r/ManaSeries

I haven't actually played Visions of Mana yet since I only have a Switch 2, but lately I’ve been falling down a massive YouTube rabbit hole with reviews and video coverage. Once you click one, the algorithm just feeds you non-stop.

To my surprise, almost everything I've watched has been overwhelmingly positive. The game looks great, and the combat system delivers. The story is more developed, and engaging than any previous Mana games, and the devs were successful in porting over the Mana essence. A ton of reviewers are calling Visions either the best entry in the series or right up there next to Secret of Mana and Trials of Mana.

So why did the game flop commercially?

If the core game is actually great, what went wrong here? The whole launch sequence was just bizarre:

• The Ouka Studios mess: right as the game launched, NetEase shut down Ouka, the dev team contracted by Square Enix to build it. It didn't go over well. Click-bait article and all. That part of the press coverage sure as heck did not help Visions of Mana sell.
• Weak sales: physical sales in Japan were underwhelming at launch. Famitsu reported around 40k copies across PS4, PS5, and Xbox combined in week one. Square Enix then mentioned in their financial report that initial sales missed internal targets. We don't really have much more data, but the game didn't move enough copies for sure.
• Zero post-launch support: with Ouka dead, any hopes for big bug fixes or polish pretty much evaporated. It feels like Square Enix just swept the whole project under the rug.

My working hypothesis:

1. A terrible demo & bad press: I keep hearing the demo didn't do the game justice by dropping players in without showing off the real depth of the combat system. Pair that with headlines about the studio closing during launch month, and it probably turned off a lot of casual buyers.
2. 20 years of brand neglect: did Square Enix kill the hype by neglecting the series? After two decades of cheap mobile spin-offs, cheap remakes (I'm looking at you Secret of Mana Remake), and inconsistent releases, the Mana brand just doesn't have the mainstream pull of Final Fantasy or Dragon Quest anymore.
3. Ignoring Nintendo at launch: The Mana fanbase has mostly lived on Nintendo hardware lately. Collection of Mana and the Trials remake sold great on the Switch 1. Did Square Enix shoot themselves in the foot by launching on PS/Xbox/PC and not just holding off for the Switch 2 launch?

What do you guys think? Was it terrible marketing, bad timing, or just launching on the wrong platforms? Or do you have other hypothesis?

I 100% it on PS4/5 but I'm really loving the 3D graphics a lot more on this replay on PC having spent most of my mana time on SNES style graphics.

I'm the type who every few weapon orbs has to max out all my weapons and magic levels before progressing the plot. Loved switching up my gameplay trying a different approach to speed up weapon leveling. The main idea is to constantly switch your lead and split the attacks between 2 enemies, so there's no waiting, and by the time you reach an enemy your gauge is usually full or starts full upon switching. I'm not sure how much faster I'm leveling things, but I sure have enjoyed having zero wait time to be in the middle of the action! I'm sure I'll find a happy medium soon. Too dizzying to play any more than one or two weapon level advancements.

If Square Enix was making a new original entry in the Mana series, which title would you like them to pick? You are not restricted to these 8 suggestions I came up with.

A few pictures of the book. Sorry, I don't have studio lighting, and the whole setup to correctly photograph a book. It's just to give you pals a good idea.

I purchased the Legend of Mana - Art of Mana - 30th Anniversary SPECIAL ISSUE art book from Dark Horse Books. It's MSRP : $29.99

I own the old Art of Mana book from years ago that covers the whole series so I wasn't sure if I'd be satisfied with my purchase. I read elsewhere that this was short book.

But I'm glad to say my doubts were unfounded. This is an 80-pages long coffee table book that gives us a lot more than the OG Art of Mana book had for Legend of Mana. Besides sketches you get official art for about every ennemies in-game, painted backgrounds, sprites sheet, etc.

I'm quite charmed by my purchase. It also leaves me wondering why they haven't made one yet for Secret of Mana and Trials of Mana ? 'Cause there would be lots to cover there too.

One of my favorite things about the Mana series are the Spirits.

• Artpiece 1: https://x.com/hinodecotori/status/2085018741067436142
• Artpiece 2: https://x.com/_hiroita_/status/2085306084500087088
• Artpiece 3: https://x.com/yuzuki_game1126/status/2085317090660274431
• Artpiece 4: https://x.com/Orirenraku6/status/2085244173062664681
• Artpiece 5: https://x.com/taom8/status/2085151537903669427
• Artpiece 6: https://x.com/explosion715/status/2085326727505674508
• Artpiece 7: https://x.com/omisoyahonpo/status/2085115559142965631
• Artpiece 8: https://x.com/urethane5842/status/2085335837043241248
• Artpiece 9: https://x.com/ND_illustration/status/2085349087814283744
• Artpiece 10: https://x.com/2zeroHearts7777/status/2085172078538621047
• Artpiece 11: https://x.com/mori_obi/status/2085245592700400009
• Artpiece 12: https://x.com/spa6ow/status/2085331746955161882
• Artpiece 13: https://x.com/5eJZv9AalA18590/status/2085019891074289869
• Artpiece 14 & 15 : https://x.com/n_kasiwa/status/2085365462070907342

I was poking around X recently and I discovered that the Square Enix PR team has two official Mana accounts: @ManaGame (in English), and Seiken_PR for Japan.

But I also came across this tweet : https://x.com/squareenix_jp/status/2074040661725352068

TLTR: It lets us know that for the series' 35th birthday Square Enix has been working on an interview with the Mana series creators: Hiromishi Tanaka and Koichi Ishii (who have left the company in 2012 and 2007 respectively). SQEX was looking for question suggestions from their Japanese fans.