Visions of Mana Impressions (First Five Hours)
After a relatively slow summer in terms of big gaming releases, this week is when things start picking back up. We just had Black Myth Wukong last week, and tomorrow Visions of Mana releases worldwide. After finished the 2020 Trials of Mana remake a few months ago, I officially felt comfortable calling myself a Mana/Seiken Densetsu fan. But there were two reasons I was interested in Visions of Mana in particular:
The Mana series is 33 years old and Visions of Mana is only the fifth mainline title.
It is clear within mere seconds that Visions was given the series’ highest budget to date.
Now obviously a good budget doesn’t equal quality. But after some of the more recent entries in the series (2018’s Secret of Mana pictured on the left), it’s nice to have something pretty to look at. Just look at the gorgeous colorful presentation of Visions of Mana (pictured below).
This is Val and Hinna, our main duo and romantic couple of the game.
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I'm five hours into the game, having just unlocked a third party member. So far Visions of Mana is exactly what I wanted; it's a bigger and shinier Trials of Mana. But luckily, it knew where not to get too big. Battles are snappy and can take anywhere from between 15 seconds to a minute depending on the level difference. The areas you explore are wide and ready to be explored, but they aren't open world or open zone really. It's as linear or as open as you want. If you want to rush to the next plot point, or spend hours grinding, exploring, finding treasure chests, and doing sidequests- go ahead. I've read that the main story takes 25-30 hours, which is refreshing for this type of game.
Combat so far has been your typical light and heavy attacks, but I can happily report that class changes are quite fast in this game. I remember not being able to change classes in Trials of Mana until I was many hours in. But before my second hour of Visions I was able to change classes. This is of course where the main customization of the game will come in, and I'm excited to see all the options open up. You change classes by equipping an elemental vessel to a character. And the same vessel on different characters unlock different classes, which is interesting and unique in itself. I'm used to JRPGS where everybody can turn into almost every class.
As is the usual case for the Mana series, the world is rich with color and the monster designs are adorable. The monsters in Mana/Seiken Densetsu remind me of the monsters you'd find in a Dragon Quest game. They have that charm of being so goofy and endearing you almost don't want to take them down.
The art in the series has always been incredible.
As for the story, once again it is a tale of nature. Mana is the energy of the planet, and it is provided by the Mana Tree. And every four years a new “Alm” from each elemental village is chosen to journey to the Mana Tree and sacrifice themselves. Yes, think Final Fantasy X and I am Setsuna. I’m not sure if the story will try to turn itself on its head, or if it will be simple and straightforward. Knowing the Mana games, it will be the latter. I don’t come to this series for any type of subversion of tropes or reinventing the wheel. I come to Mana for good music, bright colors, and simple fun.
So far the characters have been interesting to unlock and learn about. It’s also been pretty fast. No waiting two hours in between characters. I like Val and Hinna’s clear relationship. We’re not hit with the cliche “Oh we’re just friends” anime trope we see in countless games. They seem to be in an actual relationship. Careena is a Dragonoid who lost once of her wings and gained a lot of attitude in return. But once you get over the initial meeting, that attitude becomes her main source of humor. Then there’s Morley, who I was a little iffy on because of his character design. But they gave him a damn good voice actor (Kaiji Tang) and sad backstory, so he quickly won me over. I’m excited to see who else will join me on my journey.
The music been characteristically good too. I haven’t heard any earworms quite to the level of Secret of Mana or Trials of Mana, but nothing has stood out to me as not good. I really love the theme of Etaern!
I’ve seen a lot of reviews critiquing Visions of Mana for not trying anything crazy new. But I think it’s simply a case of knowing what you’re signing up for. Seiken Densetsu is like one of your moms best family recipes. If you visit home after being away for a long time, you’d be disappointed if she changed her recipe, no? Sometimes you want the coziness of familiarity, and that’s what Mana is to me.
So far, I’m loving Visions of Mana.
