Fullmetal Alchemist and the Broken Angel

"Too easy and too annoying."

Ah, FMA guys. What we've been somewhat waiting for huh? Well, it's a somewhat let down too. You have really got to be a really open-minded gamer or a hardcore FMA fan to really like this game. I'm reviewing this game without no bias what so ever. I love FMA, the series and I love playing RPGs. Let me get into details shall I?

Graphics 6/10

Since it's made by Square Enix, I expected so much more. I mean, they seem to have gotten all the FMA looks right but the 3D factor just wasn't that great. It's BLOCKY! They could of done a lot better with the enemies as well. You'd have to be blind to not see what I'm talking about. Everything and everyone just looks so plain. Nothing too great. But graphics isn't everything right? Let's talk about other things.

Sound/Music 7/10

Same same same. Plain plain plain. Nothing to get you all riled up and put up on your website if you know what I mean. You have your basic music for every scene. Adrenaline rush music for battles, dramatical music for talking scenes.... you know the drill. Really, though, it's nothing to complain about either. It's simple and that doesn't really bother me at all.

AI 6/10

Can someone kill the voice actors for the US version? Most of the enemies are pretty easy to kill. Run to them and slash them away... if that won't work, transmute a cannon or a strong bomb or a strong sword or whatever you need to kill them. It's really not hard. Later in the game, though, they can get annoying. They won't be ble to kill you easily but they'll be annoying. Almost all your enemies will be able to use alchemy against you. Yes, that includes bandits. military soldiers, bosses and even chimeras.

Your partner, Al, is helpful and annoying depending on the situation. He'll always be left behind so you'll find yourself calling his name all the time too... and that'll give you brain damage. He can be helpful when you're in a tight spot. He can tackle down enemies around you when he's close by to you. Transmute big weapons for him to use and he'll crush them. I make him use all the projectile weapons I find because AI controls him and he shoots automatically and directly. Sometimes I wish he was just dead, though.

Storyline 8/10

I like it a bit. It does have a different feel to this side-story then it does with the main one. You get side-tracked by bandits and corrupted military people and that leads you to find chimeras being made. You meet Wilbert, Ed and Al's masters friend, and her daughter. It seems Ed and Al has some history with these people, though not explained in the main story.

Gameplay 6/10

OMG not what I expected at all. It is an action RPG, but boy is it PLAIN?! I really wish I could do more with this game... the transmuting system is pretty weirded out. You can only transmute certain objects which is very limiting. There's a combo system and you walk around beating bad guys and level up. No world map or item shop. It feels like a beat 'em up game after a while. I was expecting this game to be kind of like Kingdom Hearts... but it's not. All in all, it could of been done better. Everything is too plain but they did do good job of keeping it down to heart with the alchemy world.

Overall 6/10

I'm disapointed as a FMA fan and a Square Enix fan. IMO, SE has been slacking off. They're rich and they know it and they know people will buy their games so they don't care... well, that's not true but you get what I mean. I would of liked to see this as a side-movie and not as a game. I would of enjoyed it more. The only thing this really got going is the storyline. Rental only. Not worth 30 bucks.

Reviewer's Score: 6/10, Originally Posted: 07/06/05