Echoes of Mana is now available on Android as a free-to-play release
Wefirst learned about Echoes of Manaback in June 2021, and the game finallyentered into pre-registrationthis past March, signaling Square Enix was ramping up to the global release. While the initial Apple App Store listing touted an April 30th release date,Square confirmedat the end of last week the game would launch on the 27th. Coincidentally, that’s today, and as of early this morning the servers for Echoes of Mana are live.
Now that Echoes of Mana is available, you may be wondering how the game plays. This is precisely whyI went hands-onwith the title during its pre-release. Keep in mind that I was playing a version still in development, though after some testing today, it’s clear little has changed since the pre-release. More or less, Echoes of Mana is a typical free-to-play gacha game from Square Enix, offering multiple currencies, star-based character pulls, an annoying forced tutorial, not to mention in-app purchases that range up to $79.99 per item.
Of course, if you’re a huge Mana series fan, then you may get a kick out of the original story. You get to explore familiar locales that span across many previous Mana games, for a heavy dose of nostalgia. As you would imagine, it’s time to save the Mana Tree once again, and the Mana Sword is the key to saving the day, but you’ll have to find it first, which is where your adventure begins.
Still, Echoes of Mana doesn’t feel very optimized, with long transitions between screens, plus all of the expected gacha annoyances are here, like egregious monetization and pay-to-win mechanics (yes, you can continually purchase new characters until you build a high-rated team). However, if you’re looking to optimize your pulls, we have a handyEchoes of Mana guidethat can help you avoid some of the more egregious gacha annoyances.
All in all, today’s release for Echoes of Mana doesn’t pack many surprises. The gacha gameplay offers the same collection aspects we’ve all seen a thousand times over, complete with a forced tutorial, excessive monetization, and poor performance throughout with abrupt transitions between screens. Seeing that the game’s release is part of a 30th-anniversary celebration for the Mana series, you’d think Square would be a little more interested in offering a polished release, but as we all know, polish and free-to-play rarely go hand in hand.
Then again, if you’re interested in checking out the new story, the game is free, so there’s no harm in taking a look. So if you’d like to snag a copy of Echoes of Mana to make up your own mind, you can grab the install from the Play Store widget below.
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