Visions Of Mana Is A New Mana Game Coming In 2024
Visions of Mana party screenshot
The Game Awards 2023 was, as with every year, filled with announcements for big and small games alike. One of those games is Visions of Mana, a new game in the legendary Mana series and the first new game in the series for over 15 years.
Visions of Mana has you taking on the role of Val, a young adventurer from the Fire Village of Tianeea, whose friend gets chosen by Faerie folk to travel to the Tree of Mana — the whole world’s source of magical energy. Val takes it upon himself to guard and guide her on her way to the Tree, and is joined by a host of colorful characters on the way.
Publisher Square Enix says the game has an “expansive semi-open field that you can explore smoothly,” which tells us that there’s probably going to be a bunch of separated, but quite large, open areas. Think Monster Hunter World or Rise, or Super Mario Odyssey.
The game features fast-paced real-time party combat, and Square says it has a lot of strategic depth, though we’ll have to judge that ourselves. At the very least, both new and familiar enemies and monsters will be available to battle, and we see a few familiar faces like Rabites in the trailer.
It’s all wrapped up in a gorgeous art style that’s honestly quite unlike anything Square’s done in the past. It definitely feels very Mana-like, despite being something entirely new, so I’d say they hit the nail on the head with that one.
The Mana series, known as Seiken Densutsu in Japan, started as a pseudo-spinoff of Final Fantasy on the Game Boy, all the way back in 1991, where it was called FInal Fantasy Adventure in the West. It was followed up by the excellent Secret of Mana on the SNES a couple years later, Trials of Mana not long after that, and Dawn of Mana on the PS2 in 2006.
No firm release date has been set for Visions of Mana yet, but the game is due to launch at some point in 2024. It’s set to be released on PS4, PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC via Steam, though curiously not any Nintendo consoles. Maybe Square is waiting for a Nintendo Switch successor before announcing it.
Related: The Next Monster Hunter Game Announced At The Game Awards
