Mana Khemia: Student Alliance

 PSP
User Score
6.6

Mixed or average reviews- based on 39 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 26 out of 39
  2. Mixed: 2 out of 39
  3. Negative: 11 out of 39
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  1. vahn
    Jan 29, 2013
    6
    I'll start saying that I posses both the psp and the ps2 version of this game, and while the ps2 version has some benefits, I will try to say one word in order to descrive the biggest difference between the 2 versions: performance. This psp version is basically a port of the ps2 game...and I'm really sad to say that it was done very badly and really needed some more time or effort to makeI'll start saying that I posses both the psp and the ps2 version of this game, and while the ps2 version has some benefits, I will try to say one word in order to descrive the biggest difference between the 2 versions: performance. This psp version is basically a port of the ps2 game...and I'm really sad to say that it was done very badly and really needed some more time or effort to make it work. While we can improve a little the speed with the jump start feature, the game is still extremely slow and, unfortunely, buggy as well too and I had to turn off the console once or twice because I was being stuck. However, despise all this, despise the technical issues and the bad port...I honestly enjoyed it a lot. The graphics aren't great but it's still good for a psp and it's made with a pretty decent, although still mediocre, 3d enviroment. The story is still rather disappoint, not because it's bad, but because it's not always explained and for a good chunk of the game the main story literally disappears from the game; however the substories are enjoying to follow because it's based on the school life which can be interesting and just simply fun to play. Probably fans of anime will enjoy it even more, since it looked like an anime at times. Also, the game has multiple endings too and while it's very easy to attain the endings (you can simply save before one point and then finish the game all the times you need), it's still a plus. The combat it's a good turn based system with a lot of tweaks and ideas taken from other Gust games but changed or perfected for this game (if I'm not wrong, it takes heavily from Atelier Iris 3 system). But it suffers heavily from the port issues because it takes time to load up a single fight (with the jump start, the next fights load faster, but still not acceptable), and the speed is rather butchered in here and it seems to play on a slow motion (while on the ps2, it's much smoother). And for last, and the biggest reason why it's still a good game to me, it's a very long game and gives you many satisfactions with the alchemy system...since it's also your level up system! Infact, in this game you gain skills by creating items, which it gets registered in the alchemy book, which it gets "unlocked" by using APs (again, if I'm not wrong, it's taken from Atelier Iris 3, except it's amplified here). It's a very time consuming action but the rewards are very satisfactory and it actually hooks you into trying gathering all the materials in order to get every single recipes, and unlike many other games the alchemy system here is simple but still deep and really well thought, making the game last a lot more by just making you try more recipes and more items. Mana Khemia, in other words, it's a very good rpg, just a really bad port to the psp, and if you can (and I want to underline the word "CAN") pass over the porting issues, then this game will be a good addition, or else just avoid it. It's a real shame, but it's one of those games that for technical issues it's not going to be good for everyone...… Expand

Awards & Rankings

66
#66 Best PSP Game of 2009
18
#18 Most Discussed PSP Game of 2009
31
#31 Most Shared PSP Game of 2009

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
41

Generally unfavorable reviews - based on 19 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 0 out of 19
  2. Mixed: 6 out of 19
  3. Negative: 13 out of 19
  1. IGN
    27
    Do not buy this game. Do not look at this game. Do not think about this game and hopefully the sales will send the message that ports like this won't fly -- especially when stuff like Disgaea runs flawlessly on the PSP.
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  2. GamePro
    40
    The PSP version, however, has this incredibly unfun, dual-pronged fork-in-the-eye problem of too many pokey load breaks paired with one...h-ell of a...won---ky, fra-me...rate. There were so many times until I got used to it that I thought the game was just going to crash altogether.
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  3. GameZone
    55
    A poorly ported game that makes this a frustrating game to play rather than an enjoyable one like its PS2 original.
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