- Genre: Action RPG
- Time Played: 66 Hours
- Too Short/Long: A little longer than it needs to be because of the side quests. I kept playing them because I was still having fun, but maybe I should have cut some out and went straight for the main story.
- Pleased/Disappointed: I liked it a lot, it was a lot of fun. I was hoping for a bit more, but I'm not disappointed.
- Why I played: Despite remakes and rereleases, we haven't received an actual new Mana series game for 17 years. Which feels crazy to think about. I was just real hyped about it after seeing it in action.
- Recommend to others: This is a tough one, because I liked it, it was fun, but it's not exactly something I would go out of my way to recommend. If you're looking into an RPG because of it's compelling story, narrative, characters, I don't know what I'd say, but I'd recommend it to people who are on the fence and just want a fun game.
While playing Visions of Mana, I said something like "The only thing this game has got going for it, is it's fun." Similarly, I feel like "If this game wasn't fun, it would suck".
It's not a bad game by any stretch, it's just... on par with every Mana game. I feel like the Mana series gets some undue recognition. Almost all the Mana games are fun to play, but they're all flawed. Even Secret of Mana and Trials of Mana (Seiken Densetsu 3), are rather acclaimed, or were closer to their time, and even then I feel like there were better examples of similar rpgs that don't see quite as much recognition due to their lack of Final Fantasy ties. Even Legend of Mana, my personal favorite of the series is an exceptionally flawed game. Fun to play, but flawed.
It's not a bad game by any stretch, it's just... on par with every Mana game. I feel like the Mana series gets some undue recognition. Almost all the Mana games are fun to play, but they're all flawed. Even Secret of Mana and Trials of Mana (Seiken Densetsu 3), are rather acclaimed, or were closer to their time, and even then I feel like there were better examples of similar rpgs that don't see quite as much recognition due to their lack of Final Fantasy ties. Even Legend of Mana, my personal favorite of the series is an exceptionally flawed game. Fun to play, but flawed.
That's okay though. If you ask me what'd I'd change about this game, there wouldn't be much. A few nitpicks here and there about navigating the UI, both in and out of combat. Some jankiness experiences while traveling the world. Some choices that make for some annoying time wasting rather then the smoothest experience. Nothing that really kills the game stand alone. Not even combined. But combined does have a bit of an overall impact.