Visions of Mana Review – Tragic Tree Tales

Visions of Mana Review

Mana games are consistently almost amazing. Every one I’ve ever played is just one or two changes away from greatness. For Visions of Mana the persistent issues are more nebulous. I love the story, the character designs, and the setting. Somehow the combat stumbles on me. It should all work, and yet it doesn’t. The pieces (multiple classes, specials, and skill trees) never quite click into place. Even so, I found myself compelled to continue. This story is a real banger.

A Real Page-Turner

For obvious reasons I’m keeping this pretty vague. But the hook follows thusly: The Mana Tree must be watered with regular sacrifices or else magic dries up altogether. Every settlement has their own tales of calamity that arise from tributes failing to appear. Death, destruction, the whole nine yards. So everyone is extremely okay with their best and brightest taking a long walk to the tree of death. It’s considered an honor. I was immediately and completely hooked. Are there dissidents? Does this system ever get upended? Are there alternatives, or am I gonna have to watch all these beautiful idiots die at the story’s climax? It’s a fantastic premise.

I’m serious about the ‘beautiful idiots’ line, by the way. These character models are remarkable. They represent the endpoint of the Mana franchise’s whole design philosophy. Every outfit is crammed with detail, the colors are incredible, and none of it makes any sense. No one can properly emote, but this is pretty normal for anime-style characters. Half the fun of the class system is seeing what amazing new outfits you unlock. There’s a level of horniness on display that barely avoids feeling exploitative. Something about the story being so whimsical and sad keeps the aesthetic properly balanced.

Exceptional Character Models

The rest of the visuals are all over the place in terms of quality. You can’t go into most buildings, but the sky boxes can get incredible. Wood and stone look weirdly simple, while the actual towns are designed with tons of care and attention. The monster designs are detailed yet simplistic. This leads to Visions looking awesome or awful depending on which literal second you’re watching the screen. It’s honestly kind of remarkable.

Combat is missing something. Regular attacks feel sluggish and ineffectual. Your specials pack more punch, but it’s conditional, determined by a dense type chart. I spent a lot of time feeling weak and/or frustrated. And yet, I always had a way out. I could change classes, swap out moves and ability seeds, and even change the difficulty. There were moves on cooldown timers and progress bars I could lean on. I was blessed with a surplus of options. But even with all of this, combat still didn’t click like I hoped. Never mind feeling powerful, my attacks too often felt useless. Like I was just hitting buttons and waiting for it to be over. There were peaks along with the valleys, but the struggle was real.

So Much Treasure To Find

Moving around the world of Visions is mostly cool. By that I mean you have a double jump, but hunting for treasure gets a little tedious. To be fair, the act of seeking out hot spots on your map is pretty fun! At least at first. But somehow, I couldn’t maintain my enthusiasm for the activity. Not even the promise of rare items was enough to keep me going. Although you can also unlock bonus dungeons through this same treasure hunt. So if pocket change and candy isn’t enough incentive, there are other rewards. Mounts speed things up, fast travel even more so. Maybe when you’re not speeding through for review purposes, little diversions like treasure hunting are more fun?

Of course, if you’re not careful, you can run into an unwinnable battle while you’re exploring. Visions will randomly whip up a batch of incredibly high-level monsters that look exactly like regular enemies. These fights are impossible at first, but the other battles can get pretty tough as well. It’s a little too easy to get stunlocked by certain attacks. Your only recourse is judicious use of the dodge button, which is great for padding out the runtime of your average encounter. The controls just don’t feel precise enough for the high mobility strategies that Visions expects of you.

Doesn’t Quite Click

I’m always almost in love with Mana games. There’s just some minor thing that won’t click into place. Visions of Mana is no exception. I’m hooked by the story and the characters are gorgeous. I have a lot of fun exploring this world and meeting all these fascinating people. But the combat still feels a little stiff and sluggish. Battle customization is a mile wide and an inch deep. The plot dragged me by the collar, and the boss fights were a pleasant highlight. I wish the regular combat had some similar hooks to deploy, however. If you’ve been waiting for the next great Mana game, I honestly don’t know if this is the one. But Visions is pretty great for a Mana game.

***A PS5 code was provided by the publisher***