Snips
09-17-2007, 12:55 PM
(Sorry if this is in the wrong forum. I figured since the game has levelling up, an RPG-esque conversation window, and a party, it'd go here. Of course, It could be arguable that it's more of an action game.)
I have not used spoiler tags. If you want to play this, or are playign it but haven't beaten it, the plot will be ruined for you. You have been warned.
It's been awhile since I've done a review on a video game so I decided to cover the most recent one I beat. And yes, it's based off of the Anime. In case you haven't watched the anime, here's a small background:
"Mankind can gain nothing without sacrifice. To gain something, something of equal value must be paid." That is alchemy's law of equivalent exchange. By harnessing the power of alchemy, objects can instantly be transmuted so long as there are adequeate materials. Edward and Alphonse Elric, two brothers, were practicing alchemy, but then their mother died of an illness. They tried to ressurect her through forbidden human alchemy, and the results were catastrophic. Al's body disentegrated, and Ed had to cut off one of his own limbs in order to bind Al's soul to a nearby pece of armor before it was too late. Al, now just a soul inhabiting a suit of armor, carried Ed to Winry's house, where his missing arm and leg were replaced by automail, a strong and effective (yet ridiculously painful to attach) artificial metal limb. Thus, when Ed joined the ranks of the State Alchemists, he was given the alias "Full Metal Alchemist" The brothers began searching for the legendary Philosopher's stone in an attempt to restore Al's body.
Full Metal Alchemist and the Broken Angel follows the Elric brothers' travels as they take a break from searching for the Philospher's stone and get caught up in an adventure revolving around the "Philosopher's Catalyst," a wing said to have powers comparable to the stone. It's combat system is live action and similar to Zelda in a sense. However, there is no actual Block button (Ed can make stone barriers or use Al as a shield, as well as roll/ flip, he just can't actually manually block incoming attacks) or lock on. It makes battles frustrating until you get the hang of it. As well, attacking by using Stonespikes (Alchemy is the equivalent of magic after all) quickly becomes outclassed by weaponry. However, being able to transmute lamp posts into cannons is incredibly fun! You can ven transmute weapons for Al to use, such as a heavy lance, or a sword so big that it's bigger than Ed! (Well, he is kinda short, haha) As well, you can command Al to man the cannons/ turrets/ etc, and he has great aim!
Gameplay
It's a simple enough game. X is to jump. Square attacks, Circle uses Alchemy, and Triangle is to pick up/ drop/ enter weapons/ turrets. R1 issues commands to Al, R2 is your roll, and L1/ L2 is your camera reset and map size change.
Part of what makes this game so unique is the Alchemy. Tapping Circle brings up a rockblocker, which can also be jumped on to access higher areas. Rockblockers are indispensible during boss fights with powerful projectiles. However, some late game attacks can break the blockers. Holding circle brings up Stonespikes to attack with. As well, while holding Circle, transmutable items show a green circle around them. Holding down Circle when near such an item shows icons over them, indicating what kind of items they become. Red items are weapons for Ed, including a sword, Lance, Boomerang, etc, and are yours once you pick them up, they don't break. However, you can only hold one at a time. Blue items are for Al, but break after so many uses. Green items, such as grenades, Katanas, and the ever awesome artillery pieces, are useable by both, but like blue weapons, break. A katana, for example, has anywhere from one to 4 good swings in it.
As well, some weapons can be customized further; a Boomerang can be transmuted into a chakram, for example. Or, you can turn the hammer (weak but super fast weapon for Ed, see "Fighting Frenzy" part.) for Ed into a BIG hammer for Al, which can be further turned into a Pickaxe (the hammer is stronger than the pickaxe though) As well, by using expendable items, you can use alchemy to reload artillery (Metal and Wood Reloader) as well as add elements to weapons (Fire Element, Wind Element, and Lightning element) Elemental enhancements wear off after so many hits. Fire swords typically has 100 hits worth of bonus damage in it, while wind chakrams only have 50 hits of bonus damage and bonus hits (each hit uses up even more of the autmentation) Certain weapons are limited in how they can be augmented (Examples: Ed's Lances can only have Lightning attached, Ed's Swords can only have fire, Al's can have both. Only Ed's daggers, Boomerangs, and Chakrams can have wind) As well, Ed's Bow isn't that strong and can't have an elemental augment, but he can transmute it from a bolt thrower that ran out of ammo. It's useful when you need to attack flying enemies!
Basically... don't use the handblade on bosses, transmute yourself something stronger! One last use of Alchemy is to revive Al if he dies. If Ed dies though, it's game over. This is why I assigned most of the Level up Bonus points to Ed. Al is nice and a big help, but who cares if he dies, he can be brought back! As it is, his Attack, Vitality (each Vit point = 5 HP), and Defense are higher by default, so I only assigned a few points to Al near the end of the game, since Ed was dealing way more damage by then.
Fighting Frenzy is a cool representation of Real Life Adrenaline, I find. Basically, there's this bar that fills up with each hit Ed or Al lands, and when it's full, damage and experience gained are both increased! If Ed is doing 100 per hit WITHOUT the Frenzy, for example (highly doubtful unless he has a good weapon with an elemental augment) he'll likely be killing things awfully fast with it. Fighting Frenzy has no time limit, and ends if you use a save point, if Al dies, or if Ed is knocked off of his feet and doesn't excecute a breakfall (basically... if he lands on his back) As well, there's a special frenzy joint alchemy attack that both brothers can do together. This also ends Fighting Frenzy mode, but when it can kill all enemies closeby, it's worth it. Don't rely on Fighting Frenzy though. Chances are, if you save before bosses, you won't have it against bosses unless you somehow activate it during the fight.
Also one last thing: defense is nice and can make you take 1 damage per hit. However, enemy alchemy attacks (actually fairly common) still do non-modified damage to you, so Vitality is a must as well.
The Story
The game begins with Ed and Al on a train en route for Hiessgart, along with Armstrong. From there, they're supposed to catch a train to Central. Al comments on how taking a break from searching for the stone is nice, while Ed then takes that as a prompt to go on a "I'll break something if this train ride doesn't end soon!" rant. They also mention about how they've been to Hiessgard before and how they met a professor named Eiselstein as well as his daugher Selene. Just then, the train shakes, and an announcement plays: the train has been hijacked! Ed gets pissed off when the brigands call him short, ("Who are you calling Guiness book of world records kind of short!?") and transmutes his metal arm into a hammer and whacks one clear through the wall of the train. Armstrong dispatches the other one, but Ed notices that he dropped a piace of paper with a Transmutation circle drawn on it. There are alchemists among the hijackers! The tutorial follows, with Ed and Al splitting up to cover both the roof and cars, so that the player can take things one at a time and learn the basics before learning about using Al's help. ("More of them!? Were we the only non hijackers on board or something?") After awhile, they defeat an MP - Military Policeman - and try to interrogate him but he knows nothing. He runs, and they follow him... only to see him blasted off the roof of the train. The brothers contront and defeat Genz, the "Armor Piercing Alchemist" and the mastermind behind the hijacking. Of course... he calls Ed short. ("WHO ARE YOU CALLING MICROSCOPIC, HUH?") Ed transmutes a cannon and misses... causing a cave in in the tunnell ahead, derailing the train!
Ed blames the derailment of the train on Genz, and Al just goes along with it. The brothers take off towards Hiessgart on their own rather than staying and trying to help the passengers with Armstrong. Finally, they start seeing chimeras, animals fused together via alchemy. Al tries to deny the horrible truth saying that it must be some natural mutation, but Ed is certain. Finally, as they're walking, a girl who was picking flowers on the fliffside above falls and lands on Ed's head. She calls him short, refuses to apologize, and runs off. Naturally, as Ed hates being called short, he chases after her demanding an apology. They escape a giant crab and find themselves in Hiessgart. The town is totally overrun by Chimeras and the brothers are worried about Eiselstein and Selene. Oh, and Ed still wants an apopogy from the girl who landed on his head. The gate to the inner city is on fire, so they repair the broken fountain, and then Ed transmutes it into some kind of high pressure water cannon. ("Ed's transmutations always have odd details...") Ploughing on, they find an old church. They see one of the flowers that the girl was picking on a grave. "Here lies Selene Eiselstein" the grave reads. The brothers are shocked, and the Pastor of the nearby church comes walking by and offers them shelter for the night. Talking to the pastor, they learn that the girl's name is Armony. They also learn about New Hiessgart, founded by Professor Eiselstein. Before they can really discuss things further, a chimera bursts through the window, accompanied by a woman named Camilla. Once defeated, the woman flees. Worried she might come back, the brothers leave for New Hiessgart.
After a frustrating chase trying to get back the crank that opens the doors to the train station, the brothers find a crowd. They see Armony yelling at a trio of Brothers who promised to teach her alchemy, for a price. They deny ever taking her money, and try to shove her off her feet, but Ed catches her. Ed and Al defeat the trio of brothers, but deny teaching Armony alchemy because they need to hurry and catch the train. She laughs and tells them that she wins, because the trains have been cancelled! She offers them a room at her father's house until the trains resume, Ed and Al agree. She takes them to a big castle, supposedly the Professor's house. They learn that her last name is Eiselstein, and she's the Professor's other daughter. The boys realize that the reason Armony visited Selene's grave was because it was her sister. The professor forbids them from teaching Armony Alchemy, and asks them for a favor. They need to go get the Etherflowers they saw Armony picking. The problem is, the flowers are gone! After a few levels of long winded hunting and searching, they finally get five small Etherflowers, thanks to Armony coming along and looking while they were fighting a chimera that ate the one they saw in an attempt to get it back.
Ed finally agrees to take Armony on as his Apprentice, as long as her father doesn't find out. There's then a series of stills, showing Ed showing her some diagrams, as well as Armony attempting some alchemy, with the Pastor in the background. It also shows Armony on a picnic with the brothers. It's a cute change of pace from all the Chimera fighting. Then, Armony asks how her Alchemy is improving (despite the fact she apparently still can't transmute a thing) but then she grows weak and suddenly, a wing can be seen protruding from her back! ("Why does she have a freaking wing on her back!?") They decide it would be best to ask the Professor about it, and go to find him. They search his alchemy shop for him, and find Chimera incubators! The professor was behind all the chimeras! It gets noisy outside and the professor insists he'll be fine, so they save the questions for later and leave to go help Armony. Brigadier Nemda comes crashing through the wall with a Combat Chimera he was bribed with, but it goes berserk and attacks Armony. ("That thing is butt ugly!" "It's not bad. Actually, it's kind of cute! Wait, why are we discussing this?") After defeating the Chimera, Nemda tries to arrest the boys so they make a run for it. Genz gets in their way though, this time, both his arms are automail. It's a tough fight, but after he goes down, Ed and Al get completely outnumbered and surrounded. Nemda wants to court marshall them immediately, but then Mustang shows up out of nowhere and suggests imprisonning them first. Armony escapes and heads to the old church.
Mustang reveals his plan to Hawkeye and Armstrong. He knows the Elric brothers are innocent of any crime. He also knows that Nemda is hiding something. Lastly, he knows that the brothers won't sit in jail quietly. He's planning on them to break out and cause a ruckus to distract nemda so they can perform their investigation. Meanwhile, Ed asks Al to tackle the bars down. ("Easier said than... okay, that was easier than I thought!" "I transmuted the ends to aliminum when you weren't looking!") This level is the first level you can transmute vehicles; the miniature tank and the steam roller. Finally, after infltrating Nemda's office and taking his watch back, Ed and Al search the files quickly. They had arrest warrants out for the professor and Armony, too! Thinking maybe something up there can aid their escape, they go to the roof and get attacked by a Phoenix-like Chimera. After they defeat it, Nemda appears and attacks them, but Ed shifts the floor and knocks him off his feet. They then make a hangglider out of the flag, and take off. Nemda throws the gun at them and hits Al, but that was of course innefective against a suit of armor. They head towards the old church to rendezvous with Armony (where else would she go hide? Besides, her father found out she was practicing alchemy and kicked her out).
Armony tells them that the town has been sealed off, and the Pastor suggests using the waterworks to get in. Ed and Al race on ahead, but Armony follows behind, unseen. After defeating a sea serpent-like chimera, Al realizs they're being followed and Armony comes out of hiding. Finally, the Pastor catches up with them too, since he got worried and came after her! They enter Eiselstein's castle and ask him questions. He makes Armony go wait in her room as he explains the truth to Ed and Al. Selene's "death" was caused by a rebound of energy during an Alchemy experiment. However, she wasn't actually killed persay. Instead, she was replaced with an entirely new girl. Armony was born that night. The wing they saw was the Legendary Philosopher's Catalyst, and it was the sole thing keeping Armony alive. When she practiced alchemy, it weakened and exposed the wing, so hence why he forbade her from using it. Armony was listening from the other side of the door and becomes very upset. She doesn't believe it since she remembers playing with her big sister Selene as a kid. She does realize, however, that her time might be limited so she goes to write a farewell to Ed and Al. Finally, Eiselstein's assistant comes and carries Armony away, while Ed and Al go outside to halt the invading army.
Before long, the brothers are cornered and outnumbered, until a giant burst of flame engulfs some of the soldiers. Mustang and Armstrong had gone there to help them as well, Hawkeye also delivers a message that Armony had been kidnapped, so Ed and Al head back in to the castle to rescue her. They fight Genz yet again, this time, amost entirely made of automail. As they climb the tower, the boys discuss how Armony couldn't remember any of it, and if she had Selene's memories. They decide that Eiselstein modified her memories somehow.
They show up just in time to rescue the professor from Chimeras, and then they see Armony attached to a transmutation circle. The professor's assistant removes her disguise and reveals herself as the woman who attacked them at the church ("Oh, I'm seein it now, you're the half naked lady who sicced that chimera on us!") After defating the Chimeras however, the brothers are beat and unable to move. Camilla goes and places her hand on Armony's head in order to begin the alchemic process of removing the wing from her unharmed. Professor Eiselstein throws an Etherflower at her, and disrupts it. Camilla's false beauty disintegrates, and she gets pissed off and summons this giant blobby thing. By this time Ed and Al are able to move again. After defeating Camilla, the monster dies as well (you can kill the monster a hundred thousand times if you want, Camilla just keeps reviving it) Armony is near death at this point. The professor tells Ed and Al to collect the feathers from the wings as he takes Armony down to the alchemy workshop. (in an aside, he says that it's too late for her, but Ed and Al don't hear this) However, before belong Ed notices how the feathers have no power, and then Al notices they're disintegrating!
They race down to the Alchemy workshop, having clued in that the Professor was probably going to commit suicide along with his daughter. The brothers are met by Hawkeye, Mustang, and Armstrong, who have been forbidden to let the Elric Brothers pass. Ed screams at them, saying that while him and Al are just kids and will grow up some day, that the here and now is all Armony has! He yells at them for stopping him from trying to save his apprentice, and what good is a master who can't look after his or her apprentice? He winds up fighting the 3 alchemists but they hold him off long enough....
(ALTERNATE ENDING POSSIBILITY: I lost that fight. I mean, Mustang alone did like 200 to me per hit, and I was hitting 3s on him! I didn't even bother trying to hit Armstrong or Hawkeye. However, I didn't use any items, figuring I was sppsoed to lose. Maybe the ending will be different if I win? I'll try on my next playthrough! I noticed I could transmute a tank there. IDEA!)
The Alchemy workshop vanishes in a blinding flash. Ed falls to his knees, crying at how he was useless if he couldn't even protect one person. Al notices a single feather hovering in a thin beam of light, and points it out to Ed. Ed touches it, and sees Armony's last moments with her father. The two loved each other but never got a chance to reconcile their disagreements until those last crucial moments. Both Armony and the Professor died smiling. The pastor asks if they died happy. Ed nods, and the pastor tells him that there's no reason to cry. Ed can't help it though. The pastor asks Ed to teach him some simple alchemy so he could show Armony something. (I think it's around here that Mustang mumbles somehting to Hawkeye about how they owe solving this investigation to Ed and Al... off the record of course)
Ed is also given the letter from Armony, and Al reads it to him on the train to Central. She thanks them for all they did for her, and how she doesn't believe that Equivalent exchange applies to people. She doesn't feel that she sacrificed anything, and in turn made great friends. She says how she felt like writing this so it didn't degrade into another one of their shouting matches. She ends by thanking Ed and calling him her "Small but Mighty Master" and then he pulls a seed out of the envellope. (Ed looks like he's ready to cry, but he's more composed than Armstrong who's crying like a baby) The pastor then uses the feather with a transmutation circle drawn on paper, and suddenly, flowers start blooming everywhere. The seed actually grows and blossoms right in Ed's hand. Al points out that maybe Armony's alchemy never really failed, maybe it was just dormant all that time.
(You also see Mustang placing flowers where Armony died. Hawkeye tells him it's okay to cry. He looks like he's about to, but then screws up his face and tells her not to be ridiculous. Then, the area is suddenly full of flowers, leaving them confused.)
You see Hawkeye's report, and how Ed was mentionned but not given any credit, just like Mustang mentionned (A State Alchemist was in the area during the incident, due to the derailment of his train. He was not involved in the incident.) Of note is the fact that Nemda was given 160 years in prison, and could have a potential 200 years more of convicted of other charges.
Finally, Ed and Al get off the train at central. Ed runs right into a girl holding flowers and scrambles to help her pick them up. When he turns to face her, his face goes funny. I guess the flowers and hair color reminded him of Armony. She asks if he;'s okay, but he insists he's fine and has never been better.
Overall ratings
Main Ratings:
Gameplay: 7/10 (good but has flaws, such as Ed and Al running so slow, remediable for one map via speed Caps)
Story: 8/10 (great, but I've seen a few better. In fact, the ending makes this the second video game ending ever that made me cry. Ever.)
Replay Value: 7/10 (I don't like several of the levels and some enemies and bosses in particular are just annoying. I'm replaying it but some areas, I just won't want to do over. On the bright side, you keep all accessories and items from the prevoius playthrough, just not levels)
Sub ratings:
Anime Nostalgia: 9/10 (the character interactions and the like were almost exactly like the show.
Alchemy Fun: 7/10 (I'd have prefered a little more fredom with alchemy, ike being able to make more items, etc.)
Comedy rating: 8/10 (sort of ties in to Anime Nostalgia, but whatever. This game had a lot of moments that had me just totally laughing my ass off!)
Overall rating:
8/10 (Rating: Great!)
Keep in mind, my average rating is like 6 or 7....
I have not used spoiler tags. If you want to play this, or are playign it but haven't beaten it, the plot will be ruined for you. You have been warned.
It's been awhile since I've done a review on a video game so I decided to cover the most recent one I beat. And yes, it's based off of the Anime. In case you haven't watched the anime, here's a small background:
"Mankind can gain nothing without sacrifice. To gain something, something of equal value must be paid." That is alchemy's law of equivalent exchange. By harnessing the power of alchemy, objects can instantly be transmuted so long as there are adequeate materials. Edward and Alphonse Elric, two brothers, were practicing alchemy, but then their mother died of an illness. They tried to ressurect her through forbidden human alchemy, and the results were catastrophic. Al's body disentegrated, and Ed had to cut off one of his own limbs in order to bind Al's soul to a nearby pece of armor before it was too late. Al, now just a soul inhabiting a suit of armor, carried Ed to Winry's house, where his missing arm and leg were replaced by automail, a strong and effective (yet ridiculously painful to attach) artificial metal limb. Thus, when Ed joined the ranks of the State Alchemists, he was given the alias "Full Metal Alchemist" The brothers began searching for the legendary Philosopher's stone in an attempt to restore Al's body.
Full Metal Alchemist and the Broken Angel follows the Elric brothers' travels as they take a break from searching for the Philospher's stone and get caught up in an adventure revolving around the "Philosopher's Catalyst," a wing said to have powers comparable to the stone. It's combat system is live action and similar to Zelda in a sense. However, there is no actual Block button (Ed can make stone barriers or use Al as a shield, as well as roll/ flip, he just can't actually manually block incoming attacks) or lock on. It makes battles frustrating until you get the hang of it. As well, attacking by using Stonespikes (Alchemy is the equivalent of magic after all) quickly becomes outclassed by weaponry. However, being able to transmute lamp posts into cannons is incredibly fun! You can ven transmute weapons for Al to use, such as a heavy lance, or a sword so big that it's bigger than Ed! (Well, he is kinda short, haha) As well, you can command Al to man the cannons/ turrets/ etc, and he has great aim!
Gameplay
It's a simple enough game. X is to jump. Square attacks, Circle uses Alchemy, and Triangle is to pick up/ drop/ enter weapons/ turrets. R1 issues commands to Al, R2 is your roll, and L1/ L2 is your camera reset and map size change.
Part of what makes this game so unique is the Alchemy. Tapping Circle brings up a rockblocker, which can also be jumped on to access higher areas. Rockblockers are indispensible during boss fights with powerful projectiles. However, some late game attacks can break the blockers. Holding circle brings up Stonespikes to attack with. As well, while holding Circle, transmutable items show a green circle around them. Holding down Circle when near such an item shows icons over them, indicating what kind of items they become. Red items are weapons for Ed, including a sword, Lance, Boomerang, etc, and are yours once you pick them up, they don't break. However, you can only hold one at a time. Blue items are for Al, but break after so many uses. Green items, such as grenades, Katanas, and the ever awesome artillery pieces, are useable by both, but like blue weapons, break. A katana, for example, has anywhere from one to 4 good swings in it.
As well, some weapons can be customized further; a Boomerang can be transmuted into a chakram, for example. Or, you can turn the hammer (weak but super fast weapon for Ed, see "Fighting Frenzy" part.) for Ed into a BIG hammer for Al, which can be further turned into a Pickaxe (the hammer is stronger than the pickaxe though) As well, by using expendable items, you can use alchemy to reload artillery (Metal and Wood Reloader) as well as add elements to weapons (Fire Element, Wind Element, and Lightning element) Elemental enhancements wear off after so many hits. Fire swords typically has 100 hits worth of bonus damage in it, while wind chakrams only have 50 hits of bonus damage and bonus hits (each hit uses up even more of the autmentation) Certain weapons are limited in how they can be augmented (Examples: Ed's Lances can only have Lightning attached, Ed's Swords can only have fire, Al's can have both. Only Ed's daggers, Boomerangs, and Chakrams can have wind) As well, Ed's Bow isn't that strong and can't have an elemental augment, but he can transmute it from a bolt thrower that ran out of ammo. It's useful when you need to attack flying enemies!
Basically... don't use the handblade on bosses, transmute yourself something stronger! One last use of Alchemy is to revive Al if he dies. If Ed dies though, it's game over. This is why I assigned most of the Level up Bonus points to Ed. Al is nice and a big help, but who cares if he dies, he can be brought back! As it is, his Attack, Vitality (each Vit point = 5 HP), and Defense are higher by default, so I only assigned a few points to Al near the end of the game, since Ed was dealing way more damage by then.
Fighting Frenzy is a cool representation of Real Life Adrenaline, I find. Basically, there's this bar that fills up with each hit Ed or Al lands, and when it's full, damage and experience gained are both increased! If Ed is doing 100 per hit WITHOUT the Frenzy, for example (highly doubtful unless he has a good weapon with an elemental augment) he'll likely be killing things awfully fast with it. Fighting Frenzy has no time limit, and ends if you use a save point, if Al dies, or if Ed is knocked off of his feet and doesn't excecute a breakfall (basically... if he lands on his back) As well, there's a special frenzy joint alchemy attack that both brothers can do together. This also ends Fighting Frenzy mode, but when it can kill all enemies closeby, it's worth it. Don't rely on Fighting Frenzy though. Chances are, if you save before bosses, you won't have it against bosses unless you somehow activate it during the fight.
Also one last thing: defense is nice and can make you take 1 damage per hit. However, enemy alchemy attacks (actually fairly common) still do non-modified damage to you, so Vitality is a must as well.
The Story
The game begins with Ed and Al on a train en route for Hiessgart, along with Armstrong. From there, they're supposed to catch a train to Central. Al comments on how taking a break from searching for the stone is nice, while Ed then takes that as a prompt to go on a "I'll break something if this train ride doesn't end soon!" rant. They also mention about how they've been to Hiessgard before and how they met a professor named Eiselstein as well as his daugher Selene. Just then, the train shakes, and an announcement plays: the train has been hijacked! Ed gets pissed off when the brigands call him short, ("Who are you calling Guiness book of world records kind of short!?") and transmutes his metal arm into a hammer and whacks one clear through the wall of the train. Armstrong dispatches the other one, but Ed notices that he dropped a piace of paper with a Transmutation circle drawn on it. There are alchemists among the hijackers! The tutorial follows, with Ed and Al splitting up to cover both the roof and cars, so that the player can take things one at a time and learn the basics before learning about using Al's help. ("More of them!? Were we the only non hijackers on board or something?") After awhile, they defeat an MP - Military Policeman - and try to interrogate him but he knows nothing. He runs, and they follow him... only to see him blasted off the roof of the train. The brothers contront and defeat Genz, the "Armor Piercing Alchemist" and the mastermind behind the hijacking. Of course... he calls Ed short. ("WHO ARE YOU CALLING MICROSCOPIC, HUH?") Ed transmutes a cannon and misses... causing a cave in in the tunnell ahead, derailing the train!
Ed blames the derailment of the train on Genz, and Al just goes along with it. The brothers take off towards Hiessgart on their own rather than staying and trying to help the passengers with Armstrong. Finally, they start seeing chimeras, animals fused together via alchemy. Al tries to deny the horrible truth saying that it must be some natural mutation, but Ed is certain. Finally, as they're walking, a girl who was picking flowers on the fliffside above falls and lands on Ed's head. She calls him short, refuses to apologize, and runs off. Naturally, as Ed hates being called short, he chases after her demanding an apology. They escape a giant crab and find themselves in Hiessgart. The town is totally overrun by Chimeras and the brothers are worried about Eiselstein and Selene. Oh, and Ed still wants an apopogy from the girl who landed on his head. The gate to the inner city is on fire, so they repair the broken fountain, and then Ed transmutes it into some kind of high pressure water cannon. ("Ed's transmutations always have odd details...") Ploughing on, they find an old church. They see one of the flowers that the girl was picking on a grave. "Here lies Selene Eiselstein" the grave reads. The brothers are shocked, and the Pastor of the nearby church comes walking by and offers them shelter for the night. Talking to the pastor, they learn that the girl's name is Armony. They also learn about New Hiessgart, founded by Professor Eiselstein. Before they can really discuss things further, a chimera bursts through the window, accompanied by a woman named Camilla. Once defeated, the woman flees. Worried she might come back, the brothers leave for New Hiessgart.
After a frustrating chase trying to get back the crank that opens the doors to the train station, the brothers find a crowd. They see Armony yelling at a trio of Brothers who promised to teach her alchemy, for a price. They deny ever taking her money, and try to shove her off her feet, but Ed catches her. Ed and Al defeat the trio of brothers, but deny teaching Armony alchemy because they need to hurry and catch the train. She laughs and tells them that she wins, because the trains have been cancelled! She offers them a room at her father's house until the trains resume, Ed and Al agree. She takes them to a big castle, supposedly the Professor's house. They learn that her last name is Eiselstein, and she's the Professor's other daughter. The boys realize that the reason Armony visited Selene's grave was because it was her sister. The professor forbids them from teaching Armony Alchemy, and asks them for a favor. They need to go get the Etherflowers they saw Armony picking. The problem is, the flowers are gone! After a few levels of long winded hunting and searching, they finally get five small Etherflowers, thanks to Armony coming along and looking while they were fighting a chimera that ate the one they saw in an attempt to get it back.
Ed finally agrees to take Armony on as his Apprentice, as long as her father doesn't find out. There's then a series of stills, showing Ed showing her some diagrams, as well as Armony attempting some alchemy, with the Pastor in the background. It also shows Armony on a picnic with the brothers. It's a cute change of pace from all the Chimera fighting. Then, Armony asks how her Alchemy is improving (despite the fact she apparently still can't transmute a thing) but then she grows weak and suddenly, a wing can be seen protruding from her back! ("Why does she have a freaking wing on her back!?") They decide it would be best to ask the Professor about it, and go to find him. They search his alchemy shop for him, and find Chimera incubators! The professor was behind all the chimeras! It gets noisy outside and the professor insists he'll be fine, so they save the questions for later and leave to go help Armony. Brigadier Nemda comes crashing through the wall with a Combat Chimera he was bribed with, but it goes berserk and attacks Armony. ("That thing is butt ugly!" "It's not bad. Actually, it's kind of cute! Wait, why are we discussing this?") After defeating the Chimera, Nemda tries to arrest the boys so they make a run for it. Genz gets in their way though, this time, both his arms are automail. It's a tough fight, but after he goes down, Ed and Al get completely outnumbered and surrounded. Nemda wants to court marshall them immediately, but then Mustang shows up out of nowhere and suggests imprisonning them first. Armony escapes and heads to the old church.
Mustang reveals his plan to Hawkeye and Armstrong. He knows the Elric brothers are innocent of any crime. He also knows that Nemda is hiding something. Lastly, he knows that the brothers won't sit in jail quietly. He's planning on them to break out and cause a ruckus to distract nemda so they can perform their investigation. Meanwhile, Ed asks Al to tackle the bars down. ("Easier said than... okay, that was easier than I thought!" "I transmuted the ends to aliminum when you weren't looking!") This level is the first level you can transmute vehicles; the miniature tank and the steam roller. Finally, after infltrating Nemda's office and taking his watch back, Ed and Al search the files quickly. They had arrest warrants out for the professor and Armony, too! Thinking maybe something up there can aid their escape, they go to the roof and get attacked by a Phoenix-like Chimera. After they defeat it, Nemda appears and attacks them, but Ed shifts the floor and knocks him off his feet. They then make a hangglider out of the flag, and take off. Nemda throws the gun at them and hits Al, but that was of course innefective against a suit of armor. They head towards the old church to rendezvous with Armony (where else would she go hide? Besides, her father found out she was practicing alchemy and kicked her out).
Armony tells them that the town has been sealed off, and the Pastor suggests using the waterworks to get in. Ed and Al race on ahead, but Armony follows behind, unseen. After defeating a sea serpent-like chimera, Al realizs they're being followed and Armony comes out of hiding. Finally, the Pastor catches up with them too, since he got worried and came after her! They enter Eiselstein's castle and ask him questions. He makes Armony go wait in her room as he explains the truth to Ed and Al. Selene's "death" was caused by a rebound of energy during an Alchemy experiment. However, she wasn't actually killed persay. Instead, she was replaced with an entirely new girl. Armony was born that night. The wing they saw was the Legendary Philosopher's Catalyst, and it was the sole thing keeping Armony alive. When she practiced alchemy, it weakened and exposed the wing, so hence why he forbade her from using it. Armony was listening from the other side of the door and becomes very upset. She doesn't believe it since she remembers playing with her big sister Selene as a kid. She does realize, however, that her time might be limited so she goes to write a farewell to Ed and Al. Finally, Eiselstein's assistant comes and carries Armony away, while Ed and Al go outside to halt the invading army.
Before long, the brothers are cornered and outnumbered, until a giant burst of flame engulfs some of the soldiers. Mustang and Armstrong had gone there to help them as well, Hawkeye also delivers a message that Armony had been kidnapped, so Ed and Al head back in to the castle to rescue her. They fight Genz yet again, this time, amost entirely made of automail. As they climb the tower, the boys discuss how Armony couldn't remember any of it, and if she had Selene's memories. They decide that Eiselstein modified her memories somehow.
They show up just in time to rescue the professor from Chimeras, and then they see Armony attached to a transmutation circle. The professor's assistant removes her disguise and reveals herself as the woman who attacked them at the church ("Oh, I'm seein it now, you're the half naked lady who sicced that chimera on us!") After defating the Chimeras however, the brothers are beat and unable to move. Camilla goes and places her hand on Armony's head in order to begin the alchemic process of removing the wing from her unharmed. Professor Eiselstein throws an Etherflower at her, and disrupts it. Camilla's false beauty disintegrates, and she gets pissed off and summons this giant blobby thing. By this time Ed and Al are able to move again. After defeating Camilla, the monster dies as well (you can kill the monster a hundred thousand times if you want, Camilla just keeps reviving it) Armony is near death at this point. The professor tells Ed and Al to collect the feathers from the wings as he takes Armony down to the alchemy workshop. (in an aside, he says that it's too late for her, but Ed and Al don't hear this) However, before belong Ed notices how the feathers have no power, and then Al notices they're disintegrating!
They race down to the Alchemy workshop, having clued in that the Professor was probably going to commit suicide along with his daughter. The brothers are met by Hawkeye, Mustang, and Armstrong, who have been forbidden to let the Elric Brothers pass. Ed screams at them, saying that while him and Al are just kids and will grow up some day, that the here and now is all Armony has! He yells at them for stopping him from trying to save his apprentice, and what good is a master who can't look after his or her apprentice? He winds up fighting the 3 alchemists but they hold him off long enough....
(ALTERNATE ENDING POSSIBILITY: I lost that fight. I mean, Mustang alone did like 200 to me per hit, and I was hitting 3s on him! I didn't even bother trying to hit Armstrong or Hawkeye. However, I didn't use any items, figuring I was sppsoed to lose. Maybe the ending will be different if I win? I'll try on my next playthrough! I noticed I could transmute a tank there. IDEA!)
The Alchemy workshop vanishes in a blinding flash. Ed falls to his knees, crying at how he was useless if he couldn't even protect one person. Al notices a single feather hovering in a thin beam of light, and points it out to Ed. Ed touches it, and sees Armony's last moments with her father. The two loved each other but never got a chance to reconcile their disagreements until those last crucial moments. Both Armony and the Professor died smiling. The pastor asks if they died happy. Ed nods, and the pastor tells him that there's no reason to cry. Ed can't help it though. The pastor asks Ed to teach him some simple alchemy so he could show Armony something. (I think it's around here that Mustang mumbles somehting to Hawkeye about how they owe solving this investigation to Ed and Al... off the record of course)
Ed is also given the letter from Armony, and Al reads it to him on the train to Central. She thanks them for all they did for her, and how she doesn't believe that Equivalent exchange applies to people. She doesn't feel that she sacrificed anything, and in turn made great friends. She says how she felt like writing this so it didn't degrade into another one of their shouting matches. She ends by thanking Ed and calling him her "Small but Mighty Master" and then he pulls a seed out of the envellope. (Ed looks like he's ready to cry, but he's more composed than Armstrong who's crying like a baby) The pastor then uses the feather with a transmutation circle drawn on paper, and suddenly, flowers start blooming everywhere. The seed actually grows and blossoms right in Ed's hand. Al points out that maybe Armony's alchemy never really failed, maybe it was just dormant all that time.
(You also see Mustang placing flowers where Armony died. Hawkeye tells him it's okay to cry. He looks like he's about to, but then screws up his face and tells her not to be ridiculous. Then, the area is suddenly full of flowers, leaving them confused.)
You see Hawkeye's report, and how Ed was mentionned but not given any credit, just like Mustang mentionned (A State Alchemist was in the area during the incident, due to the derailment of his train. He was not involved in the incident.) Of note is the fact that Nemda was given 160 years in prison, and could have a potential 200 years more of convicted of other charges.
Finally, Ed and Al get off the train at central. Ed runs right into a girl holding flowers and scrambles to help her pick them up. When he turns to face her, his face goes funny. I guess the flowers and hair color reminded him of Armony. She asks if he;'s okay, but he insists he's fine and has never been better.
Overall ratings
Main Ratings:
Gameplay: 7/10 (good but has flaws, such as Ed and Al running so slow, remediable for one map via speed Caps)
Story: 8/10 (great, but I've seen a few better. In fact, the ending makes this the second video game ending ever that made me cry. Ever.)
Replay Value: 7/10 (I don't like several of the levels and some enemies and bosses in particular are just annoying. I'm replaying it but some areas, I just won't want to do over. On the bright side, you keep all accessories and items from the prevoius playthrough, just not levels)
Sub ratings:
Anime Nostalgia: 9/10 (the character interactions and the like were almost exactly like the show.
Alchemy Fun: 7/10 (I'd have prefered a little more fredom with alchemy, ike being able to make more items, etc.)
Comedy rating: 8/10 (sort of ties in to Anime Nostalgia, but whatever. This game had a lot of moments that had me just totally laughing my ass off!)
Overall rating:
8/10 (Rating: Great!)
Keep in mind, my average rating is like 6 or 7....