Mana Khemia: Student Alliance (PSP) US Debut Trailer


It seems like it was only last year that the PS2 version of Mana Khemia was getting mediocre reviews - oh wait, it was just last year. A PSP port already? Ok, we'll roll with it. Nothing wrong with putting a little alchemy in your pocket, especially when there are multiplayer battles with exclusive rewards to be had. Sadly there are some technical issues that make the port pretty undesirable unless you're really that keen on the ad hoc additions.

Back to School
For those of you who didn't jump at the original, it's basically a guild-style RPG (where you accept quests from a front desk) except in this case you're a student at a magic academy signing up for classes. Each semester you need a certain amount of credits to pass, and you earn them by going on quests to gather certain items, kill a specific monster, or synthesize a particular item. Along the way you can also complete "free time" quests to learn more about your character, Vayne, who has a predictably hazy past, and his workshopmates: alchemically ambitious Jess, cat-girl to the max Nikki, and (cue theme song) Flay, with the big sword.

Character progression is somewhat frustrating, but also oddly compelling. You can't just grind in the field and level up. You earn points for defeating enemies, but those don't go into stat upgrades until you fill out your Growth Book (sort of like the license board in Final Fantasy XII) which requires that you synthesize items. I.e. crafting is not optional in this game, and in fact, it's probably the main draw (if you're into that sort of thing), although the battle system (transparently turn-based, with ways to strategically screw with the order) is pretty fun.



Underachiever
Actually, despite the somewhat generic look and sound, I would describe Mana Khemia as fun in general. The PSP version, however, has this incredibly unfun, dual-pronged fork-in-the-eye problem of too many pokey load breaks paired with one...h-ell of a...won---ky, fra-me...rate. There were so many times until I got used to it that I thought the game was just going to crash altogether. The Jump Start install might ameliorate this somewhat, but only if you have enough room on your memory stick. I know there are definitely people who will be hooked enough to grin and bear it, but it's too bad this couldn't have been a more polished product.

PROS: Fun combat, compelling character progression, new multiplayer battles
CONS: Horrible optimization