Comments on: Mana Khemia: Alchemists of Al-Revis, a refreshing RPG concoction

By: vysethebold

vysethebold — Wed, 13 Feb 2008 03:58:04 +0000

@Anon: It’s funny how things work. I actually own the first two Atelier Iris games and plan on picking up the third. However, I’ve never tried any of the games until this assignment. This weekend I’ll show you guys a peek at my personal collection so you can see why I haven’t even tried some of the games I own yet. Just too many games!

By: LuminousAtelier

LuminousAtelier — Tue, 12 Feb 2008 23:50:09 +0000

Hahaha yeah I agree with Anon.Thanks for the preview now I’m very much looking forward to playing this.-^__^-

By: EvilAkito

EvilAkito — Tue, 12 Feb 2008 23:36:39 +0000

I tried out the first two Atelier Iris games, but I never really could get into them. Ar Tonelico, on the other hand, was quite a bit of fun. Unfortunately, it feels like I’m being crushed under an avalanche of new video games, with a pile of video games from previous years still piled on me, so I think I’ll pass on Mana Khemia. I just don’t have time for everything.

By: Anon

Anon — Tue, 12 Feb 2008 22:24:19 +0000

vyse, you really should give Ar tonelico and the Atelier Iris games a try if you like Mana Khemia. They have a lot of similar elements.

By: vysethebold

vysethebold — Tue, 12 Feb 2008 20:08:44 +0000

@jeffx: I understand you argument but what I meant to SteveJ in my explanation is that by “traditional” I simply meant turn based, a menu where you can select actions (attack, skills, defend and run), and two separate sides of characters consisting of enemies and the heroes. To me, that’s what traditional means. That is not to say that the battle system doesn’t have factors that are different from the rest of the RPG’s out there and I think I touched on the big differences that make this battle system unique. However, I need a way of explaining to him how it’s different than the Mario RPG games (i.e. timing based gameplay) and I think Mana Khemia’s battle systme identifies much more with the traditional RPG archetype than the Mario RPG games. That’s my opinion but it’s the easiest way I can think to describe the system to people unfamiliar with it.

By: Boycott Gamestop

Boycott Gamestop — Tue, 12 Feb 2008 17:37:43 +0000

All I know is some baddie is about to get annihilated by that gigantic drill.

By: jeffx

jeffx — Tue, 12 Feb 2008 17:09:47 +0000

@SteveJ: It’s obvious you haven’t tried Ar Tonelico or any of the Atelier Iris games. The battle system is what makes Gust generate sequel after sequel. It is anything _but_ traditional. It’s turnbased, sure, but much like Grandia’s, the system is lightning fast, deeply involves the player and contains extreme animated sequences (2THEMAXXX)

By: SteveJ

SteveJ — Tue, 12 Feb 2008 16:34:02 +0000

Thanks for the clarification. I’m a tad disappointed that the battles are traditional RPG style, but I’ll probably give this one a try anyway as it still sounds pretty cool. Thanks for the review!

By: vysethebold

vysethebold — Tue, 12 Feb 2008 14:37:47 +0000

@philemon: I actually have never played any of the Atelier Iris games so i couldn’t tell you how they compare. However, I really enjoyed this game on its own.

@SteveJ: The only way that this game is similar to Paper Mario is how the game is outside of the battle screens. You can jump and slash enemies for a preemptive strike. However, when you actually go into battle, it’s more like a traditional RPG.

By: finn mckenty

finn mckenty — Tue, 12 Feb 2008 14:24:07 +0000

great review- thanks! i also love bright, light-hearted, fun RPGs, so this is good to know. i wasn’t a huge fan of the Atelier Iris games, but i’m definitely going to give this a chance after this review.