Mana Khemia:
This game continues to enthrall me, and it probably will until I finish it.
I'm in chapter 10 now, and after the C9 endboss, I have a feeling the game is about to get a few shades more difficult, which I like. The boss of that chapter pulled some incredibly unexpected tricks that turn a strategy that has always been efficient in the past (the placing of timed cards for your benefit) into a virtual invitation to suicide if you aren't careful. Perfectly beatable, but surprising and enjoyable as a fight. I have nearly all of the abilities for the PCs now, so all that is left in my Grow Books are stat gains (admittedly a good deal of those).
The game's plot is uninspired and, for the most part, non-existent. This is acceptable however because most of the conflict and drama is contained within the character quests, which range from the amusing to the hilarious. Nonetheless, there is nothing special about it at all. Typical anime-styled comedy and hijinks, with a decisive lack of fanservice elements. After the horrible direction that took in AI3, I'm certainly glad for the dearth of it.
The technical aspects of the game do not impress me. The sprites are of the same quality as AI3, which is decent enough but by no means detailed enough to satisfy me after playing Odin Sphere. The still shots of characters similarly fail to impress after seeing it done in far superior fashion in Grim Grimoire. This isn't to say its not a pretty game, but simply that the aesthetics can't sell it. Some of the map's backgrounds are pleasant enough, and the designs for the actual levels occasionally show some imaginative flare, but for the most part it is uninspired dungeon trekking. This is made worse by fairly regular slowdown, which makes little sense considering the game isn't exactly pushing any huge limits. Between this and Odin Sphere however, I'm beginning to think the PS2 may have issues dealing with sprite-based games of a certain quality.
The gameplay has more than made up for these deficiencies, however. Between night raids and the most recent boss fight, this is definitely the most challenging Gust game I have played (and a decently challenging one by RPG standards in general). It may be a bit of a challenge playthrough because I am fighting bosses at night whenever possible now, but that doesn't really detract from the fun. I am not limiting my characters in any way, I'm just giving them better enemies to fight. With a plethora of abilities and strategies to employ, the combat and twinking has been loads of fun. Boss immunes non-elemental magic? Bring in Pamela and nullify that trait, just make sure you can work in the huge HP cost of using that move. In danger of being killed by randoms? Take a chance and try to ID them with Anna's Shadow Chase, but make sure to do your best to bump them around a little beforehand since the ID odds are based off of CHP/MHP. And the support system remains the most fluid and downright FUN system for backrow-frontrow combat I have ever seen in an RPG. I sincerely hope the game can keep the challenge up until the credits roll.
Mana Khemia is shaping up to be a good game. The atmosphere is unique, the gameplay is fun, the characters are quirky and enjoyable, and the plot is... not eye-gougingly bad, which is enough to allow the good points to take center stage.
