Back To School

After a bit of dillydallying (I wonder if gamer's block is a thing), I went ahead and popped in my copy of Mana Khemia:  Alchemists of Al-Revis.




The game is part of the Atelier series of RPGs.  This one is a bit closer to the 'classic' lines than the Iris Trilogy, though so far it has a bit more mercy on the time management requirements than pre-Iris games, something that would come back in the Arland Trilogy with a vengeance (search stuff for Atelier Rorona for relevant blabbering).  There seems to be a quiet debate on whether or not Khemia and its sequel count as main Atelier games, but my stance is quite simple; the game's credits refer to it as Project A9.  Atelier Rorona was A11 (strongly implying no retcons or renumbering), so the devs treated this as a part of the overall main series not a gaiden game or spinoff.  I don't see the point the debate anyway, since the series has multiple continuities anyway (not as bad as Tales or good old Final Fantasy, though).




My first foray into things have left a pretty positive impression.  The whole game revolves around learning about alchemy at the eponymous Al-Revis Academy, which involves doing usual Atelier stuff like finding ingredients and making lots of shiny goodies to do stuff with.  Practically everybody is some kind of JRPG cliché, which is fine as long as things are well done; they are thus far.  Of course we get some Atelier style wackiness, plus a generous dose of awesome.  The main character is Vayne (no not that Vayne), and his weapon is a cat that transforms into a magitek gauntlet/sword/punch dagger.  It's a lot more badass than it sounds actually.  The game hands you an assignment early on that translates to essentially "go kill freaks and loot the corpses."  Screw Hogwarts, come to Al-Revis, where you learn to Unleash The Harvest upon monstrosities and produces kickass shinies from the remains.  Oh, and this place is on a floating island, and comes complete with all sorts of dungeon-ey goodness to tear about in!




And I simply must mention the party member that uses alchemical Molotov cocktails for a basic attack.  Come and rain death upon the hordes of wickedness!  And this is the game's healer chick!


Well, the Harvest has been unleashed, and it looks to be one helluva ride this time around.