The Mana games have been experiencing a resurgence in popularity. While this was met with some setbacks, like the remake of Secret of Mana, the Collection of Mana and the Trials of Mana remake did much to renew interest.
Trials of Mana was a solid action RPG that successfully reimagined the beleaguered title in the third dimension. It wasn’t perfect; gamers could tell it was a low-budget game, but it still managed to win players over thanks to the foundation established in the 16-bit original.
Visions of Mana marks the first sequel in the franchise since the 2006 entry, Dawn of Mana. Thankfully, this fifth entry takes cues from the 2020 Trials of Mana remake.
Does Visions of Mana capture what made Trials of Mana so enjoyable? I explored the expansive demo to get a taste of what gamers can expect when the final game launches on August 29, 2024.
The Visions of Mana demo begins in media res, with much of the party already having joined and their adventure well underway. The dialogue is surprisingly snappy and efficient. Within the first few minutes, the premise is established, and we clearly understand who these characters are and their goals without any clumsy exposition.
The story seems to take cues from Final Fantasy X; the party is on a pilgrimage to protect Hinna, a girl destined to heal the mana tree. Val and the group act as her bodyguards and share palpable chemistry. In the short time of the demo, these characters felt well-developed. Val comes off as a cartoonish goody-two-shoes who sounds like he would exclaim “Gee-willickers!” while trying to warn Mr.Peabody that Atilla the Hun might not be on the level.
This relentlessly wholesome hero was kind of endearing and won me over after hearing his unwaveringly positive disposition throughout the demo. Careena had a charmingly dense Southern accent and had amusing antics when mouthing off at authority.
After a brief tutorial in a showy area, the party is set loose in a vast open-ended, lush environment. The visuals are the best the Mana franchise has ever had and appears to be a refined iteration of what we saw in the Trials of Mana remake.
The art direction is heavily inspired by the works of the late Hiroo Isono, a long-time Mana collaborator who is best known for his indelible art used for the Secret of Mana box art.
The textures are painterly and the skies are an intense azure. The verdant flora that peppers the world is rich with gradients, making the themes of nature very relevant in the game’s visual language. The character’s eyes are especially detailed with various reactive highlights and striking colors.
The animators have come a long way too; the cast and monsters are more lively and more expressive with their animations than ever. Visions of Mana is bursting with so much life that every angle of it looks breathtaking. It’s a bright and upbeat game that it’s hard to not feel good while playing it.
This demo mostly consisted of one large forest area, a cozy port town, and a climactic battle with a Kraken on a ship. There are a few side quests to participate in that amount to going to an area and fighting bad hombres, some challenge missions, and you could ride around on giant black Pomeranians.
Controls feel much weightier than they did in Trials. While jumping, characters have more heft to their movement and swinging weapons have some gravitas. Some of the platforming felt weird due to questionable collisions on some of the geometry.
Platforming is necessary since collecting orbs of syrup is a major currency when trading with dudbears for useful items.
Fans of the fast-paced battling from Trials might be disappointed with this measured approach to combat. The trade-off is that the party has a greater range of variety in tinkering and customization. The demo only offers a couple of elementals that are functionally like job classes.
Each one promises to dramatically alter characters’ attack patterns and playstyles and they can be traded among the party, except for Hinna who was only a guest healer.
Each class gains strengths and weaknesses and players will have to maximize what’s available when fighting foes since exploiting weaknesses is more important than it was in Trials. Enemies tend to have more HP than you’d expect and MP can run dry quickly for any gamer who refuses to adapt to the situation.
Many mechanics are introduced but the limitations of the demo didn’t permit enough room for experimentation. Features like the ability to slow down time or reverse time came off as shallow since there was no practical use. Maybe it makes more sense in the final game, but in this demo, reversing time so that the contents of a chest aren’t missing seems like tedious busy work.
Visions of Mana makes a strong case for skipping a Nintendo Switch release by showcasing massive, foliage-dense environments. This action RPG truly shines on PlayStation 5, boasting lush, intricate models that extend across vast distances without compromising frame rate. The dazzling particle effects and rich details that make this game feel like an illustration come to life would not be done justice on anything less.
