The Most Delightful Game About Human Sacrifice I’ve Ever Played

We here at Good Playing With You had the opportunity to play Visions of Mana in advance of its upcoming release on Thursday, August 29th for the PlayStation 4 and 5, Xbox Series X/S and Windows PC (hitting digital storefronts at 12am EST, 9pm PST on Wednesday the 28th).

Visions of Mana is the newest action RPG game from publisher Square Enix. I didn’t know it then (and truthfully didn’t know until I started writing this), but Final Fantasy Adventure (Game Boy, 1991), was my first introduction to the world of Mana. Then, along came Secret of Mana (Super Nintendo, 1993) to cast a charm spell on me. I have very fond memories of playing it with my mom watching and cheering me on, sometimes picking up a controller herself to play along in one of the earliest versions of RPG co-op. That was the last time I played in this world and Visions of Mana has me wondering about all of the games i’ve missed since then.

Story & Characters

You begin the game as Val, a Soul Guard from the fire element village Tianeea, tasked with the duty of escorting and protecting his best friend (secret/not-so-secret crush?) Hiina on a pilgrimage. Hiina has been chosen as the Alm of Fire, a revered title that comes with the responsibility to sacrifice her soul for the good of the entire world. Val, with Hinna in tow, sets off on a once-every-four-year journey to collect seven other Alms, one from each of the world’s elemental domains, to usher them to their untimely deaths. It’s as if every four years we didn’t have a presidential election, but instead had to act out the trolley problem. Without going into spoiler territory, the elemental Alms are extremely respected for their sacrifices and are largely proud of their selections – because if they don’t make it to the Mana Tree, the future of their part of the world is destruction. Just look to any village that didn’t provide a sacrifice to see the evidence of failure.

Throughout my thirty-five hours with the game, the story kept me engaged and looking forward to more, especially in the first ten or fifteen hours as I trapsed from each elemental realm to the next, gathering their Alms. There are a few twists along the way, each adding well to the narrative and, even though I was satisfied with each, I wouldn’t say any were especially groundbreaking.

Each of the five playable characters has their own distinct personality and motivations, some of which are more interesting than others. While I had fun learning about each of them and their realms, there are two standouts: one that I hope to never play or hear from again and one that I might consider sacrificing my own life for. I attribute these strong feelings mostly towards the voice actors and their portrayal, but also because of my own threshold for annoyance.

I want to make special note that there is one moment near the finale that is genuinely one of the most touching things I have ever seen in a video game. It is filled with raw emotion, and I found myself deeply affected by it. I think this of experience is unique to video games as a whole – inhabiting characters and experiencing their struggles as if they are my own, even while I sit on my couch in my underwear, sweating in the Los Angeles heat. And please, for the love of the Mana Tree, stick around for after the credits.

Gameplay Mechanics

Visions of Mana is divided into many open world realms where you can run around, collect items, open treasure chests, double jump to hit a new ledge or cross a body of water, and battle some of the cutest monsters you’ve ever seen. Seriously. The monsters are so cute that I sometimes feel guilty burning them with a fireball or throwing a tornado at them. I feel the influence of Dragon Quest XI in a lot of the design here, though I would bet that the Mana and Dragon Quest series influence each other in equal measure.

“I feel the influence of Dragon Quest XI in a lot of the design here…”

With each new realm, you will collect a new Vessel Power to channel that realm’s element. There are eight altogether: Fire, Air, Water, Earth, Moon, Wood, Light and Dark. These Vessels add a super move to your character’s repertoire during battle and can really change the tide of a fight. Most powers are on generous cooldowns, allowing you to use them multiple times even during a short encounter. I found one power a must have, to the point where it might be overpowered. Nevertheless, they all add a great strategic layer to both combat and exploration, as throughout the story these vessels also aid you by conjuring various traversal effects like water bubbles or fire powered rockets. Don’t get too excited, however, as they can only be conjured in pre-determined spots.

But this isn’t even half of it. The Elemental Vessels also give your characters unique classes. With five playable characters, each coming with a non-element class, and eight elements, there are a whopping 45 classes to choose from at the end of the game. Each of these classes have unlockable spells and powers that can be used with any class that character chooses from there on. I’m not great with math, but I think that adds up to one hundred million combinations of powers, give or take a million. Okay, so that may be an exaggeration, but the depth of power combinations is deep. And then, on top of it all, there are Ability Seeds to collect, interchangeable between all characters, that add powers and stat buffs which may not be accessible via their own classes.

Your moment-to-moment combat is a mix of quick and heavy weapon strikes that vary based on class, casting spells, and using your Elemental Vessel cooldown power. Each Vessel also has an ultimate power with a cooldown meter shared across the party. While you are only able to control one character at a time, there’s a game pause selection wheel that allows you to direct companions to use one of their powers at the press of a couple buttons. That part felt similar to the Mass Effect series.

The computer has control over your other two party members based upon pre-determined strategy instructions you can choose for each of them. This ranges from being stingy with their powers, going wild, using items, which enemies to target and when, and more. Far too late in the game did I realize that it’s way more fun to have your companions go wild in a fight rather than conserve resources. Magic points regenerate somewhat quickly during a battle, so don’t be too precious with them. Let those fireballs fly!

I do have a slight issue with the deluge of numbers that sometimes assault my eyes during a fight. Various colors indicate if an enemy is immune, resistant or vulnerable to certain element, then you have critical hits, and regeneration numbers also flying at you for your MP, HP and super moves. It is…a lot.

When it comes to bosses, they are all varied and generally a pleasure to come up against. Each feels like it has a distinct mechanic that you need to learn to take it down. I did encounter two bosses in particular that I never want to fight again, though: one kept healing itself with my companion’s health because the computer wasn’t programmed well enough to avoid it and another that had an incredibly annoying voice line rotation. I was reaching for my mute button. Which brings us to…

Sound and Music

The good stuff first: the music is great. I’m not usually one to notice music in games, but I tend to clock it if it’s too extreme in one direction or another. Here I find it perfectly pleasant and inoffensive. This is in direct opposition to the sound effects. The repetitive voice lines and noises, especially when collecting items and treasures during exploration or when enemies are casting spells, had me praying for an RFK Jr. brain worm. I also initially thought I would enjoy the way the game used the PS5 controller’s built-in speaker, but after thirty-five hours I was searching for a way to turn it off.

The voice acting is generally well done. Val’s actor is generic and that’s kind of what I want in my main character. As I mentioned before, there are two companions with voice actors who affected my attachment to the characters. I don’t like to get too negative about someone’s artistic choices, so I’ll just mention that the southern accent didn’t work for me. But, if you are a fan of Marcel the Shell with Shoes On like I am, you may fall in love with one of the other party members.

“…if you are a fan of Marcel the Shell with Shoes on…you may fall in love…”

There’s lots of banter within your party as you adventure around, reminding me a lot of a PG version of Baldur’s Gate 3. I appreciate that no matter who’s in your current party, the entire group is involved in the chatting. I never feel like I’m missing dialogue because I choose one character over another.

Graphics and Art Style

I’m not a graphics snob, like some of us at Good Playing With You (cough, cough), but the colors in Visions of Mana are incredible. Our review copy was provided on the PS5 and it had some of the most vibrant and striking colors I’ve seen to date. The forests, snowfields, lava flows and other environments are beautiful and well crafted. Ilystana, the largest city in the world of Mana and one of the elemental realms, is gorgeous.

As mentioned earlier, most of the monsters are so freaking cute that I would rather take them home and cuddle them like my dog than slice them in two with a sword twice the size of my body. Each boss is unique and typically shares a style with the environment you encounter them in. Your companions distinct too, though I did have a bit of trouble telling two of them apart if they were in my party at the same time.

There is a specific visual bug with one companion if she ran with a certain class weapon, but it wasn’t anything egregious.

Replayability and Overall Impressions

The conclusion of the game unlocks New Game+ and a higher difficulty, which I’m excited to check out. I typically play my games on the hardest difficulty, but to complete the review on time I needed to drop it down. I’m itching to get back into the game and test my skills at the higher levels, though I may wait to start from scratch on Xbox so that I can get those sweet, sweet achievements.

Side quests had to also take a back seat during the playthrough but, to be honest, what I did complete wasn’t the most engaging fare. The best thing about them are the rewards, consisting usually of money or a new Ability Seed, but they are largely forgettable tasks ranging between fighting a certain number of monsters or finding a lost item. They feel like a tacked on part of the game, and it’s a bummer that important rewards are locked behind a bit of tedium, especially in the beginning hours. If you need to grind a few levels, make sure to do it with the side quests.

“(Side quests) are largely forgettable tasks…”

Exploration is important, and ideally you don’t want to miss any chests. Some of them contain important character progression items that can be sorely missed. The game puts chest locations on the mini-map, which can put a dent into exploration. This can be especially harmful if, like me, you don’t have any self-control and end up paying more attention to the mini-map and grabbing the next chest over the environment. I wish there was an option to turn off the chest “radar” but still leave the mini-map intact. I’m hoping there’s some reward for collecting all the chests in the game, but I’m not there yet.

I know for a fact there are parts of the game I haven’t explored yet because, even in the starting areas, there are enemies so far above your level you don’t have a chance against them. I’m very curious about what these monsters are guarding. There are also arenas throughout the world called Lesser Elemental Aeries containing fights against enemies that will always match your level. Complete enough of these and you unlock Greater Elemental Aeries, but I haven’t got there yet, either. I’m telling you, this game is stacked and I bet there secrets still left to be discovered.

Verdict

The worst thing I can say about Visions of Mana is that it is time well spent. That’s high praise in my book. I ended the game feeling both satisfied and curious to try out new challenges. I had fun playing it, was invested in the outcome and genuinely affected by the ending. It reminded me of what it felt like to play those first games with my mom, rooting for my success. And I like that vision.

Review Score: 8 out of 10

What Worked For Me

• Deep Character Customization

• Engaging Story and Characters

• Beautiful Presentation

What Didn’t Work For Me

• Repeating and Annoying Sounds and Voice Lines

• Lackluster Side Quests

• Some Visual Mess During Fights