Square Enix makes an attempt to revive the magic behind SNES classic Secret Of Mana but they’ve left out one important element.
The Mana series is one of those curious franchises, where there’s one standout entry that everyone acknowledges as a classic but every other sequel has always been a disappointment. Unfortunately for Square Enix, and unlike movie equivalents like Jurassic Park, the other games have never been anywhere near as successful either and it’s something of a surprise that this new entry has been released at all.
Visions Of Mana does a fine job of recreating the overall vibe of Secret Of Mana and Trials Of Mana (the initially Japanese-only sequel) on the SNES, with a very similar art style and focus on combat. While technically a Japanese role-player, the series has always been action-based and Secret Of Mana was basically 2D Zelda with stats but no puzzles.
The new game looks fabulous in a crisp, hyper-colourful, slightly frilly manner. But it falls down in one very important area, by not including any co-op options. It was one of the key features of the SNES games, but Visions Of Mana is single-player only – which is a terrible shame given how it otherwise seems to understand so much of Secret Of Mana’s appeal.
Story-wise, Visions Of Mana sets up a classic quest structure. You play as Val, a soul guard assigned to accompany the alms chosen by the different elementals who dominate each area of the game world. Those alms must make a pilgrimage to the Mana Tree which sustains the entire world, where they will be sacrificed; it’s up to Val to protect them until they get there.
Naturally, the knowledge that the alms are proceeding towards their ultimate sacrifice generates some existential qualms, emphasised by a false flashback beginning in which Lyza, alm of the earth, abdicates her duty after falling in love with a fellow villager, before disaster befalls both her and her village. The villager crops up occasionally, trying to disrupt the pilgrimage and resurrect Lyza, but while that adds something of a dark undercurrent, the overall tone is cartoonish, with a simplistic script and overly Americanised voice-acting.
While the storytelling is rather basic, Visions Of Mana’s battle system is excellent, being reminiscent of the original games, but with added depth and modern features. It does include some elements familiar to those who played the 16-bit games, such as the ring menus which let you pick magic attacks and items to use in battle. It also operates in real-time, encouraging you to chain attacks, specials, and dodges.
You’re also given the ability to change the fighting properties – to be precise, the classes – of your party members, simply by changing their elemental affinity. Thus Val, for example, nimbly wields a short sword when he has the wind elemental equipped but becomes a lance-wielding tank with a shield when you select the fire element for him; equip the earth vessel and he becomes a defensive specialist.
Meanwhile, party member Palamena is a magic specialist by default and Morley can warp time to slow enemies down, but if you equip different elements for them their fighting styles change drastically.
For a long while, outside of boss battles, you rarely encounter enemies that are sufficiently challenging to necessitate assembling a custom battle party with specific and complementary skills, which would encourage you to experiment with swapping your characters’ elemental affinities around. Eventually, however, you do come up against enemies that are much easier to take down if you have particular elemental classes in your party.
That’s where much of the strategy involved in Visions Of Mana’s battling comes in. And while it is technically a role-playing game the only real upgrade tree in the game lies in each character’s elemental path. If you like how they fight with a particular elemental vessel equipped, you can navigate a skill tree that brings new abilities and special moves. You do also level up throughout the game, raising basic stats, but that process occurs automatically.
Visions Of Mana’s environmental design is excellent, as your team pings around the game world you encounter some very differing biospheres and, occasionally, you must call on the elements to get to otherwise inaccessible places – such as jumping from water bubble to water bubble, catching huge wind-powered updrafts, or even flying around on a fireball.
The environments are packed with chests and hidden objects, along with mini-battle arenas, and there’s a reasonable amount of side quests, which vary enormously in quality and interest. There are some enjoyably constructed cities in the game too, offering the chance to meet some interesting characters along the way. Overall, the game world feels vibrant and rewards exploration.
No matter what else it gets right though Visions Of Mana can’t overcome the fact that it’s, inexplicably, missing the one feature the franchise, or at least the best-loved entry, is most well known for. If there had been a co-op mode, particularly a local co-op mode, this would’ve been an easy recommendation. Without it, it’s still a fun and breezy Japanese role-player, but one with a very obvious hole in its centre.
Visions Of Mana review summary
In Short: The best Mana game in a long while but how it managed to leave out the one feature that should have come as standard is a complete mystery.
Pros: Lovely crisp graphics, great battle system, and clever elemental class mechanics. Vibrant game world that’s reminiscent of Secret Of Mana without being a remake.
Cons: The lack of co-op is absolutely baffling. Simplistic script and voice-acting.
Score: 7/10
Formats: PlayStation 5 (reviewed), Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 5, and PC
Price: £59.99
Publisher: Square Enix
Developer: Ouka Studios
Release Date: 29th August 2024
Age Rating: 12
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