Games you like/hate that other people don't know about

I've never played the first game. Are the mechanics and alchemy the same, or are they better in the second one?

It's been quite a while, but it's not too different; I remember that you find different Mana beings that Klein makes a pact with, and they can be used in alchemy and be used to traverse certain areas (there was a stone Mana that could be used as a stepping stone, for instance). You extracted elements from various items in the environment, which are needed for alchemy.

The alchemy itself could only be done in certain shops in the starting town, I think. There would be a cutscene when you made something for the first time, but I don't know if that was for all of them. I think it was similar to the second game: get Item A and B and mix them, as long as you have enough elemental essence or whatever it's called.

The story I don't remember much. Klein is an alchemist in training, I think, and alchemists are rare for some reason. There are 5 other party members that join you, one of which dies, but you can get him back in a bonus dungeon. The Big Bad is some evil alchemist named Mull, who...does something evil, I forgot what, exactly. The Final Boss is some creature named Amalgam, who kills Mull shortly before the final battle. I forget the ending.

Combat was turn-based, but it's a little different from the second game; exactly how, I don't know.

It sounds quite similar mechanics-wise. I have to play that sometime, seems pretty good.

No one here know the Mazniac/Inkagames games (which is going to get a halloween game soon)