PSX Extreme writes: "Some believe the Japanese RPG is on the way out; it had its heyday back in the days of the SNES and PS1, and now, most developers are moving past the old-fashioned gameplay concepts and opening up into more non-linear, less story-oriented adventures. Those of us who will always love many JRPGs find this to be a most depressing turn of events, especially considering the fact that we've had very few RPGs (Japanese or otherwise) so far in this new generation. The PS2, on the other hand, continues to roll along at a fairly decent clip, and the latest RPG is Mana Khemia: Masters of Al-Revis, which is yet another installment in Gust's series that began with Atelier Iris. In some ways it continues with the concepts laid forth in that original title, but in other ways, they change the very foundation of the gameplay. Bottom line? We can't really tell if any of the changes are for the better, primarily because the game tends to drag…even for the hardcore JRPG fan."
