Though I grind on the cutting edge of RPGs and generational graphics improvements, I still experience the odd “then and now” whiplash when playing modern glow-ups from ancient franchises. FF VII Rebirth was a gorgeous and recent mind-blower; today, the Ghibli-like visions in Visions of Mana are the latest to make my head spin over gaming’s insane progress.
How far we’ve come from the humble 2D, 16-bit, text-scrolly genesis of Secret of Mana (1993) to today’s subject (which is somehow only the fifth main entry in this series and yet 20 years distant to the previous one). It’s not difficult to figure out why we’re being made to feel more nostalgic than usual, too—one of Ouka Studios’ stated directives was to make Vision’s gameplay and world design evoke elements from those primordial prequels.
To achieve this, a hand-picked staff of returning franchise vets were recruited to bring us right back to our roots (of the Mana tree). I’m happy to report that it’s a goal they more or less nail in this modern entry. If you grew with the series, Visions feels like a lovely homecoming.
Before we do peel back some bark and burrow into the game mechanics, let’s set the stage a little. Despite all its technicolour trappings, Visions takes place in a bit of a Hunger Games scenario; every four years, tributes are selected from every elemental-based village in the land for a soul-reaping to avert localised catastrophes and appease the Mana Tree. Furthermore, a Soul Guard (in this instance, a fire bro named Val) is appointed to collect, protect, and deliver these sacrificial lambs to their slaughter.
That sounds pretty grimdark on paper, but the overwhelming majority of people in this world are totally, cheerfully on board with the utter dissolution of a few to serve the needs of the many. Initially, I had some trouble connecting with a few mush-headed party members, and actually spent a few hours rooting for the antagonists. They’re essentially bereaved victims who have the sense to question this bizarre status quo.
Despite all its technicolour trappings, Visions takes place in a bit of a Hunger Games scenario
Fortunately, the long pilgrimage that follows isn’t just a bunch of breathtaking scenery changes and escalating boss fights, it’s also regular rounds of group-based soul searchings on the value of duty versus love, not to mention blind tradition versus risking everything for a slim shot at a better way. By the end, I had become very much invested in this maturing troupe and the strange ways of their world.
The script writers certainly didn’t make that bonding process as easy as it could have been, though, thanks to some saccharine sweet cuteness. Luckily the worst offenders are transitory bit-part characters, like cat-people who insist on replacing their words (mew’ve been warned). Mind you, there is one main party member who insists on speaking in agonizing alliterations.
It starts out clever; then you’ll want to waste valuable MP to cast Silence on her by the ten-hour halfway mark.
One thing I will say about the storytelling is that it’s a mighty stop-start affair in places. Ouka Studios is big on lengthy (but admittedly well acted and directed) cutscene dumps. To make these brake-pumps worse, they often seem to be nested around the many entry/exit loading points of Visions’ interconnected mini-sandboxes.
I think there could have been a better way to do it. While I adore the organic-feeling, out-of-battle chatter that bubbles up in the vast open field treks, surely those moments of chest/item hunts and double-jumpy-jump could have been better used for lessening the locked-in exposition dumps.
Speaking of tons of natter, allow me to chew your ear off about the extensive battle systems here. Essentially, what we have here is Trials of Mana (2020) on steroids—a mix of hero-swapping real-time combat, or you can use the “ring system” for a turn-based approach that’s more menu-heavy and methodical. Personally, I stuck with the former and left the two allies in my party (from a possible pool of five) to their own devices. They were effective enough.
Giving creatures the business is often a frenetic Square button mash at weak points, typically after you’ve leapt or dashed around your foe’s flashy attacks. Heavier hits belong to whatever magic spells you’ve applied to your short Abilities list. Alternatively, your cooldown-based and class centric Elemental Vessel attacks on R2. For example, you could bind a major enemy with the Wind-boomerang hurricane Vessel or use a Flame Vessel to ride a fire rocket through a mob to set the lot alight.
Last but not least, we have the big-bertha Class Strikes that take ages to build via repeated attacks landed. What makes those extra interesting is that the Class system allows any party member to imbue themselves with the Element of their choosing (but no double-ups are allowed). Side pro or con: it also changes their weapon type / reach / combos, etc, and sometimes your most expensive bought weapons cannot be brought across from one class to the next. Delicious tactical decisions.
sometimes your most expensive bought weapons cannot be brought across from one class to the next. Delicious tactical decisions.
Running in the background, you also have a constantly evolving Element Plot (read Skill tree) that permanently buff each hero with boons overwhelmingly geared towards benefiting teammates rather than themselves. All of these systems combined proved to be an intoxicating and rewarding means to cobble together a complementary troupe with which to go kick kawaii enemy arses with.
And the biggest side bonus to all of this Class chopping and changing? Little Power Rangers-like wardrobe change animations. You know, to fully celebrate swapping into some of the most weirdly intricate and battle impractical clobber ever devised, plus a hairstyle that looks like you dropped a grand at Caesar Flickerman’s barber. I kid, but I love…
You’d better believe that you’re gonna need that tight class cohesion in the endgame, too. Because, well, Visions of Mana commits the cardinal sin of many endgames. At least twice, when I figured all the pieces were in place for an ultimate showdown, hours of busywork popped up instead. The boss reuse in the last gasp is particularly blatant, and the world suddenly deciding to get stingy with the savepoints grates even harder.
Despite that irritating runaround and a grinder than expected dismount, ultimately, I found Vision’s journey juice to be well worth the squeeze. Plot-wise, it felt like there’s a constant drip of new mysteries to uncover and some more backstory to a beloved colleague to peel back. It’s also quite difficult to know the nature of the many bosses ahead, which means there’s a ton of impromptu tactics—those chip, see, then adapt investigations—to make these battles a panicky puzzle to solve.
Furthermore, when it comes to production values and performance, they’re both at a very high standard. The worst of the former was some uneven lip-synching (which weirdly and sporadically worsened for some minor characters in the final stretch). With how this runs, I didn’t experience one iota of the input lag and frame skipping which some people copped in the demo (I’ve only played preview and final code). So there’s some great news, for PS5 owners at least.
Ultimately, when it came time for me to leaf the Mana Tree behind for good—roughly 23 hours later, a runtime you could double—Visions had sold me. While this isn’t perfection, Ouka Studios’ attempts to bring modern relevance to a legendary RPG series have borne fruit. Spend your lucre on it if you love a rich cast of evolving characters, sumptuous storybook locales, and a ridiculously malleable class and combat layer that’s sweeter than Grizzly syrup and just as addicting.
