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A one-player, 3D action-RPG where you control Edward Elric and his brother Alphonse.
Above: the cover from the game manual.
Impressions:
The anime's first ending theme song, Kesenai Tsumi, is used as the song for the opening animation of the video game.
The opening animation uses some footage from the anime's first opening animation, but also mixes in a lot of original animation
created for the game. The original animations are clean, clear and pleasing to look at, though not as high quality as the
anime.
(Above, screencap. All the girls fall for Ed... I mean "on," not "for.")
Gameplay: Ed's actions are carried out very slowly, both jumping and attack. Not that this matters much because enemies
are ridiculously easy to defeat. Al runs like a total dork. Never in the anime does he move like that. However, he is a major
powerhouse, and if you wish, Al could just do all the fighting for you. Unfortunately, Al is not always with you. The camera
is not smart enough to follow your every move. You have to move it manually if you want it to catch up with you when you turn
180 degrees.
An action-RPG? Well, yes. You get a story sequence, plenty of dialogue, then you go to a 3-D action game. Then get some
story, then back to action. Repeat. Repeat. Original charcters were created specifically for the game. There is some backstory,
such as the Elric's origins, included in the game, probably to inform those players who have not watched the series.
No walkthroughs will be given here, unless someone wishes to give me one they have written, but here are a few gameplay
hints:
Alchemy: pretty cool looking, so far. You get a really good variety of things you obtain through transmutation, including
some goodies for Al to equip as well. My fave is the fever-dagger.
Ed's basic alchemy is a stone wall his height, that last for approx. a minute. Ed may jump on top of this to reach greater
heights, or hide behind it for protection.
Powering up the alchemy bar a bit longer gives you a spike attack, which thrusts a bunch of spikes up from the ground
directly in front of Ed. This crumbles immediately after the attack is done.
Some weapons can be further transmuted into other weapons, provided they are not equipped and certain conditions are
met.
Here are links to the alchemical creations:
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