Visions of Mana Could Be 2024’s BEST RPG!

Visions of Mana drops on PlayStation, Xbox and PC on August 29, however Square Enix recently blessed us with a demo! In this video I share what's in the demo, what I liked about it and what needs improvement.
What did you think of the Visions of Mana demo?
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[@Nekomania]

I know the mana team said they'd be planting a bunch of trees depending on how many hours of the demo was watched on all platforms. So if nothing else i'm interested in the game for that, but also it looks really amazing!!!!

[@1jidion]

open zone is what i like to call it and i love this game, cant wait to play the full game, huge fan of the mana series 4

[@Alexriga]

Seems classic, pre-ordered. Demo is convincing. We need to support such games...

[@airdrighmor1439]

I played it in quality mode. It ran quite well. I was 80% sold, this demo got me to 100.

[@calvinmatthews1527]

Just finished the demo a few minutes ago. I must say, it's pretty solid. The open areas are quite pretty, the cutscenes are leagues better than what we've gotten before, & the combat is fluid (minus the slowness you mentioned). I do appreciate the environment being more interactive, swimming, jumping, & every NPC speaks. Guess that's the compromise of not being able to enter houses. Also, I really appreciate the extra activities around the world. My summation: an adequate effort for those developers, I do hope they can iron out some of the issues most had with this demo, considering we're still a way off from release. Plus, I don't want this to get overshadowed by Star Wars: Outlaws.

[@vvolfflovv]

My biggest concern was combat depth and weapon variety and I noticed the weapon shop actually had a few variations of unique weapons for each characters which is why i love SoM so much. Now I wonder how many different types of weapons there are in total.

[@TheGamingShelf]

There’s quite a lot of variety and I imagine it’ll only grow as the game goes on and you unlock new elements.

[@vvolfflovv]

@@TheGamingShelf I'm still trying to process my thoughts on this game without spoiling too much as SoM is my 3rd fav game of all time and the nostalgia runs deep :)

[@veghesther3204]

However in order to actually BUY some of the weapons you need the full game as in some of the buyable weapons aren't available to buy at the weapon shop BEFORE you SPEND the EP on the said job class to be able to equip that weapon type normally. Take the Buyable Holy Lance its not buyable in the Demo at all since you can't unlock that weapon (via the Moon elemental) class in the Demo at all.

[@varuna918]

each character will have access to 3 weapon types. So it should be 15 weapon types in total (since there are 5 characters). The weapon type you use depends on the equipped class.

[@YoukoZuki]

Each character has 3 weapon types distributed to 9 of their classes, including starter class, which will eventually wield all of them once Elemental plot is maxed out -Val uses one-handed sword, two-handed sword and lance+shield -Careena uses spear, fans and fists -Morley uses katana, triple daggers and cane -Palamena uses whip, scythe and one more (I think it is kicking boots? The launch trailer where she fights Grapplevine shows her kicking it) -Julei uses wand, umbrella, and two-handed mace

[@connergaskell1909]

Played the demo and I gotta say can't wait play this one glad I pre-ordered it

[@TheGamingShelf]

Same!

[@GeorgeZimmermen]

Stop preordering games!

[@iscream2232]

So stoked for this game! Love the Mana series and OSTs so much

[@TheGamingShelf]

Hell yeah 👊😎

[@OneTato]

Imma be trying out this demo this weekend 😊

[@uppernimbus]

Bro, you put this together so fast! This game looks absolutely beautiful, love the colours and character designs ❤

[@rafaomegax]

There are many nitpicks I have and a few thing I hope get's improved in the future... but there's One thing that i REALLY hated when I played the demo. Jumping while sprinting cuts the momentum and you revert to normal running speed while jumping. It's very jarring for me and it too a lot of joy. It's a small thing but it deffinitely took me out of immersion immediately. It made it change from Day-One-Purchase to just Must-Buy

[@GloriousGrunt]

the orange pickups are giving me Jak & Daxter flashbacks lol

[@sor3999]

The "slowness" is intended, I don't know what games you're playing where things are instant, but usually you need to account for the speed of your attacks and any windup or recoil like in Monster Hunter unless you like playing speedsters. Trials of Mana also had casting times. The time ability increases your attack and casting speed and there will likely be buffs that increase your speed.

[@Alexthelion93]

Yup. This guy gets it.

[@KAZITOKI97]

If game like this have split screen will be awesome We can enjoy with mate

[@natejoe9924]

Yeah this demo was amazing I never played a mana game first time on Xbox and I'm loving it so I pre-ordered the full game

[@natejoe9924]

People say Xbox players don't like these kinds of games but I do

[@rodolfoxavierveranacif2967]

I was considering buying it on the PS5 because i felt like a JRPG would play better there, but my main console is the xbox u.u Guess Ill give the demo a try and decide afterwards

[@natejoe9924]

@@rodolfoxavierveranacif2967 yes get the demo a try I really liked it the demo

[@natejoe9924]

@@rodolfoxavierveranacif2967 I play the demo it's really good

[@natejoe9924]

@@rodolfoxavierveranacif2967 yes I hope you gave the demo try because it's good whatever system you decide to buy it on I think it's pretty good

[@drunkhusband6257]

@@rodolfoxavierveranacif2967 Man up and get a good pc

[@seljomber]

I'll be preordering it later in the month. Love a nice and cozy JRPG

[@GeorgeZimmermen]

Stop preordering games!

[@seljomber]

@@GeorgeZimmermen I only preorder ones I know are gonna be good and without bugs.

[@RPGStory]

The game looks beautiful and a lot of fun. If they iron out some of the technical issues I'm hearing about then it should be an excellent game.

[@TheGamingShelf]

100%. Very promising so far.

[@brettconnolly399]

Played it earlier tonight. This game is absolutely stunning to look at. So much attention to detail. Definitely play in graphics mode.

[@Davehhhh]

I played this on PC snd had concerns. Cutscenes looked awful in 30 frames and combat felt sluggish so these concern me

[@TheGamingShelf]

The combat did feel a little slow, which was disappointing.

[@Shelby_Arr]

@@TheGamingShelf This also might be PC-specific, but I ran into (and have heard of others running into) weird controller issues. The characters move normally when tilting the stick in one of the four cardinal directions, but slow-walk if tilting the stick at all on a diagonal. Hopefully something that gets resolved for the actual release. EDIT: This seems to be specific to certain controllers? It works fine on the Xbox Series controller, and supposedly on the Dualsense as well, but on Switch Pro controllers and some third-party Xinput devices, people are reporting issues.

[@Beelfrozz]

I feel the same, I love the game and I buy it waiting they fix this this movement or controller issues

[@MmntechCa]

I was getting about 100fps average on my rig (R7 5700G, 32GB, Arc A770) with high settings at 1440p with no FSR. Stable 60fps at 4K with FSR on quality. But the drop to 30fps in cutscenes is quite jarring. IDK why so many Japanese devs still do this. Steam Deck performance is 30fps locked, but I found the game was quite blurry with FSR on balanced. Lot of frame pacing issues too. It defaults to high graphics with FSR on. Turning it down to medium with FSR off netted better results, but still not optimal. Combat feels real sluggish at this slower frame rate. But even with higher rates, it's still not as tight as it could be IMO. I also found UI elements a bit small and hard to read. Nothing that can't be fixed though. Solid game so far other than these nitpicks.

[@CrackerBarrellKid52]

Incredibly, your video is incredible. Incredible incredibility and incredibleness.

[@shoked99]

Looking forward to trying the demo. I bet some of those issues get corrected in the next month. Thanks for sharing.

[@Mintcar923]

I can’t ever get excited about demos.. But I am excited about my preorder

[@Priomful]

Regarding the sudden demo: Steam made a new system where you can have a separate DEMO page outside of your regular steam page and that demo page can be promoted by steam separately too. I wonder if that at least partly impacted their decision for a sudden demo. Also this was already my most hyped jrpg of the year ^ _ ^

[@acidwizard6528]

I really want this game to be good.

[@patricklatham3897]

I thought the casting was slow too. But I just chalked it up to to being low level and without a sufficient amount of points in the spirit stat. Maybe try trading some Grizzly Syrup for the limited item that boosts the spirit stat?

[@PUR3H8]

I also love exploring in RPGs; it's actually one of my favourite activities. That's why it pains me greatly that you can enter any buildings in this game...

[@GeorgeZimmermen]

Can or can’t?

[@XGiveMeLibertyX]

This game releases pretty close to black myth so not sure which one I will be picking up first but I am impressed with what I’ve seen so far

[@MrValgard]

Somehow after trailer though it's corridor based. Open area looks amazing

[@TheGamingShelf]

Oh it’s very open! That field area is massive.

[@femtrooper]

I need to download this STAT!

[@AdamFunke94]

i mean its good, but insane ? kinda clickbaity

[@aesthetic2679]

It's not even good. It's floating around almost good. I'd rather it just be bad. Almost good is just annoying.

[@Rokstarboy567]

Honestly, i am really looking forward to this game, i dont want to judge the entire story based on just a little bit of fluff

[@jordankelly4684]

This game would be best rpg of the year if they didn't give up on end game content. But maybe I'm biased cause I was spoiled by DQ11's endgame. This was so close to being in the same ballpark, but it's obvious they got pressed for time by greedy corporate rats.

[@GreekTheGeek1]

Played a bit of the demo and loved it stopped playing as want to go to it blind to locations and plot it’s so smooth my only complaint is that you can’t go in houses may be that was for the beggining area only

[@jinyboi]

The environment is stunning. The gameplay, a bit clunky, can't lie...

[@drunkhusband6257]

Already looks better than all the trash FF games that have been coming out

[@bruceboivin2278]

1 hour for the demo or the full game to complete?

[@TheGamingShelf]

The demo. The full game will be 40+ hours I imagine.

[@Bowflex2480]

sadly i wont be picking up the full game day one , but Vom looks really good and i will try out the demo.

[@Dazza768]

Ugh why late august 😔 gaming is really quiet- playing this would of been perfect

[@alexisguillen8400]

I’m with you on that front. It feels like all the good stuff comes close to September and meanwhile we just starve.

[@Mintcar923]

Mana series always reminded me of summer for some reason.. So July August kinda makes sense imo I’m gonna tackle this one then go right back to Trails & YS being they’re so long

[@danman1124]

Would have*

[@Sairento-kun]

Welp sadly the demo was meh, it showed that few starting hours are boring and bad with clunky combat, it doesn't help that Metaphore comes only around 1 month later. So it's better to wait than have only ok experience (donno maybe later segments are better but if it is the point, something from these parts should be in demo). Tho I wish ppl who liked the demo will have fun with the game. Extra note those 30 fps locked cut scenes, it looks horrible and is annoying quite fast.

[@dustson]

we made a step back combat wise. trails had better combat. it shows it is a different team working on the game.

[@7milesdavis]

The red haired protagonist girl is pretty dorky looking.

[@TheGamingShelf]

And dorky sounding lol. But darn it I love her Southern accent

[@shatteredsentient5321]

She is adorb 😊

[@amegenshiken]

There's several elements from what I've seen here that remind me of Genshin Impact... No, this isn't a bad thing, I *literally* have Genshin on another screen as I'm typing this. But... If someone's interested in Genshin's gameplay, but absolutely HATE the gatcha mechanics... Maybe I could recommend this game instead? (...or possibly Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild/Tears of the Kingdom. The the first of which Genshin itself was accused of copying.) Or, alternatively, maybe those who play Genshin and like it could consider giving this game a try as well? ^_^b

[@monsterkill164]

Why does this reminds me of Trials of Mana? Is this the sequel?

[@thomaslego6478]

Good video. And I agree with the on-boarding... gotta look past that

[@BeugsTheLegend]

I enjoyed the demo but I am a little concerned about the story and how it involves protecting a girl while she makes a pilgrimage to sacrifice herself in a time honored tradition of her people…..and how that’s pretty much the exact same plot as I Am Setsuna, another Square game.

[@brycetheoddball]

I like this demo a lot but can someone tell me how to get the little wolves back cause I dismounted them to fight some enemies.

[@samurizzy]

Ring the bell in your inventory by pressing in L1 and pressing Square. Or you can go into the inventory and ring it there.

[@MNaka-uf9yz]

I was hyped for this game and planned to play it by the end of this summer but the demo completely broke all my expectations: Boring and sluggish combat, bland dialogues, surprisingly bad japanese voice acting, broken and half-assed animations, mostly empty and static world to explore, add to that a very questionable PC port and no banger music like all Mana games usually have. It has some positive though: Good 3D models and textures and a boring but efficient menu system. Want some good action RPG? Play Ys.

[@zuzannac8105]

Wow its giving Genshin Impact vibes a bit in the environment and I love that

[@shatteredsentient5321]

Never played a trials game. I tried the demo, but the maximum res I could get it at is 1080p for whatever reason. And the framerate is awful. Also, there is no ultra wide support.

[@flamehiro]

Yeah we have waaaay difference in preference in jrpgs. On my preferences it just okay 😂 not big into findathons or exploring open world for hours

[@StevenMcHugh-k1h]

"things in the game aren't explained well......like there was elementite scattered around that I couldn't activate" yet earlier in the video i believe you mentioned you use Elemental Vessels to activate elementite that you find. Sooooooo if you can't activate one that you find......wouldn't you just figure out on your own "oh i need the right vessel.....clearly i don't have it yet" instead of saying it's a problem you have with the game?! Some things in games are just common sense dude.

[@veghesther3204]

Correct the game never tells you that and the forest has a few Water/Earth/Wood ones you can use yet.

[@MelioraSR]

Sadly the controls felt janky and the combat unoptimized. The demo did not do it for me. Hype is gone :/ After playing almost 180h of FF7R this game just feels unfinished.

[@KenjiKussano]

Same here

[@GeorgeZimmermen]

You played 180hrs of that crap? Lmao😂😂😂😂

[@bombyo3634]

Ff7 remake demo is the reason I've been looking for other games to play

[@nessless5]

I loved everything about the demo as well exceeept the music which I am a bit surprised to say you find good. After trials of mana and legend of mana ive come to expect a lot better music but it sounded kind of generic to me. Game otherwise is amazing, so much fun and absolutely stunning world. I liked swapping between the characters. The story actually looks engaging too.

[@youareacoward8459]

Not if it has handholding and arrows where to go, then it will be a flop.

[@sakuyasama8986]

Ff7 rebirth is the rpg of the year cmon lol

[@QuentinMatthysBoeckmansYJ]

I must express that my opinion diverges from yours. I haven't experienced the PS5 version, but the PC version provided a sufficient glimpse into the quality of this upcoming release. Firstly, the voice acting in English is subpar, incomparable to the quality found in titles like Fire Emblem or Persona. The decision to give Careena a Southern accent because she speaks peculiarly in Japanese is baffling... I'll be sticking with the Japanese audio, just as I did with Trials. Secondly, the cutscenes! How can a reviewer like you condone this? In the year 2024, how is it acceptable to have 30FPS in-engine cutscenes? Not even AA or indie titles would attempt this. The only plausible reason for this is the game's release on PS4, and the realization that the console can't handle more, leading to the decision to limit all versions of the game just to ensure PS4 compatibility. It's jarring on PC, transitioning from 120FPS to 30FPS, with frame pacing that's erratic, as if the engine is struggling between an internal 60FPS and a poorly implemented 30FPS cap. Thirdly, the camera! The perspective is as restrictive as possible feeling almost claustrophobic. The camera hardly allows a view of your character's feet and doesn't zoom out during combat. Often, I couldn't discern enemy attacks amidst the special effects from other characters, making it impossible to see the enemies, let alone anticipate their moves. As a result, much of my combat experience devolved into button mashing and random dodging. Even Trials of Mana offered the option to adjust the camera's zoom, and it would pull back during combat to provide a better overview. My assumption is, yet again, that this was intentionally done to accommodate the PS4's rendering capabilities-if the field of view were broader, it would further strain the GPU of that aging console. I've been a hardcore fan of Mana since its first release on SNES. Trials was an enjoyable adaptation, but I'm a bit apprehensive about the final release's appearance. The dialogues, for the most part, seemed quite childish for a Mana game. Trials was significantly toned down from the original SNES release, and it appears they intend to continue matching the visual style with the story's tone. I just hope the final game will pleasantly surprise me in terms of the scenario.

[@iamLI3]

no it's not too slow yes you ppl are just too twitch addicted to the gameplay of slop like genshin

[@Exialyser]

you said this game looks good, yes i agree, if you said its even above metaphor refantazio.. well.. thats a no.. lol

[@TheGamingShelf]

In referring to Metaphor I was saying I was more excited for Visions of Mana. Metaphor definitely looks better in every way from a visual perspective.

[@sanderdegurra9002]

Looks like Genshin Impact.

[@TheGamingShelf]

It does! Not there’s no gacha :)

[@mikeymacaque]

I think this was a pretty bad demo and despite that I really fell for the game. The tutorials confused more than they helped and I really wished I could go back and read them somehow (maybe it was somewhere, but I couldn’t find it).

[@JohnRambo1947-July-6th]

Not really a fan of southern accents though. My only gripe. I did grow to like Ulrika in Mana Khemia 2 though. 😅

[@BeugsTheLegend]

That accent was the only part I didn’t like. No one can ever get the southern accent right unless it’s natural.

[@WeAreLight05]

Came in here to say FF7 rebirth would blow this out if the water. Done.

[@DemiHavok420]

Could be, if the characters didn't look so bad, and uninspiring. That alone make this title an easy pass for me. The rest of the game just looks like a trials reskin, but the characters look far more boring, and lame.

[@PandemoniumPirateRadio]

The visual style is so mundane and boring. Really wish the character designs were also way better. Looks extremely mediocre visually, but the actual gameplay looks decent.

[@kalenics123]

80$ no thank you.

[@TheGamingShelf]

Canadian? Australian?

[@bombyo3634]

59.99 us

[@schnek8927]

Not even 20 seconds in and it already looks abysmal. Gosh golly, another flat and empty world, which looks like a clay figure that's been left out in the sun for too long, with boring cookie-cutter gameplay.

[@SupraZelda666]

no wepaon leveling like secret of mana ormagic is ilttle cheap

[@blackdysfunction8260]

Im just going to start off saying big fail intentionally keeping palamena out of the demo, character design on most characters is horrible, and it feels like I'm moving in water.

[@WeesanTV]

Coop removed? This is a massive let down.

[@TheGamingShelf]

Removed? When was the last Mana game with co-op?

[@RayKentman]

Really great video. I enjoyed this game so much more the more I kept playing it. I also found the mount slow to get off so I hope they fixed that by the full release.

[@Puddles4ETN]

I'm choosing to boycott this at launch simply because of the scumbag behavior they're exhibiting by forcing us to pay $20 extra for "early access", which in reality only means they're deliberately delaying access for those of us wanting to buy the $60 standard edition. There's no way I'm showing full support for a developer/publisher behaving this way, so I'll wait until the game inevitably drops in price by 50% or so.

[@TheGamingShelf]

That is annoying. I hate when companies do this

[@DarkGnomeofthePit]

I started the demo on PS5 in performance mode, heard the terrible voice acting, the long-winded dialog and poor writing, the abundant pop up tutorial screens, and the combat, at least with the character you start the demo with, the one that had the broadsword, it was slow and clunky. I love RPGs, they are my genre of choice, and I was looking forward to this game, however I deleted the demo and will not be purchasing this title. In this day and age RPGs are abundant and if a game can't grab me in the first 10 minutes then it isn't for me. When so many action RPGs nowadays have better story, voice acting, and the most important part stellar combat, it is hard to play a title that falls below the excellent standard, though I hope everyone else enjoys this title.

[@mgsxmike]

Cool story bro

[@DarkGnomeofthePit]

@mgsxmike I was just offering my opinion on the game for people who have not yet played the demo and wanted another viewpoint, I want people to enjoy whatever they enjoy. For example, I adored the Western version of Nier for PS3, where you played as a father, despite the middling combat. When you say "cool story bro" it contributes nothing to the conversation, and just comes off like an angsty teen, who is upset over someones opinion and can't convey their feelings in a constructive manner. If you disagree with my criticism, it would come off better if you said something like "the demo has a truly slow and meandering start, wish you could have given it more time to ruminate, I think there is something truly enjoyable here" and then it would have added more to the discussion for everyone.

[@Norgatron]

@@mgsxmikewould love to know what pipe he’s been smoking 😂😂😂

[@Jalex8975]

​@DarkGnomeofthePit well said on the "it's okay to have a different opinion front." I actually enjoyed the demo so I disagree with you but it's okay to have a different opinion

[@ImTheDirtySecret]

Calm down

[@JonathanJoestarJuicefest]

I hear you bro...but denuvo is a fucking hard pass, maybe once they remove it down the line.

[@TheGamingShelf]

Play on console?

[@JonathanJoestarJuicefest]

@@TheGamingShelf Never going back there again, especially with all the censorship in recent years.

[@madmuffinz]

paid ad video

[@aesthetic2679]

The demo seems pretty unsatisfying. The combat is slow and the movement is choppy. The music is mid. The characters are annoying.

[@TheGamingShelf]

I agree with the combat. It felt slow. I respectfully disagree with the others though.

[@NeutralGloomBot]

Ehhhhh. I love my RPGs, JRPGs especially, but after playing this demo I see nothing special here. Very generic cliche isekai anime story telling, same old character tropes you always see in these games, ok combat but kind of clunky too, music is also just kind of ok, while the world design is gorgeous I hate how the characters look, and the english voice acting is god awful. From the demo alone I see a pure 6/10. It was just ok. Its actually everything wrong with a lot of modern JRPGs. Its just lazy by the numbers cliches we've been seeing for 15 years now. No imagination went into this game. Just hitting check lists of what past JRPGs have done over and over again.

[@rorkirbabtista9429]

Is squareenix buying up youtubers? Or am I just stupid? This doesn't look fun.

[@TheGamingShelf]

I honestly loved it! Not sponsored.

[@AZsCrookedNose]

Nah, dawg, we played the demo. Click and engagement bait. Pause at 0 sec and downvote.

[@TheGamingShelf]

Agree to disagree. I genuinely loved it. Sorry to hear you didn't.

[@bezoznaught5261]

I'm actually sick of all of these cutesy colorful jrpgs, give me dark sci fi jrpgs with deep thought, sick of all these baby games

[@jay40sd]

To be fair, this is the tone historically with this franchise, the Mana series. But I do see what you mean that there has been a lot of these types of titles recently.

[@mgsxmike]

Ok edge lord

[@shatteredsentient5321]

I love dark sci-fi rpgs, too. But, this franchise is all about this kind of vibe. I do hope we get a cool sci-fi anime rpg like that. My favorite is Xenoblade X.

[@shingetsu10]

What clickbait trash This game looks mid AF. Might as well name it JRPG Simulator

[@jpdunphy1]

Click bait title. I understand you're trying to run a business but, yeeeeccccchhhh.

[@TheGamingShelf]

Actually not clickbait. I genuinely loved the demo!

[@SupraZelda666]

Music is ok for now not at the level of seijken 1 or 2. Combat need to be more reactive like YS series. More deep customisation with real graphic effect on result. least mario gameplay style and more FF style. NO woke needed at the end of making the game too.

[@TheGamingShelf]

Woke? Where in the game is there anything woke?

[@BobDylan-ho2gd]

Nah. This game looks like garbage. Atlus ftw

[@jondr]

Can they just STOP making action rpgs.

[@ertai222]

No. I like action combat.

[@TheGamingShelf]

lol no

[@hipermlexon]

I hope the performance mode on ps5 looks pretty well couse the granblue fantasy is a disaster for me.

[@jakto.1814]

无聊至极呀，我连Demo都没打完。