#Mana series

[superfamiblog]

Seiken Densetsu 3/Trials of Mana (Square, 1995)

[frayed-symphony]

Head empty, only Visions of Mana

[chacusha]

Visions of Mana class system

A lot of information about Vision of Mana's class system has been released on the Japanese website (see source).

Val's classes: [No element:] Soul Guard (moribito). [Wind:] Rune Knight. [Moon:] Aegis. [Water:] Duelist. [Fire:] Liege (Lord). [Wood:] Edelfrei (Swordmaster).

Val's classes are very "knight" archetype, mostly based on Duran's classes (Duelist, Liege, and Edelfrei) with a bit of Riesz (Rune Knight) and some that are new although still in line with the knight theme (Aegis).

Careena's classes: [No element:] Oracle (kannagi). [Wind:] Dancer (maihime). [Moon:] Moon-reader(?) (tsukiyomi). [Water:] Dragon Master. [Fire:] Divine Fist (Godhand). [Wood:] Exorcist(?) (onmyouji).

Most of Careena's classes are new ones based around a kind of priestess or shaman sort of vibe (Oracle, Dancer, Tsukiyomi - not sure what the localized name for this will be but I wonder if it will be something like Fortune Teller - and Onmyouji). But some of her classes reference Riesz (Dragon Master) and Kevin (Divine Fist - this outfit is BOMB by the way).

Morley's classes: [No element:] Ranger. [Wind:] Nomad (Wanderer). [Moon:] Nightblade. [Water:] Hermit. [Fire:] Rogue. [Wood:] Samurai.

Morley's classes are entirely based on Hawkeye's classes (Ranger, Nomad, Nightblade, Rogue), with some new additions along that same thief/rogue/vagrant vein (Hermit, Samurai - I wonder if this one will be localized as Ronin or something to fit the theme).

Palamena's classes: [No element:] Queen. [Wind:] Rune Seer (Rune Master). [Moon:] Empress. [Water:] Grand Diviner. [Fire:] Masquer (Masquerade). [Wood:] Beastleader (Beast Tamer).

Palamena seems to have a mix of royalty-themed classes (Queen, Empress), Angela's classes (Rune Seer, Grand Diviner), and some new additions that seem quite quirky (Masquer, Beastleader). I'm a fan of the pirate-themed Masquer costume and the blue Grand Diviner costume (makes me think of Angela's pixel art).

Julei's classes: [No element:] Custodian (Watcher). [Wind:] Hamelin. [Moon:] Warlock. [Water:] Scholar. [Fire:] Gatekeeper. [Wood:] Sage.

Julei is the squishiest mage ever the party healer, so his classes are very much based on Charlotte's (Warlock, Sage; Scholar is not a Charlotte class but is kinda in line with that theme). He also seems to have a sentry theme as well (Custodian, Gatekeeper), and I'm not sure what is going on with the Hamelin class; maybe it will have some musical/musical instrument elements to it given that horn on his hip?

Overall, it looks like we have four of Trials of Mana's six classes that are aligned with one character each (Duran (->Val), Hawkeye (->Morley), Angela (->Palamena), and Charlotte (->Julei)), with the last two (Riesz and Kevin) being distributed wherever they fit.

Anyway, I am so excited. I love me a good class system, especially when it comes with different costumes, especially when the costume designs are as fun and elaborate as these ones are. (This is like Bravely Default all over again, haha.)

[yoh-yosaku]

LEGEND OF MANA

[tenvert]

Angela from Trials of Mana! ✨💖

[zwei2x]

Nostalgia Pin-up | Duran | Trials of Mana (1995/2020) ⚔️

Duran, the classic "Himbo with a Sword" of the Mana Series!! The Mana games are actually amongst my favorite of all times, with Trials being way "Up There"!

[fostersffff]

The redesigns for the Mana Spirits in Visions of Mana are all pretty nice, and I definitely like that Dryad has more going on, but I really wish she still had the perma-wiggle she had in Trials.

[demifiendrsa]

Visions of Mana | Announce Trailer

Visions of Mana will launch for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 4, and PC (Microsoft Store, Steam) in 2024.

Title logo

Key visual

Screenshots

First details

A brand-new entry in the beloved Mana series, Visions of Mana is the first mainline instalment in more than 15 years. Visions of Mana will return to the series action RPG roots and take players on a new adventure with protagonist Val, a soul guard assigned to protect his childhood friend, who has been chosen by the Faerie as the Alm of Fire to travel to the Tree of Mana and rejuvenate the mana flow. Square Enix released a new trailer which provides a first look at the newly imagined world of Mana in the all-new Visions of Mana. The trailer features action-packed gameplay and showcases a vibrant world where players will be able to journey across a range of breathtaking environments, battle with an array of enemies and monsters, including fan-favorite Rabites, while exploring a world where the powers of nature and elemental spirits connect. Fans and newcomers alike will also get to experience new and evolved gameplay with real-time 3D combat. Since the series’ debut in 1991 as Final Fantasy Adventure, a spin-off of the Final Fantasy series, Mana games have immersed players in bright vibrant worlds, breathtaking environments, heartwarming characters and high fantasy storylines across many genres and platforms. Fans of the series can expect new designs of the series’ beloved creatures from Mana series Illustrator Airi Yoshioka and a new captivating musical score composed by Mana series composers Hiroki Kikuta, Tsuyoshi Sekito and Ryo Yamazaki. “I am delighted to finally be able to reveal Visions of Mana, the first mainline instalment to Mana series in over fifteen years,” said Mana series Producer, Masaru Oyamada. “The development team have been working hard to ensure that Visions of Mana remains faithful to the series that players know and love while also offering fans and newcomers a fresh new experience with an all-new story, characters, and gameplay mechanics. We cannot wait to share more details about the game with you soon.” To celebrate the reveal of Visions of Mana, popular series artist HACCAN created new teaser artwork which gives players a glimpse of the iconic Tree of Mana against one of the game’s enchanting vistas and a variety of the heartwarming characters that players can expect to encounter within the game.

[denahi]

To celebrate finishing Visions of Mana, I drew some of the characters in some of my favorite outfits for them: Moon!Val, Wood!Morley, Light!Careena, and Water!Palamena. (Sorry, no Julei.)

Ink + colored pencil

[lomappreciationblog]

All the spirit art from Children of Mana!

The lead character designer for both Dawn of Mana and Children of Mana is Nao Ikeda, who also designed the NPCs for Legend of Mana. Her work is very beautiful and detailed, and I think it shows especially with the Elemental Spirits in Children of Mana, especially if you compare them to how they look in other Mana titles.

Not that any of the other Spirit art is bad (in fact they're really charming!) but I think Ikeda drew them the most detailed. Say, Wisp isn't just a simple fireball, but also has a facial marking and this two crystalline "arms" in this title. Also, I just adore the way she stylizes fire differently for Salamander and Wisp, Salamander looks more rounded and puffy, Wisp's has these whorls and sharper peaks. And just the way her art flows for Undine! Ah, I'm in love.

Personally, I always went with Wisp, I played this game solo and healing is always good to have on hand.

I find Children to be a very underrated title, in fact I was looking for the sprites and such but the only ones I could see uploaded were the enemy and boss sprites. Which is too bad, it would be nice to have a database of all the art in this game.

[desfraisespartout]

Fight against Dolan

A few days ago, I had drawn that benevodon during a drawing challenge and decided to redo my drawing to make Dolan bigger and more ominous.

Giant werewolf godbeast, awoooooo 🐺‼️

[superfamiblog]

Secret of Mana (Square, 1993)

[frayed-symphony]

I don’t even know if this pairing has a name yet but here’s a sketch of Hinna and Val riding a Pikul.

I love how she shares his one in game 😄

[chacusha]

Visions of Mana review

Non-spoilery thoughts:

I really like this game! I was a bit worried about combat from the demo, but I really like the combat in this game, actually. The different weapons all have their own combos and situationally helpful moves (dishing out a lot of damage, attacking in a wide area, launching enemies, staggering them, etc.), so there is quite a bit of satisfaction in learning different fighting styles for each weapon. It almost feels like a fighting game rather than an action/adventure game, which I like.

I feel like this game successfully captures a lot of recurring elements of the Mana series (multiple weapon systems, finding elemental spirits, familiar monsters and bosses, world in decline, simple environmental puzzle-solving) while also being a fresh story and world with its own rules, which is pretty ideal for me. I also think this game does a better job of merging Legend of Mana worldbuilding elements with non-Legend of Mana elements than any other Mana game, and I find that pretty impressive because the aesthetics kind of clash, in my opinion. But they did a good job of merging them here.

The characters are really fun and I like the party dialogues that happen as you go around the world. I think the game could probably use some sidequests or subplots (rather than fairly simple fetch/hunt quests) to flesh out the world a bit and give the story a bit of nonlinearity (it is *quite* linear, although this is pretty normal for the Mana series (LOM aside)...), but I am not complaining. Even though they were fairly simple, I enjoyed the quests here, and they got pretty elaborate in the end.

The progression and gradual unlock of skills that make your characters stronger is also really satisfying. I'm also a big fan of the way that they incorporated a game mechanic (random corestone drops) into the story, and I felt the corestone ability trading added a bit of depth to the gameplay.

Overall, I rate this game like 9/10. It could be better, but there is a lot here to love and the gameplay is pretty polished (game crashes a lot, though -- be sure to save frequently!).

Spoilery thoughts:

My partner keeps joking that Careena is somehow this world's only Texan. (How come her parents have no accent?!)

Magical girl transformation sequences was SUCH a good idea. I approve. (Is there a way to toggle these back on...?)

The tragedy/tragic backstories in this game are exquisite.

At the same time, I really like the humor and cuteness in this game. It's important to have both in a Mana game, I feel.

I wasn't expecting anti-capitalist propaganda in this game, haha.

I like that there's a bit of a nudge in this game about which elemental vessels to assign to which character. Like, Careena's Wind class has pretty nice passives compared to the others and same with Morley's Moon class -- kind of nudges you to start them off with those classes.

It's interesting having Niccolo in this game be such a nice guy. In most games, he's pretty sketchy and self-interested (although he is a pretty great guy in Trials of Mana too). I like that he's Morley's adoptive dad and Palamena's confidante too.

Val is the himbo we all need.

Hinna 😭 They were so ready to be happy together too. I guess Hinna dying this early means she has a reasonable chance of coming back by the end.

SOMEONE high-up in the development team definitely has a foot fetish. But I like seeing Palamena's stylish footwear so I don't mind.

I'm a big fan of Pikuls for land transport and Vuscav for sea transport. Love that we got Vuscav's theme back for this game.

Oh snap I'm in The Lion King right now. XD In general, I was a bit meh about the areas featured in the demo (Rime Falls, Fallow Steppe, and Rhata Harbor), but I've been pretty impressed by the other areas. I liked the Charred Passage, Ledgas Bay, Pritta Ridge, Illystana, Dura Gorge (love the music of this one), Deade Cliffs, and quite a lot of the dungeons.

Von Boyage / Professor Bomb is here! Great cameo.

I like how this game strikes a balance between SOM/TOM-style "there is one of each elemental spirit" and LOM/World of Mana-style "there are many spirits for each element" by having one main elemental spirit but a bunch of mini/lesser elemental spirits with a slightly different design (and they're very cute!).

I like how Khoda looks exactly halfway between Sumo/FFA protagonist and Randi. Well done.

Lol, I thought Aesh was going to be evil. I do like how he occasionally goes into "mad scientist" mode, though. The parts of the game where he has bonding time with the party were some of the best. (His initial introduction was sooo good. When you introduce your friend to your other friends and he's the worrrrst, lol. I like how Morley went from jealous of Aesh to Worried Mother Hen lol.)

Overall, I like the boss battles in this game. I like some of them have a gimmick or puzzle-solving aspect to them, and I like that none of them dragged on too long, which is the main thing I hate about modern action RPGs. The Earth Benevodon battle in particular was a favorite -- epic! Some of the other benevodons sadly went down a bit too quickly (I kind of felt sorry for them having to fight my overleveled party XD).

Okay I guess Hinna isn't coming back. I do like the theme here of it being important to accept the death of loved ones. Ephemeral beauty i.e. things are valuable because they don't last forever. (Ever since my partner pointed out this is an extremely common theme in Japanese art, I am unable to unsee it...)

Some of these late game areas are also really beautiful. *o* I really love the floating island, the Entwine Pass boss battle with all the flowers in the background, and the lighting in the corrupted Mana Sanctuary areas.

Being able to see the previous alm contingents (including Lyza's group!) made me emotional. ;_;

Oh snap, I can't believe Passar was the big bad.

I haven't finished all the postgame content, and I'm not sure if I'll have time. I do eventually want to farm all the abilities and play around with different party setups, and I also want to try playing on Expert difficulty and also with Japanese voices, but we'll see.

Overall, I liked the story! You didn't get Hinna back, but you did manage to fix the world, so there is still that bittersweetness that is important for a Mana game.

[veebs-hates-video-games]

It really is nice finally having a genuinely good Mana game for the first time in over 20 years, not counting remakes. Even counting them I only really thought the Trials one was particularly noteworthy because of how much stuff they improved, especially compared to playing the original with the extremely iffy fan translation when the patch first came out over 20 years ago. The others have been fine but haven't really offered much over the originals aside from looking a little nicer and not needing a console from the 90s to play them legit.

Anyway, as someone who got started with the series as a kid in the 90s, Visions of Mana is a lot of fun.

The people who worked on it really did their homework figuring out what makes the series work and made something that feels like it belongs right next to all the others. It's very much a 90s action JRPG with modern sensibilities and quality of life features, and an actually good translation (which is mostly worth mentioning with how questionable most of them were back then, even from big companies like Squaresoft).

They really captured the visual style of the series and somehow made it work in real time in 3D, full of bright colors and lush landscapes and all the silly little quirks of the Mana games like turning into a snowman when you get frozen. The music's pretty good too and calls back to a bunch of themes from previous games while introducing some new ones too. I don't think most of them will stick in my head for decades like some of the originals, but it's still pretty enjoyable.

Also enjoyable? All of the characters. The story isn't super deep, but it's got the kinds of themes the series likes to go for, and it gives lots of opportunities for the main cast to play off each other in fun ways. I liked them all, but I think Palamena (the squirrel queen who just wants to pretend to be normal but doesn't know how) and Morley (the sad catboy who blames himself for the loss of everyone he knew) ended up being my favorites.

It's kind of funny that the previous game in the series I played was the Trials remake, where the main character I played was the glass cannon magic user who's a princess and the biggest brat the series has ever seen. Then I came here and mostly played the glass cannon magic user who's instead a queen and just wants to be friends with and help everyone. Good contrast.

One of the devs mentioned in an interview that one of the things that inspired the world design was Xenoblade, and it shows (in a good way). Large areas, but not open world, fantastical landscapes with plenty of verticality, running around collecting glowing dots that give you minor resources along the way to wherever you're going, usually something or other in every random corner of the map you poke your way into, and specifically like XC1 a lot of kind of uninspired side quests to go kill or collect however many of whatever. I still did most of them, but most of them are really not the highlight of the game.

Combat's fun though, which is good because there's plenty of it along the way. Could be a little better and a little tighter, and I'd love better feedback on stuff like whether I time dodges right or not, but there's enough variety and customization that you can probably figure out something fun that works for you.

Really the only part that I didn't really like was in the post-game stuff. I liked that they used it to tie together and wrap up a few random side things from the main story, and it was good enough most of the way through, but the final boss of that side quest storyline was probably the single least fun thing in the entire series for me so far. It's not even that hard, just incredibly tedious and designed to counter any of the ways I like to actually play the game. Kind of wish I'd just stopped after the credits and ending, because having that as the last thing I did instead made me like the game very slightly less.

Anyway, it was nice to have something that starts with a vaguely similar premise to the pilgrimage in FFX but then turns out to actually be something I like instead of just getting progressively worse as it goes on like FFX did for me. It kinda sucks that the reward for the people who made it was getting their entire company shut down at the same time the game launched. Hopefully they all find work somewhere doing something interesting, because they're clearly good at what they do, and hopefully Squenix keeps making stuff like this for people like me who've been sick of what they're doing with stuff like FF for years at this point.