Why Dual Sympathy?

Around the time Dual Sympathy came out, Funimation was releasing Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood on the Funimation website. Before that, I had watched the entire original version on Adult Swim multiple years prior. Fullmetal Alchemist was also the first manga series I ever bought, and the only one I collected in full. One of my family members picked up on my interest in the series and gifted me this game for Christmas.

What kind of game is it, what do you do?

Dual Sympathy is a side-scrolling beat-em-up. The gameplay and story is based around the original anime, not Brotherhood or manga. You play as the main characters, Edward and Alphonse Elric, learning more about their world, story, and abilities as alchemists.

What were your thoughts on the gameplay?

The main story mode is great, especially playing through it for the first time. There's a great mix of content between small fights, minigames, hazards, and boss fights. Beat-em-ups can often feel repetitive, so it was refreshing to feel like I was always doing something different. If you stick to playing only the story mode, I'd say this game is near perfect in terms of gameplay, if not a bit short.

However, after beating story mode for the first time, you unlock a new Character Mode. Character Mode lets you play with a handful of other characters from the anime, using their abilities to their full potential. This mode highlights a large problem with these shovelware games, especially the ones made by Bandai Namco in the 2000s. None of the characters aside from Edward, who you play in story mode, are balanced at all. If it's a fan-favourite character, they'll be overpowered. If it's a secondary character they added to pad out the game's runtime, they'll be underpowered. For example, every character has a basic three-hit combo. If your character is overpowered, you'll probably kill a smaller enemy before the third hit. If your character is underpowered, your third hit will completely miss the enemy, leaving you with the option to use your basic jab repeatedly. It can feel good to feel overpowered, but it leaves the game feeling boring when you fly through it so fast. It never feels good when your character is an underpowered afterthought.

Did you like the story?

I love both of the Fullmetal Alchemist stories portrayed in the anime, and in the manga. However, the way the story is presented in game is incredibly distasteful. There are many emotionally impactful moments in the story that don't lend well to gameplay, but instead of trying, they present it in a voice-over. Any emotional impact you could get from this flawless story is instantly ruined after you beat the first boss. It's honestly unfortunate, it's a huge negative mark against the game for me. I wouldn't recommend playing this unless you've fully engaged in either the anime or the manga.

How's the replay value?

These games were designed for you to replay them, even if poorly implemented and rushed. As I outlined in the gameplay section, the characters they give you to replay the game aren't balanced or enjoyable to play. I would say it's worth playing the story again on hard mode, since you only unlock hard mode after beating the game once. At most, you could play character mode with the overpowered characters. I strongly suggest you don't even attempt to play character mode with Alphonse, Izumi, or Armstrong.

Does it appeal to completionists at all?

Technically, but because of how poorly designed the post-game content is, no. Not at all. This is a typical 2000s shovelware game that has a two-hour story, then expects you to replay it slightly differently six or more times. As much as I loved this game as a kid, I can't bring myself to complete it now. Character mode expects you to beat it six times without dying on hard mode. The problem is that hard mode isn't actually hard, they just tripled the health of every enemy. Every fight, from small enemies to boss fights, go on much too long. It's one of those games that's so boring that you'll die accidentally because the game is barely holding your attention. I died to the final boss after a 45-minute slog two times in a row with an underpowered character and decided that was enough.