Mana Khemia - Finished.
What to say. This game has ups and downs. It starts off kind of meh, but towards the end is really fun. I do have a couple of issues with the gameplay (surprisingly), but for the most part, the system comes off pretty well. Guess I'll just start off with my thoughts on the plot and work from there.
Plot wise, game is basically 10 chapters of mucking around then 2 chapters of actual crap happening. Well the first 10 set way for the last two to make sense, but its just way too slow. Its better than CC where literally all of it is crammed last minute (AND makes no sense), but still, the pacing is...meh. I don't think its like VP plot like Tal was saying, since in VP there are stronger hints as to what really happened and you know, stuff happens in varying chapters if you're aiming for the A ending. Several chapters in MK is just filler. The ACTUAL plot itself barring the pacing is not bad. Just one of the portions is incredibly cliche. Although sticking with Pyro's rule of not playing this game for plot is a good idea in general. Pity that since it looked like it had more potential.
On the other hand, characters were more enjoyable. The game doesn't really take itself all too seriously which works when you have a cast that's this quirky. The game for example, openly mocks Roxis in the earlier bits. Then there's Flay, who you can never really takes seriously. So much so that when he actually says meaningful stuff, not only do you do a double take, but so do all the characters. They're all charming in their own little ways, but granted are not as good as actual better developed characters (P3 PCs come to mind but that cast is just very well developed in general, so it might not be the best example). I...think the most well developed aside from Vayne is Roxis...which says something since the half the time the game also openly mocks him.
Gameplay though is a treat. The unfortunate thing though is that it really doesn't pick up until around chapter 3 or 4. The other really frustrating thing is how enemies at night go aggro and move at double the speed. I don't mind fighting at night if enemies had double stats, but being ambushed because I cannot see an enemy dashing towards me and camping towards where I jump is not cool. This made it more of an issue for me to finish everything during the day (although I had a few boss fights at night. And yes, they were very fun unlike random ambushes) since initiative is so very important in the game. That aside, the support system works and each character has their own neat place. They really make you work supports in game since the best way to do damage is to use skills which drains your SP at an alarming rate. And by using supports, you can let one PC recover and have another take over. The A supports and D supports add flavor to the system and you can vary the difficulty by deciding to fight at night, using less support members and so on. Its very well implemented minus the two issues I have with it. Having the grow book be similar to FFX sphere grid but with limits also makes it such that power levelling is not option.
Thoughts on the PCs...
Vayne's a damn wuss. With angst here and there. He gets development, but there's some gaping plot holes with his entire plot twist really. Don't really like him overall. In battle though, he becomes a total beast once you get some good skills to go with Over realm. Then its just boost him before the over realm kicks in, hit the enemy with defense down, and watch as he rapes them to death. Its so very much a staple combo and there's very little the standard bosses can do to stop this. I killed one of the last bosses in one of these chains. His supports aren't bad either. A support Vayne can push enemies back to give other allies a turn and D support let's you save up Pamela's for something magical. DL wise, he's some flavor of heavy. Since he's usually going to live to pull off one Over realm. At which point 2x Chaos Devotions or Chaos Devotion + Violent Pillar is going to hurt a lot and will bust down even limit fighters since he's essentially under 3 FFT Quicks in a row. Granted, if that fails to kill, he's screwed since he runs out of gas and then has nothing. BUT BUT ANALYZE.
Jess works as a klutzy, but talented and cheerful stereotypical girl in the setting really. There looked to be decent potential in her story since her character quests are one of the few aside from Roxis' that actually tie in well with the main plot. But no, there wasn't much afterwards which is kind of a dissapointment. I like her better than Vayne, but that probably goes without saying. In game, her talents at scheduling for Synthing makes her valuable alone since she (along with Roxis) are the only two characters who have "Normal" difficulty with accessories, and she's skilled in creating healing items. Battle wise, low damage, but healing spells and a D support that works to cushion MT attacks makes her very valuable. DL wise, middle. Lack of damage really is the problem. Seal works on some enemies and On-the-spot Synthesis also works, although it has charge time.
Nikki inspires apathy. I don't really like her, but there's no immense dislike there either. I eventually benched her although she seems awesome from what I've seen. Fast and damaging is a good combo in general. Probably a DL heavy as well due to some of her skills. Will have to check later on for a more definite opinion.
Flay...was an idiot essentially. The game does not hide this from you ever. Does his job at least! Although feels forced sometimes. Also inspired apathy. Although at time he actually says something useful. And the whole world dies of shock. Decent in battle. His damage is there, A support is awesome, D support is meh. Really, he's worth using for the A support alone. He's probably mid tier in game as a PC held back really by his slow starting speed. DL wise, probably middle. No Super guts hype from me. He's a standard slugger who at least some semblance of damage.
Pamela is a ditz. That's around it. A cute ditz, but still a ditz nonetheless. I would actually want to describe these characters more, but there's not much else to say. In game, Pamela lags a bit, and then becomes very nasty as a defensive character. Her D support is easily the best of the 8 characters since it screams: FREE SWITCH. A support is more of a meh, but still decent (recovering MP is good). I didnt find the status all that useful since I avoided a lot of randoms. And her damage other than that wasn't particularly impressive. Until low HP. At which point No Bullying destroys worlds. So much so that I got used to adjusting Pamela's HP with her HP consuming skills so she can place herself within that deadly range. DL wise, downright nasty heavy. Physically immune, with status and parasitic healing. Then she has a skill which over writes enemy resistances. On top of that, all her skills drain HP, giving her actual control over her limit abilities. Just...ow.
Roxis basically can be summed up as angst for 3 chapters and then actually becomes a decent guy. His ending shows that despite of the fact that he's still a sarcastic jerkface, he's actually able to care about someone other than his own self. Something he really couldn't do before. Personally, I think his character quests develop him much better than most others since he goes from angst to acquaintance to actual acceptance of Vayne. His ending speech wins though. In game, he's a terror. Controls turns, disables time cards and Chrona drive is a very awesome attacking skill. Then he's actually durable for a mage. His biggest problem is crappy A support (yay Seal?!) and incredibly shitty D support (OMG BLESSING). Still, was probably my MVP, tied with Vayne easily. Hardly ever has lag too. Just very good in general. Does not translate well to DL as his two money skills (Retraction and Purifying) don't tend to work. He does gain however Trick Edge becoming much stronger. Likely a form of middle again.
Anna I did like despite the staticness. Takes things to extremes but usually in humourous fashions. Plus she's adorable really. I don't think her over active imagination really improves, but someone who saw her ending can prove me wrong there. In a way that's good, since that's what made her really stand out. In game, she's supposed to be a quick attacker. Doesn't always feel like since the speed spread doesn't feel that obvious. But her skills are very good. Quick Dream is essentially a free attack + something else when it hits (which it does 95% of the time). And Dancing Blade is an awesome damage skill (does 6k pretty much on its own). She does drain mana faster than anybody though. But probably still near the upper tier spectrum. DL wise, high middle. She can always opt to Quick Dream --> ID skill. Or if she knows she can survive a bit, Quick Dream ---> Dancing Blade --> ID skill also works. Like most of this cast, once she's out of gas though, she's done.
Muppy er...the hostage character quest wins! I found him unimpressive otherwise. Homocidal alien but doesn't really. Never used him in battle. By the time he joined, my other 7 characters drastically outclassed him. Will need to see stat topic on him for certain.
Game is probably a 7/10 for me. I will need to revisit my rankings. Since I feel some of the recent games I've played are misplaced.
Hinode: Seconding Grefter. Did you catch it?!
