Fullmetal Alchemist: Dual Sympathy Review (gamezone)

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Set in a 2D fighting game world, Fullmetal Alchemist: Dual Sympathy plays a lot like the Sega classic Streets of Rage. Those expecting an RPG might be surprised by the news, but this revelation makes a few things clear: the game is destined to be short, a little on the easy side, and has great potential for repetition.

The latter is my first concern, so let me get that out of the way by saying that, against all odds, this game is not repetitive. It has a few annoying mini-games, but the core combat is straight, action-packed goodness with an unexpected amount of variety. Whereas Streets of Rage and Final Fight repeated the same levels, enemies, and boss types from start to finish, Dual Sympathy ends each stage with a cleverly designed boss whose weak points are not instantly apparent.

Fullmetal's controls are fast and reliable. Two of the face buttons are used for jumping and attacking. Additional attacks are executed by tapping the touch screen, bringing the total number of commands to four. Tap the center of the screen to bring up the different powers you can draw upon to defeat your enemies: ice, fire, a cannonball, etc. Only one of those may be selected and used at one time, but the grave-like shields that Edward wields – those may be formed repeatedly at any time.

Combos come in a couple of flavors, and while that would normally lead to repetition, there isn't time for that to happen in Dual Sympathy. The levels are over almost as fast as your attacks. Enemies hunt in small numbers – no more than three at a time – and are not usually followed by more than a couple of replacements. Level graphics are good for a game that's being compared to the 16-bit Streets of Rage, but the game doesn't have as much visual depth as other 2D titles for the DS (Castlevania, New Super Mario Bros., etc.).

Levels are mostly linear – move from the left to the right. The few levels that aren't linear either have a touch screen puzzle that needs to be solved (very easy), or a game of north/south, east/west that'll remind you of the endless forest from The Legend of Zelda. The touch screen puzzles typically ask you to draw a sphere. Perfect stylus actions are not necessary. Simply scratch the screen until the circle is full. A more precise mini-game is wood punching. Grab the wood and guide it to the tree stump before the jock wannabe takes his swing. If you don't place the piece of wood on the stump in time, he'll punch the stump instead and hurt his hand.

Many areas require that all enemies be destroyed before you can move forward. Once accomplished, a square gray box appears – the word "Go!" and an arrow pointing right are inside. Today's gamers don't need to be told the obvious, but I doubt that's why the developers added it. Since the game borrows so much from Streets of Rage, I think they wanted Dual Sympathy to be as close to an arcade brawler as possible. That gray box, as unnecessary as it may be, is another way the game will take you back to the golden days of gaming.

Enemies are big and look fearsome, but don't have the attack power to back up their appearance, nor the health meter to withstand your retaliation. You'll encounter a handful of monsters that seem to have come from the cat family – if that family had been dropped in a vat of ooze and mutated into something gruesome. They lunge for sneak attacks, but you can repel their actions by forming shields. Your attacks can go through the shields, but theirs cannot.

The shield is also effective against boss battles, the best and most interesting part of the game. Bosses often appear to be invulnerable to your attacks. After having a moment of, "Oh no!" and "How am I going to defeat this guy!?", you'll realize that each of the impenetrable forces are weakened by something in your arsenal. The weakness is usually linked to your shield. When used at special times, the shield may freeze and/or weaken the enemy, opening him up for attack. I don't want to go into too much detail – the satisfaction of defeating these bosses will be lost if you know how to win ahead of time. But if you want the best excuse to play Dual Sympathy, this is it.

Dual Annoyances, Triply Short, and a Story

It's a good thing the mini-games are over quickly, because they're not innovative or entertaining. I appreciate that developers are at least willing to try and include some DS-specific features in their games. But when those features are tiring and have been done a million times before, the word "gimmick" is all that comes to mind.

This game is very, very short – a couple hours and you're done. Bonus touch screen mini-games can be unlocked, along with artwork and sound bytes. Unless you're a diehard Fullmetal Alchemist fan, these extras aren't too exciting. The music is great, and I was very surprised by the story. It has made me want to start watching the show again. Voice-overs are brief, but the few moments where you get to hear the characters speak are really good. The sound quality isn't that great (there's a bit of static). But the voice-overs themselves – most likely taken from the show – are top-notch.

The majority of the story sequences are presented with still images and text. I wasn't in a big hurry to read along, but was hooked as soon as I started. The only drawback to the story is that it comes too quickly. You'll read for a minute or two, play for a couple of minutes, then go back to reading again. It would’ve been much better to space them out, or extended the length of each stage. That would've risked repetition – which this game avoids partially by being so short, and partially by providing boss battles with real depth and strategic value. But even diehard fans may get annoyed by the frequent interruptions, especially if they already know the story that's being told.

Review Scoring Details for Fullmetal Alchemist: Dual Sympathy

Gameplay: 7
Streets of Rage gone Fullmetal. Dual Sympathy is fast, over-before-you-know brawler with cool special attacks, inventive boss battles, and a story you won’t want to skip.

Graphics: 6
Two-dimensional goodies that are showing their age. Back on the Genesis and SNES, Dual Sympathy would’ve been one of the best-looking titles. But the DS has a lot of extra power that could be used to make 2D games look better (with or without polygons). I like the game’s retro look, but I could’ve liked it a lot more.

Sound: 8.5
Great, memorable music and high-quality voice-overs that are only hurt by a slight bit of static.

Difficulty: Easy
The “hard” mode is unlocked after completing the game, but the standard difficulty is very easy.

Concept: 7
Great bosses – terrible touch screen mini-games. Dual Sympathy is creative in its enemy scenarios, but the mini-games are too gimmicky for their own good.

Overall: 7
I give this game a 7 with caution: Dual Sympathy is action-packed entertainment. 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. With that in mind, know that this is a good game, but don’t buy it if length means anything to you.