"Visions of Mana" is the most beautiful game in the series to date

Never has a "Mana" game looked so good. The world of "Visions of Mana" is a stunner. Coupled with a great soundtrack, nice gameplay and an unspecial, but nevertheless well-presented story, the game is a feast, especially for fans of classic Japanese role-playing games.

Exciting story with weaknesses

You embark on a pilgrimage to the eponymous mana tree with the characters Val and Hina. Hina is a so-called consecrated one. Every four years, a fairy chooses consecrated people from eight places that are bound to elements. The consecrated person makes the journey to the mana tree, where they must sacrifice themselves. Without this sacrifice, the respective region would be plunged into ruin.

A soul guardian is also chosen. He or she protects the consecrated. Val is given this honour. He and Hina have known each other since childhood, having grown up in the same village. Although it is never explicitly stated, the two have more in common than just a friendship. They actually want to grow old together. On their journey to the Mana Tree, they meet the other consecrated ones.

So much for the premise. There are one or two twists and turns in the course of the story, but they are predictable. As such, the story is nothing special - it is reminiscent of "Final Fantasy X".

The way in which the story is told is nevertheless good. I am slowly introduced to the world of "Visions of Mana" through the relationship between Val and Hina. Hina has spent a lifetime preparing for the pilgrimage and knows the world from her teachings. Val has also prepared for his function as a Soul Guardian, but it is more physical. Hina therefore has to explain a lot to him. Similar situations arise as the game progresses and this works well.

Unfortunately, I found it difficult to identify with the characters in the first few hours of the game. After all, the young people have to sacrifice their lives for the common good. A young person who still has their whole life ahead of them should be up in arms about this individual injustice. But they don't just do their job dutifully, they do it willingly. That makes me really angry at first. The dichotomy between individual fate and sacrificing for the common good is not emphasised enough for me at the beginning. This confrontation only takes place late in the game. At least I then find peace with the characters.

The fact that this conflict is only developed late on is one of the reasons why the story suffers from slow pacing, especially at the beginning. The first few hours of the game drag on too long. It takes time for the story to get going - and once it does, everything happens too quickly. This also applies to the gameplay.

The gameplay takes its time

In contrast to the parent series "Final Fantasy", the battle system of the "Mana" series has always been real-time and not turn-based. I hit opponents with weak or strong attacks, special attacks or magic. As is typical of the genre, I also have various buffs or items at my disposal in battle. Later on, I can customise the character classes. This allows me to adapt my party to my playing style. The elements assigned to each class play a major role in this.

The system itself is great and encourages me to experiment. However, it takes well over ten hours of play before I can use any meaningful combinations. For the first few hours of the game, I have to complete countless tutorials. However, I read them later because many of the options are only really usable as the game progresses.

The pacing of level progression and equipment is unbalanced. At the beginning, it feels like it takes an eternity to level up or buy new equipment. Towards the end it goes very quickly. In the last three hours of the game, I went from level 30 to over 50.

The menu navigation is anything but user-friendly. For example, I can place items that I use in battle on a menu wheel. However, I can only select them via a submenu. I overlooked this in the flood of tutorials and ended up with items intended for the beginning in the middle of the game.

The battles themselves are fun and feature beautiful animations - even in aerial combat. In contrast to other representatives of the genre, however, the movements are rather slow, which takes some time to get used to.

I would have liked to see more variation in the standard enemies. Even before the middle of the game, the same enemies appear with a new coat of paint. The bosses are all the more varied and I had some epic fights. They were just right for me on the standard difficulty level. If you need more or less of a challenge, you can adjust the difficulty at any time.

Beautiful world

The world of "Visions of Mana" is semi-open. There is a world map, but I can only really explore the semi-open areas that I enter from the map. The map only serves to connect the individual areas. The game always offers great new regions. These range from the steppe and mountains to the inside of a volcano. The world has never looked so beautiful in a "Mana" game.

I played through the game on the Steam Deck. Most of the time it ran more or less smoothly on medium settings. Strangely enough, I had the biggest drops during the cutscenes. There it stalled occasionally with less than 20 frames per second. However, this should be fixed with a patch for release.

With all the praise for the presentation, there is one fly in the ointment: the character animations. A log has more expressiveness than Val, Hina and co. This doesn't match the overdramatised voice acting at all. It seems ridiculous when I hear emotions but don't see them. I had to laugh out loud several times. The English voiceover is quite good, but I can't get used to Careena's voice.

There is always something to discover everywhere. For example, crates or syrup that I can exchange for items. To get to them, I have to explore the world with platformer elements. For example, I have a double jump and dash at my disposal. These passages are not a challenge in themselves. Sometimes, however, the controls and clarity are not beyond reproach. This led to one or two frustrating situations for me.

Hiroki Kikuta, who has already worked on the previous games, is once again responsible for the soundtrack. The soundtrack perfectly accompanies the chic visuals and even steals the show from time to time.

Simple side quests

As befits a role-playing game, there are also a number of side quests to complete alongside the main story. These are mainly simple fetch quests. For example, I have to get certain objects or defeat enemies. The rewards are money or items.

I have only done a few side quests. After the umpteenth fetch quest, it was just too daft for me. I didn't have a shortage of money or items. From my point of view, only one side quest is worthwhile: there is a small cactus hidden in every area. Depending on how often I find it, I receive bonuses such as extra experience points or discounts in the shops.

"Visions of Mana" was provided by Square Enix. I tested the PC version. The game will also be available from 29 August for PS5, PS4 and Xbox Series S/X.