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.