Platform(s): PlayStation 5 (version reviewed), Xbox Series, PC
Genre: Action, RPG, 90s throwback, Lost Square Enix franchise revival

The Mana series from Square Enix is a slew of action RPGs with its own distinct whimsical flavour and gameplay, with the most recent entry being a remake of a really stellar entry in 2020. It unfortunately did not get the budget & polish needed, but developer Xeen made the most of it and worked on what really mattered: the combat and class change system that opened up fun battle possibilities and combinations.

Fast forward to 2024, and we have a brand-new studio, Ouka Studios, taking a stab at the Mana series. Visions of Mana comes jam-packed with an all-new plot, the same 90s aesthetics and feel, and a fresh combat system that combines the best of past titles.

Of course, all that may not be apparent at first, because Visions of Mana makes a terrible first impression.

Quite An Eyeful

Notwithstanding the lukewarm reception of the recent demo, Visions of Mana’s first few hours can get rough. The game’s story sets up the narrative where you play as Soulguard Val as he escorts his girlfriend Hinna who has been appointed as the new Alm of Fire. Alms in Visions of Mana are chosen ones who have to be sacrificed to the Mana Goddess to keep the world’s mana flow ongoing for years.

As you delve deeper into the plot, you recruit more Alms in your pilgrimage and find out that the world’s ecosystem is not what it seems, and there are a few who oppose this order of things. The game does its best to make you care about its plot and central characters, but it does a subpar job of presenting it, at least from a visual standpoint. Cutscenes are in lower frames per second when played, and the majority of them look awkward.

Even the early real-time combat segments just feel basic and floaty as you’re stuck with Val’s default class and only get a couple of new ones via way of Elemental Vessels; these are special Mana items that change up your playstyle. Some of the characters you recruit from Southern-accent dragon girl Careena and stern cat person Morley don’t leave much of an impression at first.

That all changes in the 6+ hour mark though. As soon as you’re given way more options to play around with the game’s Elemental Vessel system, the Mana world becomes your oyster.

Mana Burn (And Time Slow)

See, when you assign an Elemental Vessel to a character, he/she gets that Elemental’s special move in addition to the character class’ special skills, their base skills, AND whatever abilities you can equip onto them (via Ability Seeds; equippables that give you passives or active skills). For example, Morley starts off with the Moon Elemental Vessel -the Luna Globe- which makes him a kick-ass Moon ninja who is fast and can buff up his critical chances. You can use the game’s patented Elemental Plot skill tree to buff up the class and open up related spells in that skill tree. As soon as you get a new Elemental Vessel that changes Morley’s class and stats (Samurai in this case), you can use the aforementioned unlocked skills and spells onto the new class if you so choose. In other words, you have a Samurai class that can get loads of damaging critical chances and other Moon-related projectiles and buffs from past classes. Developer Ouka Studios took the flexibility of Square Enix’s history of class and job systems, and laid it all out in a real-time action RPG context.

Each Elemental Vessel’s special moves are pretty wicked to use not only in the dungeons and instances, but also in combat. The Wind Elemental Vessel -Sylphid Boomerang- for example helps create gusts of wind to elevate you to higher platforms and areas. In battle, you can trap enemies in gusts of tornadoes, setting them up for air combos and aerial assaults. The aforementioned Luna Globe alters time in a small bubble -it slows down enemies but speeds up your spellcasting. The Fire Elemental Vessel -the Salamando Candle- is essentially a rocket dash with an AoE explosion that damages anything at its destination.

Combat may start basic: fights are real time, you have light and heavy attacks, you can dodge, and cast spells while pausing time to use items & specific magics. Heck, the starting classes you have do have a floaty feel to them at times. However, the Elemental Vessels and Class System switching-around lets you determine who you can main and who fits in your playstyle. Some players prefer having a team of one attacker and two defenders, so you can have Morley stick with his Moon Elemental class while Val and Careena stick to Light and Wind respectively. Need a ranged attacker and spellcasters? Have queen-slash-master-of-alliterations Palamena equip Wood and smart-mouthed-plant-person Julei equip Light for artillery fire, while Val equips Moon to tank all the hits and slow down time to distract foes. Personally, I’m an all-out assault guy using Water Val, Moon Morley, and Fire Careena, with the latter given some healing spells to keep the former two alive as much as possible.

Did I also mention that you can switch classes at any time as long as you’re out of combat? And that you can mix and match skills from one class onto different classes once you’ve unlocked them in the Elemental Plot? As lackluster as the demo is, it isn’t indicative of how expansive and fun the combat really gets over time, and when fighting tougher bosses and foes. From Mana franchise throwbacks like the Mantis Ant to new freaks like the Benevedons teased in the game intro, you’ll have fun figuring out game-breaking combinations with the Elemental Vessels and Class system, creating an uber-party tailor-made for the job.

As Elemental vulnerabilities and resistances come into play here, you also may need to switch up Elementals depending on the bosses. You can’t use a Water class against an aquatic demon squid boss, so you’ll have to use Fire and two other Elementals unless you want to truly challenge yourself. Action game veterans may want to bump up the difficulty if you want a heartier challenge, as the default difficulty is a good balance for those who just are getting into the genre.

While you can grind levels to match your foes’, your Elemental Vessel and abilities setup can make a huge difference in how fights pan out even if you’re slightly underleveled. My Water Val/Moon Morley/Fire Careena can take down mobs 10 levels higher than my party just because of its synergy and aggressiveness, but I have to switch out to a new magic-defense focused party with ranged options if I come across strong spellcasting mobs like the Queen and Knight chess piece foes.

I’m being honest; I ended up getting way too sidetracked upon getting all the Elemental Vessels the game has to offer. Since you are given many options to backtrack and fast-travel, you can revisit many areas in the game for completion and item-hoarding’s sake. The sidequests offer tons of useful rewards for combat like extra Ability Seeds, while Mana shrines offer time trials that open up a bigger shrine that can unlock your Elemental Vessels’ true potential. They are of the fetch quest and “kill X monsters” variety, but the bounties are substantially worth your trekking. Plus, the fast travel system makes the back-and-forths bearable.

That being said, this game will draw a comparison with the Trials of Mana remake. I have to concede that Visions of Mana does falter in terms of tight controls and feel. However, its Elemental Vessel options and customizability, along with some nuances to the control scheme that does take some time to get used to, does at least outshine the remake’s gameplay in some aspects.

At the very least, the English voice acting and direction are superior to the last title. While the cutscenes are attempting to keep up (with usually less-than-stellar animations and awkward facial animations), the VO quality is just great. You can hear the dignified alliterative-laced mannerisms of Palamena, as well as the brashness of Careena’s tone, a character who may end up getting some love online due to her country-bumpkin-fish-out-of-water character. True, some characters shine better than others, but their arcs get resolved at the end of the game in satisfying manners. The game’s overall narrative does get deeper into the sacrificial nature of the world order; even our heroes do question their role as Alms at times when they could be living out their lives properly.

If you were traumatized by Trials of Mana’s babyspeak, you’ll be pleased to know that there isn’t anything of that nonsense here. The closest you’ll get are cat puns from the cat merchants and their boss Niccolo, and these are pulled off better and more in the spirit of the Mana games, rather than coming off as cringeworthy.

A Mana Tree In Need Of Pruning?

Despite Visions of Mana’s supposedly half-baked foundation, I still can’t help but adore it for trying hard enough. Its combat isn’t as tight as the Trials of Mana remake (at least from the start), but it’s still fun and warrants multiple playthroughs with its flexible Class and Elemental Vessels system. Plus, the Elemental powers you can use in a fight make for creative solutions to the game’s challenging fighting scenarios. Its visuals are awesome for the most part and are a treat to experience, but the in-game cutscenes for the majority of its storytelling need work.

That said, the game’s narrative flow, character arcs, voicework and music are the only consistent parts that hit home, especially when following the Mana series’ 90s route. After 30+ hours in, I actually do give a damn about Careena and Morley’s troubles and plights, as standard as they are personality-wise. And as bland as some of the sidequests get, they do offer worthy rewards and I do like exploring the open world areas and finding critters to murder for XP and Grizzly Syrup to amass for special trades.

Long story short, Visions of Mana’s earnestness and positives outweigh its negatives by a sizeable amount. At the very least, old-school 90s RPG fans should be glad that Square Enix did not forget about this classic series, now with a few more bells and whistles to make it quite a ride.

Pros

• Fun combat and classes to use and abuse (after some practice & getting used to).
• Heavily customizable Elemental Vessel system.
• Loads of quests & side content to do, offering loads of power-ups & buffs.
• Simple but charismatic cast of characters.
• Well-made music.

Cons

• Takes a good number of hours to really open up.
• Cutscenes and certain aesthetic production values need work.
• Certain travel transition scenes pad out the process unnecessarily.

Final Score: 80/100

Review copy provided by publisher.