And here we have the ninth game in the Atelier series, the first to my knowledge dropping the Atelier <insert random girl name here> title.
Instead of being a full fledged alchemist (or almost full fledged), in this game you're a student of the Al-Revis academy, working your way through three years of high school in a small twist of the same system found in Atelier Iris 3.
Game mechanics are pretty similar to AI3, especially in battle, with some new additions to the alchemy section.
Battles used the same card-based timeline as in AI3, you can exactly see when which enemy will act and when you'll be placed after a certain move. There are still break combos (broken character loses turn) and the burst gauge, though the burst gauge is much more difficult to build up. In the two hours I've spent playing I've noticed that battles are based more on standard attacks than any other chapter in the series, special actions have an high cost in term of special points and all characters have only an handful of them.
The game is broken down weeks, which are then divided into four parts: event, lesson, lesson and event. During the lessons you can go to the student center and apply for various courses which you have to complete by doing a certain task (find an ingredient, kill an enemy, produce a certain amount of items); these task will give you grades, which are needed to moe on to the next week and, I think, term and year.
Events are story-driven and usually see you face a boss of some kind.
On the technical side, there's nothing much to say: graphics are recycled from AI3 and while every AI game used recycled sprites and recolors a lot, I think Mana Khemia elevates recolors to a form of art, since you'll see two or three recolored enemies within the first two hours of play - and these recolors are taken from AI3, which are taken from previous AI games.
It's nice to see common points between games that can be placed in the same universe (if not on the same planet - at least Mana Khemia and Atelier Iris 3), but, truly, Mana Khemia feels a bit too similar to AI3, not only in game mechanics or graphics, but also regarding music.
That said, the game looks pretty interesting, although the "boy with amnesia and mysterious past" storyline was outdated the second time someone used it and Mana Khemia is probably the 1000th game using this plot device to explain the dark and dangerous past that link the hero to the uber-demon-of-darkness-thing threatening the world (although my hope is that it won't turn like this...but who am I kidding?).
One major high point: the game is challenging and requires some thought before going on a quest, and this setup is most of the times involves producing new items/weapons with alchemy, which is the best thing in the game.
New twists in the alchemic process include choosing a partner to affect the final product with elemental effects and a random attribute that can improve items.
Honor mention to the box, featuring a pretty unique horizontal cover and a soundtrack with a mini poster inside that can act as an alternative cover (much, much better than the original one) and as a quick reference guide for beginners.
Instead of being a full fledged alchemist (or almost full fledged), in this game you're a student of the Al-Revis academy, working your way through three years of high school in a small twist of the same system found in Atelier Iris 3.
Game mechanics are pretty similar to AI3, especially in battle, with some new additions to the alchemy section.
Battles used the same card-based timeline as in AI3, you can exactly see when which enemy will act and when you'll be placed after a certain move. There are still break combos (broken character loses turn) and the burst gauge, though the burst gauge is much more difficult to build up. In the two hours I've spent playing I've noticed that battles are based more on standard attacks than any other chapter in the series, special actions have an high cost in term of special points and all characters have only an handful of them.
The game is broken down weeks, which are then divided into four parts: event, lesson, lesson and event. During the lessons you can go to the student center and apply for various courses which you have to complete by doing a certain task (find an ingredient, kill an enemy, produce a certain amount of items); these task will give you grades, which are needed to moe on to the next week and, I think, term and year.
Events are story-driven and usually see you face a boss of some kind.
On the technical side, there's nothing much to say: graphics are recycled from AI3 and while every AI game used recycled sprites and recolors a lot, I think Mana Khemia elevates recolors to a form of art, since you'll see two or three recolored enemies within the first two hours of play - and these recolors are taken from AI3, which are taken from previous AI games.
It's nice to see common points between games that can be placed in the same universe (if not on the same planet - at least Mana Khemia and Atelier Iris 3), but, truly, Mana Khemia feels a bit too similar to AI3, not only in game mechanics or graphics, but also regarding music.
That said, the game looks pretty interesting, although the "boy with amnesia and mysterious past" storyline was outdated the second time someone used it and Mana Khemia is probably the 1000th game using this plot device to explain the dark and dangerous past that link the hero to the uber-demon-of-darkness-thing threatening the world (although my hope is that it won't turn like this...but who am I kidding?).
One major high point: the game is challenging and requires some thought before going on a quest, and this setup is most of the times involves producing new items/weapons with alchemy, which is the best thing in the game.
New twists in the alchemic process include choosing a partner to affect the final product with elemental effects and a random attribute that can improve items.
Honor mention to the box, featuring a pretty unique horizontal cover and a soundtrack with a mini poster inside that can act as an alternative cover (much, much better than the original one) and as a quick reference guide for beginners.
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