The Mana series of video games is over three decades old, beginning in 1991 as Final Fantasy Adventure for the Game Boy handheld system. It has been eight years since the last release in this franchise, with 2016’s mobile-centric Adventures of Mana the last new entry, even if that was itself a remake of the original 1992 Adventure title. The first mainline entry in almost two decades, Visions of Mana, is nearly upon us, and Square Enix invited MP1st to get some world-first hands-on time with a preview build of the game ahead of its release later this year. Read our preview to see how this latest iteration of the venerable franchise is shaping up.

So Many Colors!

Visions of Mana sports a brightly colored palette, with a cel-shaded art style that could fit in with any JRPG. There’s nothing groundbreaking here in terms of looks, but it is gorgeous all the same. We saw wide, sweeping vistas, along with deep, treacherous canyons, and tall, snowy mountains, all within our short 1.5-hour or so trip into the world of Mana. It’s one you’ll no doubt enjoy visiting time and time again. Audio is also equally fitting, with an orchestral-like soundtrack that helps add to the epic adventure you and your crew are undertaking. There’s plenty of voiceover work as well, with voices pretty well suited to each character.

A Whirlwind Tour

We only had time to take in the sights of two locations: Mt. Gala and Fallow Steppe, areas of the game that we were informed were still under active development. You’d be hard-pressed to figure out which parts still needed work, though, and with the release due in just a handful of months, we’ll take that as a good sign.

Combat in Visions of Mana felt standard for an action RPG, with a combination of using the face and shoulder buttons to perform various attacks, with some occasional jumping mixed in to juggle enemies. There are some more advanced mechanics involving Spirit Vessels, but with the short amount of time on offer we couldn’t really check this out much. Our main use of the vessels involved activating giant columns of air in order to reach new areas across a chasm. But you can use them to change up your attack options, and can use a Moon-based one to stop the flow of time for a targeted enemy for a moment as you lay on stacked damage.

Open to Tactics

While the overworld is open, battles are best described as semi-open: once you’re engaged in combat, you are restricted to a large sphere around the enemies, though escaping may be possible at certain points. Changing characters is possible at any time during combat, which opens up combinations of tactics that other games might not offer. The action occurs in real-time, so there are naturally shortcut keys accessed through holding the shoulder buttons so you’re not busy rifling through menus as things heat up.

Visions of Mana is shaping up to provide a whimsical take on a series that has been around since the ‘90s. The bright color palette, frenetic action, easy to understand combat, and orchestral soundtrack should all add up to a fun time, not only for fans of the venerable franchise, but also for those who may be new to the series. We’ll know for sure if the wait for a new mainline game has been worth it when Visions of Mana launches this summer for the PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series, and Windows platforms.