NIS America and developer Gust’s Mana Khemia 2: Fall of Alchemy continues the tale of the famed Al-Revis Academy. Once an exclusive school, it has since fallen on hard times after the mana that once held it high above the lower world of the humans gave way and left it to plummet to the earth. Alchemy’s popularity is also in decline as its influence dwindles alongside the world’s mana supply, which has caused the school’s budget to shrink as fewer students enroll. A result of the economic hardship is the confirmation of a new chairman, Marta Silweste, who has been tasked with cutting costs and returning a profit. To that end, she has directed the school’s principal, Zeppel Kreiver, to open new classes, accept all students, and, eventually, drop alchemy from the curriculum.

The people around Al-Revis are increasingly separating into two factions, those who focus on mana and those who do not. This schism is represented by the game’s two separate, and largely unique, storylines: Razeluxe ‘Raze’ Meitzen, mysterious servant and fighter, and Ulrika Myberg, the goofy “country bumpkin” interested in mana. Each character represents a different workshop in the school, and each is the rival of the other. While both storylines share many similarities in regards to the game’s mechanics (fighting, gathering, synthesizing, etc.), they vary by starting playable characters, side stories, and focus. The two-story approach not only represents the changing times, but it also offers an excellent means to fully experience the characters’ world.

Regardless of which character you choose, you will live out the life of a teenage student – well, the role-playing game equivalent of one. The game’s entire design is based around student life: you are given assignments (story-based quests), exams (boss fights), and free time with which you can get to know another character better, sell synthesized items, or take on jobs from the student center’s billboard. Everything is based on time, with tasks and assignments running over resulting in either no pay or a lower grade. Grades, as in real life, are important: if you score high enough, you can skip classes. Classes are normally selected at the beginning of the semester, but if you’re fast and efficient in handling your assignments, then you will be rewarded with free time instead of coursework to earn extra cole (cash), gather resources, and hang out more with a classmate. You can also explore the school - visit classrooms, talk to teachers, visit the infirmary, or just talk to students in the quad – to get a better feel for student life. While by no means a high school simulator, you should know that the game has all of the melodramatics that come with a group of teenagers – forlorn loves, rivalries, stereotyping, etc. True to most of NIS’ titles the humor is often self-referential, the designers being perfectly aware of the many clichés they are adhering to, which allows for some welcomed winks and nods.

If you are the type of person that gets a kick out of the wacky hijinks that a group of kids might get themselves into, then you are in for a treat.  NIS has positively lavished Mana Khemia 2 with voice-overs that give both humans and monsters a lot of character, as they break through the endless walls of text with well-delivered lines in especially crisp quality; however, some of the more lackluster characters have equally lackluster performances while others can either be a mismatch or just downright annoying (thankfully, you can always switch to Japanese). The text clearly dominates the narrative, though, and you will spend upwards of ten to fifteen minutes sitting through some conversations. The beginning of the game is a testament to just how much interaction there is between the characters, with, from my rough calculation, the first fifteen minutes after the lovely intro being background story and characters chatting. If you are looking for a heavily character-driven story, then Mana Khemia 2 is the game for you.

Surprisingly, there is just as much to do as there is reading. Action revolves around two primary activities: combat and synthesizing. Combat utilizes a turn-based, five-member party system that features three vanguard characters and two support characters – a sixth, event-based character might also join in combat as well. The support characters, after a brief rest that restores skill points (SP), can charge into battle during a vanguard character’s attack or defense to cause additional damage or absorb a blow. Vanguard characters that inflict enough damage, particularly by taking advantage of an enemy’s elemental weakness, will cause the party to enter unite mode: support characters get back into the fight faster as well as join in for intimate strikes and guards, vanguard characters can perform finishing moves, and attacks cause greater damage. A sixteen-orb action sphere displays upcoming actions, which allows for sufficient planning to press an advantage or defend. Enemies are also visible while you are exploring an area and can often be avoided by jumping off or onto an object, or simply running around them. Whenever you do engage an enemy there is a brief opportunity for you to earn a first strike by clicking on the corresponding on-screen face button – a real lifesaver for boss fights. Despite the text-heavy focus on character relations, combat manages to shine on its own by being involved, fast, and engaging.

When you aren’t pummeling monsters, talking to friends, or listening to lectures, you will be gathering ingredients and synthesizing items. As Al-Revis is a school founded on the study of the alchemic arts, you will be spending a lot of time near a cauldron. Here, too, your classmates have a role, as some are particularly skilled at handling certain element-based items. For instance, if you are synthesizing a dagger that calls for fire-based materials for two of the three ingredients, you can pick a friend that adds additional points when dealing with items based on fire. You will need ingredients first, and everything involved in the synthesizing process requires an action: low-hanging fruit will be knocked down and water bottled with the click of a button, ore will be mined by memorizing button patterns for a timed sequence, vegetables will be dug up through a slot-machine mechanic, and fish will be caught by tugging the pole whenever a receding line enters the appropriate area. None of the gathering processes are terribly involved, but they do a great job in breaking up what could be a very monotonous process.

Materials aren’t much use if you don’t know what to do with them, so you’ll need to track down some recipes. Fortunately, recipes can be found while adventuring and in the on-campus store. After you have an item’s recipe and the appropriate ingredients, you will then want to be careful about which team member you pick for the mixing process. Creating an item involves combining several ingredients into a pot and picking the appropriate element for each ingredient, but for maximum effect you will also have to focus on the quality of the items by keeping in mind their ether level. After the three ingredients are chosen, they are then added to the pot by use of the alchemy wheel: outer spheres representing the elements spin under a target, and by adding an ingredient while the appropriate element is in the target you will receive a bonus. By careful use of ingredients and allies, you will be able to synthesize an object of the highest quality and thereby unlock the third of the three ether effect slots for that item. In a strange twist, it is through your objects, not solely combat, that you truly develop.

Mana Khemia 2 doesn’t feature a traditional leveling system. While victory rewards the combatants with additional hit and skill points, it is through the rewarded ability points that you improve your stats, as well as gain new skills and attributes. Ability points aren’t allocated to the character themselves but instead to the objects they wield. A grow book houses the card of each synthesized item that the characters carry, and by spending ability points on the items’ ether slots, you will increase a character’s magical and physical attributes in addition to unlocking new abilities. Despite being a bit unorthodox, the decision to require both combat and synthesizing for proper leveling actually keeps things interesting.

Further emphasizing the game’s focus on activity are the numerous side quests that you can take part in. The job board features several different tasks that involve taking down certain monsters, gathering a set amount of ingredients, and synthesizing particular items. Tasks can only be done during your free time, but they have a time limit as well, so it’s important to pay attention to your notebook’s schedule and jobs tabs. If you would prefer to not spend your leisure time out on the hunt, you can always open a stand in the school’s bazaar to sell the items you’ve synthesized. Regardless of which activity you’re taking part in, there’s always something to do.

The intertwining of the characters’ relationships and the action-based elements is done well. Relationships eventually develop whenever you focus on a certain character’s storyline, and these can take the form of assists on the battlefield. Again, if you are into this style of game, then you’ll find a lot to like. Although one thing that is sure to bother everyone is the tiny, tiny text. On a standard definition screen, a 27” Sony Trinitron in this case, a good bit of the text is near illegible when more than a few feet away. I’m talking some serious squinting action over here. On larger high-definition televisions this isn’t a problem, but if you are playing on a smaller set, then you should really prepare to play close to the screen. I also had a moment when the game froze on me, which I was able to resolve by ejecting and reinserting the disc while the system was still on. Now, the problem could very well have been on the hardware side, but I’ve read and seen footage of other people experiencing similar problems; however, I would like to stress that that was the only technical issue I experienced.

Overall: 8/10

Mana Khemia 2: Fall of Alchemy might not break any new ground, but what it does offer is a rich, character-driven experience that ties in an interesting relationship dynamic with its many activity-based elements. Technical hiccups aside, the game is lighthearted, funny, and offers a lot for fans of the genre. If the idea of endless banter and self-aware adherence to clichés isn’t your thing, then you might want to look elsewhere; everyone else, you would do well to give Mana Khemia 2 a chance.

(This review is based on a retail copy provided by the publisher.)