Visions of Mana has difficulty differences that affect damage output, damage taken, and character deaths. See the best difficulty settings here and learn more about all difficulty differences in this guide.

All Difficulty Differences

All Difficulty Differences
Decreased Damage Output and Increased Damage Taken Shortened Enemy Attack Intervals Characters Can Be Revived in Beginner When Wiped Out Difficulty Settings Do Not Influence the Story

Decreased Damage Output and Increased Damage Taken

Beginner	Hard

In Visions of Mana, damage inflicted by enemies scales higher the harder the difficulty gets, while your damage output decreases. This means that battles are generally longer at higher levels due to the way the damage system affects both the damage you take and deal to enemies.

We tested each mode and found that the biggest leap in damage dealt and taken is between Normal and Hard. On Hard mode, both damage output and damage inflicted are doubled compared to the estimated damage output of x0.6 in Normal mode.

Damage Output and Damage Taken Multiplier

Shortened Enemy Attack Intervals

In addition to affecting damage output and damage taken, difficulty levels also influence enemy behaviors. As the difficulty increases, enemies’ attack intervals decrease, allowing them to hit you more frequently during combat.

Characters Can Be Revived in Beginner When Wiped Out

In Beginner, all your characters can be revived when you get wiped out during combat. In higher difficulties, however, the game ends, and you can only return to your last save to continue your progress.

Difficulty Settings Do Not Influence the Story

In terms of the story, there are no changes across all difficulty settings. All difficulties share the same story and plot and only influence the combat mechanics of the game.

Complete Story Walkthrough

Best Difficulty Settings

Choose Normal Mode to Enjoy Both Story and Battle

For players who want to enjoy the story with a balanced challenge in battles, choose Normal. If you prefer a more challenging experience, try Hard mode, but keep in mind that battles may be longer at this difficulty!

Choose Beginner or Easy for Story-Focused Gameplay

If you want to focus solely on the story, Beginner or Easy is the best difficulty to choose. This is also recommended for beginners, especially those who are not familiar with the series.

How to Change Difficulty

Open Settings to Change Difficulty

If you're not satisfied with your current difficulty, you can adjust it in the game settings. From there, you can either lower or increase the difficulty based on your preference.

Cannot Be Changed During Combat

Keep in mind that you can only change the difficulty outside of battle. Difficulty adjustments are not accessible during enemy or boss battles and can only be made afterward.

All Difficulty Types

All Four Difficulty Types

Visions of Mana features four different difficulties, not including the secret Very Hard option. These are Beginner, Easy, Normal, and Hard. You can set the difficulty when you create a new save file and change it later in the settings.

Complete the Game Once to Unlock Very Hard Difficulty

Visions of Mana also features a Very Hard difficulty option, which only unlocks after completing the game once on any difficulty. To get this secret difficulty, make sure you finish all chapters or complete a full playthrough.

Visions of Mana Related Guides

Beginner's Guide: Tips and Tricks

All Tips and Tricks Guides