You’ve probably heard of the Mana series before, but just in case you’re unaware of it, it’s a famous and long running Square Enix franchise. Arguably the most famous entry in the series is Secret of Mana, which regularly appears in a lot of “best games ever made” lists.
The franchise actually began life under a completely different name — the first game in the Mana series is called Final Fantasy Adventure before the series changed names and became the Mana series.
Final Fantasy Adventure is an action RPG and was originally released back in 1991. It was remade as Adventures of Mana in Japan earlier this year and due to fan demand and also to kick off the 25th anniversary celebrations of the Mana series, we are bringing the PS Vita version of Adventures of Mana worldwide! If you want more good news then I’m happy to let you all know that you won’t have to wait long to pick up the game — in fact the game is available today!
So what is Adventures of Mana all about? Here’s a quick story overview:
Enshrined atop Mt. Illusia, high above the lofty clouds, stands the Tree of Mana. Drawing its life energy from the boundless celestial aether, the sentinel grows in silence. Legend holds that he who lays his hands upon its trunk will be granted power eternal — a power the Dark Lord of Glaive now seeks to further fuel his bloody quest for domination.
Our unlikely hero is one of countless gladiators indentured to the Duchy of Glaive. Each day, he and his ill-fated companions are dragged from their cells and bade to fight exotic beasts for the amusement of the Dark Lord. If victorious, they are thrown back into the dungeons with just enough bread to tide them over until their next match. But a body can only take so much, and it is never long before the weary captives succumb to their cruel fates.
The PS Vita version of Adventures of Mana features enhanced 3D visuals (the original was in 2D), revamped menus, and a rearranged soundtrack from the game’s original composer. The background music from the original version is also available in the game so if you want to go old school with the music, you totally can!
When Adventures of Mana was originally released, a lot of PS Vita owners were disappointed that we couldn’t launch it worldwide at the time. Since then, the development team have been working extremely hard to bring it over so I’m really happy to let you guys know that your voices were heard and the team is really happy to bring Adventures of Mana to the PS Vita community and celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Mana series with you all.
Any chances the original Secret of Mana will show its face?
That’s a long shot, since it was only on SNES
Its also on android. This really depends on a few factors, but I doubt square will take the time. Either way this is a win and square is getting my money.
Yeah it’s on iOS and I would’ve said it was a long shot if Super Star Wars wasn’t brought over as well. SNES games can come over the PlayStation. Now… how about Sky Blazer, Sony?
I’d much rather prefer Seiken Densetsu 3.
I agree with Cross. Secret of Mana 2/ Seiken Densetsu 3 is WAY better. One of my favorite RPG’s of all time. It was never officially translated or sold in the West… But it’s been a ROM forever. An official translation with some other fixes, like how the Luck stat is broken and certain characters/abilities aren’t balanced… Man. I want SD3 so bad :(