[4] Players may assume control of any member of a three-person party, each with their own unique skills and weapons, with the non-controlled characters behaving according to pre-set behaviour patterns.

[7] During combat, each character can accumulate and fill a Class Strike Gauge, allowing them to unleash a class-specific ability for high damage.

The Faerie chooses one villager as an "Alm" who will go on a pilgrimage to restore the flow of Mana through their sacrifice, travelling under the guardianship of a Soul Guard soldier.

[10][11] Other characters include Eoren, a traveller from the Earth Village Gudju: Aesh, an enthusiastic scholar; and Daelophos, a legendary champion of the Goddess of Mana.

They also meet with Eoren, who tells them the legend of the Mana Sword wielded by the Goddess's chosen hero, from a time when Alms were not needed.

Daelophos takes the Mana Sword and releases the Benevodons to reclaim parts of his old power, killing Eoren and Lysa in the process.

Wishing to learn Daelophos's goals, the group return to the Mana Tree to meet with Khoda, spirit of the first Soul Guard and Val's ancestor.

From Khoda and magical visions in ancient ruins, the group learn that the fragmented realms of Fa'Diel were merged into Qi'Diel when a war depleted the flow of Mana, unleashing the enraged Benevodons.

The Alms' sacrifices sustained the sleeping Goddess, who lost her strength preserving the merged world and suppressing Daelophos's anger, until someone would come with the will to create a new fate for Qi'Diel.

During early testing, when the team decided to include height-based combat mechanics, the use of elemental spirit powers was heavily incorporated.

[19] At Oyamada's request, the team considered a multiplayer feature, but it was dropped due to the potential impact on player progression through the world and story.

[21] Kikuta was mostly in charge of cutscene tracks, Sekito handled combat themes, and Yamazaki wrote environmental and exploration music.

Yamazaki drew inspiration from concept art given to the composers early in production, and the overarching theme of a journey across the world.

Kikuta described his role as creating music symbolizing the Mana Tree, a significant presence in the game's world.

[24] A five-disc album, Seiken Densetsu: Visions of Mana Original Soundtrack, was released by Square Enix on September 11, 2024.

[27] The game's title, suggested by the localization team, was intended to both incorporate the different Japanese and Western name conventions, and reference the different character viewpoints in the story.

[30][31] Luis Mauricio of RPGamer was very positive about the story and cast, praising the references to earlier Mana titles and its approachability for both series veterans and newcomers.

[6] Cullen Black of RPG Site was disappointed by the story's conventional approach to its premise, but praised the cast and several emotional scenes.

[32] Izzy Parsons of RPGFan highlighted the game's setting, characters, and themes of sacrifice, while feeling that the plot was sometimes too "safe".

[33] GameSpot's Imran Khan criticized the story's pacing, depth, and lack of bold ideas, causing the characters to appear as "poorly-written caricatures".

[34] Ransbottom cited the combat as the best part of Visions of Mana due to the customization possible with its classes, and enjoyed exploring the open areas.

[6] Black came to greatly enjoy the combat system after an initial learning curve, and found quest design "standard but strong overall.

[33] The environment and art design was a common point of praise among the Famitsu reviewers, and one further highlighted the music as reinforcing the story's emotional moments.

[33] Mauricio was positive about the art and character design, enjoying both the music and the English cast as helping reinforce the game's atmosphere.