Visions of Mana Producer Talks Series Legacy, Balancing Action and Exploration

RPGs are having a moment. With Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth, Persona 3 Reload, Unicorn Overlord, and the latest juggernaut, Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, the genre is responsible for 2024’s biggest titles. And it may be on the cusp of another certified banger.

Visions of Mana is the first mainline Mana installment in 15 years, and it’s shaping up to be one of the most hyped launches in the franchise’s history. To better understand what the team at Square Enix is cooking up, I sat with Mana series producer Masaru Oyamada to talk about the game’s legacy, its shift to open-world play, and what makes a Mana game a Mana game. The responses are translated from Japanese to English, and edited for clarity.

(Credit: Square Enix)

PCMag: You’ve worked on the Mana series for many years. Can you tell us what defines a Mana game?

Masaru Oyamada: Well, first of all, the Mana series is something I’ve loved since I was a child, so I approach things from that perspective. I think the signature features of the Mana series are its characters, its visual style, the imagery of the Mana tree, and the thematic elements of the story that deal with meeting people, saying farewell to them, and building those relationships.

Previously, the Mana series encountered hurdles while breaking into the 3D space. Trials of Mana was excellent, but it was also a 3D reimagining of an existing 2D game. What challenges did you face developing a 3D Mana game from scratch?

It’s been 15 years since the latest mainline game in the series. With Trials of Mana, we used those 2D visual aspects as a reference to build things. [In regard to Visions of Mana] we wanted to build an atmosphere different from Trials of Mana, but still carrying certain elements of past games. That way, anyone who has played the past games can pick up Visions of Mana and get that feeling.

We kept three pillars in mind that we leaned into during development. The first was the monster designs that the series creator, Kiochi Ishii, came up with. The second was the image of the Mana tree that was originally illustrated by Hirō Isono; that was another key visual that we wanted to lean into. The third is the character design by Haccan (a Japanese illustrator), who worked on past titles.

(Credit: Square Enix)

What games did you and the team look at for inspiration when developing Visions of Mana? 

There weren’t any specific titles that we used as inspiration directly. We looked at past titles in the series and extrapolated what we could from there. We tried to pull the best elements from those games, what was the most memorable to us, and draw inspiration from that.

Visions of Mana is a semi-open-world game—what kind of challenges did the developers face in striking a balance between both linear and open-world playstyles?

We were thinking about what we could do to push the series even further, especially from an action perspective; what could be done to take it to new heights. We were thinking a lot more about field exploration and adding more action. But on the other hand, we wanted to cherish that feeling of exploring an expansive RPG game world. So I wanted to incorporate a wide variety of locations in this game. What we landed on were areas that were expansive and had more freedom (Fallow Steppe). We also wanted narrower locations, like the one you experienced (Mt. Gala).

(Credit: Square Enix)

It seems like there is a bigger emphasis on combat in Visions of Mana than in previous installments. Was that something that you felt the series lacked?

The combat’s feel was defined by the technology at a given time. I don’t want to draw comparisons to other games. However, I didn’t want to lose to games that offered a high level of action. So I wanted [Visions of Mana] to be comparable.

That feeling of always being rewarded and becoming stronger is a result of striking a balance between the RPG elements. That’s something I always felt was the appeal of RPGs, and something that I wanted when developing the game.

Can you explain how important music is in this latest entry?

For this game, we wanted to express the overall world while having scores that are memorable to the ear. That was something requested by the composers. We worked closely with them to create the music. We shared early concept art, plus some of the cultural costumes that [the characters] wore, as inspiration. And in battle, music changes as the fight goes on.

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Party play and character switching have been important facets of many past Mana games. That’s still the case in Visions of Mana. How did you balance the multiple characters?

When it comes to balancing a party, you’re taking players on a journey. Of course, you want to create this feeling of taking a journey together with others. For this demo, we’ve only given you a few key characters. However, if you look at the key visuals, you might get a glance at some of the other characters…

No spoilers!

[Laughs] So overall, something that we really wanted was [for players] to cherish that feeling of interacting with the characters.

This is the first mainline Mana title in more than 15 years. How do you hope to entice newer players who may not be familiar with Mana games?

We want to draw them in with the atmosphere and visual style. Plus, [Vision of Mana] is a game that you can just dive into and feel exhilarated by the world.

Besides the Mana games, what games are exciting to you right now? What are you playing?

The game I’m most immersed in is Final Fantasy VII Rebirth. If not for this business trip, I’d be playing right now. [Laughs]. Another game I’ve been playing for a long time is Final Fantasy XIV. I know Final Fantasy XIV will be at PAX [East], so I might try to peek over. [Laughs]

Vision of Mana arrives sometime later this year. For in-depth video game talk, visit PCMag’s Pop-Off YouTube channel.