TheMana series, known in Japan asSeiken Densetsu (聖剣伝説;lit.The Legend of the Sacred Sword), is anaction role-playing game series created byKoichi Ishii, with development formerly fromSquare, and is currently owned bySquare Enix. The series began in 1991 asFinal Fantasy Adventure, aGame Boy handheldside story to Square'sflagship franchiseFinal Fantasy. TheFinal Fantasy elements were subsequently dropped starting with the second installment,Secret of Mana, in order to become its own series. It has grown to include games of various genres within thefictional world of Mana, with recurring stories involving aworld tree, its associated holy sword, and the fight against forces that would steal their power. Several character designs, creatures, and musical themes reappear frequently.

Four games were released in the series between 1991 and 1999: the originalSeiken Densetsu (1991)—Final Fantasy Adventure in North America andMystic Quest in Europe—for the Game Boy,Secret of Mana (1993) for theSuper Nintendo Entertainment System,Trials of Mana (1995) for the Super Famicom, andLegend of Mana for thePlayStation. A remake of the original game,Sword of Mana (2003), was published for theGame Boy Advance. All of the original games were action role-playing games, though they included a wide variety of gameplay mechanics, and the stories of the games were connected only thematically.

In 2006 and 2007, four more games were released as part of theWorld of Mana subseries, an attempt by Square Enix to release games in a series over a variety of genres and consoles. These wereChildren of Mana (2006), an action-orienteddungeon crawler game for theNintendo DS;Friends of Mana (2006), a Japan-only multiplayerrole-playing game for mobile phones;Dawn of Mana (2006), a 3Daction-adventure game for thePlayStation 2; andHeroes of Mana (2007), areal-time strategy game for the DS.Children was developed byNex Entertainment andHeroes byBrownie Brown, founded by several developers ofLegend, though Ishii oversaw development of all four games. Three more games have been released since theWorld of Mana subseries ended:Circle of Mana (2013), a Japan-only card battle game for theGREE mobile platform,Rise of Mana (2014), a Japan-onlyfree-to-play action role-playing game foriOS,Android, andPlayStation Vita, andAdventures of Mana (2016), a 3D remake ofFinal Fantasy Adventure for the PlayStation Vita, iOS, and Android. In addition to the games, four manga series and one novelization have been released in theMana franchise.

In August 2024, a new mainline installment in the series, titledVisions of Mana, was released.

TheMana series reception has been very uneven, with early games rated significantly higher by critics than more recent titles.Secret of Mana has been regarded as one of the best 2D action role-playing games ever made, and its music has inspired several orchestral concerts, while the games from theWorld of Mana series have been rated considerably lower. By 2021, the series had sold over 8 million copies.

Square trademarkedSeiken Densetsu in1989,^[1] intending to use it for a game project subtitledThe Emergence of Excalibur, and led by Kazuhiko Aoki for theFamicom Disk System. According to early advertisements, the game would consist of an unprecedented fivefloppy disks, making it one of the largest titles developed for the Famicom up until that point. Although Square solicited pre-orders for the game, Kaoru Moriyama, a former Square employee, affirms that management canceled the ambitious project before it advanced beyond the early planning stages. In October 1987, customers who had placed orders were sent a letter informing them of the cancellation and had their purchases refunded. The letter also suggested to consider placing an order on another upcoming Square role-playing game in a similar vein:Final Fantasy.^[2]

In1991, Square reused theSeiken Densetsu trademark for an unrelatedGame Boyaction role-playing game directed byKoichi Ishii. Originally developed under the titleGemma Knights, the game was renamedSeiken Densetsu: Final Fantasy Gaiden (published in North America asFinal Fantasy Adventure and in Europe asMystic Quest).^[2]

Beginning with the 1993 sequel,Secret of Mana,Seiken Densetsu was subsequently "spun off" into its own series ofaction role-playing games distinct fromFinal Fantasy, named theMana series outside Japan. Four titles in the series were released between 1993 and 2003.^[3]Secret of Mana was originally intended to be a launch title for theSuper NES CD-ROM Adapter, but when the add-on was cancelled it was cut down into a standardSuper NES cartridge, with many of the cut ideas appearing in other Square titles.^[4] Hirō Isono provided artwork for the game including forest landscapes.^[5] It was followed in 1995 by the then Japan-onlyTrials of Mana (Seiken Densetsu 3 in Japan); the game was originally planned to be released in English asSecret of Mana 2, but technical issues and localization costs prohibited the release.^[6][7] The final new game in the series' initial run is the 1999Legend of Mana, developed for thePlayStation.Legend is a 2D game like its predecessors, despite the PlayStation's 3D focus, because the console could not handle the full 3D world Ishii envisioned where one could interact with natural shaped objects.^[8] 2003 saw the release ofSword of Mana, a remake of the originalSeiken Densetsu for theGame Boy Advance. The remake was outsourced toBrownie Brown, which was composed of many of the Square employees who had worked onLegend.^[7]

In 2003, Square, nowSquare Enix, began a drive to begin developing "polymorphic content", a marketing and sales strategy to "[provide] well-known properties on several platforms, allowing exposure of the products to as wide an audience as possible".^[9] The first of these was theCompilation of Final Fantasy VII, and Square Enix intended to have campaigns for other series whereby multiple games in different genres would be developed simultaneously. Although no such project for theMana series had been announced by this point, it was announced in late 2004 that an unnamedMana game was in development for the upcomingNintendo DS platform.^[10] In early 2005, Square Enix announced aWorld of Mana project, the application of this "polymorphic content" idea to theMana franchise, which would include several games across different genres and platforms. These games, as with the rest of the series, would not be direct sequels or prequels to one another, even if appearing so at first glance, but would instead share thematic connections.^[7] The first release in this project and the sixth release in theMana series was announced in September 2005 asChildren of Mana for the DS.^[11] Four games were released in 2006 and 2007 in theWorld of Mana subseries:Children of Mana,Friends of Mana, andDawn of Mana in 2006, andHeroes of Mana in 2007.^[7]

Each game in theWorld of Mana series was different, both from each other and from the previous games in the series.Children is an action-orienteddungeon crawler game for the DS, developed byNex Entertainment;Friends is a Japan-only multiplayer role-playing game for mobile phones;Dawn is a 3Daction-adventure game for thePlayStation 2; andHeroes is areal-time strategy game for the DS, developed by Brownie Brown. While Ishii was the designer for all four games, he served as the director and producer forDawn, which was considered the main game of the four and was released asSeiken Densetsu 4 in Japan.^[7] The theme of the subseries for Ishii, especiallyDawn, was about exploring how to add "the feeling of touch" to a game. He had held off on designing newMana games afterLegend was unable to meet his desires, until he felt that technology had improved enough to let him create what he envisioned.^[8] A fifth game for the subseries was considered for theWii in 2006, but did not enter development.^[12] In April 2007, a month after the release of the final game of theWorld of Mana, Ishii left Square Enix to lead his own development company, namedGrezzo.^[13][14]

TheMana series was put on hiatus until 2013, when Square Enix releasedCircle of Mana, a Japan-only card battle game for theGREE mobile platform.^[15] It was followed in 2014 byRise of Mana, a Japan-onlyfree-to-play action role-playing game foriOS,Android, andPlayStation Vita,^[16] and in 2016 byAdventures of Mana, a 3D remake ofFinal Fantasy Adventure for the PlayStation Vita, iOS, and Android.^[17] On August 25, 2017, a 3D remake ofSecret of Mana was announced forPlayStation 4,PlayStation Vita andWindows, for release on February 15, 2018.^[18] A3D remake ofTrials of Mana and localization of the original game (as part of theCollection of Mana) were announced viaNintendo Direct in 2019.

During the series' 30th anniversary stream, Square Enix announced a new mobile spin-off game,Echoes of Mana, as well as the new console game with involvement from the series creator Koichi Ishii.^[19] TitledVisions of Mana, it was formally announced atThe Game Awards 2023, and is considered the first mainline installment sinceDawn of Mana. The project was headed by producer Masaru Oyamada, while Ishii worked on the updated creature designs.^[20]

TheMana series is the result of Koichi Ishii's desire to create a fictional world. In Ishii's opinion,Mana is not a series of video games, but rather a world which is illustrated by and can be explored through video games.^[21] When working on the series, Koichi Ishii draws inspiration from abstract images from his memories of childhood, as well as movies andfantasy books that captivated him as a child. Ishii takes care to avoid set conventions, and his influences are correspondingly very wide and non-specific. Nonetheless, among his literary influences, he acknowledgesTove Jansson'sMoomin,Lewis Carroll'sAlice's Adventures in Wonderland, andJ. R. R. Tolkien'sLord of the Rings.^[12]

While some titles of theWorld of Mana series do share direct connections with other installments, the games of the series have few concrete links.^[22] There is no overall explicit in-game chronological order. Further, according to Koichi Ishii in 2006 the games do not take place in exactly the same world, and characters or elements who appear in different titles are best considered alternate versions of each other. Instead, the connections between each title are more abstract than story-based, linked only on thekarmic level.^[12] Complicating this assertion, Ishii has also said in an interview thatChildren is set ten years afterDawn, whileHeroes is set one generation prior toTrials of Mana.^[7][23]

A common element of the series is its seamless, real-time battle system. The system was developed byKoichi Ishii and improved upon byHiromichi Tanaka, out of a desire to create a system different from the one featured in the first fewFinal Fantasy titles.^[48] While action-based, theMana battle system is intended to be playable even by newcomers as well as veterans.^[49] The system is coupled with the distinctive hierarchical "Ring Command" menu system, featured prominently inSecret of Mana andTrials of Mana, and to a lesser extent in later installments. Each ring is a set of icons with a textual infobox explanation which, upon selection, allow the player to use an item, cast a spell, look up in-game statistics, or change the game's settings. Navigation within a menu is achieved by rotating the ring through the cursor left or right, while switching to a different menu is achieved by pressing the up or down buttons.^[26][50] Although not part of the series, the spin-offSecret of Evermore, developed by the North AmericanSquare Soft, was also built upon the "Ring Command" system.^[51]

TheMana series features several recurring characters and beings, including theFinal Fantasy creaturesChocobos inFinal Fantasy Adventure andLegend of Mana,^[25][52] andMoogles inSecret of Mana and as a status ailment inTrials of Mana andSword of Mana.^[53][54][55] Watts is adwarfblacksmith wearing a horned helmet who upgrades the player's weaponry.^[56] Usually, ananthropomorphic catmerchant is found outside of town areas and allows a player tosave the game and buy supplies at high prices. Neko plays this role inSecret of Mana, and Niccolo inLegend of Mana andSword of Mana.^[57][58][59] In the Japanese games these merchants share the name Nikita.

The Mana Tree and the Mana Sword, calledExcalibur inFinal Fantasy Adventure's English version, are recurringplot devices that have been featured in every game of the series. The mystical Mana Tree is a source of magic that sustains the balance and nature of the series' world.^[60] The Mana Sword is typically used to restore this balance when it becomes lost in the games.^[61]Final Fantasy Adventure explains that if the Mana Tree dies, a member of the Mana Family will become the "seed" of a new Tree. A sprout of the Mana Tree is called a Gemma, while protectors of the Tree, who wield the Mana Sword, are called Gemma Knights.^[62][63] InTrials of Mana, a Goddess is said to have turned into the Mana Tree after creating the world with the Mana Sword.^[64][65] The Mana Tree is destroyed near the game ending inFinal Fantasy Adventure andSecret of Mana, but a character becomes the new Mana Tree in the former game.^[62][66]

Elemental Spirits, also called Mana Spirits, are beings who govern themagic elements of the series' world, and are at the core of the games'magic system as they are used to castmagic spells.^[67] Eight types of spirits have appeared in the series sinceSecret of Mana, and each embodies a different element. Their names arehomonyms of mythological beings orphenomena.^[68] InSecret of Mana andTrials of Mana, usage of their power is enabled upon the main characters' meeting with them.^[68][69] InLegend of Mana, the spirits serve as factors in the Land Creation System.^[70] InLegend of Mana andSword of Mana, multiple spirits of the same elemental type appear.^[70][71] In terms of storyline, inTrials of Mana andHeroes of Mana, the spirits are charged to protect the Mana Stones in which the Mana Goddess sealed eight elemental benevodons (God-Beasts in the fan-translation ofSD3).^[64][72][73] InDawn of Mana's North American version, each spirit speaks with a particular European accent, such as French or Scottish.^[30]

Rabites, known as Rabi (ラビ) in the Japanese versions of the games, are cute, fictional, rabbit-like creatures appearing as a common enemy in the series since its beginning. The Rabite has become a sort of mascot for theMana series, much the same way as theChocobo representsFinal Fantasy, and is one of its most recognizable icons.^[74] The Rabite resembles a bodiless, one-toothed rabbit with large ears that curve upward and form a point at the tip, and a round, puffy pink tail that moves by hopping along the ground. It is most commonly yellow colored, but also pink, lilac, black, and white, and are variously minor enemies, "superboss" characters and even friendly units and pets.^{[75][76][77][78][79][80]} Rabites are also mentioned inFinal Fantasy X-2 with an accessory comically named "Rabite's Foot", which increases a character's luck statistics. Additionally, they appear inFinal Fantasy Tactics Advance in the description of one of the game's optional missions as an endangered species due to being poached for good luck charms.^[81] Rabites have appeared prevalently in several pieces ofMana merchandise, including plush dolls, cushions, lighters, mousepads, straps, telephone cards, and T-shirts.^[82]

Flammie, sometimes spelled Flammy, is the name of a fictional species of flying dragons, as well as the proper name of some its members, featured in several games of the series. A Flammie's appearance is a mixture ofdraconian,mammalian, andreptilian features, and its coloring has varied throughout the series. Flammies typically serve as a means of transportation in the game by allowing a player's characters to ride on a Flammie's back to different locations in the game's world. InSecret of Mana andTrials of Mana, theSuper NES'sMode 7 graphic capabilities allows the player to control a Flammie from either a "behind the back"third-person or top-down perspective, and fly over the landscape as it scrolls beneath them.^[83][84] In terms of story, the Flammies were created by the Moon Gods, and are part of an endless cycle of destruction and rebirth as the stronger versions of Flammies—becoming part of a category of creature known as Mana Beasts (Benevodons inTrials of Mana), or God Beasts (神獣,Shinjū) in Japanese—destroy the world and the Mana Sword and Tree restore the world.^[85][86][87]

TheMana series has had several different composers.Final Fantasy Adventure was composed byKenji Ito; it was his second original score.^[88] Ito's music is mainly inspired by images from the game rather than outside influences.^[89] The scores forSecret of Mana andTrials of Mana were both composed byHiroki Kikuta. Despite difficulties in dealing with the hardware limitations, Kikuta tried to express, in the music ofSecret of Mana, two "contrasting styles", namely himself and the game. This was to create an original score which would be neither pop music nor standardgame music.^[90] Kikuta worked on the music for the two games mostly by himself, spending nearly 24 hours a day in his office, alternating between composing and editing to create an immersive three-dimensional sound.^[91] Kikuta considers the score forSecret of Mana his favorite creation.^[92] His compositions forSecret of Mana andTrials of Mana were partly inspired by natural landscapes.^[93] In 1995, Kikuta released an experimental album ofarranged music from the two installments, titledSecret of Mana +, which features one 50-minute-long track.^[94]

Legend of Mana's score was composed byYoko Shimomura, and of all her compositions, she considers it the one that best expresses herself.^[95] Kenji Ito returned to the series withSword of Mana. He also composed roughly one third of theChildren of Mana soundtrack, while the rest was composed byMasaharu Iwata and Takayuki Aihara. Ito was the main composer forDawn of Mana, assisted byTsuyoshi Sekito,Masayoshi Soken, andJunya Nakano, as well as main theme composerRyuichi Sakamoto.^[88] In North America, purchasers ofDawn of Mana from participating retailers were offered a sampler disc, titledBreath of Mana, which features a selection of tracks from the game.^[96] Shimomura has returned to the series withHeroes of Mana, while also contributing one song toRise of Mana.^[97][98]

A five-volumemanga based onLegend of Mana was drawn byShiro Amano and published in Japan byEnterbrain between 2000 and 2002.^{[99][100][101][102][103]} It features a comedic story about the game's main character, here named Toto. A German version was published by Egmont Manga & Anime in 2003.^[104] A collection of four-panel comic strips, drawn by various authors and titledSword of Mana Yonkoma Manga Theatre, was published in Japan by Square Enix on January 16, 2004. It included aquestionnaire that, if sent back, allowed participants to win illustrations signed byKoichi Ishii and Shinichi Kameoka, as well as specialT-shirts.^[105] Enterbrain also published aSword of Mana manga adaptation in Japan on February 25, 2004, drawn by a collaboration of authors led by Shiro Amano.^[106] Two days later, Square Enix published a two-volumenovelization ofSword of Mana in Japan written by Matsui Oohama.^[105] An original manga, namedSeiken Densetsu: Princess of Mana, taking place 300 years afterChildren of Mana and starring the descendant of Ferrick, was drawn by Satsuki Yoshino and published in the Japanese magazineGangan Powered from July 22, 2006, to May 27, 2010 and collected into five volumes.^[107][108]

TheMana series has been mostly well received, though each title has seen varied levels of success.RPGFan calledFinal Fantasy Adventure one of the best things to happen to the Game Boy,^[124] whileIGN considered it the best action RPG on the console afterThe Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening.^[24]GameSpot referred toSecret of Mana as "one of Square's masterpieces on theSNES".^[125] The game has appeared on several list of top games, including ranked number 97 onFamitsu's top 100 games of all time.^{[126][127][128][129]}Trials of Mana was called "easily one of the best RPGs to come out of the 16-bit era" byNintendo Life.^[130]Famitsu ratedLegend of Mana at 31/40 andHeroes of Mana at 32/40.^[131][132] TheNPD Group rankedLegend of Mana as the top seller the week of its release, and in 2006 was re-released as part of theUltimate Hits series.^[133][134]

Many of theWorld of Mana titles have not been as critically successful as the original five games in the series, and though the franchise has been praised for their attempts at trying new ways of experiencing the games' fictional world, there have been various gameplay design flaws that have hindered the later games.^[135][136]1UP.com commented that despite the game's excellent presentation and storytelling,Dawn of Mana did not match the level of gameplay of the earlyMana games.^[137] Prior to theWorld of Mana games,RPGamer called the series a "treasured favorite".^[138] After the release ofHeroes of Mana, they commented that theWorld of Mana series is "cursed", and the future of the series looked "bleak".^[139]

The music of theMana series, especiallySecret of Mana, has received wide acclaim and fan enthusiasm.^[91][140] TheSecret of Mana soundtrack was one of the first official soundtracks of video games music released in the United States and thus before fully mainstream interest inRPGs.^[141] TheSecret of Mana's opening theme, "Angel's Fear", was rated at number 7 onIGN's Top Ten RPG Title tracks, calling it a "magical title song that captures our hearts".^[140] It was also featured in the thirdOrchestral Game Concert.^[142]Secret of Mana is also the number 6 most remixed soundtrack on the popular video game music siteOverClocked ReMix, withTrials of Mana tied at 18.^[143] The music of the other titles have also been well received.RPGFan called the music toFinal Fantasy Adventure "addictive", despite its low,MIDI-like quality.^[124]GameSpy calledChildren of Mana's music some of the best Nintendo DS music yet and referred to it as "beautiful".^[144]Game Informer complimentedDawn of Mana's music, calling it good.^[145]IGN referred toLegend of Mana's music as "beautiful" and stated the background music brought "intensity", "suspense", and "subtle nuance" to the game.^[33] Other reviewers echoed similar praise toGameSpot, calling the music "excellently orchestrated" andRPGFan calling it one of the game's good points.^[32][146]

TheMana series has sold well overall, and as of March 2011, series titles have sold over 6 million units.^[147] The originalSeiken Densetsu sold over 700,000 units,^[148] and its remakeSword of Mana sold over 277,000 copies in Japan.^[149]Secret of Mana has shipped over 1.83 million copies worldwide.^[150]Legend of Mana sold over 400,000 units in its first week alone as the highest-selling release that week in Japan,^[151] and over 700,000 copies in Japan by the end of the year.^[152][153]Children of Mana sold over 281,000 copies in Japan,^[154] andDawn of Mana sold over 410,000 copies worldwide.^[155][156]Heroes of Mana sold over 178,000 copies worldwide.^[157][158] The PlayStation Vita version ofRise of Mana downloaded over 100,000 times.^[159] By 2021, the game series had sold over 8 million copies.^[160]

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