Visions of Mana

Visions of Mana is a game of almosts and I don't mean it's almost 10/10 I mean it's almost ok. For example the story is almost ok if it didn't play out like every other JRPG trying to copy the FFVII formula. Swap Sephiroth for Daedolos and it's pretty f***ing clear from chapter 1 who's going to die off during the story. You see it worked in FFVII because the player spends a huge chunk of time doing goofy stuff with she-who-must-be-killed-off like cross dressing, stamping all over her flowers, rescuing her from a lab. In Visions of Mana they-who-must-be-killed-off is literally an NPC on the side lines of the battlefield. And the only build-up we have is an end of chapter spiel about everything that happened in the chapter... Which brings me to my next point. The dialogue is endless drivel that repeats itself over and over so much that I ended up skipping most of the dialogue in the second half of the game and still understood what was going on. The story has this over emphasis on explaining everything, like everything needs a reason or a backstory or worse a fetch quest to make sure loose ends are tied up. "Hey did you hear about the [b]Rabbites[/b] down the road? Man I was just walking down the road and saw these [b]Rabbites[/b]. They looked pretty menacing so I avoided the [b]Rabbites[/b]. I'm worried about other merchants who might walk the road, what if they run into the [b]Rabbites[/b]... You know, the [b]Rabbites[/b]. The [b]Rabbites[/b] down the road... Go kill the [b]Rabbites[/b]" [i]Our hero valiantly wonders down the road and slays all the [b]Rabbites[/b]...[/i] "Oh hey it's you did you kill all the [b]Rabbites[/b]? I was walking down the road again and didn't see a single [b]Rabbite[/b]. You see this isn't just the road I walk every day, this is the road I take when I need to reach the market. I used to walk this road every day with my pet [b]Rabbite[/b], until one day [b]Rabbites[/b], something something [b]Rabbites[/b]. then [b]Rabbites[/b], more [b]Rabbites[/b] f***ing [b]Rabbites[/b]. Thanks here's some gold... But that piece of gold there is special, you see it's shaped like my pet [b]Rabbite[/b]..." AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH [i]Our hero valiantly pulls the power cord out of their computer[/i]. The soundtrack (I don't normally review these) is almost an absolute banger. There are some parts of the game especially the boss battle against The Gary where there's actual power metal. The only problem is these moments are short and fleeting so you don't get to spend much time bathed in them whilst slaying the [b]Rabbites[/b] down the road! It's almost as if they're doing it to make you buy the Soundtrack. The combat system is very basic. Use element X against element Y, or use element X class strike against element X in which you will do 3x it's HP as damage anyway. Hell you can use a class strike against an enemy that is immune to the element of the class strike and you'll still kill it. The problems were blaringly obvious from the start when I could cheese a lvl 50 dungeon at level 14. Those enemies are the median point on the damage/progression table and their damage couldn't one-shot me, so god forbid, and I was right, enemies above lvl 50 are equally as trivial. 8 elements, 8 Alms and the game gives us 5 characters max and only 3 in combat. There was so much opportunity for diversity and depth but it was all thrown away for what? To have a meaningless, obvious and contrived plot devices? I give it a positive review because at the end of the day I don't regret the time spent. It's a wholesome story and the game feels like it would serve as an entry point into the RPG genre. It's nice to play while having a video playing in the background. I'll give credit where it's due, [b]the level designers for this game did a fantastic job.[/b] Every area looks great and unique. The weather and atmosphere is carried really well. And when the budget started running out and the later stages of the game got smaller they made the effort to keep those areas interesting... Except for the part where they just repeated half the locations to create a bigger dungeon before the final boss.

at best this game is worth $20. would avoid and just spend your money elsewhere.

我不会用你和原神对比， 你不配。

Skills/abilities/spells/passives/Team Comps galore! Banger music tracks and amazing credits song. Sidequests, map markers, special areas, timed trials, post-game unlockables! BUT... Really slow start. Combat is an absolute slog in the beginning and not much story stakes until like... 65% in. Despite my gripes with the combat, AI, story, and some character development, it was fun, and if this is how the Mana series ends, well, I wouldn't be mad.

Excellent jeu dans la lignée de la saga des "of mana" avec des références sur les anciens jeux de la série

I love this game. It's not the greatest for a Mana game (Secret of Mana will always be my favorite), but it's a solid entry in the series and a fun overall game. Highly recommend for long time fans or for anyone looking for an entry point into the series.

Honestly incredibly vanilla and boring. The gameplay and combat are very basic, the story is a genuine slog and the characters are walking mediocre stereotypes.

If you remade Secret of Mana in modern times, you would get this. Its not a 10/10, its more of an 8/10, but it feels like a 10/10. Secret of Mana is a classic, and because of that it gets some leeway and its short comings are disregarded. Visions has some short comings too, but it still maintains the same feel and charm of the SNES classic. I enjoyed my time and never got bored. I even did a bunch of side quests. It felt like an honest to goodness return to form to the old style of games where you just sit down and have fun. The best part for me was trying to beat the lvl 50 enemies while under lvl 20. The option alone made me think of ways to somehow win. I really hope this was a sign we'll get more Mana in this way.