Last night, at The Game Awards, Square Enix revealed a brand-new mainline Mana with a new trailer — the first in over 15 years.
Visions of Mana, as the title is called, will be coming to PS5 / PS4, Xbox Series X / S, and Windows (via Steam) in 2024, and looks to be a more modern take on the classic RPG series.
The trailer gave a first look at some of what we can expect from the finished game, showing off various imaginative ways of traversing its world map, battles against epic bosses, and of course, some lovely animated cutscenes to gawp at in between the action.
Here is a description of the story, shared by Square Enix on its blog:
"You take the role of Val - a curious and carefree young man who lives in the Fire Village of Tianeea.
"Once every four years, the Faerie visits regions of the world to choose alms - people who are fated to travel to the Tree of Mana, which presides over the world’s vital flow of mana. Val invites his childhood friend to a festival to welcome the visitor, but as the night falls, the sky lights up with sparkling lights and the Faerie chooses her as the alm.
"With the blessings of his village, Val sets out on a journey to accompany his friend to the Tree of Mana as her soul guard."
A bunch of people who have previously been involved in developing the series seem to be returning for this new entry. The producer, for instance, is Masaru Oyamada, who worked on Secret of Mana (2018), Trials of Mana (2020), Legend of Mana (2021), while the sound is being handled by Hiroki Kikuta, Tsuyoshi Sekito, and Ryo Yamazaki who all have credits on previous entries.
What do you make of the trailer? Let us know in the comments below!