Square Enix has revealed the Visions of Mana release date, and the latest adventure in the long-running Mana series is coming pretty soon.
Per a new release date trailer, Visions of Mana launches across PC and consoles on August 29th, which means this is the longest Mana series fans have ever had to wait for a new mainline installment.
Prior to Visions, several mobile games, collections, and remakes of prior Mana games were released, but this is the first fully new Mana game to be released in 18 years.
The new launch trailer sets up the story for Visions of Mana, shows off some of the combat, and also introduces us to the game's five playable characters.
Protagonist Val's childhood friend Hinna is chosen to be an Alm, a person who must give their soul to the Mana Tree in order to "rejuvenate the flow of mana power", per the Steam page.
She seems to be harboring doubts, however; she expresses a desire to remain and "keep making memories" with Val, so it looks like we're dancing the Final Fantasy X foxtrot again.
Other playable characters include Oracle of Wind Careena, Radiant Sword Morley, Queen of the Deep Palamena, and Woodland Custodian Julei, and you'll be able to build a three-person party based on the combination you prefer.
Each character will bring their own combat style, and you'll need to experiment in order to discover which characters work best for certain enemies and boss encounters. Hinna, however, won't be playable; she'll play a sideline support role, per Square Enix.
If you know Mana well, you'll be pleased to know that the iconic Ring Menu is making a return, and you'll need to assign moves to it if you want to use them in combat.
There's also a class system that allows you to access powerful elemental attacks, healing spells, and battle-altering buffs and debuffs, so finding the right class for each character is paramount.
Visions of Mana launches on PC, PlayStation, and Xbox Series X|S on August 29th. Pre-orders for the game are open right now if you're interested, and you can check out our preview here to find out whether you are or not!
