Hands On: Visions of Mana Is Far From Revolutionary, But It Should Still Be a Rock Solid Action RPG

2020's Trials of Mana remake showed us that the series' classic formula can be adapted into a full 3D adventure — and Visions of Mana clearly intends to push things forward. A brand new instalment in Square Enix's longstanding franchise, Visions seems to retain the fantastical charm of its predecessors, while also expanding the boundaries of what we've typically come to expect from a Mana title.

Based on our time with the game's demo version — which you can download right now from the PS Store — we're confident in saying that this one's got potential. Purely in terms of scope, Visions seems surprisingly ambitious, offering up vast, open world-style environments and sizeable towns that actually feel quite busy. It's obviously been a long time since an all-new Mana release, but so far, this instalment presents a fairly modernised take on the property.

Having said that, the storytelling is still very Mana. The overarching plot involves a pilgrimage to the titular Tree of Mana — a recurring goal in just about every prior title — and the main characters are pretty damn dry. Protagonist Val and his childhood friend Hinna are just about the most generic do-gooder duo you can imagine, and honestly, we'd be shocked if they end up offering any notable depth in the full game.

Fortunately, their surrounding party members appear to be a little more intriguing. The cat-featured Morley is your calm and collected type, while Careena, a chirpy priestess, brings some much needed bite to the group. The hope is that as more heroes join Val's cause, fun character dynamics and interactions will carry the otherwise basic narrative.

Visions doesn't want to abandon its old school storytelling roots — and there's nothing necessarily wrong with that — but we do wonder whether that's the right call when it comes to hooking new players.

Moving on, we do really like the aforementioned scope of the game's outdoor areas. The demo gives you a rather large spread of land to explore, and it certainly looks the part, with a lot of colourful vegetation dotting the landscape. Interestingly, the game actually indicates points of interest on your map, be they treasure chests or combat trials — and honestly, we found ourselves appreciating this approach. It's not that traversing the environment is boring, but the size of the place does mean that without markers, uncovering every chest would be a serious chore.

Of course, this wouldn't be Mana without various monsters prowling the countryside, and you'll encounter plenty of the beasts as you march from town to town. Battle begins when you get close enough to your enemies, and then it's a case of engaging in Visions' action combat system, which will feel familiar to anyone who's dabbled in the series before.

It's a very straightforward system consisting of one-button combos, heavy attacks, dodge rolls, and magic spells. Thankfully, the demo hands you three distinct party members, so you can get a decent grasp on the ebb and flow of battle. Overall, we'd say it's nicely paced and pretty engaging, despite its simplistic mechanics. We're hesitant to call it a meaningful evolution of classic Mana combat, but we did enjoy taking on the demo's tougher opponents — several of which can be hunted down in certain locations.

However, the undisputed highlight has to be the big boss fight that occurs at the end of the demo. In predictable RPG fashion, Val and the gang are ambushed by a massive squid just minutes after boarding a ship towards their next destination. We've lost count of how many times we've seen this exact scenario unfold, but it still makes for a great boss battle, complete with bullet-hell bubbles and cinematic attacks. More of these in the full game, please.

With moment-to-moment combat covered, we should detail Visions' class system, which could genuinely be the game's biggest win. The gist of it is that as the story progresses, you'll gain access to a growing roster of elemental spirits, and by channeling these entities, each party member can unlock new classes. Admittedly, the demo doesn't give you much to work with, but there's abundant potential here for in-depth party customisation, as classes come with their own fighting styles, weapon types, and abilities.

Val, for example, wields a comically large greatsword when he's commanding the wind elemental, allowing him to specialise as a crowd-clearing warrior. Swap to the moon elemental, though, and he'll opt for a much more defensive lance and shield loadout. These two classes play much differently from one another, and it's got us excited to see what the full release has up its sleeve.

Based on the demo alone, it's easy to argue that Visions of Mana isn't going to blow anyone away. It's very much a continuation of the series' classic RPG structure — complete with what seems to be a wholly predictable story — but those looking for a more whimsical, old school adventure could be in for a treat. In any case, we're looking forward to the full thing, even though this demo has served to keep our expectations in check.

Have you tried the Visions of Mana demo? What do you think of it? Are you looking forward to the full game? Have your say in our poll, and then embark on an epic quest in the comments section below.