Preview: Visions of Mana

The Mana franchise, created by Square Enix, is considered one of the cornerstones of the JRPG genre and gathered a lot of fans since it debuted way back in 1991. It quickly became one of the most acclaimed franchises in the genre thanks to its deep stories and innovative combat system. We’ve seen a couple of remakes in the last couple of years, with the 2020 Trials of Mana remake being the latest one, and although fans loved it, the craving for a new entry in the franchise never disappeared. It took them over 15 years but Square Enix finally came up with a new mainline entry in the long-running Mana franchise. Enter Visions of Mana, a game that is shaping up to become one of the best in the JRPG genre. I had the opportunity to play the upcoming game in advance and gladly share my impressions in this preview. Time for a pilgrimage!

Pilgrimage to the Tree of Mana

As a true JRPG, the story plays a crucial role in Visions of Mana and it couldn’t be more clear after spending close to four hours in the first chapters of the game. The story is a huge part of the experience and tells the story of Val, the go-getter hero type who’s relentlessly positive about everything. Once every four years, the mysterious Faerie visits regions across the world to select alms, people who are destined to travel to the Tree of Mana. Like in all other Mana games, the Tree of Mana is an essential part of the world as it presides over the world’s flow of mana. Although Val isn’t one of the Alms, he’s the sworn protector and escort of the heroes and is tasked to guide all Alms to the Tree of Mana while keeping them safe as their Soul Guard. It’s a nice introduction to the world of Mana for newcomers while veteran players will certainly enjoy the reunion with some familiar side characters. I won’t dive into the story too deep for the sake of the preview and because I won’t spoil the experience but just be warned there are a lot of dialogues and cut scenes in this game. Fleshing out the characters is typical for the JRPG genre and Visions of Mana isn’t an exception. I learned a lot about the main characters and their bonds during the first couple of hours but it must be said that all of those (voiced) dialogues might pull you out of the gameplay flow. Nothing bad but worth mentioning so you know what to expect. That being said, it’s a fun story to follow and although it’s all pretty cute and very traditional there are certain layers of betrayal and intrigues that keep things a bit more interesting.

 

 

A gorgeous world to discover

Since you’re traveling all across the world to meet up with the Alms and eventually take them to the Tree of Mana, you’ll see a lot of gorgeous scenery. It must be said, that Visions of Mana is extremely beautiful and although it’s not an open-world game, the playable sections are big and filled with things to do. If you aren’t chasing the main quest, you can defeat the local monsters, look for some side-quests, or gather items and hunt for treasure which both can come in handy during your adventure. There’s no real pressure in the exploration of parts of the game and exploration isn’t even mandatory. If you just want to continue with the story, you can easily skip exploring although I wouldn’t recommend it. The locations are crafted with a lot of love and an eye for detail, making it worth spending some of your time on. During my preview time, I visited snowy mountains, green farms, and huge modern cities, all with their own set of secrets and extra missions. Although it’s not a true open world, it consists of smaller sections instead, it does feel like an open world. Everything is connected and you can easily (fast) travel between locations on foot or on the back of your mount but once you pass a clearly indicated border, you’ll exit the area and enter a new one. I didn’t mind this and it made me explore the separate areas a bit more. Lately, I’ve been losing my appetite for huge open-world games so I liked this change of pacing and exploring, I truly loved wandering around in those mysterious new lands.

 

 

New and improved combat

So we have a deep story and vast exploration but what about the combat? Well, a new entry demands new combat and that’s exactly what Visions of Mana delivers. The combat can best be compared with modern action-orientated JRPG games where you just run into enemies on the overworld and go all-out with your attack and defense. It’s not a traditional role-playing game where you have to wait for your turn to attack, Visions of Mana is a high-paced action JRPG with some interesting mechanics to innovate combat. At first glance, combat is pretty straightforward. You control one out of three party members and attack your enemies with weapons and magic to take them down. Your other two party members are controlled by AI but by changing their strategies in the menu, you can decide if they are more on the offense or defense. During combat, you can easily swap between characters to use their abilities to your liking and if your party exceeds three characters, you can select which ones will join you in the overworld, it’s all pretty accessible and I love the freedom the game gives you to experiment with the characters. Besides this, the biggest addition to the general combat mechanics is perhaps the inclusion of aerial combat, which can really open up new strategies during fights. But, what really impressed me were the Elemental Vessels.

These mysterious Vessels are collected along the way and are linked to the awakening of Alms. I had a Moon, Wind, and Water Vessel during my preview and all really altered the way I played the game. When a character equips a Vessel, it changes its class, introducing completely new gameplay. If Val for example uses the Moon Vessel, he’ll become a tank-like class that battles with spear and shield, give the same Vessel to another character and it will become an entirely different class as well. Picking the right Vessels against certain enemies feels like a high-paced game of rock, paper, and scissors and really elevates the depth of combat. The combat really got me hooked and especially during boss battles (I faced three major bosses so far) it really shines. It’s one of the best and most intuitive combat systems I’ve found in JRPG games and I can’t wait to dive deeper into it.

 

 

Early conclusion:

Visions of Mana is shaping up to become another cornerstone for the JRPG genre. It might be a bit traditional or story-heavy for some but don’t let that stop you from diving into one of the most impressive games in the genre. I can’t wait to spend more hours in this gorgeous world and I’m pretty sure the game still holds tons of surprises. If you want a taste, be sure to check out the demo!

Tested on PC