Mana (series)

Mana (聖剣伝説) is a series of games created by Koichi Ishii. It is owned by Square Enix (formerly Squaresoft), who has developed nearly every title in the series. Mana started out as a spinoff within the Final Fantasy franchise when its first title, Final Fantasy Adventure, was released in 1991. Ever since the release of the second installment, Secret of Mana, Mana has disconnected from the Final Fantasy franchise to become its own series. Sword of Mana, a remake of Final Fantasy Adventure, even dropped all Final Fantasy-related elements, although they were added back into the mobile versions and the Adventures of Mana remake.

Many of the games are centered around the Tree of Mana, a providing life to the world, and the evil forces who wish to steal its power. The Mana series is more focused on action gameplay than traditional RPG gameplay, specifically that utilized by the main Final Fantasy series, which features command menus and turn-based battles. The Mana series' gameplay has often been compared to The Legend of Zelda series.

As of 2022, the series is comprised of only four main titles, one corollary title, five spinoff games, and at least one graphic novel. Of the game titles, four have received significant remakes or remastered versions. Three games were never released outside of Japan.

History
The series is divided into two distinct development periods, each incorporating unique elements of style not seen in the other. Under series creator Kōichi Ishii, the overall aesthetic was muted and placed greater emphasis on each world's fantasy setting, whereas under Oyamada, the aesthetic became brighter and more vibrant, with emphasis placed on characters and story elements with influences from modern anime and popular culture. None of the principal stories were changed between the two directors other than as was needed to meet expected cultural norms and/or publisher regulations of each era.

Ishii era (1991-2007)
Mana began under Kōichi Ishii with a proposal titled Legend of the Holy Blade: The Emergence of Excalibur, which had a story deeply rooted in Arthurian myth. The game itself was to be distributed on the Famicom Disk System and received a sizable number of pre-orders, but Square staff of the time ultimately cancelled it, suggesting instead that interested gamers place their orders for Final Fantasy. The Seiken Densetsu mark would be repurposed in 1991 for an entirely different story that ultimately became the first game. Final Fantasy Adventure, as it was known in North America, was designed with the short-burst play style of the Game Boy at top of mind so that players could mark their progress anywhere and at any time.

With Secret of Mana in 1993, the series was officially spun off from Final Fantasy proper, becoming Mana when it headed West only a few months after its Japanese debut. Secret of Mana garnered an overwhelmingly positive reception worldwide, and is widely regarded as one of the best RPGs of its era.

Seiken Densetsu 3 followed two years later, but initially did not release in the West as numerous obstacles surfaced. It also was met with an overall positive response in Japan. Nevertheless, the combination of classic Mana gameplay mechanics with several new and reworked elements set the standard for future installments. It would be decoded by dedicated fans in the year 2000.

The series' first spinoff, Legend of Mana, came to the Sony PlayStation in 1999 as a "build-your-own-adventure" take on the Mana formula. Though not a main title, Legend became another cult classic for the franchise.

With much of the original team having moved on, Ishii made attempts to revive a series that by 2003 had gone dormant. Assisted by former colleagues working under the name Brownie Brown, his revised team worked with Nintendo to publish a complete retelling of the original Seiken Densetsu as Sword of Mana. The game's release also marked the beginning of the series' first compilation effort in World of Mana, which received tepid reviews for the entirety of the campaign. A reimagining of Secret of Mana was also planned as part of the compilation, but was scrapped following poor sales of Sword of Mana.

Dawn of Mana, released in 2006, would be the last main entry in the series, as well as the last entry developed wholly within Squaresoft's control. However, it was received poorly in comparison to the earlier titles, and ushered in a period of mixed performance for the series as a whole. The interim time saw Square and later Square Enix make its first efforts toward making Mana mobile. Following changes within the broader company, Ishii himself left in 2007, and eventually founded his own studio in Grezzo Games.

Oyamada era (2009-present)
Behind Ishii was a capable understudy in Masaru Oyamada, whose own experience with the Mana games inspired him to continue where its creator left off and thereby begin the second era of the series, Oyamada was originally tasked with bringing several popular titles to modern mobile devices; one such title was Secret of Mana, which found its way to iOS and Android beginning in 2009. Following its astonishing success, Oyamada then sought to make more of Mana accessible to modern players. For the series' twenty-fifth anniversary, he chose to do a 3D remake of the original Seiken Densetsu, which released throughout 2016 and gained a new title in the West: Adventures of Mana. While Oyamada also managed two short-lived mobile Mana offshoots, ideas for future remakes quickly followed on the heels of Adventures; and in 2018, Secret was redone in 3D to celebrate its own twenty-fifth anniversary. Though the remake did not perform well in large part because it was both rushed and riddled with bugs and glitches, Oyamada set about what would become his most anticipated project yet.

Following a series of discussions in 2017, Oyamada and his team gathered the first three Mana games into an anthology for the new Nintendo Switch system. Also at this time, other meetings within Square Enix had staff considering whether to bring the entire collection Westward. They ultimately chose to do so, citing strong demand for Seiken Densetsu 3 as a key factor; and in the process, Square Enix re-christened the title as Trials of Mana. For long-suffering fans, a 24-year wait was at last over in 2019. A third 3D reboot followed a year later, and has sold over one million copies since its launch.

Today, the Mana series celebrates 30 years as a franchise; as of 2022, Legend of Mana has also been remastered and ported to mobile. At least two more games are expected in the coming months and years.