"Heroes of Mana" was produced by series creator Koichi Ishii and directed by Takeo Oin; it is the final game in the series to involve Ishii. The story was written by Masato Kato, and the music was composed by Yoko Shimomura. The game was not a commercial success, selling around 180,000 copies worldwide by the end of 2007, less than contemporary "Mana" games. While critics generally praised the graphics, they were dismissive of the plot, mixed on the actual gameplay and sharply negative on what they saw as poor artificial intelligence and pathfinding inhibiting actual play.