While it’s no secret that Mana has been spun-off a ton, it’s shocking to realise that it’s taken 15 years for someone to envision another mainline entry. For those of you unfamiliar with the era of parachute pants and 1993’s Secret of Mana, it is fondly remembered as a legendary must-own for the SNES—an impressive feat given that system was teeming with JRPG GOATs.
Obviously, a modernisation of the franchise is a huge deal, and wild pikuls couldn’t have held me back from my world’s first chance to go hands-on with Visions of Mana.
I’m going to dive into those impressions in a sec. For now, though, I should probably list some purchasing options for you “mind’s already made-up” diehards who have pined for too long. If that’s not you, bypass all the window shopping by skip clicking here to get to my extended thoughts.
Table of Contents
Visions of Mana Deals
PS5
- Preorder at Amazon – $99 (-14%)
- Preorder at JB Hi-Fi – $99
- Get it digital on PS Store – $TBA
Xbox Series S/X
- Preorder at Amazon – $99 (-14%)
- Preorder at JB Hi-Fi – $99
- Get it digital on MS Store – $TBA
PC
- Get it digital on Steam – $TBA
Visions of Mana hands-on
Fair warning before I begin: the time I spent with Visions was barely over an hour, which, in my long years of previewing, felt rather “wham bam, thank you, Mana.” Snooping through two areas of the game—Mt. Gala and Fallow Steppe, both of which are still under development—is not enough time to say if this game is worth your lucre. It is, however, more than enough time to get a feel for what I do and don’t like about where this title is heading.
As per always, the first impression is one of visuals, and Visions proves to be quite the vision indeed. I’m dropped into a sandbox that looks as colourful and vibrant as it is detailed and tickled by incidental movement (think: wind tech ruffling trees, grass, shrubbery, and the frilly lace trims on my four “person” party).
Vast and painterly, like Zelda Tears of the Kingdom, is the overriding opinion. I’m also mighty impressed by the scale of this Sound of Music-esque mountainside I’ve been plopped onto. You’ll have to take some time to crane your virtual neck upwards to fully drink in the snow-capped ranges that girt this sandbox.
That being said, after I poke around, the micro detail doesn’t outstrip the macro here—we’re not quite at TotK, “I can’t believe they put physics on that” levels of world interaction. No choppable grass and some random jars and crates being unbreakable makes my inner-Link sad. Not a huge deal, obviously, but rather another salient reminder that Nintendo has spoiled us all.
In no time, I’m right back to being impressed by the ludicrous detail lavished upon my party members. Obviously, there’s the outward appearance factor of insanely intricate costume designs, quaffs of technicolour hair, and some satisfying locomotion that feels like I’m in a weapons-inclusive 3D platformer instead of an RPG (double-jump and L3 sprint included).
More surprising, though, is how well rendered their personalities are. Everybody gets talkative when I’m taking notes and leave the controller untouched, or as I’m trekking down into a valley to find some trouble. Dynamic conversations about objects spied on our periphery, and tactics we should be using bubble up organically. Even some free words of encouragement between one another pings back and forth, which is…well, lovely.
Before things get too lovey-dovey, I murderously wade into some repeated bouts of good old fashioned ultra-violence. It’s here that I put Visions through its combat paces by shifting between real-time, turn-based, and then a hybrid approach to both. I’m happy to say that each combat approach feels tactically viable and satisfyingly visceral.
On the action side of things, you have a standard lock-on system, and a multi-combo attack on Square that varies with short presses and long holds. There’s also a Special Attack button that abides by the same principles, a zippy dodge function on Circle, and a tendency for these ground-based battles to escalate upwards into the air via juggle / launcher attacks.
This is very much a group effort, too, with flicking between party members quickly achieved via up / down taps of your d-pad. Holding R1 will also expand a sizeable submenu in the lower right of your screen to bring each individual’s set items, special moves, and magic spells to bear.
In terms of fancier fisticuffs, some interesting opportunities reside on your R2 Elemental Vessel function. Initially, this seemed to be purely tied to a traversal mechanic—solving impassable, contextual barriers by harnessing the wind to repurpose chunks of earth into floating platforms. (Literal groudbreaking stuff that doesn’t feel like it, mechanically speaking.)
As time went on, however, Elemental Vessels also became a means to radically change the classes, appearances, weaponry, movesets and stats of my party members in a battle. For example, using the Wind-based Element lets you juggle-suspend foes in the air and ping gusts of splash damage out toward their friends. Meanwhile, the Moon Element shortens the casting times of magic and bogs enemies down in ground-based AoE traps.
Lastly, we have a Class Strike on L2 that is bound to your ever-engorging CS gauge in the lower left. Triggering the latter was always a delight, thanks to mini-anime-esque cinematics where the camera pulls in tight on a teammate, a fourth-wall breaking camera wink drops, and then some mind-blowing magic spectacle ensues.
Alternatively, if you prefer to play turn-for-turns old-school, you need only tap left or right on the D-pad to grab Father Time by the scruff of the neck. Within this ‘Ring Menu’ you can use your right stick to insta-flick focus to specific belligerents and then click-assign the moves you want used on them. During some of the rowdier fights against more than five targets who out-levelled me, going turn-based saved my bacon.
It’s also worth noting that if things get hopeless, you’ll have to sprint to the border of the ovid bounding barrier that keeps you “in the fight”. There’s then a brief sensation of trying to mud-slog your way through it, and, providing you’re not hit, you’ll break free and escape. The cowardice tax to pay here: you keep your wounds and those foes refill to full.
There are no cheese tactics; I tried for science. Mind you, I did find a lot of success in starting fights by summoning a pikul mount (think: a giant scottish terrier) and then charging said poochie into mobs as an opening gambit battering ram. So, yeah, maybe keep that trick up your sleeve.
Those are my collected thoughts about Visions of Mana in its early state. While I’m cognizant of the fact that its saccharine sweetness won’t be to every taste—as in visually, auditorily, or the literal act of collecting vast amounts of candy and syrup in the overworld—I still think Visions may surprise a few detractors.
Peel back all the primary colours and animal-people in pantaloons, and there’s quite a robust Action-RPG experience to be had here, not to mention a supremely inviting semi-open-world that seems to twist and turn into that horizon for ages. Let there be no secret about my feelings on this Mana; I envision much potential here.
Visions of Mana trailers
Adam Mathew played Secret of Mana as it was released, in the era of Ace of Base awfulness.
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