Mimana: Iyar Chronicles for PSP Reviews & Ratings by IGN

Formerly the realm of the hardcore PC crowd, western role-playing games have slowly expanded to cover consoles too, and the result has been some absolutely fantastic efforts in storytelling and characters from devs like BioWare and Bethesda. In the east, though, efforts from Japan and Korea have stuck rather staunchly to their tropes; end-of-the-world scenarios, anime-fused archetypes and oft-sprawling, imaginative worlds.



Though it's been a long time in coming, both east and west have recently conspired to deluge gamers with some of the best and most promising efforts we've seen from either in years, ably demonstrating wholly different yet valid takes on the same basic concepts: strong characters, an interesting story and, hopefully, some advancement to the gameplay in a genre older than video games themselves.



For console gamers, it's been an embarrassment of riches. Handheld gamers -- most notably PSP owners -- haven't quite seen the same torrent of amazing titles of late to sate their fix on the go, though. The PSP is home to more than a few greats, sure, but it's been a while since we've seen much of anything. Enter Aksys, who have prepped Mimana Iyar Chronicle, what appears to be the first of a multi-game take on a new world crafted by Japanese devs GungHo, who have become something of an MMO staple overseas thanks to Ragnarok Online.



The problem? It's tedious and filled with characters that you will have to really, genuinely try to like - and you'll probably fail with at least a few of 'em). This is mainly because of Crais, the down-and-out young buck hired as a bodyguard for an eternally effervescent wee one Sophie. Eventually he'll come across more girls, and the whole gang will traipse across the landscape, stopping at pre-selected areas on the world map, where they'll dive into random isometric 3D action encounters.



The game's antiquated nature seems to really rear its pixelated head here. Things are presented in a side-on perspective; characters can run around freely and dole out some punishment, but everything feels about a decade and a half behind. Movement and attacks are clunky, with hit detection on par with a sloppy beat-'em-up. Attacks can whiff easily, and though there are combos -- including the ability to properly time button presses for extra damage/speed -- it never feels fully interactive. Blocking becomes as much a part of combat as attacking and the pacing of everything gets bogged down.



The encounter rate is also rather high even in early areas, and fighting becomes a drag rather than a source for gaining levels. Sure, you can plod through an area, but getting somewhere can feel like torture. This is a game that would have found a happy home back in the early days of the original PlayStation, and even on the PSP, it feels archaic. Stopping every few seconds in barren environs to fight enemies is a staple of the genre, sure, but the past few years have seen more engaging battle systems that leave Mimana a fossil from a bygone era that wouldn't have stood out in the 90s.



The localization holds up well here, however. Aksys knows about keeping things tight and grammatically error-free, and dialogue stays consistent. Generous amounts of speech by video game voice acting regulars means that those characters are at least given something of a personality. Also a little more current? The kind of lightly lecherous give-and-take between a guy and his smattering of female party members. I'm obviously not opposed to a little tongue-in-cheek flirting, but when none of the characters are likeable -- particularly the lead that you're supposed to identify with -- it just makes everything seem that much more forced.



Where Ar Tonelico got a pass for its embarrassingly "romantic" bits because of an amazing combat system and impressive 2D graphics, Mimana relies on repetitive, boring combat and back-and-forth navigation of the same areas, crutches that snap pretty darn early on in the game's 15 or so hours.

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