m hoping to be – a heart of gold.
With some of the threads that are beginning to take form, I’m excited to see the way that relationships shift and change over the course of the game as a whole, with this beginning being a strong first step in a new direction.
A story about a long journey is often made by the dynamic of the group and so I hope to be impressed moving forward – there’s a strong start here!
A Beautiful New Frontier
The Mana series has always been known for having some of the most incredible character art in the RPG space. A distinctive style ties most of the franchise together into a uniquely whimsical and approachable adventure that feels at home being compared to the legendary Studio Ghibli.
Where previous entries invested in art to bridge the gap for the visual limitations of the time, Visions of Mana manages to bring this artwork into focus to deliver a simply gorgeous-looking game.
There’s a clear attempt to translate the distinctive art style into the third dimension here and it feels more than convincing. I found myself basking in the areas that I was exploring. Visions of Mana manages to take the standard fantasy trappings and transform them into something refreshingly distinct. I found comfort in the world of Visions of Mana, just as much as I found a real sense of adventure.
Even in the opening hours of the game, I found myself trekking across sunset-bathed fields, windy valleys and snowy peaks all presented with the unique flair of the series. Just as with everything else, this feels like the true realisation of what a next-generation Mana game could be – all brought together by classic enemies from the series’ past.
And I couldn’t help but grin when I came across a bee armed with a spear called a Beelancer.
Taking Root
As mentioned above, this title is the first original entry in Square Enix’s Mana series in over 15 years and has quite the legacy to live up to. Secrets of Mana is heralded as one of the trailblazers for the action-RPG genre on the SNES in 1993, and Trials of Mana was lucky enough to receive an official localisation in 2021.
In more ways than one, Visions of Mana feels like the realisation of what Secret of Mana and Trials of Mana were trying to do back in their generation, highlighted by the remakes that both games received. The action-combat core of the Mana series is alive and well here, with the opening chapter very quickly opening up options and archetypes to experiment with.
Each playable character offers a unique approach to combat, and further customisation can be explored through the use of particular accessories and equipment pieces to help you build into particular archetypes of character. Where Val is a melee-focused swordfighter, another character may prefer to fight from a distance as a glass cannon. Discovering these strengths and weaknesses has been enjoyable and the breezy difficulty of the game has been great in letting me experiment.
In between basic light attacks and heavier attacks, there are abilities that can be assigned to characters through class upgrades and ability seeds. Where I’ve yet to feel the necessity to invest heavily in fine-tuning my builds, these abilities are a welcome addition that put a nice bit of control in my hands as to how I wanted to go about combat! In the same measure, it feels like the AI controlled party members generally keep pace with you and contribute a good amount to combat outside of your control.
AI party members are an entire can of worms when considering action combat systems and – so far – it feels like your companions definitely keep up with you and don’t become bigger nuisances than they’re worth, which is always a bonus. I’ll be interested to see how combat evolves and changes over time, with inevitably higher stakes beyond these opening areas.
I expect my options to grow beyond this strong foundation, with an abundance of classes being tantalisingly locked behind items I’ve yet to come across.
New World
Visions of Mana also grows on the world exploration from previous entries in the series, with an emphasis on platforming and roaming around semi-open areas to discover sidequests and items strewn about the place in treasure chests.
Marked with blue dots on the mini-map, I found myself running from dot to dot and uncovering boxes of coins, chocolate and other collectables to sink my teeth into. I was pleasantly surprised with just how intuitive exploration was at the beginning and I look forward to returning to areas later with some stronger equipment and new items.
But despite how strong the pace has been so far, I get the sense that I’m yet to quite see the whole of what Visions of Mana has to offer. Where a preview isn’t the place for mindless speculation about where the game is going to go, I’m intrigued to see how exactly this game sets out to capitalise on the legacy of the Mana series. There is an undeniable pedigree to the overall series as a pioneer in the action RPG genre, and I hope to see this game try to reach those heights.
With some of the ideas that have already been put on the table, I could easily see Visions of Mana developing into an RPG to keep an eye on, with some big questions to answer!
So far, the game has made a strong first impression and I am more than excited to resume the long journey to the Mana Tree and to see where the road may take me next.
Visions of Mana is available on PS5 and PS4 on August 29, 2024.
Preview code generously provided by publisher.