Mana Khemia 2: Fall of Alchemy for PlayStation 2 Reviews by Gamers

For those who want to play the old ps2 version and already have and thinking about picking this one up. i highly recommend you do. instead of piloting forth for 4 years of the school you only have to go threw one year not only that they also added things from the PSP version.although the exploring was limited now(cant go freely and exploder a map full all the way) it is still fun.

as this time you play as 2 charters of your choosing and there storys cross one another every so often. there charter names are Raze and Ulrecka(hope i spelled that right) Raze story is more serious and action pack with a tad bit of fun. while Ulrecka is all out laughs but with a very interesting and mysterious story. ether one you choose you cant loose.

once you beat this game for you ps3 users out there i recommend go pick up cross edge. it has some of these charter int here just a off branch game

I'll agree that there were some major improvements over the original in gameplay mechanics like the combat system and the synthesizing system (no longer do you need to unlock certain items in a "link" to gain stat bonuses). Synthesizing is a breeze in this game, and there are no lack of components, unlike the original where hunting for components was a pain in the you-know-what. I also liked the idea of being able to set up your own store to be able to get more of the items that you don't have enough of. And the battle system was improved a bit with new chain attacks and now a new chain defend system that works rather well, even if you won't use it a whole lot.

And that is where the good stuff ends. The class/grading system is still here, meaning if you get enough A's, you can get free time to spend with your characters, do side-quests, etc. However, with how annoying the characters are... you might not even want to spend time with them. I know I didn't. There is so much teen fan-boy material in this sequel, it's enough to make anyone who played the first game roll their eyes in disgust. Not a scene goes by where there isn't some inappropriate or embarrassing sexual innuendo moment that is supposed to lighten the mood, but instead makes you wonder if the designers weren't really 12 year old boys.

As for characters, there's the well-endowed female fighter with a child-like personality that doesn't know what's going on no matter what the situation, the spoiled rich girl who is obsessed with the main character (and the slime-like punis), a stereotypically not hetero muscle-man (who just happens to be a fairy, har har) and so on. Even some characters like Flay return for the sequel, but are turned into something so atrociously annoying, I could barely stand to sit through their scenes to move on to the next story sequence. And this comes from someone who loved Flay from the first game. You'll enjoy this game if you're 12 or if you love annoying anime stereotypes.