Awe-inspiring landscapes, joyous action, and charming designs are brought together to form the mystical worlds found in the Mana series. These lushly saturated games feature lovable casts of characters and dramatic fairytale-inspired lore, that have kept those whose eyes were drawn by the gorgeous aesthetics, invested in these wonderful games. The themes of environmentalism tinged with the bittersweetness of life add depth and maturity to the series’ underbelly, contrasting the whimsical nature of the presentation. The gentle yet tumultuous tapestry that adorns Mana is as equally interesting and contrasting as the individual behind the series.
The mystical and dream-like worlds the Mana series is known for were born from the head of Koichi Ishii. Who is Ishii? Well, before jumping into details, I’ll share an anecdote from an interview with Hironobu Sakaguchi, the father of Final Fantasy;
“We made a concerted effort to be different. The graphics were part of that effort, as was the game setting with the Crystals. That was all Ishii’s work. He had this really rough demeanor — he liked going around in a leather jacket most of the time — and then you’d look at his art and he’s drawing chocobos and other cute things. That juxtaposition was what made him such a fascinating guy, but his viewpoint really contributed a lot to the world of FF.“
I think this anecdote helps set the stage for the sort of guy Ishii is. He knows what’s interesting and fun, emphasizing his strong connection to child-like wonder, a trait he has gone on record to discuss in interviews. Similarly to the bittersweet tones in Mana, Ishii presents himself as a mature hardboiled individual. He knows his vision and has even taken extra work upon himself to achieve it. His vision just so happens to be bright and whimsical.
Ishii also considers story and lore heavily when creating his designs. In an interview, he says this:
“ Indeed, while making the jobs I made sure to have various meanings behind my design choices so I wasn’t just playing dress-up with them. I think considering those kind of details while inputting job character sprites was one part of project planning for FFIII. Through this character, you’re creating what kind of story you want to tell, what impression you want to leave on the player.”
The extreme consideration he puts into his story and personality-driven designs is appreciated and manages to shine through in his work even if the projects don’t dive too deep into some concepts. He values having depth and imagination in his work to embolden a sense of wonder. Wonder permeates itself throughout the Mana series; it’s almost a tangible force, even. This is so apparent, that Ishii has even compared people playing his games to visiting his own personal world. (interview)
The Mana series’ development history also grimly reflects the plots within the games. Grand ambitions are often quashed before they can fully take shape. Even Mana itself was founded from the remains of an over-ambitious project before finding itself crossed with Final Fantasy. Will unfulfilled promises, broken dreams, and calamitous disasters continue to bear fruit?
Before we fully dive in, I will be discussing aspects of each game’s plot, characters, and themes. There will be mild spoilers. I will try to maintain a sense of vagueness and I won’t go into great detail. While I will paint the themes and story arcs with a broad brush, I’ll also provide Spoiler Warnings. These games are old, but my aim to enthuse people enough to try these games out if they haven’t!
So with that out of the way, let’s dive straight into The Legend of the Holy Sword – Seiken Densetsu!
Origins: Final Fantasy Gaiden – Legend of the Holy Sword, Excalibur
The very first Mana game was released for the Nintendo Gameboy on June 28, 1991, titled Seiken Densetsu: Final Fantasy Gaiden in Japan. It would see releases in other regions, such as Final Fantasy Adventure in the US in November 1991 and Mystic Quest in the EU in 1993. Yeah in the early days of JRPGs Europe quite often got things rather late. Interestingly, the US received Final Fantasy Mystic Quest, a completely different game from the EU version of Seiken Densetsu.
While the original Mana game’s full title is Seiken Densetsu: Final Fantasy Gaiden, the Seiken Densetsu name originates from another project, Seiken Densetsu: The Emergence of Excalibur. Seiken Densetsu was a concept for a Famicom Disk System game, Square even solicited pre-orders for it before release! The game never really took shape and was never released. Plus this was 1987, months before the release of the original Final Fantasy, which famously helped save Square from bankruptcy. Before that legendary turnaround, Square game sales were on the decline. When the realization that the game would not be finished struck, Square did provide refunds for those pre-orders, so there’s that at least. Hysterically, the apology letters actually recommended pre-ordering Final Fantasy instead!
Not too much is known about this title, as it never really went into full production. Luckily, there are some details about the game that the early advertising material proudly shared. Seiken Densetsu: The Emergence of Excalibur was the first of multiple parts that would culminate as Seiken Densetsu. This ambitious project was to be a game on the Famicom Disk System that was comprised of an unprecedented five disks, with progress from each prior adventure carrying over to the next entry and building upon the narrative. Sort of like Wizardy, in fact. The main protagonist drawing the legendary sword, Excalibur, would be the crux of the game. The game’s plot would chronicle his journey through knighthood. Some adverts even talked about the concept of the second part! A young man’s journey to find Excalibur and use it to defeat an evil lord would continue after the first part, featuring a new generation of heroes. The game would feature 20 characters and a loyalty system that determined who joined or betrayed you. While the player character would be directly controlled, AI would control the rest of your battle party. This concept was in place before Square’s, at the time rival Enix, implemented a similar system in Dragon Quest IV! This was set to be an ambitious title, with staff such as Koichii Ishii, Hironobu Sakaguchi, Hiroki Tanaka, and Kazuhiko Aoki. Seiken Densetsu: The Emergence of Excalibur never really panned out as a project, though. Heck, listen to this line straight from lostlevels.org:
“So little work was done on the original Seiken Densetsu that one time when Moriyama asked the original project leader, Kazuhiko Aoki, what the game was about, he told her that he had completely forgotten!”
What’s quite shocking about this apparent first attempt at creating a title called Seiken Densetsu is that it wasn’t the first attempt at all! In an interview with Hiromichi Tanaka, he said that the first attempt was actually a real-time dungeon-crawling RPG inspired by Wizardry. Tanaka said that Square had helped port Game Art’s Tegusa in conjunction with another developer, Bits Laboratory. After that port job was completed, the two teams worked together and made it halfway to completion before the project couldn’t be finished. Tanaka mentions that this would have predated Dragon Quest, meaning that if the original original Seiken Densetsu was released it would have been the first Famicom RPG. Tanaka does believe the more Ultima-styled Dragon Quest was more appealing to him personally and thinks that this attempt at creating an RPG probably wouldn’t have made a difference.
So, Seiken Densetsu went through two iterations before the game, and now the series has become what it is known as today. Mana in Japan has taken this series name, but other than that what we know as Seiken Densetsu today has almost nothing to do with the original projects. However, the concept of a legendary sword remained from the FDS game. The early games in the Mana series actually pay heed to this by interweaving holy sword legends into the mythos of the worlds. Now known as the Mana Sword, early games actually did refer to the legendary blade as Excalibur at times. I do think the fully realized Mana series does have some much-needed sauce over The Emergence of Excalibur, especially in terms of its tone and art design.
Final Fantasy Adventure/Seiken Densetsu takes place in a world filled with mana, a magical force that manifests as the Mana Tree. The Dark Lord of an empire seeks the Mana Tree so that he can use the power of Mana to enact his plan of world domination. His conquest has already caused much unrest in the world. This game features a rather dark tone that’s presented more grimly than the rest of the series.
On the mechanics side of things, Final Fantasy Adventure shares many similarities with Zelda. You explore screen to screen and attack monsters in a similar fashion, but where things get interesting is the RPG mechanics! You have your standard leveling, equipment, magic, and status effects. Ooooh, look a Moogle! Your weapons are also dual-functioning and can be used for exploring – injecting some of that Action Adventure game flavor in a very RPG way. You can get rid of obstacles in various ways and even get new movement options! There’s also a power meter, the fuller it is the stronger your attacks. This helps control the pace of battles, rewards patience, and forces the player to be more considerate of their attacks. These elements make the game strategic despite its simplicity.
Spoiler Warning
Right as the gameplay actually starts, you take control of the main protagonist, Sumo (his official name given to him later). Sumo is actually a slave of the Dark Lord’s empire and must compete in life-threatening gladiatorial battles for the Dark Lord’s own amusement. The graphics in this first game also don’t exhibit the same grand colors as its successors, which really helps sell the bleaker tone. Throughout the game, as Sumo adventures to stop the Dark Lord, Julius, and get the Mana Sword/Excalibur, he pays witness to many events that involve the death of comrades. This is quite like Final Fantasy II, in that regard. This all culminates in the ending with Sumo becoming a guardian, and his maiden partner Fuji sacrificing herself to become the next Mana Tree.
End Spoiler
The first game definitely leaned more into the bitter side of bittersweet, but this is where the entire Mana series gets it from. These games tend to present the journey of a hero’s quest through wondrous places alongside a quirky cast of characters. The goal of these adventures is ultimately to preserve the world order, and that usually involves safeguarding mana. This is a difficult task that is always built upon sacrifice. This is what the series is all about – stepping up to protect the world at any cost. The environmentalist themes are portrayed by the World Tree-esque Mana Tree, and later entries would add elementals to drive this point home further. Also, Ishii has gone on record to say that he thinks animals are cool!
Despite the tumultuous journey to get here, Seiken Densetsu was a success. The game sold over 700,000 copies in Japan alone and is considered a classic Gameboy RPG to this day. The series was guaranteed to continue, and the ambition that had been there since before 1987 burned brighter than ever before. What form will Seiken Densetsu 2 take?
Secret of Mana – The Game That Helped Define Squaresoft’s 16-Bit Era
Seiken Densetsu would continue, and its sequel was released as Secret of Mana in late 1993 in Japan and the US, and Europe would get it later in 1994. This continuation of the game that struggled to get off the ground is where many series mainstays were established. Secret of Mana evolved the action combat, featured seamless zones, contained some of the most vibrant pixel art on the Super Nintendo, and established additional lore like the elementals. There are still some dark undertones to the plot, but Secret of Mana ultimately leaned more into whimsy for its tone, unlike Final Fantasy Adventure. While Secret of Mana was released to critical acclaim, selling over 2 million copies worldwide, this too was also a project that suffered from many development issues.
Secret of Mana was originally going to be a huge, never-before-seen, RPG adventure on the Super Famicom CD-ROM add-on, made in collaboration between Sony and Nintendo. The extra space of the CD medium would allow this ambitious project to contain it all. In the end, the CD-ROM add-on for the Super Nintendo was canceled. This meant that Secret of Mana had to be rebuilt from scratch, with most of its content being cut, in order to fit on a standard Super Nintendo cartridge. This is also the reason for some of the technical miffs, loading snags, bugs, and the like.
In an eye-opening interview with Ishii and Tanaka, they drop two bombshell statements about the early production of Secret of Mana, stating:
“Secret of Mana is in many ways the game Final Fantasy IV could have been, says Tanaka. Many of the design decisions we discussed during the development of that game was used in Secret of Mana instead. The whole game represents a direction we were considering with Final Fantasy IV, but ultimately avoided.”
“Many of the ideas we had for the CD-version came, fortunately, to use later when we did Chrono Trigger”
Wow. Apparently, they even called the game Chrono Trigger during development!
Ishii wanted FF to evolve in a different direction when the fourth game was in production, emphasizing a world that felt more alive and thoughtful action that replicates the spirit of turn-based battles. Choices such as the real-time stopping ring menu system and the power gauge made the battle system lean heavily into being an RPG is proof of this. Ultimately, the core FF team had their own ideas on how to evolve the series. Ishii then struck out to create a sequel to Seiken Densetsu with the same burning passion he had on his prior outings with the series. Secret of Mana was going to be a huge and technically demanding masterpiece. The gutting of a large portion of the content intended for Secret of Mana would even be used to create one of the greatest games of all time, Chrono Trigger. The amazing thing about Secret of Mana is how it ultimately affected Square. It was becoming clear that the limits of cartridges were too great for their ambitions. The issues Secret of Mana faced more than likely informed the decision for Square to abandon Nintendo as their primary release platform for Sony’s PlayStation.
While Secret of Mana wasn’t released as intended, it’s still a seminal classic. There are not many games that quite carry the amount of charm and uniqueness it does. It builds upon its predecessor and carries the series forward in equal parts. I’d argue that Secret of Mana is the most important game in the series and even one of the most important games in Square’s entire release library. It captures the heart with its presentation, pushes the technical boundaries of the era, and is clearly a product of unprecedented passion and ambition.
While the world in Secret of Mana is different, it builds upon the foundations of Final Fantasy Adventure. The pace of combat has been increased, with the power gauge being altered from powering up attacks to a quickly recharging gauge that, when full, lets the player strike with all of their might. This is one of the changes that makes it feel more like a turn-based RPG, as it’s almost like the ATB system in FFIV. The Ring Menu system gives quick access to a variety of commands and items while not inhibiting the action core. It’s a really well-crafted gameplay experience sans some technical issues. I also really enjoy how the variety of weapons are used to help explore the world like in Final Fantasy Adventure! Even magic can do this now, too! The multiplayer function was also very unique and fun! There are three playable characters. The party members are controlled by AI and can be swapped between during standard play, but two other players can join in on the fun (Multitap needed!). The team originally wanted 4 playable characters but the game just couldn’t handle it. Ishii wasn’t too bothered by this because he saw this as a chance to let a family have fun – be it parents playing with their child or even friends enjoying this adventure together.
The gameplay for sure took what worked and made it even greater, but what about the story? A lot of Secret of Mana’s plot echoes that of the previous adventure, with an evil empire trying to resurrect the destructive Mana Fortress. I like how the intro sprawl of the game even mentions legends about how the Mana Sword has been known by many names, including Excalibur. That’s a sick reference! This time, there are three main characters all with their different goals. The hero’s journey this time entirely revolves around Randi discovering the Mana Sword and restoring it with elemental mana energy. Popoi is a cheeky little sprite who wants to discover his lost memories and Primm is a fiery young lady trying to save her boyfriend. While the skeleton may be similar to Final Fantasy Adventure, Secret of Mana expands upon it and makes things more interesting. The addition of the elementals shows the facets of Mana and makes the world significantly more diverse than before. Final Fantasy Adventure is more like exploring a country while Secret of Mana is certainly a globe-trotting epic.
Secret of Mana is an amazing game and is where Mana really found its footing. The development woes can still be seen in the less polished or complete aspects of the game, but it shines nonetheless. What will the third outing bring to the table? Hopefully, it won’t suffer from the same internal issues that have cursed this series for more than 5 years.
Trials of Mana – The Ultimate Mana Game
Seiken Densetsu 3, Trials of Mana, entered its planning stages not long after the release of Secret of Mana. The team did consider making it a continuation but scrapped that idea, being more in favor of starting from a blank slate. Despite this, Trials of Mana continued parts of Secret of Mana’s legacy. The ‘clean slate’ approach came from an asset and coding perspective; so, Trials of Mana features familiar series motifs such as the Mana Tree and Mana Sword and also implemented ideas that were cut from Secret of Mana like monster attacks. Trials of Mana was also the first title Ishii didn’t direct, with Hiromichi Tanaka taking up that role. This title also featured the art of Nobuteru Yuki, a talented character designer, and artist who did art for other projects like The Vision of Escaflowne and Chrono Cross.
Seiken Densetsu 3 didn’t suffer quite as much during its development cycle as its predecessors. The team may have started fresh, but that allowed them to leverage everything they learned in exciting new ways. There’s a level of polish and content completeness that Trials of Mana has over Seiken Densetsu 1 & 2. The 32-bit cartridge that the team opted to use allowed for an absurdly high level of content and graphical quality. The visuals received an overhaul from Secret of Mana, packing in the lush details with some top-notch animation work. The combat is also a lot more refined, it may be a bit slower than Secret of Mana but it made up for it with a higher level of strategy that leverages the strengths of the prior game in a fresh way. The addition that would seal the deal is the amount of content crammed in amongst six playable characters with their own unique story paths.
Six unique character journeys intersect to create three different endings. That’s the main crux of Trials of Mana. This creates a highly replayable adventure where, each time, you can try out different party combinations while experiencing different scenarios alongside the main plot. Every character has a different relationship with the world and the story, giving each playthrough a different perspective. The three main plotlines are shared between certain character duos, but every character has their own prologue and adds different context to other characters’ journeys. The story is more character-focused this time, but the main plot sticks to series tradition with a journey to the Mana Tree to draw the Mana Sword. Since each character hails from a different nation, there are sprinkles of political drama to show the unrest caused by the fading of mana. Trials of Mana also introduces the concept of Benevodons, powerful elemental beasts that seek to destroy the world. Re-sealing them is a part of the plot, and they are used in later games, as well.
Compared to Secret of Mana, the gameplay is heavier and less hack-and-slash-y. Many of the underlying mechanics are similar, but Trials is more graceful and methodical. Positioning is integral and different fights mix this up due to every enemy having unique movement patterns. Trials of Mana also introduced a class system. Instead of party members using different weapon types like prior games, you get to customize their growth and play to their individual strengths. This makes each character even more unique while adding replay value. Weapons aren’t used for exploration anymore, making this more standard RPG fare, but things like the dynamic time system and the immaculate pixel art won’t disappoint.
Trials of Mana wound up a cult classic and left fans outside of Japan devastated that it never saw an official release when it came out in 1995. Luckily, the game eventually saw an official release when the worldwide version of the Collection of Mana was launched on Nintendo Switch in 2019. This was just in time to give global audiences a taste of the original masterpiece before the 3D remake by XEEN came out in 2020.
Dawn of Mana – An Experimental Oddity
Aside from a few stellar spinoff games that we’ll talk about later, the Mana series didn’t receive a numbered entry until 2006 with Seiken Densetsu 5 – Dawn of Mana. 1995-2006, 11 years sat between Trials and Dawn. Was the wait worthwhile? Dawn of Mana was the first fully 3D game in the series and utilized the Havok physics engine to make interacting with the world feel more realistic. Despite the ambition, the game wasn’t critically well received. Dawn of Mana ended up being an interesting experiment but didn’t quite hit the mark for most.
Dawn of Mana was the first game in an initiative called World of Mana. This initiative was something Square Enix did during this era to drive the excitement of their franchises by offering experience on multiple platforms for brand recognition. Sub-series like the Compilation of Final Fantasy VII and Fabula Nova Crystallis were just like World of Mana. These series would span multiple titles and platforms, and World of Mana was no different. Dawn of Mana was the next main entry, and two DS spinoffs, Heroes and Children of Mana, would complete this venture.
Dawn of Mana is broken up into story chapters, where you progress through explorable action stages. The combat is reliant on the physics engine and involves moving and flinging objects to aid in enemy encounters. The gameplay is reminiscent of Kingdom Hearts but is severely lacking in RPG elements. In every chapter, the player character starts clean. No stat bonuses or levels are carried between chapters. This more arcadey approach, combined with the wonky physics implementation, pushed many players away from the game. That’s not to say that the game doesn’t have interesting concepts, though! There are interesting physics interactions that enemies react to along with plenty of side objectives in each chapter.
Dawn of Mana takes place on the isle of Illusia, the home of the Mana Tree. Keldric, the protagonist, and his companion Ritzia rush to the Mana Tree after an army of outsiders invade. Upon reaching the Mana Tree to protect the Sacred Beast, they discover that the tree is slumbering in stone. Keldric finds the tree’s seed, and it implants itself into his arm, enabling him to use the growth to conjure weapons such as a sword, bow, and whip.
Spoiler Warning
Unbeknownst to Keldric and Ritzia, the invading army was actually seeking Ritzia, not the beast. In a battle with Stroud, the king of Lorimar, Keldric appears to be killed. In a depressive state, Ritzia complies with Stroud’s demands of opening a gate to the demon realm Mavolia. Keldric has to put a stop to this madness and the encroaching darkness threatening to swallow the world. He succeeds but at a steep, and bittersweet cost. Illusia is saved, but Keldric lost what was most important to him…
End Spoiler
The World of Mana initiative was intended to help drive series interest up, but the heavy alterations made to the core gameplay the series was known for didn’t resonate with fans or new players. While I do think Dawn of Mana and its other World of Mana brethren offered some unique elements, I completely understand why this effort didn’t bear fruit. The mix-up of providing entirely different gameplay systems is laudable, but it’s not the evolution people expected or wanted, apparently. The storyline in Dawn of Mana is an unabashed Mana game through and through. Would the Mana series get back on track and rediscover itself?
Spinoffs – Mana’s Legends, Children, Heroes, Rise, and More!
Between 1995-2006, the Mana series was far from dormant. It received a slew of spinoff games, with some being nothing short of amazing. Even after the lukewarm reception to Dawn of Mana, we still saw the release of some more spinoff games. Sadly, many of these titles were locked to Japan and on mobile devices at that. There are some certified classics here that make me wonder why they didn’t receive the status of ‘mainline numbered entry’.
Four years after the release of Seiken Densetsu 3, in 1999, Legend of Mana was released on the PlayStation. Curiously, this title wasn’t considered Seiken Densetsu 4. In Japan, it was titled Seiken Densetsu: Legend of Mana, incorporating the English and Japanese series names into one title. This first Mana game spinoff was developed by many new members, however, Koichi Ishii returned to direct it with SaGa series creator Akitoshi Kawazu acting as producer. The game is less plot-driven and more scenario-driven as the game progresses through many intermittent questlines. The gameplay is also more free-form, with a focus on character customizability. The protagonist can equip whatever the player chooses. I’m baffled by how Legend of Mana is a spinoff, but regardless, it’s a fun and gorgeous Mana experience all the same.
Dawn of Mana established the World of Mana subseries, so with Seiken Densetsu 4 leading the charge of this initiative, several spinoff games followed suit. These games would include Friends of Mana on Japanese mobile phones, Children of Mana for DS, and Heroes of Mana also for DS. Dawn of Mana certainly set a precedent for World of Mana with its atypical gameplay, as all of these spinoff games followed suit. Friends of Mana is very reminiscent of Legend of Mana in terms of style. The game involved going on quests and included message boards and player exchanges. It was sadly never released outside of Japan, and with the servers being shut down in 2011, there’s no real way of playing it. Children of Mana was released on Nintendo DS in 2006. This game was a dungeon crawler; while the real-time combat fell perfectly in line with prior Mana games, its structure was different. The main gameplay loop involves delving into dungeons and clearing out each floor before defeating a boss. Interestingly, this game also saw the return of cooperative multiplayer in the series. Heroes of Mana is the real black sheep in this bunch of spinoffs. It’s an RTS. The cast of characters can be joined by summonable monsters. Each battle involves vying for resources and completing objectives. It reminds me of Final Fantasy XII: Revenant Wings!
Who could possibly forget the other mobile game outings Mana has had? Well, most of the world, in fact! Just like Friends of Mana, most of these were never released worldwide. Circle of Mana was a card-based battle game with cards of many characters and monsters from franchise history. The game only lasted a little over two years, from March 5, 2013 – September 30, 2015. Circle of Mana at best seemed like a distraction, luckily the next mobile game, Rise of Mana, was much truer to the Mana formula. Rise of Mana would be released on mobile platforms in 2014. Upon its release, its art and general gameplay were praised, with the only reservations from the fanbase centered around the touch controls and mobile elements. It was shockingly closer to being a full Mana game than the prior (and even later) mobile game attempts! Despite getting a player base of over 2 million players and a PS Vita port, the game would be shut down on March 31, 2016. Sadly, this mobile game venture continued its downward trend. Echoes of Mana was a sidescrolling mobile RPG that banked on nostalgia. I enjoyed it for what it was when its servers were online. It only lasted a year, from April 2022 to May 2023.
While many of these spinoff games are interesting or, in Legend of Mana’s case, good enough to be a mainline entry, many didn’t quite end up filling the hole the numbered entries did. This became clearer as time went on. 2006, 2007, 2008, and so on, with no sign of a big new adventure on the horizon.
Remakes – Fresh Coats of Paint, Same Underlying Mana Charm
While Mana series spinoff games peppered the years we didn’t receive new numbered entries, this didn’t stop fans of the series from wanting a more substantial return to form. Square Enix, in an effort to gauge worldwide interest, launched an initiative to remake the first 3 Seiken Densetsu games. The decent sales and fairly positive reception of these titles would help secure the series’ future.
Seiken Densetsu would receive two remakes. In 2003, Sword of Mana, developed by Brownie Brown, was released for the GBA. This reimagining of the first title in the Mana series incorporated elements from later entries, added extra story elements, and offered two story paths. The pixel art is amazing, by the way. Sword of Mana was indeed an interesting remake, but Final Fantasy Adventure would receive another, more faithful remake in 2016 – Adventures of Mana. This 3D remake is nearly 1:1 to the Gameboy original. The gameplay, layouts, and story are mostly unchanged. Modern controls, implementation of the Ring Menu system, and an improved localization make this the definitive version of the game if you want a smooth yet classic experience.
Secret of Mana continued the tradition of Adventures of Mana, making a faithful remake with few changes. The game is nearly mechanically identical to the SNES original with some minor fixes. The original localization of Secret of Mana notoriously had many script cuts and changes, which the remake does rectify. Despite the faithfulness and some fixes, issues like the graphics, small balancing changes, and the remade soundtrack were quite controversial upon release. The remake is still solid, but many fans were expecting more from a remake.
Trials of Mana’s 3D remake delivered a modern Mana experience while still retaining all of the original’s charm. This remake reimagined the world into a proper 3D space, with more liberties taken on the combat than the previous two remakes. Despite this, it feels just like the Super Famicom version. The Trials of Mana remake is simultaneously faithful and fresh, finally giving many fans what they’ve wanted for a long time and even selling over 1 million copies.
A Vision of the Future
After nearly a decade of remasters, ports, and mobile games, Square Enix and Ouka Studios released Seiken Densetsu 5 – Visions of Mana. Visions of Mana builds upon the history of the series and pushes it forward. The game has everything you’d expect from a bittersweet storybook plot, some of the most gorgeous environment art you’ve ever seen, and deliberate action combat. If you want to hear more than 25 minutes about Visions of Mana, check out Final Weapon’s Visions of Mana Review!
I can assure you, however, that Visions of Mana is a tried and true Mana game that absolutely nails the spirit of the series. As I mentioned, it bears the hallmarks the series is known for while also delivering a wonderfully made contemporary RPG experience. As good as the game is and how exciting it made the future for the Mana series seem, on the day of release NetEase, the owner of the game’s developer, gutted the studio.
I can’t say for certain where the future of the Mana series will go. I hope Square continues the series and maybe even hires the staff laid off from Ouka. Visions of Mana was a treat and a wonderful continuation of the series that offers a solid foundation for more Mana games. Ironically, there’s a twisted beauty in there now being 5 Seiken Densetsu games. It oddly reflects one of the original plans for the series. I don’t wanna see the series go, not at all, but it’d a poetic and bittersweet ending. You should all give Visions of Mana a try! One of the awesome things about this game is the way it twists Mana mainstays into something new. I think there’s still hope for this series!
