Today at the Xbox Developer Direct livestream Microsoft gave us a glimpse into the plethora of new and exciting titles coming both to the Xbox, as well as potentially other platforms. One such title that many people, especially those that yearn for a new JRPG to take the center stage of their gaming experience is Square Enix’s Visions of Mana from developer Masaru Oyamada and Koichi Ishii.
The latest title in the Mana series from Square, and the first new Mana game released since Rise of Mana in 2014, Visions of Mana will be the first game of the series to be available on Xbox. The presentation regaled us with a lot of details regarding the very storied lineage of the Mana series, and how the series started as Final Fantasy Adventure before blossoming into a massive 17 game franchise, and how Visions of Mana looks to study this DNA and apply the lessons learned throughout the series in this latest installment.
Visions of Mana will be an open world action RPG, featuring many of the classic designs for friend and foe alike handled by famed Square Enix designer Koichi Ishii. One such friend is a pikul, a giant wolf/hedgehog/horse you can ride to traverse the world of Visions of Mana quickly.
The action element of the game looks promising as well, with Visions of Mana having a wild selection of spells and weapons to choose from while also allowing for smooth combat either on the ground or by launching enemies into the air to attack them from there, complete with aerial attacks and magic as well as air dashes. These options, as well as elemental summons available to the player via items, give the gameplay a lot of options when it comes to how specifically you want to slice and dice your enemies.
This game is almost certainly Microsoft’s latest attempt to bring the Xbox to Asia, as well as create wider appeal for JRPG fans around the world on their platform. You can look forward to the release of Visions of Mana soon as it comes out in the summer of 2024 for Xbox Series X|S as well as PC.