Visions of Mana demo now available ahead of August launch
Secret's out.
Square Enix has today released a demo for its forthcoming Action-RPG Visions of Mana.
Included in the demo are story, battle, and exploration elements, plus players who complete it will receive three weapons for main character Val in the full game. It takes place partway through the first chapter, but progress won't carry over to the main game as the demo has been specially created.
The demo was surprise-released, with a new trailer below showing off some new gameplay.
The demo is available across all platforms: PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X/S, and Steam.
Visions of Mana will be the first new game in the series for over 15 years - it began with Secret of Mana on the SNES back in 1993 and has seen multiple releases since.
Yesterday, fresh details on its Elemental Vessels were revealed on the PlayStation Blog.
The series has long revolved around elemental powers and Visions of Mana is no different. Here, acquiring Elemental Vessels has three effects: they provide methods of environmental traversal, and they impact combat by providing both elemental abilities and altering the class of the character they're assigned to.
"One of the most important elements of Mana games is that feeling that you're interacting with the elementals (spirits that control elements like wind, fire or darkness)," said director Ryosuke Yoshida.
"That's at the core of the design of Visions of Mana and something that was really important to me. It's such a vital part of that distinctive Mana series identity, and if the battles didn't capture it, there would be no point to the game at all!"
Said series producer Masaru Oyamada: "The Mana series has always featured eight distinct elementals with each embodying one of the core forces that shape the world. Naturally then, there would be eight vessels that house each of their powers. We came up with lots of interesting ideas for different objects to use, but ultimately aimed to create designs that would best capture the interesting aspects of each elemental."
New examples of the Elemental Vessels were provided in the blog. For instance, the Lumina Lantern houses the power of light which can use the power of reflection to create new walkways and reflect damage between enemies. Shade Sight, meanwhile, has the power of darkness and gravity, acting like a grappling hook.
More details on these Elemental Vessels are in the below video.
Yoshida also discussed how the elements are integrated into combat.
"Central mechanics like switching between three party members in battle, using ring menu and shortcut bindings are inspired by elements from past Mana games. However, I had a strong desire to put more weight on switching between different characters during combat," said Yoshida.
"One way we did this, for example, was through the Elemental Vessels and the gameplay options they offer. You have a party of three characters and can equip each one with a different Elemental Vessel that manifests different effects. It's possible to follow up after you use one of these effects by switching and using a different elemental power to create an even more potent compound ability.
"In this way we create motivation and benefits for the player to switch between different characters in battle."
Visions of Mana is set for release on 29th August. I went hands-on with it earlier this year and was impressed with its return to series roots.