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IGN Review of Fullmetal Alchemist: Dual Sympathy
It doesn't matter how action oriented an anime is, it is some sort of unwritten law to make it into a video game. So what if the show is focused on the characters and a personal journey, with only a fraction focused on fighting! It'll make a great button mashing video game, right? And so the latest anime in the long list of shows that don't need games (you're next FLCL!) sees it's fruition on the Nintendo DS. Bandai brought the world of Fullmetal Alchemist to the dual screen handheld by way of a Streets of Rage style brawler. It's admittedly more fun than losing an arm and a leg in a freak resurrection alchemy accident, but only by a little bit.
As anyone who has watched the show will know, Fullmetal Alchemist is not primarily an action-packed anime. So it's a little odd that the developers went with a beat-em-up title. Sure, there are instances of fighting in the series, but they're not very often. Since the game follows the plot of the show, rather than creating a new story, the developers had to cram a lot of plot in between each level. The cutscenes skim over what would be weeks of episodes, which makes the story hard to follow for those unfamiliar with the series. It's even worse for fans of the show, since the scrolling text and still images gloss over some of the major events in the series. A few of the cutscenes feature voicework from the show's stars, but even in these scenes only some of the text is spoken, making it disjointed and difficult to follow.
In contrast to the far too crammed story, the actual gameplay is a near bare-bones experience. Fullmetal Alchemist is a side-scrolling beat-em-up, a style that is far too overused and dated. Players run through dozens of hallways, mashing on a single attack button to defeat any enemy they come across. There is a touch screen controlled alchemy move that can be used to blast away foes and break up monotony, but it takes more work to remember it's even there and use it since the game is simple. Only during the boss battles does it even become necessary, and that usually means the boss is killed in two hits.
Touch screen minigames sporadically occur, offering a break from the monotonous button mashing. They're pretty fun, and follow events from the show. Some of them are pretty humorous too. Once the minigames are completed, players can go back to the main menu and play them whenever they wish. Though honestly, most people probably won't want to play them more than a couple times. None of the minigames can be played with friends, a common trait used for the DS. Shame too, since the arm wrestling touch screen game, and even the running from the giant ball minigame could have both been solid multiplayer minigames.
Even with two types of gameplay, Fullmetal Alchemist only takes a couple hours to beat. After completing the game the first time, players unlock the ability to play the game again as another character. Playing through the game again takes even less time and is considerably less fun.
It's not like this game is broken and hopeless. There are the makings of a really solid game in there, that just need to be expanded upon. A few really simple things could have made this more fun, the most obvious being a different attack button. The combat is solid, it's just repetitive. Getting to pull off more than one three button combo would have been cool. Maybe even some combo to alchemy attacks.
Fullmetal Alchemist could have really used a two player story mode too. The set up was there, with multiple playable characters, and even a couple instances of two players on the screen. But no delivery. Everyone knows that games like these are exponentially more fun when players can beat up bad guys with their friends. It's a missed opportunity that could have easily been accomplished, so there's no excuse.
©2007, IGN Entertainment, Inc. All Rights Reserved
As anyone who has watched the show will know, Fullmetal Alchemist is not primarily an action-packed anime. So it's a little odd that the developers went with a beat-em-up title. Sure, there are instances of fighting in the series, but they're not very often. Since the game follows the plot of the show, rather than creating a new story, the developers had to cram a lot of plot in between each level. The cutscenes skim over what would be weeks of episodes, which makes the story hard to follow for those unfamiliar with the series. It's even worse for fans of the show, since the scrolling text and still images gloss over some of the major events in the series. A few of the cutscenes feature voicework from the show's stars, but even in these scenes only some of the text is spoken, making it disjointed and difficult to follow.
In contrast to the far too crammed story, the actual gameplay is a near bare-bones experience. Fullmetal Alchemist is a side-scrolling beat-em-up, a style that is far too overused and dated. Players run through dozens of hallways, mashing on a single attack button to defeat any enemy they come across. There is a touch screen controlled alchemy move that can be used to blast away foes and break up monotony, but it takes more work to remember it's even there and use it since the game is simple. Only during the boss battles does it even become necessary, and that usually means the boss is killed in two hits.
Touch screen minigames sporadically occur, offering a break from the monotonous button mashing. They're pretty fun, and follow events from the show. Some of them are pretty humorous too. Once the minigames are completed, players can go back to the main menu and play them whenever they wish. Though honestly, most people probably won't want to play them more than a couple times. None of the minigames can be played with friends, a common trait used for the DS. Shame too, since the arm wrestling touch screen game, and even the running from the giant ball minigame could have both been solid multiplayer minigames.
Even with two types of gameplay, Fullmetal Alchemist only takes a couple hours to beat. After completing the game the first time, players unlock the ability to play the game again as another character. Playing through the game again takes even less time and is considerably less fun.
It's not like this game is broken and hopeless. There are the makings of a really solid game in there, that just need to be expanded upon. A few really simple things could have made this more fun, the most obvious being a different attack button. The combat is solid, it's just repetitive. Getting to pull off more than one three button combo would have been cool. Maybe even some combo to alchemy attacks.
Fullmetal Alchemist could have really used a two player story mode too. The set up was there, with multiple playable characters, and even a couple instances of two players on the screen. But no delivery. Everyone knows that games like these are exponentially more fun when players can beat up bad guys with their friends. It's a missed opportunity that could have easily been accomplished, so there's no excuse.
©2007, IGN Entertainment, Inc. All Rights Reserved