News Visions of Mana is a warm, nostalgic, joyful delight

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Visions of Mana is, almost immediately after you start playing, like a warm blanket to wrap yourself up in. I can already see some elements complaining that it lacks "innovation" or the intricate action combat systems that we've become accustomed to in JRPGs. But not every game needs to be that kind of boundary-pushing, intellectually or mechanically challenging experience. Sometimes the warm blanket is enough. And already I can tell that Visions of Mana is more than enough.

As I can't go into spoilers, and the slice of the game I've been able to preview is limited, I have no idea if things change later on down the track, but the opening chapter is so very warmly nostalgic to a golden era of JRPGs. You start out with a duo of heroes who are on a quest very reminiscent of Final Fantasy X. The first enemies that you bump into are the iconic, cute, adorable Rabbites, and while the world looks large and expansive, the use of color is so vibrant that it's going to conjure up memories of the gorgeous saturation of the 2D Mana games on the SNES and DS consoles.

While the game is linear (at least, to this point), the world offers plenty of opportunities to explore, with treasures dotted all about the place, spots where particularly tough enemies lie in wait, and some light platforming and puzzles to try and figure out how to reach places that seem just out of reach. It's nothing we haven't seen from other JRPGs, sure, and even in comparison to some other Square Enix B-list JRPGs (think Star Ocean), Visions of Mana seems a little modest in scope. But it's meticulously pieced together to be moreish. The game has a lovely rhythm that makes it so easy to keep pushing yourself to the next objective, fight the next enemy, see the next sight. I haven't played a game that flows quite as well as this, in the early stages, in quite some time.

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It also helps that the relationship between the characters is just wonderful. Again I can't say much because it would be delving into spoiler territory, but right up front, the two main protagonists are simultaneously sweetly naïve and so incredibly sweet on one another. It's easy to assume that there's some kind of innocence lost moment coming up for them, and I imagine that beneath the colorful and bubbly exterior is a coming-of-age narrative (especially given the nature of their quest, which they are fully aware of). But for now, the youthful exuberance, sense of excitement about the adventure, and overall playful energy of Visions of Mana is so appealing. The game very much feels like it's coming from people who grew up vicariously putting themselves into the classic JRPGs and lapping up the fantasy and journey.

The combat system is fairly simple at this point. There are standard weak and strong attacks, and the ability to pull up the iconic Mana "wheel" to select magic attacks and some other special abilities. There's not much weight or impact behind the attacks, and the dodge button is, perhaps, going to be a little clunky and limited if the action ever gets too heated. No one's going to mistake this for Elden Ring. But it's also a joy to play with, because it is classical and traditional. Enemy battles don't roll on for too long, and because the enemies themselves are so charming it never gets dull, either.

If it's not abundantly obvious from the breathless enthusiasm here, I love Visions of Mana. Could it go sour from here? Sure. Square Enix has struggled to bring Mana into the third dimension, and has struggled with the series in general for quite some time (though the Trials of Mana remake was quite a delight). But so far, this is a celebration of everything that I loved about the JRPG as a child and teenager, and I can't stop playing it. For a third time, no spoilers, but if the narrative goes the way I think it might, I might even just shed a tear at the end. I'm fully emotionally engaged with this quest, and it's precisely because the developers haven't overstretched and really focused on the essence of what makes a JRPG so wonderful.