Visions of Mana

Visions of Mana is an action role-playing game developed by Ouka Studios and published by Square Enix. Released in 2024, it was the first mainline Mana game in more than 15 years, following Dawn of Mana, which appeared in 2006. The series’ familiar mixture of fantasy adventure, elemental spirits and real-time combat returns in a story centered on a ritual called the Alm.

The game follows Val, a young guardian from the village of Tianeea, and Hinna, his childhood friend who is chosen as the Alm of Fire. Every four years, people selected as Alms travel to the Mana Tree, accompanied by guardians responsible for protecting them. The journey is presented as a sacred duty: the Alms are expected to offer themselves so that the flow of mana can continue. Val joins Hinna on her pilgrimage, but their travels lead them to question what the ritual means and whether its established order should remain unquestioned.

Val and Hinna meet other Alms and guardians along the way, including Careena, Morley, Palamena and Julei. Their personal stories give the pilgrimage a broader human focus, as the group encounters different communities and learns how the Mana Tree’s customs shape people’s lives. The narrative’s central tension comes from the contrast between the apparent necessity of sacrifice and the characters’ desire to protect the people they care about. Rather than treating the journey as a simple monster hunt, the game makes its ritual and the consequences of its traditions central to the adventure.

Combat takes place in real time, with Val and his companions fighting enemies in three-dimensional environments. Each character can take on different classes by using elemental vessels, magical objects associated with the game’s elemental spirits. Changing a vessel changes a character’s class and combat possibilities, allowing players to adjust their party to different situations. The system connects the game’s elemental fantasy to its mechanics: the spirits are not merely part of the setting but also influence how characters fight and develop.

Visions of Mana was released for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Windows and Xbox Series X/S. It was also the first Mana title developed by Ouka Studios, a Tokyo-based studio established by NetEase. The game’s bright landscapes, colorful character designs and orchestral score distinguish its presentation, while its pilgrimage plot deliberately revisits the series’ recurring concern with mana and the balance between people and the natural world. For a franchise with roots in the early 1990s, it serves both as a new story and a return to the Mana series’ recognizable fantasy framework.