Visions of Mana (PlayStation 5) Review

Diving right into a gripping prologue, Visions of Mana starts as it means to go on. Entwining past events with the present is a continuous integral part of the strong storytelling. The plot focuses on Val, selected as a soul guard, someone who must protect the chosen ones, alms, on their journey to the Mana Tree to offer their souls for the sake of everyone's existence. Being selected by the fairy to be an alm is an honour that many desire, although it comes with its own burden that each chosen one wrestles with internally during their grand journey. Val's best friend Hinna is the Alm of Fire; the joy and hope as they journey together is sweet and infectious.

Entering a series with no background understanding of the battle mechanics can be a little daunting, but the comprehensive tutorial alongside the ability to refer to the tutorial notes in the main menu ensures that beginners to Visions of Mana are eased into the combat system. Naturally elements play a large role in the gameplay mechanics. Initially it felt odd having characters labelled as one element wielder literally being able to wield any element (subject to story progression) thanks to equipping element vessels. Switching these vessels is absolutely needed for boss battles, as using the wrong element can lead to minimal damage impact and even death. It didn't take long to get accustomed to using the different elements to their advantage.

Many of the elemental vessels were a joy to use, and the unique abilities for each element class provided both a visual feast and an impressive amount of damage. They not only change the element of the character, but it changes their outfit. The first element switch has a magical transformation-it is a shame there isn't an option to rewatch this whenever elements are switched because it adds to the overall immersion. Fights may only control one character at a time but changing to a different protagonist in the three-member team is as easy as pressing a button. Additionally, in every encounter it is possible to alter how the other members act, making it possible to conserve magic for routine brawls and drain the magic supply for bosses. A ring system is used for learned abilities, and it is crucial that these are constantly updated as skills are learned, or else a boss could be fought with only basic spells, making it an arduous battle.

Dotted around the terrain are elemental aeries, a timed battle for a specific element that can be attempted endlessly until successful completion. Most are lesser elemental aeries, with the greater elemental ones seen as giant towers that only unlock when all of that element's lesser aeries are finished. The correct elemental vessel is needed to unlock it, leading to some elements only being possible to complete later in the tale. While completely optional, the aeries' rewards involve valuable ability seeds, items that can have a positive input on general fighting success. For example some allow continuous magic casting for a specific element as well as stat increases. The aeries can be hard to complete, but if enemies are fought regularly and elemental weaknesses are exploited, by late game these challenges become a piece of cake. The greater aeries require much more effort and levelling up to gain victory.

Battle is naturally a key feature of Visions of Mana but so too is traversing the highly varied terrain. Initially the only way to travel is on foot, with some elemental vessel use to access seemingly out of reach heights through a gust of wind or magical bubbles, but over the course of the game several creatures come to the party's aid who can be summoned almost any time in certain areas with amusing call actions. All the available mounts provided a speedy travel method, and presumably some if not all are well-known creatures of previous Mana titles. Utilising one of them still allows collection of the many chests dotted around the world which hold a range of useful items, although fights are then avoided unless the party dismounts. The other mounts were for traversing large areas on the world map, so chests never appeared with them.

Supplies can be topped up from shops in every settlement, so long as there is still money available. Fights do produce both money and experience, excluding aeries, but the easiest way to fatten the purse is through side quests. The tell-tale exclamation point marked by the person who needs help and also shown on an area map usually means money will be included in the reward. They are the standard fetch quests and defeating specific monsters or finding a lost item, but completing them never felt boring. It was interesting learning the Mana lore through the brief encounters. Later in the game a lot of side quests suddenly appeared when returning to previously cleared areas which was a happy addition to the wealth hoarding.

There is a lot to love about the journey to the Mana tree. It was a surprise to need tissues at several points in the game because of how events unravelled. The plot twists felt out of the blue and were gut-wrenching in nature. The first time it happened was the most emotive because until then it had predominantly been an upbeat experience with the brightly coloured graphics and the positive outlook of the party. The twists were harder to take because the connection with all the characters felt so real. Usually in a game there can be one or two main party members who are less appealing, but when every single one feels like a friend, watching their hearts get pulled in unpleasant directions is hard. Each one had their own private difficulties to overcome, and getting to know them and their issues was gripping. The only time immersion lessened was visiting settlements, when only Val was allowed to be the main character. Maybe it was done because it is his duty to protect the alms on their journey. It was jarring having the controlled character instantly switch back to Val at every town and village, especially if he wasn't included on the main team.

That was not the only issue. There were a few glitches which only happened once the main credits rolled and the post-game content began. This included a few save points and chests being completely invisible. There are absolutely enough save points in each area, and using these meridians as fast travel points is a huge bonus. It felt like the invisible nature was an error rather than a secret spot. The save point was clearly on the map, and had previously been visible earlier when first encountered, but somehow after the credits rolled it became invisible. There were also some noticeable frame rate drops in areas that previously hadn't been problematic.

The story is divided up into chapters, not an unusual feature in itself. However, neither the beginning nor the end of a chapter is visibly announced on screen. Furthermore the length of some chapters was so short it made the overall balance of the tale feel uneven. This didn't have an impact on enjoyability, it just seemed odd why some chapters were long and others passed by in the blink of an eye. Perhaps this is common with the previous Mana titles, as a newcomer it was a noticeable point.

The extra chapters after the credits felt not as good quality as the base game. It added story elements that could easily have been included main plot, some of the extra bosses had already been featured, and then it demanded the previous end game boss to be battled again! On one hand it made sense as it was the end of the story and it had to finish somewhere. Yet on the other hand having just got through what was an almost impossibly hard fight, it felt utterly pointless to repeat an identical battle that had recently been completed. It felt like a lot of the post-game content was not given the exact careful attention the rest of the otherwise really great title received, which is a shame given how engaging the base game with thirty-eight hours of enjoyment was.