Fullmetal Alchemist and the Broken Angel

"Bad, Horrible, and just plain Wrong!"

Short Review: This game is probably the single greatest disappointment from Square-Enix since the companies merged. Not even appropriate for fans.

Recommended playing parameters: Use an action replay. The game isn't worth playing as a game, so go ahead and cheat to see the anime sequences and understand the plot while you borrow your friend's copy.

Use of License (3/10)- Okay the use of alchemy isn't bad, but it has no depth. Each character has three (useful) exclusive weapons. Then there are vehicle weapons (which both characters can use), and "independent" weapons, which are set in motion for a time. Increased alchemy scores don't change abilities, but how much damage is done by the product. Maybe I'm wrong on this, but I would think that a steel ball made by one craftsman, and a steel ball made by a team of ten craftsman, provided each had the same mass, and was constructed the same way, would do the same amount of damage. Ability in alchemy should make weapons more refined, or more complex, not just make the same dagger do more damage. Ed is far more whiney than he is in the TV show (Yes, I've seen the Japanese as well, and he's even more mature in that version) They make far too much of his height (which is only covered once per episode in the series). Al is just a suit of armor in this game, and adds nothing, unlike in the show. This game has none of the characteristics that make the show enjoyable.

Graphics (7/10)- Good, but unispired. At least it doesn't suffer from scaling artifacts like some other modern releases. Note though that I'm playing on a widescreen HD monitor (1080i/720p), so it's as sharp as it's going to get. I've seen the game in standard resolution once, and it was terrible...but on the other hand, everything on PS2 looks terrible at NTSC resolution.

Sound (2/10)- The sound is atrocious. Outside of the anime sequences, the the only voices in the game belong to Ed and Al. While the sample from Al is not terrible, the sample from Ed is badly sampled, and chopped. I was 3/4 of the way through the game before I realized it was Ed's English voice saying "Al!" and not garbled Japanese. The music is repetitive, and inconsistent. Early in the game, the music plays through the loading screens. Later on, it plays for a few seconds, and stops.

Story (Plot) (5/10)- For a Fullmetal Alchemist story, its lackluster. Understand this: It's Fullmetal Alchemist. What this means is that the story will always end tragically. Once you're into the show, you expect it. The same is true of the game. Your favorite characters are doomed to meet horrible ends, and not only that, they, or people close to them, will be shown to be twisted, monstrous souls. The most innocent suffer the most. While a touch of reality is welcome in most animated series, this morbid fascination with suffering is hardly realistic. It's really strong in the game as well, making everything very melancholy.

Gameplay (Locations, Monsters, Weapons, Characters, etc.) (2/10) -There are about five locations in the whole game. While there are lots of "rooms" (places between load points), there isn't much scenery. There's the rocky outdoor area, the industrial office building like base, the town, and the castle. Each of these sceneries is subtly re-lighted and reused throughout the game. By the end of the game, you'll have trouble remembering if something happened at the alchemyworks or at the castle, because they looked identical. The game flows as follows: You travel from the train where the game starts through a canyon area (a couple of stages) to a town, which is overrun by chimeras. You'll spend a few hours in this town chasing a guy for no apparent reason (the game gives and excuse, but it's lame. Transmute that wooden door, Ed, Duh!) Then you'll proceed to another town which is the spitting image of the first, but in daylight. Then you'll be sent on a quest and have to backtrack to the beginning of the game, complete your objective, and return to this halfway point. That's right, you'll go through a series of areas, then backtrack (each individual step, mind you) then backtrack again to the original midway point. By the time to make it back, you're 2/3 of the way through the game. There are certainly less than ten enemy creatures (not bosses). They do the "color for level" thing in this game, but the creatures dont' seem to get much more difficult even as their colors change. Played without cheat codes, the creatures take far more hits than is really warranted. The first time I played through the game, I played it straight, with no cheat codes, and attempting to level build. I cleared it in twenty-five hours. The second time I used AR codes, and didn't level build (No need), I cleared it in four and a half hours. That means I spent a lot of time just hitting the attack button over and over. While the regular monsters are easy, the bosses get very hard halfway through the game. There's a repeating boss who, by his third incarnation, will only take 1 point of damage per hit...period. I've tried it with AT modified stats, and it doesn't matter what your attack rating is, you can only do 1 point of damage. It's ridiculous! (See my License notes above for what I thought of the characters)

Controls (5/10)- I don't know why people complain so much about the controls. They're pretty straightforward and reliable. Of course, you can't interrupt combos, but that's typical in modern releases. So you'll be getting really brutal on thin air, and then get a bullet in the back of your skull, while furiously thrashing your analog stick. Of course, the focus attack (or whatever it's called) is impossible to pull off (the timing seems to change), but otherwise, it's right out of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles arcade game from the early '90s. Whack Whack Whack ... Whack Whack Whack ...

Spin (0/0)- This is my area for visceral feelings. The game wasn't too bad in an of itself, but it's a terrible mismanagement of the license of Fullmetal Alchemist, and is an atrocious title for Square-Enix. No bonus points for this one.

Reviewer's Score: 3/10, Originally Posted: 03/07/05