Genre: Action RPG
Developer: Racjin
Publisher: Square-Enix
Release Date: July 12, 2005

When I reviewed the first Full Metal Alchemist game a few months ago, I commented on what an uneasy combination of license game and earnest action RPG it was. For Curse of the Crimson Elixir, Racjin and Square-Enix seem to understand who the audience for the FMA games will be and what they want a bit better, and a lot of changes have been made to the games to accommodate this. This is both a good and a bad thing, really. Curse of the Crimson Elixir does a far better job than the first game of capturing the look and feel of the anime, and has enormously streamlined the game's interface. Unfortunately, some of the basic design issues in the first game haven't been addressed, and the engine changes have allowed entirely new issues to creep into the gameplay.

As with the last game, it begins with a quick narrative that starts establishing the premise of the story. Instead of establishing everything all at once, the game instead doles out bits of detail about the anime and manga backstory as you go through the first level, which is basically a tutorial. The level is largely an exact retelling of the first episode of the anime, but quickly diverges from the anime plot by adding a twist to the story's ending. Curse of the Crimson Elixir continues on in that vein for the next few levels, adapting memorable storylines from the anime in light of the new villain being introduced in the game. The storylines adapted are a lot of the most memorable from the early parts of the story: starting with the Cult of Leto plot, latter levels of the game adapt the Shou Tucker story, the fight against Bald, the fight against Scar, and the storyline that introduces Winry. You'll also see a lot more of the regular cast members involved in this game, particularly fan-favorites like Roy Mustang, Hughes, Havoc, and Hawkeye. After chapter 4, the game stops adapting material from the anime and begins focusing wholly on the game's original plotline, which concerns a rogue alchemist named Crowley who is using ancient alchemical techniques to create monsters. Overall, the storytelling style of the game does a remarkable job of capturing the way the anime tells its stories, especially in light of how completely the Broken Angel game failed to do this.

You can tell a lot more money was spent on making Curse of the Crimson Elixir than on Broken Angel. There are more characters with full CG models and tons more character art for everyone. Ed gets two different models, and they even make a CG model of "Al in the Box" from the Winry storyline. Armstrong, who appeared in the first game, not only returns but gets two different CG models as well. BONES once again provides anime cut scenes, but Crimson Elixir has more and higher-quality anime clips than Broken Angel did. While Broken Angel tried to feel like a single TV episode, Curse of the Crimson Elixir feels a bit more like a theatrical feature. The way the story is told will draw in and satisfy even the most casual fans of the anime, and diehards will absolutely love it.

Gameplay is generally similar to the original game, in terms of engine, but there are some differences worth nothing. Combat is now easier and faster but also much less deep. A player who isn't concerned with playing a perfect game can easily finish the game inside of a weekend, and I finished it in a single sitting. There's really no reason to replay it once you've beaten it unless you want to go back and unlock any gallery materials you might not have qualified for on the first time through. You get all the movie clips automatically, so that basically means you'd be battling for a gallery of the game's less-than-spectacular still art images.

You still control Ed in the same basic ways you did in the first game, but the way alchemy works is quite different. In Broken Angel, you could transmute most given items in a few different ways, which was determined by how long you held down the circle button. In Crimson Elixir, you can only transmute items you find on the map in one way. As Ed levels up, you'll acquire the ability to create enhanced versions of whatever you're making, sometimes by transmuting it twice. As in the first game, trying to transmute when you're not around an item to transform summons a "rockblocker," and tapping circle to finish a combo will summon a wave of stone spikes. You transmute pretty much the same sorts of things in Crimson Elixir that you did in Broken Angel, but some of Broken Angel's goofier transmutations are gone while some interesting new stuff like the "money mallet," nyoibo, and the ability to transmute basic weapon types like the lance, sword, and hammer at will have been added. Al can wield a wider variety of weapons now, and can wield some weapons like the boomerang and nyoibo for an unlimited number of uses.

Al is still around as Ed's AI-controlled sidekick, but he's a shell of the useful assistant he was in the first game. As part of simplifying the control scheme, Racjin removed the ability to give Al specific commands through the R1 interface. Instead, you much click R1 and pray that whatever Al decides to do is what you actually want. It also makes the "Rage Attack" that has replaced Broken Angel's Fighting Frenzy mode only somewhat useful. The idea of the Rage Attack is that it combines Fighting Frenzy and the team-up maneuvers in the first game; when Ed's rage meter fills up, you press R1 to call Al over to toss him into the air, and then hold down circle. If anything you can attack is in range, you'll summon a swarm of giant stone fists that rise from the ground to smash your enemies. Unfortunately, Al's flaky AI makes it very difficult to actually do in the middle of a heated battle.

Crimson Elixir doesn't grade you on your performance during a level the way that Broken Angel did. Instead, you're graded on your performance during the end-of-level boss fights. You can score points for things like beating the boss quickly, scoring long combos, and avoiding damage during the fight. Scoring high on all aspects of a boss fight can earn you an A-rank, while just barely squeaking by nets you an F. Scoring high will unlock bonus materials from the gallery and give you special items, and scoring poorly just means you don't get the bonuses. This is a fine idea, but unless you're skilled enough to get all the A-ranks on your first try I doubt you'll ever want to fool with replays. With a few exceptions, most boss fights are bland pattern bosses, where you'll spend more time fighting the camera system than getting to focus on your battle.

The first game had pretty graphics, some very questionable design work aside, but Crimson Elixir is an unbelievably huge improvement. This game is cel-shaded, and the 3D models really capture the feel of the anime's character designs. Characters with quirky personal moves like Hawkeye and Armstrong do their trademark poses with believable fluidity. The backgrounds are less remarkable but blend with the movements of the characters in a way that the first game just didn't. The only real failing of the graphics is that they didn't give the characters expressive faces, so the game is entirely reliant on voice-acting and still art to convey… everything, really. It also makes the real-time 3D cut scenes look extremely stiff and uninteresting next to the anime cut scenes as the game wears on.

Voice-acting for the game is only available in English, but is an immense improvement over what the same actors did in the first title. The actors seem to have grown familiar enough with their characters to do some amazing jobs with their lines. The problem with the in-battle quips lacking variety unfortunately hasn't been addressed; if anything, Crimson Elixir seems to have fewer quotes and they grow tiresome just as quickly. Fortunately, Crimson Elixir lets you shut voice acting off if you so wish. The actual in-game soundtrack is mostly forgettable, generic video game music, but there are a few inspired pieces that show up for the game's ending. Anime fans will probably be very pleased to see that the most popular of the show's opening themes, L'arc en Ciel's Ready Steady Go!, also makes a brief appearance in the game.

If you're a big Full Metal Alchemist fan, or even just enjoy flipping through manga or catching the show on Cartoon Network, then Crimson Elixir is definitely worth a rental. I can't recommend it for purchase by any but the most diehard fans. A game with so little replay value that can be finished so easily is just not worth whatever the store is charging, unless you just want it around to sit on your shelf. As a rental, though, it's a perfectly entertaining way for an anime fan to blow a weekend.

Score: 7.0/10