Visions of Mana won't include a multiplayer mode like its predecessors at launch, but the game's producer has toyed with the idea of reintroducing co-op to the series "in the future."
Visions of Mana aims to be a return to form for the long-running Mana series after the mainline entries went on hiatus in 2006. That means the familiar action-RPG goodness, whimsical soundscape, and squishy monsters are making a comeback on consoles for the first time in over a decade, but multiplayer sadly won't be joining the fun.
"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 says in an interview with PC Gamer, later explaining that there werein factdiscussions about incorporating co-op into Visions of Mana early in production.
"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," Oyamada continues, expressing concern over how multiple players would affect world design and pacing.
While multiplayer is a glaring omission in Visions of Mana, Oymada doesn't rule it out for future outings: "When I think about the series and look towards the future, Imyselfreallydo cherish and have fond memories of being able to go on one single adventure with your friends and clear things together. I know what that experience is like, and I do want to consider being able to implement features like that in the future."
Visions of Mana is launching sometime this summer on PC, PS4, PS5, and Xbox Series X|S.
Oymada previously stated that he wanted to make Visions of Mana for 10 years, but thought no one would want it.