Visions of Mana Review
In a bold opening, Visions of Mana immediately dives into an ambitious narrative, blending past and present events to create a compelling storyline. The plot centers on Val, a soul guard tasked with protecting the chosen alms, who must embark on a journey to the Mana Tree to sacrifice their souls for the survival of the world. While being selected as an alm is regarded as a great honor, it also carries a heavy burden that each chosen one, including Val's best friend Hinna, must grapple with throughout the story. The initial joy and hope in their journey together, though touching, quickly fades as the game settles into its heavier themes.
For newcomers, the battle mechanics can feel overwhelming at first, though the game attempts to mitigate this with a detailed tutorial and accessible reference notes in the main menu. Despite these efforts, the elemental system feels underwhelming, with characters who are supposed to specialize in one element suddenly being able to wield any element as long as they equip the right vessel. While the concept adds flexibility, it undermines the uniqueness of the characters’ elemental identities, especially when the wrong element leads to disastrous results in boss fights.
Though the elemental vessels provide some visual variety and significant damage output, the experience of switching elements lacks depth. The magical transformations are visually striking, but the lack of an option to rewatch these scenes detracts from their impact. Combat allows for easy switching between the three-member team, but the overall strategy feels simplistic, relying on basic tactics like conserving magic for minor battles and unleashing it for bosses. The ring system for learned abilities adds some complexity, but if it’s not managed carefully, players risk fighting bosses with only rudimentary spells, turning battles into frustrating slogs.
The game also introduces elemental aeries—timed battles that provide useful rewards like ability seeds, which can enhance magic and stats. However, these challenges, while initially difficult, lose their edge by the late game, becoming trivial if players diligently exploit elemental weaknesses. The greater aeries, which are unlocked after completing the lesser ones, offer more substantial rewards but require a significant investment in levelling up, making them more of a grind than a truly rewarding challenge.
That wasn’t the only issue. After the main credits rolled and post-game content began, a few glitches surfaced, disrupting the experience. Some save points and chests became completely invisible, an odd problem given that these areas had been clearly visible earlier in the game. While there were still plenty of save points available, and the ability to use them as fast travel spots remained a helpful feature, the fact that they vanished after the credits felt more like a bug than any intentional design. This invisible glitch wasn’t the only technical hiccup—frame rate drops also occurred in areas that previously ran smoothly, further detracting from the post-game experience.
The story's chapter-based structure, while not uncommon, felt strangely disjointed. The chapters had no clear on-screen announcement to mark their start or end, and the varying lengths between chapters made the pacing feel uneven. While this imbalance didn’t necessarily affect the overall enjoyment, it stood out, especially to newcomers unfamiliar with the Mana series. Some chapters flew by in an instant, while others dragged on, making the storytelling feel inconsistent.
The quality of the post-game content also fell short compared to the main game. It added narrative elements that felt like they should have been part of the core plot, and some of the extra bosses had already been encountered earlier. Even worse, it forced players to re-fight the final boss, a battle that had already been a grueling challenge. While there was some logic to this decision, as it was technically the end of the story, the repetition felt unnecessary and diminished the satisfaction of the original fight. The post-game content, in general, seemed to lack the polish and attention to detail that made the base game so engaging, which was disappointing after nearly thirty-eight hours of enjoyment in the main campaign.
VERDICT
From its striking, emotion-charged prologue to the closing credits, Visions of Mana delivers a visually impressive journey, though it doesn’t fully live up to its potential. The magic system and element-switching mechanics are straightforward enough for newcomers, and while the story is engaging, it’s the soundtrack that truly elevates the experience. The characters are likable, but despite these strengths, the game isn’t without its flaws—especially in the post-game content, which feels less polished. Overall, it serves as a decent introduction to the Mana series, though its shortcomings may leave newer players more curious about the past titles than eagerly awaiting the next.