Visions of Mana

Fans of Japanese role-playing games have had to wait a full 18 years for Square Enix to get their act together and release the fifth installation of the Mana series, called Visions of Mana. But here we are, finally, and after so many years, one almost assumes that the developers at Ouka Studios and the renowned Japanese publisher have stepped up to the plate and banged the proverbial "big drum", right? That is, we expect it to be bursting with boundless budget, massive scope and grand visions on par with Dragon Quest or Final Fantasy's numbered games. But this is not the case. Instead, Square Enix has been beating a small, old and very Japanese drum. Stay tuned, and I'll tell you more.

In Visions of Mana, four years have come to an end since the last game and once again it's time to be sacrificed to the sacred mana tree. Particularly admirable individuals in towns and villages will be selected to embark on a journey with the ultimate goal of ascending the tree and thus maintaining the cosmos in the world. As Val, I am appointed Soul Guard, and my job is to escort these so-called "Alms" and make sure they arrive safely. In addition to Val's lover Hiina, I meet the fiery lanti Careena, the sad catman Morley, the stoic Palamena and the musician Julei.

What all the characters have in common is that their English voice actors don't get the job done. It's as simple as that. If English is a requirement for you, you should think once, twice or three times about whether Visions of Mana is for you. It's downright embarrassing how the developers, for example, tried to emphasize Careena's rural features with a kind of half-baked Texas accent, and Val and the others are not much better voiced. The actors seem to have focused more on imitations of how anime "should sound" in English, rather than focusing on a genuinely believable performance. Thankfully, however, the original Japanese performances deliver at a fully acceptable level.

The journey, despite minor mishaps and problem solving, moves steadily forward. The pace is well-structured where the gang moves from town to town to pick up all the Alms and move on to the tree. The varied countryside trampled by our shoes, paws and bare feet serves its purpose both graphically and design-wise. The vast grassy fields of Longren sway gently in the wind and the snow-covered mountain village is surrounded by beautiful glacial formations as far as the eye can see, but the world also suffers from an almost universal lifelessness and unflattering linear structure.

Whether you can argue that a desert should be deserted and that a mountain pass or forest paths are rarely wider than a couple of meters, there is a lack of detail, destructible and dynamic objects or something that better masks the corridors and the genre's classic clusters of enemies that kindly wait for me along the way. For apart from well-placed pots of mana, life and coin, literally everything is carved in stone - not just the aforementioned mountain passes - and to call it solely retro charm is to lie.

But perhaps partly because of the streamlining of the world, the journey is going fast. From A to B, to C and D. The main story is, for better or worse, also largely devoid of twists and turns. After picking up an Alm, it's soon off to the next village or town, and I don't have time to give the sloppily written dialog any further thought - there are enemies to slaughter! Most of the game time is spent on the circular battlefields that activate and close around me as soon as I attack an enemy. In the real-time based fights, I'm not just hammering away with either fast and weak or slow and strong attacks, but also trying to manage the multitude of skills at my disposal. Basically, the fights are about trying to parry the opponent's element types, which are often based on what the enemy looks like. That is, if I encounter an evil duck, I can only assume that I will counter its water element, and if I encounter a dragon - I will make sure to extinguish it faster than a burning fleece sweater.

These elemental skills are learned by swapping around vessels among my characters, which are unlocked over the course of the adventure, and by passing them around and testing yourself, you can tailor and create your gang to your own needs. A perfectly good, easy-to-understand but deep system that both encourages and rewards you to try your best, which is especially needed for the epic boss battles. Apart from these, the enemies unfortunately do not differ significantly in how they are attacked. It's a matter of quickly identifying the element type and any negative status effects like sleep, freeze, or burn and, if I can't handle the enemy group on the first try, re-skilling or re-equipping my group to be ready for round two. The bosses, however, are both numerous and well-designed. Against them, the combat system really comes into its own, and you have to keep your tongue firmly in your cheek. Here you have to parry and avoid attacks, find weak points and utilize status effects in a completely different way than against ordinary enemies.

Unfortunately, the rewards from the giant monsters are on the meager side: miscellaneous seeds that can be exchanged for percentage status upgrades or a skill that rarely fits into my set. Overall, the loot setup doesn't extend much further than having to buy new armour and weapons in every city I come to. It completely lacks the loot-centred incentive found in almost every Western role-playing game. The drive forward lies instead in the pace and the story, which despite its simplicity and banal dialogues offers some fine moments and a packed second half. The initially unkempt and shrill characters grow, are gradually forced to learn to take responsibility and are faced with the question of whether they are mature enough to put the collective before their own. However, when magic, bosses and skills reach their peak towards the end, the game doesn't quite catch up. Despite choosing the performance mode, it coughs and sputters in some battles and in the beautiful cutscenes in a way that should not happen on a PlayStation 5.

I reached the credits in just under 22 hours, but on the other hand needed to rush to meet the deadline. A couple of extra side quests and a less frantic style of play are guaranteed to give you around 25-30 solid hours. In other words, Visions of Mana is a nice comeback as long as you go in with the expectation that this isn't Square Enix banging its big drum. The game is shorter than the genre often prides itself on, it's retro charm in a not always entirely well made and, above all, it's very Japanese. But if this little, old franchise is your kind of music - then you have a great adventure ahead of you.