Fullmetal Alchemist and the Broken Angel

"Love the anime but this game is beyond mediocre"

I would never have played this game if it wasn't for two reasons. I liked the anime and I enjoy Squaresoft games, for the most part anyway. The most ironic part of it all is the fact that I got into the anime because I had heard that Square was making the game. I actually enjoyed the anime but I did not enjoy this game. The game has too many flaws and not enough to make it even worth a rental.

The story is that these two brothers, who tried to bring their mother back to life by using alchemy, lost a lot. One lost their body, the other lost their leg. The legless one gave up his arm to transmutate his brother's soul into a body of armor. On their way to central the train that they are on gets hijacked by some crazed alchemist. The entire point is that the brothers want to get back to central but they decide to see an old friend but when they find him, they realize everything isn't right. I found the plot to be too predictable and very lacking in every way. The characters don't feel like the ones from the anime or the manga. And while I felt that there wasn't any character development, I did find the entire ending to be a little tugging on the heart strings. I never cared for the characters but I think it's the overall statement that is presented to us in the final scenes that got to me.

The graphics in the game are sub par, at best. Everything looks a bit cartoonish and clunky. Enemies tend to have the same models, so you may end up with 5 enemies who look exactly alike. Thankfully, the enemies do change colors later on… Most cut scenes are done with still pictures and text but there are some anime cut scenes with voice acting but the quality is a bit grainy at times.

The voice acting in the game is good and I think they use the same actors from the anime. Sound effects are a bit generic, which is something the game does excel at; being generic… The music is decent but it isn't nearly as good as the stuff in the anime which is a shame.

The control in the game is crap. The character moves fine and it's easy to attack… with your weapon but nothing else. You have to hold the circle button to use your magic but the problem is half the time the game doesn't register it which adds to much frustration during the heavy fight scenes. Also, assigning one button for the commands to Al was stupid. Half the time it says call, even if he is beside you. Of course it would help if his AI wasn't utter crap.

If you've played The Bouncer, which I enjoyed for what it was, then you should know how this game works, you just add magic in the mix. Basically, you run from area to area and you fight enemies but you don't always have to kill of the enemies. The areas are split into levels. Sometimes there are about 8 areas to a level, later in the game there is more. The biggest problem is that you revisit every level at least once, sometimes up to three times. The fighting in the game is simple. You run up to an enemy and you keep hitting square. You can jump but that's only helpful on flying enemies. You can also transmutate stuff. You also gain EXP and gain levels. Your stats automatically go up but sometimes you get bonus points top give out as you please. You can beat the game at level 20 though. The items are all preset but some items can be turned into more than one and you can add an element to it if you have the item but the game never tells you that you're using an item, nor does it explain this. Items are easy to come by though so it isn't that big of a deal, you just have to save reloaders for boss fights.

Actually, the bosses are large but the biggest problem with them is that they are cheap. The game also does the Mega Man thing and forces you to fight most of them again at the end of the game but…. All at once! Gee, that's so much fun. While fighting you can also have AL attack with a slamming dash type move. You can also transmutate weapons for him but most of the time he stands there and does nothing. You can also have him using a cannon or crossbow but he tends to ignore you or he jumps in and then jumps right back out which makes no sense. Also, he can hurt you with the cannon, as you can hurt him as well but if an enemies uses an attack like that it doesn't hurt the other enemies which makes it a little unfair.

The game does offer a new game plus feature after you beat it and has new things hidden to find and unlock. Art and anime cut scenes but I really don't see myself ever going back. I just wanted to finish the story, which isn't even tied into the anime or manga. The game isn't unplayable but the crappy partner AI, cheap game play at times, simplistic game play and the fact that it was just boring all around, I just felt like I had wasted 12 hours of my life, which is rather long for a game of this type. If you want a beat'em up, just go for The Bouncer. It has better game play, story and graphics.

Story – 5/10
Graphics – 6/10
Sound – 6/10
Control – 5/10
Game play – 5/10
Replay Value - 5/10

Final Score – 5/10

Reviewer's Score: 5/10, Originally Posted: 05/19/05