Fullmetal Alchemist: Dual Sympathy

Those who pick up the title out of sheer curiosity will find the game's initial excessive dialogue and thickly condensed story mode tedious and annoying. However, if they're able to pass the story mode, the unlockables are almost worth playing through the lackluster story mode.

Playing the game is satisfying, but never stunning. Still, if you like Fullmetal, this is the one portable game you can't go without. [Dec. 2006, p.92]

The game boasts as much story content as it does action, but there's so much plot condensed into the cut-scenes, the tale is sometimes hard to follow. [Feb. 2007, p.97]

The bosses are great and the story is wonderful. But you may only feel the need to play through this game twice, and it’ll barely take two hours on the first – much less on the second.

The story's too confusing for words and the action, while enjoyable, is highly repetitive. That said, it's a solid enough package for anyone into the TV show, we suppose. [Nov 2007, p.90]

Fans of the show will get irritated that the story with which they fell in love has been chopped up, cannibalized, and made into another generic beat-'em-up, and people new to the series will be confused as the plot bounces around viciously in Story Mode — which must be completed before the much quicker, more notable arcade-style Character Mode is available.

It's nice to see a return of simple-yet-gratifying combat, but these issues prevent Fullmetal Alchemist: Dual Sympathy from hitting the heights of the genre's heyday.

An awful lot of plot for not much game, a balance that favours fans only. [Dec 2007, p.82]

The Streets of Rage style of gameplay isn't fleshed out enough to carry a whole game, and the lack of any sort of multiplayer really brings the title down.

This four to six hour play-through isn't worthwhile the first time; what's worse is the developers expect you to replay this multiple times with different characters.

Worst of all, it's missing any multiplayer option, as fighting along with a friend might have added a little bit more enjoyment. Obligatory mini-games don't really make up for it, making this a brawler that's more a nod to easily pleased fans than an essential purchase.

My dual sympathies go out to gamers who find themselves playing this short and dull game.

Underwhelming in every single way. It's a weak fighter, made annoying by silly minigames and a story so messy it made our poor heads fall off. [Mar 2007, p.71]