KEMCO produces a lot of fun RPGs, a large quantity of which feature standalone plots, but there are some that have more than one title in their series, such as Alphadia 3, the final Alphadia entry. This should not be confused with the Alphadia Genesis series, set in the same universe and sharing concepts and NPC designs. Alphadia 3 sees the adventure of Alf and his companions Tarte come to an end as they battle clones and try and save the world. Can they achieve harmony before the credits roll?
In an ideal world games are played sequentially, but unfortunately in this reviewer’s instance, Alphadia 3 is the first Alphadia title played. It feels familiar because of experiencing Alphadia Genesis, although it felt odd that a certain recurring character gets given the same name from the Genesis version. There were a few references that felt like they had more meaning if the rest of the trilogy had been played, but the overall narrative is both understandable and enjoyable as a solo title.
Having such a cute purple-haired protagonist in the party is a delight, but Tarte is far from the only female in the group, and their personalities, appearance and fashion are all unique. Some may find the personalities a bit generic, but half the appeal of a KEMCO adventure is knowing it is a solid tale with lots of humour. It is refreshing that all six party members are on the primary team once they are encountered. It means zero tough decisions concerning members have to be made, unlike some other KEMCO titles with a three- or four-party limit. The lead visual member on screen can be any of the team, changed on a whim by a single button press.
Without prior knowledge of the previous Alphadia tales it isn’t possible to compare how Alphadia 3 has improved from the first title, but it has a lot of familiar systems for long term KEMCO fans. Every real world day brings two roulette tickets whose prizes include useful items. Securing a strong weapon and armour early on makes fights a breeze. One in-game currency is needed to unlock abilities in a special shop, and some of these are actually downloadable content in other KEMCO RPGs. For example, the ability to recover all magic points known as EP on every turn is highly advantageous for obvious reasons. Exceptions for this are when fighting multiple battles in a row from dungeon attraction statues. It is automatically achieved on easy and normal setting, but still can be switched on for higher difficulties too.
For the first time all the difficulty levels were tried, but sadly the hardest level feels like the easiest. The lack of challenge in battle is a disappointment. Perhaps there is a greater gap later in the story rather than trying a higher ability at the start. To make it harder, deciding not to buy and equip better armour and weapons is one option, or avoiding accessories that significantly increase a character’s EP abilities is another. Thankfully other elements including the plot are what makes this and other KEMCO games so enjoyable. The aspect of clone ethics provides a lot to think about in terms of whether clones have feelings and a soul. They certainly get abused by the antagonists, which is sad to witness.
Magical power is very much an integral part of battle strategy, especially if an elemental ability is levelled up a lot. There is a total of six elements including ice, light and darkness. An intriguing feature is the learnable compound spells that use several of each element. The main difference from the first fight to the final boss is that EP maximum levels are restricted unless accessories are equipped. Initially only up to level 10 of an ability can be learned, but there are accessories that enable gaining up to level 30 or even 99. With two styles of accessories other useful stat boosts can be given to a character, like higher HP, useful for those with a naturally weak HP limit.
Each element has both support and active spells to be learned, so whoever gains them can both heal and pack a punch to the nearest monster. Enemies do not show visibly on the map, so lovers of random encounters can rejoice! During battle arrays can be performed, with these team formations triggering certain abilities and enhancing power within battle. They are learned mostly from equipping a particular accessory to a character for multiple battles until the array is learned, with each character unlocking two formations, but a few are only available late game. Arrays can’t be changed on every single turn, so they are more useful for boss battles rather than standard fights, but are worth collecting and experimenting with to find the best style.
All equipment and items can be found in every settlement, and in some special blue boxes in dungeons. If enough comet stones are collected the forge option can be used to create random weapons and armour with stats that can be standard strength or crazy high. This happened early on, enabling Tarte to become the strongest party member. There is a difference in armour and weapons depending on the character’s gender, and each person can only use one type of weapon. Tarte can never carry the sword style Alfonso uses because her style is daggers. It doesn’t feel like a lack of choice because all weapons are used for someone on the team.
There is limited use of the walking through walls technique that leads to hidden treasure, which for veteran players feels less fun. Quite a few of the dungeons have complex layouts that means those who easily get lost even with a mini-map may struggle to remember which path they take. However, persistence will lead to finding lost keys and people.
Side quests range from finding items and idiotic residents, or even playing games with bored children. A seemingly new feature is the way places with a quest are marked Q on the map, saving constantly returning to towns to check every building for a quest giver. There are ongoing mini quests that also lead to rewards, although getting past intermediate will take patience as some of the conditions can only be met late game.
Usually a KEMCO game needs replaying simply to get the best ending, but the first ending for Tarte’s adventures genuinely seemed to be a happy one, so there is little motivation to keep playing after the credits roll for all but die-hard fans.
