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Fullmetal Alchemist 2: Curse of the Crimson Elixir
I played the second Fullmetal Alchemist PS2 game this past week while I was sick. (I was concerned before I started that I was too incoherent to play an action game effectively. That wasn’t a serious concern; the game isn’t actually very hard unless you’re obsessive about 100% completion.)
I bought both PS2 games used around the time we finished watching the original anime series, and played the first game Fullmetal Alchemist and the Broken Angel shortly thereafter.
The second game, which is technically a prequel to the first, is generally similar to the first game in that if you enjoyed one, you’ll enjoy the other.
- System-wise: They've cleaned up the combo system, the triangle button is now included in combos rather than making you drop your weapon and the “stonespikes” attack can be included in combos. They added some new moves for Al, including an “alley-oop” that allows you to reach higher ledges. They removed the need to charge-up alchemy, and while map items can only be changed into one weapon each, you can transmute a sword, spear or hammer from the ground at any time. You also learn to transmute “level two” items as you level up, rather than needing consumable element items. Al remains an exceptional shot, though there are fewer cannons/chainguns overall, and none that are particularly useful during boss battles.
- Graphics / Sound: They updated the graphics from polygons to cel-shaded characters, and there’s more and better animation. I kinda preferred the polygons, actually, but that’s a matter of taste. The translation and voice acting are marginally better, more in-line with what I’m used to from watching dubs.
- The story starts with a rehash of the two episodes of the anime, though it diverges into almost an alternate history, which rewrites the end of the first two episodes and changes some bits about the Elric's encounters with Tucker and Scar. (Given that the actual plot of the game is a side-story that basically fills chapters 4-7, I get the impression that this was a compromise so they could increase the number of available enemy types and use characters from the anime for cameos and as bonus bosses. There are two fights in the middle of the game that you’re expected to lose but get prizes for winning, like the “bonus bosses” at the end of the first game.) There’s also a cute bit at the end where the characters get on a train bound for Central with Armstrong, setting up the beginning of the first game. Overall, it’s another example of someone falling down a slippery slope of morality by using alchemy, and I found it vaguely formulaic.
- The game is surprisingly short. The first game only took about 12 hours to get through; this one has took me about 10, which included some leveling just to see if I could unlock an extra transmutation ability or two. The New Game Plus adds a movie/picture gallery to find everything from; and there’s an additional sidequest of Al rescuing cats that people have left in cardboard boxes in bizarre, dangerous places.
It occurs to me that 10-12 hours isn’t an unreasonable amount of time for an action game; I usually spend about that much on the DS Castlevania games, for instance. I think I was just expecting more because this was a console game made by Square-Enix, and I usually see their games running me 40-80 hours.
Marginally better than the first game, I'd probably rate them about equal overall.
I bought both PS2 games used around the time we finished watching the original anime series, and played the first game Fullmetal Alchemist and the Broken Angel shortly thereafter.
The second game, which is technically a prequel to the first, is generally similar to the first game in that if you enjoyed one, you’ll enjoy the other.
- System-wise: They've cleaned up the combo system, the triangle button is now included in combos rather than making you drop your weapon and the “stonespikes” attack can be included in combos. They added some new moves for Al, including an “alley-oop” that allows you to reach higher ledges. They removed the need to charge-up alchemy, and while map items can only be changed into one weapon each, you can transmute a sword, spear or hammer from the ground at any time. You also learn to transmute “level two” items as you level up, rather than needing consumable element items. Al remains an exceptional shot, though there are fewer cannons/chainguns overall, and none that are particularly useful during boss battles.
- Graphics / Sound: They updated the graphics from polygons to cel-shaded characters, and there’s more and better animation. I kinda preferred the polygons, actually, but that’s a matter of taste. The translation and voice acting are marginally better, more in-line with what I’m used to from watching dubs.
- The story starts with a rehash of the two episodes of the anime, though it diverges into almost an alternate history, which rewrites the end of the first two episodes and changes some bits about the Elric's encounters with Tucker and Scar. (Given that the actual plot of the game is a side-story that basically fills chapters 4-7, I get the impression that this was a compromise so they could increase the number of available enemy types and use characters from the anime for cameos and as bonus bosses. There are two fights in the middle of the game that you’re expected to lose but get prizes for winning, like the “bonus bosses” at the end of the first game.) There’s also a cute bit at the end where the characters get on a train bound for Central with Armstrong, setting up the beginning of the first game. Overall, it’s another example of someone falling down a slippery slope of morality by using alchemy, and I found it vaguely formulaic.
- The game is surprisingly short. The first game only took about 12 hours to get through; this one has took me about 10, which included some leveling just to see if I could unlock an extra transmutation ability or two. The New Game Plus adds a movie/picture gallery to find everything from; and there’s an additional sidequest of Al rescuing cats that people have left in cardboard boxes in bizarre, dangerous places.
It occurs to me that 10-12 hours isn’t an unreasonable amount of time for an action game; I usually spend about that much on the DS Castlevania games, for instance. I think I was just expecting more because this was a console game made by Square-Enix, and I usually see their games running me 40-80 hours.
Marginally better than the first game, I'd probably rate them about equal overall.