Visions of Mana has BAD Writing

Visions of Mana review/first thoughts is an upcoming action role-playing game developed by Ouka Studios and published by Square Enix for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Windows, and Xbox Series X/S. It is the fifth main title in the Mana series and is scheduled for release worldwide on August 29, 2024

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***IGNORE (Alternate Titles)***
"Visions of Mana: First Look at the Newest Mana Adventure"
"Exploring Visions of Mana: A Fresh Journey in the Mana Series"
"Visions of Mana First Impressions: Is It Worth the Hype?"
"Visions of Mana Preview: A New Chapter in the Classic Series"
"First Look: Visions of Mana - A Modern Twist on a Classic"
"Visions of Mana: Is It the Next Secret of Mana?"
"Discovering Visions of Mana: A New Adventure Awaits"
"Visions of Mana First Impressions: Return to the Mana World"
"Visions of Mana: A New Era for the Mana Series?"
"First Impressions: Visions of Mana - Nostalgia Meets Innovation"
"Visions of Mana Preview: A Glimpse into the Future of Mana"
"Is Visions of Mana the Next Big JRPG? First Impressions"
"Visions of Mana: A Classic Revived or Just Another Entry?"
"Visions of Mana: The Mana Series' Newest Hope?"
"First Impressions of Visions of Mana: A Legendary Series Returns"
"Visions of Mana: Reimagining the Mana Experience"
"Visions of Mana: Does It Live Up to the Mana Legacy?"
"Exploring Visions of Mana: A Fresh Take on a Beloved Series"
"Visions of Mana First Impressions: A New Dawn for Mana Fans"
"Is Visions of Mana the Series Revival We've Been Waiting For?"

[corey]

I'm enjoying the game, but I 100% agree about the conversations & dialogue writing.

People may not notice it at first, as a lot of it seems like your usual anime style conversations, but there came a point where it hit me - "people don't ever talk like this..." 😅

Like right in the first 30 mins when you take over as Val & the Alm girl, their dialogues are the worst exposition dumps in conversation form, and as you make your way out of town for the first time, they say just really weird nonsense to each other.

It sounds like AI talking to another AI. Game is still enjoyable, but I really wish JRPGs put a bit more effort into dialogue sounding reasonable.

[dreemwarrior]

Having a great time with this game. I love how colorful, beautiful, and imaginative it is. As a 90's gamer i like simple, innocent, heroic stories. Not everything has to be Game of Thrones.

[SnowyJane]

People are leaning into the fact that these games are lighthearted to justify bland and boring writing.

[Acidknights]

Played the demo like 3 times and not gonna lie, game started growing on me. Not everything gotta be “post apocalyptic-back to the future/end of the world, everybody dead type beat”.

I just wanna chill sometimes 😂

[davidperalta]

No offense but the writing ✍️ seems pretty fine just as fine as the plot and so are characters overall this pretty good despite it’s flaws, so I’m gonna have to disagree with you Mana series has still got it and it’s better than ever

[Coldsilfur]

Secret of Mana was always not complex at writing. Its the style of the series. Just like Mario games are simple. It also aims at younger players, too. It doesnt wanna be a Final Fantasy ;)

[Windfoxm]

My biggest beef was the characters not being able to figure obvious shit out even though I as the audience had the exact same information as them.

[Demaka]

Imagine taking like that and criticizing the writing. 😂 Your description of the “thief” shows you didn’t even play up to that point in the game.

[dentanau]

It feels less horrible with Japanese voices to me. Maybe just because you pick up less of the general banter, but I definitely feel like the English dub makes things even worse.

I also feel like it's kind of what I've come to expect from a run of the mill jrpg, which sadly isn't much. Lots of clichés, overacting, on the nose statements and just generally lots of melodrama.

[pencilcheck]

I agree, I liked xenoblade chronicles writings. I like some FF writings, but visions of mana writing is sometimes miss sometimes hit.

[mattb]

It felt like one very long American children's show.

It could have used some tone work. Like after a certain chapter, maybe don't have Val be yelling "Grrrrizly!" And being overly happy outside of cutscenes for a bit.

[Highwind]

I don't think tropes necessarily make bad writing. The writing feels on par with games like Dragon Quest (which also uses tropes).

[rossedwardmiller]

I find this is the issue with so many JRPGs and really sets some series (DQ, Persona, Trails, LaD) apart from the rest. It’s a shame I had to give up on Tales of Arise for this same reason. If the writing is bad, I don’t want to hang out with the characters.

[RaidenKaiser]

Val's gullible levels with eoren were kinda hard to swallow ngl lol

[Black.Clover]

Thank god something in me didn’t wanna buy this game vs seeing most reviewers just glazing over this game showing very uninteresting gameplay and dialogue. I was so confused.

[dreameatersmma]

Normal dialogue for a fantasy JRPG. Keep that same energy for kingdom hearts, same kind of shit yet still a classic

[Jhook]

Okay the bad dialogue is bad, but the story is pretty good. We see this in the Star wars movies too. George Lucas is a phenomenal world builder, but the dialogue SUCKED

[SnowyJane]

The writing has always been bad in these games and the fans never acknowledge it.

[jairekambui]

You should specify what you mean by the writing is just bad, if you know anything about the series you’d know that writing isn’t the focus of any game in the series besides legend of mana. The rest of the games are straightforward, whimsical and somewhat childlike adventure stories.

[rpg_tai_yggdrasil]

Playing it with subs and it'll be alright. Because tbh, secret of mana didn't try to add excessive dialogue to the characters... they probably overdid it with this one because well... voice acting. 😅