Stepping into the 18th Mana game as a newcomer to the series was daunting, but I was enchanted by the characters, combat, and semi-open-world traveling of Visions of Mana.
Recently, I was able to preview Visions of Mana. The game is focused on Val, a Soul Guard, and several Alms, who are chosen adventurers dedicated to sacrificing themselves to preserve the flow of mana in the world.
This simple story setup lets the rest of the game shine. The preview of Visions of Mana only saw a bit of story, mostly creating the backdrop for the characters as a group and a introducing a bit about the politics of the world.
The Colorful Cast of Visions of Mana
The characters are quirky in the best ways possible, and the range of personalities in the five-person group I experienced was delightful. From mellow, happy Hinna to sassy, spirited Careena to somber, serious Morley, the party was well-rounded and kept things interesting.
The original characters, Val and Hinna, are cute and happy-go-lucky at the start. However, the stage set during the preview makes it look like they’ll get heavy character development. Some of the other characters grew a bit during the early hours of gameplay, which makes investing in them emotionally a breeze.
Plus, most of the crew sounded as good as their characters were written. Cutscenes are much more enjoyable when the characters sound good, and for the most part, they did.
Visions of Mana Has Charming Combat
The combat in Visions of Mana is well done. It’s not offering fast-paced ARPG fighting but instead takes things a bit slower. Characters move pretty slowly, which felt sluggish at first. However, after the first few fights, it was clear that the slower-paced combat helped focus on playing smarter instead of spamming buttons.
I started with the easiest difficulty option: beginner. However, combat still wasn’t a breeze even at this level. It was challenging even here, which just shows how challenging the game is meant to be.
Combat is also pretty varied. Each character can change classes with elemental objects. This was fun to mess around with – building teams that played well together while using elemental objects was a challenge since each object could only be with one person at a time.
And, of course, the outfit changes show off just how great the character’s designs in general are.
Frolicking in Fields in Visions of Mana
One of the most surprising parts of Visions of Mana was the open-world areas. The game isn’t open world, though some areas are large enough to have multiple fast travel points.
Traveling through these areas was both satisfying and rewarding. There’s a lot to collect, including money. Considering the prices of items in-game, the currency alone makes exploring worth it.
The movement and banter between characters are part of what makes exploring so fun. Jumping and running is so smooth that it felt like I was constantly racing myself. Plus, a lot of rewards can be obtained just by running over them, adding to this feeling.
The banter between characters is entertaining and kept me laughing while I did this. Combined with great sound design, exploring may have been my favorite part of the preview.
Visions of Mana has a lot to love, and while parts of it might take some getting used to, it’s worth it. It’s set to release on August 29, 2024, on PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S.
TechRaptor previewed Visions of Mana on PlayStation 5 with a copy provided by the developer – all screenshots were taken during the preview process.
