Fullmetal Alchemist: Dual Sympathy for Nintendo DS Reviews by Gamers

This game is the best, I love Fullmetal Alchemist the series, and I like the game as well very much.. I agree that they should make the images a little more advanced and the pictures should be like the other Nintendo DS games. The game is kind of short but it has a good plot. I never get tired of playing this game, I have beaten and finished it about 10 times already and have NEVER gotten tired of it. This $20.00 is really worth it.

I am one of the few people who bought this game with NO prior knowledge of ANYTHING full metal alchemist. I have never seen the series, read the manga, all I have experienced is what I have heard from my friends - which is that it is a good series. This definately takes a toll on the gameplay for me, because the way this game is set up you are left a little clueless for the first solid chunk of it in regards to who characters are, where they came from, etc. In short there isn't much of a backstory to help noobs to the plot. However - that does not change the fact that this is a fun game. This game is bascially a good "brawler" or "beat em up", in the vein of FINAL FIGHT or ever the oldschool TMNT arcade games. The graphics are very gameboy advanced-ish, which is sort of disappointing, but that is to be expected with a brawler title like this. What sets this title apart from the ones mentioned above is the alchemy-element of play. You basically can create stuff from the remains of dead enemies through the magic of alchemy. This is the main use of the touch screen, however I do find it kind of unnecessecary. This could have easily been a solid game boy advance title, if not for the extras they decided to throw in for fanboys of the series. Theres a few minigames, some costume..diagrams, and an alarm clock if you don't like the one the DS initially comes with, I guess. Bells and whistles don't make a leap from gba to ds alone, and someone should tell the developers this. Also, you don't have an option to hear the JAPANESE VOICES. You are stuck with the dubbed cast, which is really lame. If you have to read text in game, why not have japanese voices..theres absolutely no reason not to. I bought this game for 19.99, and if you like the series or just want a new decent platforming game and have beaten all the castlevanias and marios on gba and ds, i advise you just buy this instead of using a rental on it. 20 bucks is worthwhile for this title, but i wouldn't pay more.