In adding his voice to the ever–growing chorus of Japanese creatives who are refusing to compromise their artistic endeavors for Western sensibilities, Square Enix’s Mana series producer Masaru Oyamada has declared that rather than bringing in new fans by changing the action-RPG line’s core identity, he hopes to do so by celebrating those elements which have made it “popular in Japan or a long time”.
Oyamada, who has served in his position ever since the 2009 port of Secrets of Mana, made clear his disinterest in chasing a ‘wider audience’ during a March 2024 interview with video game news website Automaton.
Amidst a larger discussion of the creative direction he and his team would be taking with the upcoming Visions of Mana, Oyamada was at one point pressed by the outlet as to whether or not he had seen a difference in the reactions to the announcement of the series’ next entry between Japanese and overseas players.
“In Japan, there are many people who have been playing the series for a long time and are familiar with the IP’s history, so the reaction has been half expectant and half anxious,” the producer told the outlet. “On the contrary, overseas players showed a lot of curiosity about the game and what it entails, including if it would be available on the platforms that they own. The difference between the reactions is somewhat interesting.”
From there, Oyamada was asked if he had “any plans as to how you’d like the Mana series to reach out to Western gamers in the future”, to which he asserted, “I get the feeling that many people who picked up Secret of Mana (1993) (JP: Seiken Densetsu 2) at the time it came out were young like I was because I regularly receive feedback from people who play the latest entries through the lens of their childhood experiences with the series. I hope that as they grow older and become parents, they will recommend the Mana series to their children and tell them about how fun it is.”
“The unique atmosphere and design might make some people feel that it is a bit ‘childish’,” he added, “however these are the strengths of the Mana series. Rather than changing these features that make the Mana series, I hope that new players will come to like these games that have been popular in Japan for a long time for what they are.”
Then asked by Automaton if his declaration meant that he was taking “care not to let your series’ identity become Westernized”, Oyamada ultimately affirmed, “I think the visuals of the Mana games are a distinctive characteristic, therefore it is best to deliver the game based on the developers’ creative vision.”
“For example, there are many different types of characters in the Mana series,” he concluded. “I think the fun of the game is encountering this mysterious world and its inhabitants and because of that, we don’t have a strong focus on a particular audience. However, we do work on the game while bearing in mind that the Mana series is loved by fans from all over the world.”
At current, Visions of Mana is set to fight its way onto all consoles bar the Nintendo Switch sometime this summer.