| 90 |
RPG Fan
Mana Khemia is an incredibly fun game with a fairly large scope, that takes a minimum of 40 hours to complete. And, with a simple New Game Plus feature, serious fans can get all of the character-specific endings without doing much work.
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| 85 |
Worth Playing
It isn't particularly deep or thought-provoking, or noticeably challenging. It's just fun.
|
| 85 |
Hardcore Gamer Magazine
Anyway, Mana Khemia has a solid story, hilarious character dialogue, and an engaging combat system, and it lets you make giant swords using only dirt, vegetables, woodchips, and household cleaning products.
|
| 80 |
G4 TV
NIS America picked a nice, light RPG to bring out in Mana Khemia, and its localizations are steadily improving.
|
| 80 |
GotNext
Mana Khemia offers plenty of humor, great looking 2D graphics, solid music, and a combat system that makes the turn-based approach a little more hands on.
|
| 75 |
GameSpot
It seems old-fashioned at first, but Mana Khemia takes a surprisingly fresh look at old role-playing conventions.
|
| 75 |
ZTGameDomain
The deep alchemy system and unique grow book are worth the price of admission alone and the collector’s edition is chock full of fan-service.
|
| 70 |
Game Informer
Mana Khemia is different in name and structure, but it still hangs on tight to the process of item synthesis that drives "Atelier Iris", making it a spiritual sequel in most respects. [May 2008, p.94]
|
| 70 |
Playstation: The Official Magazine (US)
Mana Khemia is hardly innovative, but if you're a fan of classic Japanese-style RPGs, you don't want to miss it. [May 2008, p.87]
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| 70 |
Play Magazine
As much as I enjoyed most of what Mana Khemia had to offer, actively disliking three of the game's main characters(Vayne, Jess and Flay)made it easy to be apathetic every time a storyline cutscene kicked in. [Apr 2008, p.61]
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| 61 |
Cheat Code Central
If you are a fan of past Gust RPGs like Atelier Iris and Ar tonelico, Mana Khemia may be something worth looking into. However, be forewarned that this game in no way features the same amount of freedom to roam and spend as much time as you please.
|
| 60 |
Games Radar
Even if the storyline is somewhat intriguing and the battles (eventually) excite, sitting through one lengthy dialogue tree after the other while alchemists-in-training spout empty phrases about homework diminishes the experience.
|
| 60 |
GamerNode
This niche title does little to captivate its audience and its main gameplay mechanics will act as deterrents to the average gamer.
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| 57 |
IGN
The lack of challenge across the board, from accomplishing class tasks to battle and even skill acquiring will disappoint most players. It's not a horrible title, but it definitely is weaker than the series it's trying to take over for.
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| 55 |
GameZone
Been there, done that, and don’t want to do it again.
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| 50 |
1UP
The core gameplay is sound, so it's a shame that it's burdened by a derivative plot, generic characters, and archaic visuals (reminiscent of the 32-bit era in a bad way).
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