Visions of Mana won't have co-operative multiplayer, despite series history

Visions of Mana, the next entry in Square Enix's Mana series, sadly won't have co-operative multiplayer.

1993's Secret of Mana was celebrated for allowing players to join forces against its hordes of squidgy, colourful enemies and many games in the series since have played similarly.

Visions of Mana, though, will be single player only due to the impact multiplayer would have on design and pacing.

"When I played Secret of Mana, the multiplayer co-op mode was something that really stood out and left a strong impression on me," producer Masaru Oyamada told PC Gamer. "So when we were proposing this game internally, and discussing what it should be, we actually had that discussion on whether we should incorporate a feature like that."

Oyamada continued: "As things kind of developed further internally, we had discussions on the various things that you can do through a multiplayer mode, but also some challenges a multiplayer mode introduces. By having multiple players playing, that could also affect the overall field design, and also the tempo of the playing experience."

Multiplayer could be considered for the future, though.

"However, when I think about the series and look towards the future, I myself really do cherish and have fond memories of being able to go on one single adventure with your friends and clear things together," said Oyamada. "I know what that experience is like, and I do want to consider being able to implement features like that in the future.

"So [once we can address] some of the technical issues, people can experience that element of the Mana series too."

This may not be so much of a surprise for players of 2020 remake Trials of Mana, though, as that game was similarly single player only.

That game was key to the development of Visions of Mana. "Through creating all these various remakes, we had already been thinking a little bit and exploring the idea of a new instalment, but with the release of Trials of Mana in 2020, seeing how the game was really received well by fans, that became a defining moment when we decided it was the right time to be able to create a new release," Oyamada previously told Eurogamer.

Visions of Mana is the first new game in the series for over 15 years - I went hands-on recently and loved its allusions to the past, even if it lacks some truly fresh ideas.