Author Topic: Mana Khemia 2, now with extra August release date  (Read 7147 times)

Edible

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Re: Mana Khemia 2, now with extra August release date
« Reply #1 on: July 14, 2009, 10:21:54 PM »
Looking at the book art of 1 and 2 I thought they were the same.
Looks nice I'll likely try and find a copy of the 1st one when ever I get to a Gamestop.

Edible

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Re: Mana Khemia 2, now with extra August release date
« Reply #2 on: July 14, 2009, 10:23:55 PM »
It's pretty good, and copies of it are all over the damned place.

I hear 2 is better, though.

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Re: Mana Khemia 2, now with extra August release date
« Reply #3 on: July 15, 2009, 02:42:11 PM »
It's pretty good, and copies of it are all over the damned place.

I hear 2 is better, though.

Truth.

I finished the Japanese version like when it first release in like... 2008?

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Re: Mana Khemia 2, now with extra August release date
« Reply #4 on: July 15, 2009, 07:22:56 PM »
*sigh* I remember how easily Pamela turned from Squishy Wizard into the biggest tank in the game . . . and wonder if there's anyone in MK2 who's going to be nearly as broken at any point in time.
 
But seriously -- her tanking potential was RIDICULOUS. Add to that HP micromanaging + a skill that grows with lower HP, and she's pretty much almost the best character in the game (if not the best period).
 
So yeah, seriously wondering if it's going to be that easy to break Mana Khemia 2 -- what are the different characters' play styles like, if I might ask?
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Moogy

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Re: Mana Khemia 2, now with extra August release date
« Reply #5 on: July 15, 2009, 10:31:42 PM »
MK2 is a fair deal more difficult than MK1 and you can't really break it due to the way the skill system works.

Pamela is super moe. Her not being in MK2 is the game's main flaw, as far as I am concerned. >:(

Oh well, at least she's in Rorona. With huge boobs.

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Re: Mana Khemia 2, now with extra August release date
« Reply #6 on: July 16, 2009, 05:36:37 AM »
MK2 is a fair deal more difficult than MK1 and you can't really break it due to the way the skill system works.

Might I ask how the skill system works? If they've changed it from the Grow Books (which I found very novel), what do they use now?
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Re: Mana Khemia 2, now with extra August release date
« Reply #7 on: July 16, 2009, 11:44:52 PM »
Here's hoping they don't fuck the localization up.
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Re: Mana Khemia 2, now with extra August release date
« Reply #8 on: July 17, 2009, 06:42:35 AM »
Here's hoping they don't fuck the localization up.

Hey, they did a pretty good job with the first one. Apart from certain name changes (Philo/Jess, for example, though it's not as much a monkey wrench as it could be considering her last name still fits the JP audio; Nikki as well gets this treatment, but it's less noticable as they seem to call her 'Nikki' a lot in the JP audio, despite having a profoundly different name), they did a pretty good job localizing it. They didn't even Bowdlerize Nikki's storyline (in fact, I am surprised the game got E10+ rating versus T for Teen, considering that storyline and the present-but-far-from-liberal swears dropped every now and again).
 
Hell, the English Audio actually fails to grate on my ears, which is quite a feat for an RPG nowadays (though . . . is it just me, or does Vayne sound like Akihiko from P3?).
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Re: Mana Khemia 2, now with extra August release date
« Reply #9 on: July 17, 2009, 06:57:43 AM »
Quote
does Vayne sound like Akihiko from P3?
I can get this out of my head now.  >:(

not to be any sort of party pooper, but why is it that I instantly want to hate everyone on the coverbox art of MK2? I don't even think there's a reason for it, but I just want to. Maybe I've been spending too much time on 4chan.

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Re: Mana Khemia 2, now with extra August release date
« Reply #10 on: July 17, 2009, 09:06:13 AM »
Actually, the MK1 localization is pretty bad. It's not AT2-level, but it's pretty special in its own right.

Say what you will about the AT2 name changes, but at least the localized versions were phonetic equivalents. Jessica, Nikki, and Flay are not.

Also, while MK1's English is generally more comprehensible than AT2's, it's not really any more well-written. The dialogue in Nippon Ichi games is fairly straightforward and easy to translate well; the dialogue in Gust games is significantly less so. NISA's staff doesn't really have a firm enough grasp on English to convey much of the writing in Gust games properly - or maybe they simply don't care enough. As such, you end up with awkward phrasing, poor grammar, etc. all over the damn place. If I had to qualify my distaste for the script itself, I guess I'd say that their English simply isn't at the level I would expect from professionals.

(I'll ignore the typos everywhere. NISA has an extremely high typo ratio in all of their games.)

Aside from the actual writing, there's also NISA's nasty habit of making lines up out of thin air. Now, there's more of this in Phantom Brave and Phantom Kingdom, sure, but that doesn't make it any more excusable here. The most obvious example of this would be Vayne's characterization and personality; he's pretty much a huge wimp, but NISA felt like they had to have him act like a generic badass at arbitrary points throughout the game. It's pretty jarring, to be honest.

(Now, admittedly, the line that NISA made up along the lines of "We are the terrors who synth in the night" was quite funny.)

And I don't even know what shit they pulled during unvoiced segments. The world is probably better off not knowing, to be quite honest.

Anyway, MK1's localization was sub-optimal and AT2's was basically a complete disaster. I don't really have a lot of hope for the localizations of MK2 and Sakura Taisen V, to be honest, especially seeing as they are PS2 games being released in Q3/Q4 2009. ST5 might have some more work put into it because of the Wii port thing that NISA has going on, but I really doubt that they're going to pay attention to MK2 to any significant degree.

I can't comment on the dub because I am incapable of listening to any dub without wanting to shoot myself repeatedly. However, I am sure it is terrible.

...Actually, I have heard a bit of the dub due to Kefit annoying me with YouTube videos of it. Thus, I am in fact quite certain it is fucking terrible. Especially Pamela's dub VA... Dear fucking lord.

(Also, I would like to note that none of the complaints I have leveled against NISA in this post apply to their localization of Disgaea 3, which is excellent and essentially error-free. Well, except my complaint about dubs.)

Well, in the end... At least Pamela is moe.

And, uh, the games themselves are a whole lotta fun. I really enjoyed MK1 and I'm quite looking forward to MK2 despite my concerns about the quality of its localization.
« Last Edit: July 17, 2009, 09:14:30 AM by Moogy »

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Re: Mana Khemia 2, now with extra August release date
« Reply #11 on: July 17, 2009, 09:15:48 AM »
I've heard that the 2nd game really is better than the first. The only thing I'm worried about is if I'll have to listen to that annoying Academy Theme for most of the game again.