[PS2] Mana-Khemia: 学園の錬金術士たち (Alcemy Academy)

[Toshiro]

Used: Imported version of game
System: PS2 with SDTV and HDLoader to speed game load times.

Please note I have posted this review also in NIS forum and GameFAQS forum under the username MaverickHL, you know just in case someone might stumble over there and thought I copied it

For more information please visit: ƒ}ƒiƒPƒ~ƒA�`Šw‰€‚̘B‹à�pŽm‚½‚¿�` this has all the pictures and stuff you need.

Trailer:
Gametrailers.com - Mana-Khemia: Gakuen no Renkinjutsu ****achi: Reviews, Trailers, and Interviews

^^^
I curse this swear filter too

Credit to Mana Khemia Wiki in helping me get through some translation issues and having a compilation of all the alchemy/synthesis items. Also finishing the game of course.

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Many have probably seen the game already or visited the website above. Some might say this game is just another Atelier Iris knock off, and to be honest it is in a sense similar (that is why it is branded Project A9).

This in depth review will cover a bit of the plot, but mainly the changes to the game mechanics that I thought was better than Atelier Iris 3 (AI3). So let's begin with the plot.


PLOT:

In Mana-Khemia (MK) you will play the roll of Vain Aureolus a teenage boy who has no recollection of his past. He lives a quiet life in the mountain with his cat Sulfur. Sulfur is in fact a type of mana and only Vain can hear his voice. One day a teacher from the Arlebis School of Academy finds him and invites him to join the school.

The story now revolves around Vain and his classmate friends as they learn the ways of Alchemy in the Academy. Along the way they will unravel the ways of alchemy, but also Vain's past. Most people heard of this story plot before so you can let your imaginations finish the rest emoticon Basically the story is about going to Alchemy school and pretty much follows a Japanese style of school setup (which has festivals and weird quirky Japanese school events).

GAMEPLAY/MECHANICS

The game will take place over the course of a 4 year time span story wise and will be basically setup as follows:

EVENT -> WEEK of Lessons -> FREE WEEK -> EVENT (continues story to the next chapter).

For the first 2-3 Chapters it will be mostly EVENT->Lessons->Event. Here the game will outline the basics of how to use alchemy, the battle system etc. The Lesson's consist of different task given by the teacher to do. These can range from defeating a monsters, alchemizing items, collecting ingredients etc. You are graded for how well you do this, so it is important to get good grades, if not you will lose free weeks coming up having to make up those lessons. If you do perfectly on you lessons you will gain more free weeks, which is important.

Free weeks are as they imply free weeks, instead of lessons there are a few things open for you to do. The first are part time jobs a.k.a AI3's quest bulletin board system where you grab jobs posted and do them. It mainly revolves on 3 "defeat the monster" quests and 3 "alchemize this items" quests. These part time jobs give you money so it is kind of important but not crucial.

The other part of the free week is character development with Vain. In this game there will be 8 playable characters, during the free week you are able to view one characters event and it helps your relationship with the character. This will of course affect the ending you get in the end.

Events are what drives the plot forward in this game. A few of the chapters will involves stuff with the school, but overall it will focus on Vain and his friends. After each chapter Vain will muse and give his thoughts on what happen during that event.

ALCHEMY MECHANICS:

The alchemy system have been divided into two parts. The first one is in the Atelier which Vain and crew use to study and do alchemy. The alchemy system overall is the same where you get ingredients and stuff and mix them together to get items.

However they added a twist to it, when alchemizing there is a roulette wheel that has different properties (fire, water, wind, plant, null) and you have to actually press at the right time.

This will change (or not) the properties of a certain item. It will either make it better or worse depending on the combination. At the end of it, you will have an alchemize item with certain properties. Certain quest/lesson require you to get certain properties to pass the class or complete a quest.

The second part is that there is a separate area to do weapon/armor/accessory alchemizing. This one is the same as AI3's alchemy system, the properties do not change, but you can choose certain properties for your equipment. These properties of course are dependent a lot on the first alchemy in the Atelier.

BATTLE MECHANICS:

The basic system is similar to Atelier Iris 3 but has been tweaked considerably. Gone are the spamming of attacks and into burst mode right away. Normal attacks will barely get the gauge up.

What you will need to do to boost that gauge is by exploiting the weakness of the enemy. If done right the gauge will move up considerable and into burst mode. For the first 4 chapters all the burst mode does is increase your chances of critical (yes increase, you will not always have critical)

By the end of Chapter 5 the game will introduce Finisher Burst. Finisher Burst is an extended gauge which needs to be filled in burst mode. The conditions for filling it will change to random acts that need to be done. For example one condition is getting continues chain attacks, another is healing party members, or breaking enemy (stun). It will randomize every time you go into burst mode so it will not always be the same.

These Finisher Burst will let any one character perform a special finishing attack which deals a heavy amount of damage (depends on situation) and this has enhanced the gameplay considerably since AI3.

The other part of the gameplay they introduce is a support system. This is a throwback to AI1 and AI2 where you can switch characters. However you can not switch on the fly, there is a fill gauge for the support characters before their turn comes up. Sounds, bad, but actually adds strategy to the game. Now this is what makes this game fun to play, when you use your support characters to assist you in attacking or defending.

During the game, 3 main players and 3 supports are available at any time (once you get at least 6 characters). If one of the main characters attacks, a O button comes up telling you, you can use the support character to attack. You can chain up to three more attacks to increase the damage.

You can also call in another person from support to take damage for you so that you can distribute the damage among the characters.

This won't seem much at first, but later on by Chapter 9-10 all the characters will have unique Attack/Defense support properties.

For example Vain as a support character can nullify all physical attacks. While his attack allows a knockback. Also for Vain, in a 3 man support chain, if Vain is the last character he (only him) will have an attack support extension where he calls on the other 2 current party members to join an attack.


GROWTH SYSTEM:

The growth system in this game is not based on levels, but on a grid system which is similar to FF10's Sphere Grid. Instead of experience points there is AP gain at the end of each battle.

The AP is used for the grid system to apply for stat boost and skills for each character. To get these boost, you need to alchemize your items. Alchemy is tied to you gaining stats, for example Vain has a cat's collar (main weapon) once it is alchemized it will appear in the grid and AP can be applied to it to get stat boost and skills.

There are certain shared alchemy items for all the character but it will not necessarily give the same stat boost. The system is very balanced and you can't really over level in this game. It gives it a nice steady pace in progression. Meaning by the end of game you are powerful enough to beat it but have a chance of getting wiped (well depends on how well you alchemize properties that is).

CONCLUSION:

Overall I like MK and the new gameplay mechanics they added. The story is subpar, and like all anime related games have cliche's up the wazoo, but I still like them. The Finisher Burst, the way the characters get stronger using alchemy instead of levels, and the Support system make this game a fun ride to the end. It is re-playable of course because you have at least 7 endings to deal with, each having those Japanese text base story games with still images and a conversation (like Ar Tonelico). Also there is a hidden bonus dungeon's with boss cameo's for your enjoyment.

Forgot to put final scores -_-; might as well put my comments of each as well

Story: 6.5/10
Not much of a story, pretty staightforward and really no big story twist.

Gameplay: 9/10
Fun and enjoyable as mentioned above.

Graphics: 8/10
Mainly 2D like all Gust games I have played.

Sound:8/10
Some repetitive school music, but has good battle and boss battle music so overall enjoyable to say the least.

Replay Value: 7/10
Ending depending on your character relationship, and a hidden dungeon adds a bit of extra game time.

Overall: 7.7/10

[Hard core Rikki]

Looks, huh, nice...

No english or international version ?

[Toshiro]

Maybe by next year, no announcement from Nippon Ichi America whether the game will be localized. However if you played any of the previous titles from the Atelier Iris series then this one falls in the same area.

[Cid Highwind]

So this is part of the Atelier Iris series? I've heard of it, cause I think one of those games is on Dreamcast as well, although Jap only. It looks interesting, although the trailer made it seem as if it were a completely chaotic game. Then again, that's also because it's a Japanese trailer, which trend to show you three movies at the same time.

[Toshiro]

I will try to get some gameplay video's up. I am busy right now with a few work projects that I have not had a lot of time play games

[Cid Highwind]

Cool, take your time with them, I'll be looking forward to them.

[Toshiro]

Alright, I finally had some time to make some gameplay battle videos and the japanese intro for the game. I uploaded them to gametrailers user vids, here you are:

Mana-Khemia Intro

Gametrailers.com - Mana-Khemia Japanese Introduction by MaverickHL

Mana-Khemia Gameplay Video

Gametrailers.com - Mana-Khemia Gameplay Video 1 by MaverickHL

Mana-Khemia Boss Battle

Gametrailers.com - Mana-Khemia Boss Battle by MaverickHL

[cyclonmaster]

Wow O.o This is something I should look into.

[Toshiro]

Good news for those who are interested in this game. NISA just confirmed it and will be out around March 08