Final Fantasy. Dragon Quest. Chrono Trigger. Shin Megami Tensei and its perhaps more famous spin-off, Persona. When you think of the most foundational and best JRPGs of all time, there are some easy picks, and the Mana series deserves to be among them. Initially starting life as Final Fantasy Adventure, Square Enix would turn it into its own standalone series with 1993's Secret of Mana, widely hailed as an essential pillar of the genre. Now, it's back, and you can try the new Visions of Mana today with a free Steam demo.
Astonishingly, despite a number of games bearing the Mana name in recent years – including remakes of the first two entries, Secret and Trials of Mana – JRPGs.
The PC game puts in control of young warrior Val. Assigned to protect his childhood friend Hinna on her pilgrimage to the Mana Tree, you're accompanied in true JRPG fashion by a delightful roster including a catboy and a half-human, half-dragon oracle. Battles take place in real time, with the ability to switch between all three of your active party to make use of their unique skills. Every character can utilize a range of different classes, giving you plenty of options in how to approach combat.
With the Visions of Mana release date right around the corner, you can now get your hands on the new game and see it for yourself. The Visions of Mana demo lets you check out an early slice of the story, battles, and exploration elements. Rather than a simple chunk pulled from the full game, Square notes that the demo has been adjusted slightly to better serve as a sample platter of what you can expect.
Unfortunately, those changes mean that progress made during this early preview can't be carried over, which will likely come as a slight disappointment to many. As a little bonus for playing the demo, however, you'll instead be given three weapons in the full game – the Gladius sword, the Falx great sword, and the Horn Lance. While you can also snag them later on through the standard progression, that'll give you a little bit of an early edge.
The Visions of Mana demo is available now for free on Steam. The full game launches Thursday August 29. Simply head over to the store page if you want to the demo or add Visions of Mana to your wishlist to stay up to date with it.
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