Visions of Mana – Review

Visions of Mana is the long awaited sequel to the Mana series of games. This time around the game revolves around the Alms of the Elementals. They get chosen each year to make the journey to the Mana Tree. The Mana Tree is where the Alms make the ultimate sacrifice to ensure that the Elementals will regain their power to keep the balance in the realm.

The story follows Val, a Soul Guard who is tasked to guide the alms on their journey to the Mana Tree. The cast of characters are varied and have their own unique quirks and personalities. I can say that the characters were well written and you can’t help but root or not root for them as they convey their hopes and dreams.

Throughout their journey the characters will interact with each other. Sometimes they will talk about their current situation or will talk about things that happened in the past. These little interactions are the bread and butter of the game . This makes the game feel so alive as it brings these characters to life.

The combat is a bit of an improvement from the previous Mana game but I think that it could still be improved. For one thing, there seems to be input lag when you try to activate a skill from the shortcut menu. The ring system can feel a bit like an afterthought because due to the fast paced combat you can easily forget that you have access to the ability ring. You really can only use a few of the abilities in combat anyway because you have a limited amount of MP and the shortcut menu is just more accessible.

The class system is interesting and allows you to have different playstyles based on the class that you equip. You have 8 classes to choose from for each of your characters. However, because each class is tied to a vessel (which is the item that grants them the class abilities), you cannot equip the same vessel to two characters. That is the only limitation this game has when it comes to classes. I wish there was a way that you can duplicate the vessel or something but I guess this makes it so that you have to decide which classes you want to bring into battle.

The weapons that your characters equipped is also connected to the classes. Which means that each class will have its own set of weapons that you will use in battle. It is an interesting concept but I wish that you can just equip any kind of weapon for each class as long as it is restricted to that character. Because there are some weapons that I feel don’t fit the playstyle I want but it’s linked to the class I’m using. So it feels like I have no choice in this regard.

Although you have five characters to choose from. You can only bring three characters in your party. You have to be very strategic in terms of using the right party members and using the right classes for your party. And even though you can only bring three characters the good thing is all your characters level up together regardless if they are in your party or not. This eliminates the need to level up each character individually making it easier for you to switch them in and out.

The music really fits the theme and the game even utilizes the use of the controller speaker as it reflects some sounds through the controller. You can even hear the footsteps of each step your character makes.

The world of Mana is vast and there are lots to explore. You have side quests that you can pick up along the way and serves as a way for you to get more experience to level up your characters. There are also collectibles that you can pick up in the world that you can use as currency to purchase items or to increase the levels of classes of your characters. It also helps that you have different modes of travels like the Pikul which you can summon to ride on land. Or Vuscav which you can summon to ride on water. For a vast open world, it is not tiresome to explore and it just feels like this world that’s living and breathing. Especially because the enemies you fight are visible on the land and you can just approach them to fight them.

Visions of Mana is a vibrant world with endearing characters that you will want to keep safe. A world filled with adventure and has brought back my love for JRPGs. If you like action adventure JRPGs then you can never go wrong with Visions of Mana. It is a game that will truly leave a mark in your heart.