Mana Khemia: Student Alliance
Score: 50% ESRB: Everyone 10+ Publisher: NIS America Developer: GUST Media: UMD/1 Players: 1 Genre: RPG
Graphics & Sound: Mana Khemia: Student Alliance is a port of the PS2 RPG Mana Khemia: Alchemists of Al-Revis. While a decent game in its own right, nothing about the game screamed, "Play me!" much less, "Port Me!" Even though it is billed as an "enhanced port," most of the added features end up killing the few good things the PS2 version did right. If anything, Student Alliance looks as good - at least once the game finishes with what turn out to be a number of incredibly long load times, but more on that later. Like other Gust-developed games, Student Alliance has a fun 3D-but-hand-drawn look. Characters and backgrounds are still hand-drawn and have a fun charm that gives the game a unique character. Much of the focus is on various characters you interact with, and each has their own visual identities that play into their personalities. Audio is pretty indicative of the rest of the game. I thought the soundtrack and voicework in the original was simply okay, but when viewed alongside the rest of the game's problems, it somehow manages to seem worse. It is still decent enough that you won't mute your PSP, but at the same time, it is C-grade work all the way around.
Gameplay: Except for a few new characters and items, Mana Khemia: Student Alliance plays out exactly like Alchemists of Al-Revis. You take the role of Vayne, an inexplicably powerful orphan who is invited to join the Al-Revis Academy, the top school for all things magic and alchemy related. Gameplay follows a semester-based structure where you sign up for classes, complete assignments and receive grades for your work. Each assignment focuses on individual gameplay elements and serves as a nice tutorial for all things Alchemic, something that comes in handy once you have to go out into the field. It's a major pain to complete assignments, but you want to do well in classes. If you get a good grade, you are rewarded with "Free Time" to do whatever you want; fail and you'll have to redo the assignment. You really want to gain as much Free Time as you can since it allows you time to go out and meet party members as well as learning new skills that you probably wouldn't learn in class. Make-up assignments are also typically more challenging than your original assignment. Meeting characters outside class unlocks extra adventures, and this is exactly what it feels like. The new characters are interesting, but it never feels like you're actually building relationships or meeting them for anything other than finding something else to do.
Difficulty: In all, Mana Khemia: Student Alliance is more complicated than it is difficult. Most of the classes are fairly easy, though some of the requirements aren't as clear as they probably could be. The gameplay structure works, though it also requires you to constantly move between the Academy and the great outdoors to collect items to complete assignments. There's no easy way to tell what you have in your possession or what you still need to get, so gathering items is a pain. You never left in a situation where you won't have a clue, but I failed one or two assignments mainly because I wasn't completely sure what to do. This was an issue with the PS2 version, but the massive load times found in the PSP version take what was a minor annoyance and mutate it into a major issue. A big plus to combat is that you can see all enemies on the field rather than facing the dreaded random battles. Enemies are color-coded, which gives you a good idea about how difficult the fight will be. You can also influence your chances in battle by slashing enemies before they see you, which will give you a drop on them once battle occurs.
Game Mechanics: How bad is the load issue? If you interact with the screen at any time, the action is usually accompanied by some sort of load time. Most load times take a few seconds, but three seconds here and there eventually adds up to a lot of time spent staring at a loading screen. The back of the box advertises something called Jump Start, which is supposed to reduce load times by caching data on the memory card, though it really doesn't work. Other than the visuals, one of the few things Mana Khemia: Student Alliance does right is the alchemy system. Alchemy plays a role in nearly every aspect of gameplay. All of your items must be created as well as any skills your character would typically learn just by leveling up. This first requires you to find recipes, and then you are able to go out into the world and collect ingredients. Collecting ingredients is a chore and the crafting system goes a bit overboard when it comes to making items (even some basic items require you to craft other items), though it is enjoyable if you like that sort of thing. It's really hard to recommend Mana Khemia: Student Alliance. Even if you're in the mood for a Japanese-style RPG, there are better options on the PSP. If you really feel the need to play Mana Khemia, look for the PS2 version.
-Starscream, GameVortex Communications AKA Ricky Tucker
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