At the prestigious Al-Revis Academy, the best and brightest pursue the study of alchemy, spending their high school years honing this mystical art for the purposes of combat, defence and support. Leaving the forest where he lived alone with his feline best friend Sulpher, Vayne Aurelius enrols at Al-Revis at the behest of one of its teachers; but even as he settles down to school life, a greater power begins to awaken within him.

With the Atelier Iris series having come to a close, Gust’s alchemy games forged ahead by switching to the world of Mana Khemia, in which budding young alchemists spend their high school years learning their trade at Al-Revis Academy. With the trademark alchemy and battle systems carried over from Atelier Iris 3, Mana Khemia also adds its own spin that ensures that the game is more addictive than ever.

Al-Revis Academy

The game begins when Vayne is practically coerced into joining Al-Revis by teacher Zeppel; from thereon out, it’s your duty to attend classes and gain enough credits to pass each term and eventually graduate as a full fledged alchemist. Each school year is divided into four chapters- one for each term and one for the summer holidays, leading to a substantial game length of twelve chapters.

The entirety of the game takes place within the bounds of Al-Revis Academy; campus is a largely safe zone where you can buy items, perform alchemy and so forth, whilst the surrounding areas are monster-filled realms where the risk is high but the rewards are great. The centre of your adventure will be your workshop- the place where you and your allies gather to interact and perform alchemy- but by the time the game has finished, you will have explored every nook and cranny of the academy.

Each chapter is subdivided into separate weeks, consisting of story events, classes, free time, and- if you are unlucky enough- detention. The chapter will begin with a short compulsory event, then it’s off to Student Affairs to sign up for your classes. Over the course of your school life, you’ll have compulsory core courses and a selection of optional modules to take, but if you want to evade detention, you’ll have to get a decent grade in all of them.

As you would expect, classes cover a variety of different alchemy-related subjects, from synthesis to combat and even gathering items. At the beginning of each class, the teacher will set your objective, and then it’s up to you to fulfil it- either by going back to your workshop and synthesising a required item, or heading out into the field to gather items and defeat monsters. Depending on how well you manage to achieve your goal, you’ll get a grade from A-F, with only passing grades counting towards your required credits.

Unfortunately, if you can’t get enough passing grades, your precious free time will be taken up by detention. Since I was fortunate enough to pass all my classes, I never actually had to do any detention, but from what I’ve read it consists of menial tasks.

Once all your classroom duties are over, you will finally get the chance to indulge in some free time, although unless you plan to just go straight to the dorms and sleep, you’ll be busy doing optional missions. When free time is in effect, the quest system from Atelier Iris 3 makes a return, with various requests appearing on the Student Affairs notice board. Predictably, all the requests are either for items to be synthesised and gathered or for particular monsters to be defeated, with the rewards being entirely monetary. Although it might sound a little tedious, for those who have already been won over by the addictiveness of the Atelier series, it will be no great chore- and if you don’t feel like doing some extra questing, it’s entirely up to you.

The best part of free time, however, is that it lets you interact with your party members- pick someone in the workshop and choose to find out more about them, and you’ll find yourself drawn into a quest related to that character. From training with swordsmaster Anna to defending justice with upperclassman Flay, each event will flesh out one particular character whilst also building your relationship with them, with those relationship scores affecting the ending of the game.

With all your classes complete and free time whiled away, the chapter will end with a story event. Lather, rinse and repeat, and that’s basically the pattern of the entire game.

On campus

Whilst you’re juggling classes, events and free time, there will also be plenty of opportunities to wander around the Al-Revis campus. As well as a variety of shops where you can purchase alchemy recipes and ingredients, there are a number of other services available Of course, alchemy is the most important of these, and although the basic system is carried over from Atelier Iris 3, some tweaks and additions have been made.

The most annoying new feature is the fact that synthesising weapons, armour and accessories now takes place at the ‘Athanor’, leaving only mana items, key items and ingredient synthesis in your workshop. Even though the two places are only next door, it is extremely irritating to have to run back and forth because you need to synthesise a mana item before you can make a particular weapon, for example.

Fortunately, Gust have at least attempted to justify their decision by making the two types of alchemy a little different. When you synthesise in your workshop, you set (and later increase) the quality of your items by using a modicum of reflexes and timing to stop a spinning ring when it matches the element of each ingredient being used. Your allies can also help out in the synthesis, with their assistance also affecting the quality, slowing up the ring or switching all the slots to a particular element. Most of the time, you will want to maximise the quality of your item, as this will carry over to any other items you synthesise with it (and in the case of weapons, armour and accessories, give them more abilities), but certain quests in the game can only be completed by making a really poor quality item.

Fortunately, if you’ve synthesised an item whose quality you’re happy with, you don’t have to go through this process every time- you can just synthesise it straight from the ingredients without having to worry about elements and spinning rings. And of course, like previous games, you can try substituting one ingredient for another in order to see if you discover a recipe for something new- in fact, sometimes your allies will even suggest a new combination for you to try.

In contrast, synthesis at the Athanor doesn’t require such effort- all you need to do is pick your ingredients, confirm the synthesis and then decide what inherent abilities you want the item to have. These abilities are carried over from the ingredients, and depending on what you have on offer, you can assign one attack and two support abilities to an item.

Another new feature in this game is the ability to spread rumours about yourself- as you complete various achievements in the course of the game, you will be able to spread related rumours and gain a stat boost. Unfortunately, only one rumour can be in circulation at any time, and overall any effects they provide are negligible overall.

For those of you who find gathering and synthesising all the items you need a rather daunting and tiresome task, you’ll be pleased to know that your allies can assist you in this regard. In your workshop, you can assign them individual tasks such as gaining AP, gathering items or synthesising, and depending on their affinity for a particular task, they will return in a week or two of game time with the fruits of their labour. Since their synthesis doesn’t use up your ingredients, it’s a good way of building up a stock of items- although be warned that they cannot make any item you haven’t created at least once, even if you have the recipe for it.

Fight or flight: heading out into the field

Once you’ve exhausted the possibilities on campus, the next step is to venture out into the wilds. As with Atelier Iris 3, Mana Khemia has a set level of areas that you must visit multiple times, but this time the variety is such that it doesn’t get boring- and better yet, dungeons are no longer timed. In their place, however, time passes whilst you are in the field- and if you happen to get caught out at night, you will find that monsters are much tougher and more aggressive than their diurnal counterparts.

Like Atelier Iris 3, monsters wander around the field in the form of blobs that will pursue you and initiate battle if you get too close- again blue blobs are weaklings that can be destroyed with a slash during the day, whilst red ones must be fought (or at least escaped from, although again at night it seems to be impossible to escape). Fortunately, if you get defeated in anything other than a story battle, you will be teleported back to campus; you can also transport back any time by using the “Wings of Icarus” key item.

Even the battle system itself is straight out of Atelier Iris 3- the Active Cost Card Battle system is back, albeit with a couple of tweaks. In the old days, when a character died, they got a turn as soon as they were revived, but this time around, a dead character’s greyed out turn card remains in the bar, so even if they are revived, they won’t get a turn until their card comes back to the front.

Small as it may seem, this is just the first in a number of revisions to the system that force a change in strategy. Those who relied on the Burst Gauge in AI3 may be pleased to learn that it is back- but this time around it takes a lot more effort to fill the gauge, reducing its status as the easy option for finishing tough battles. That being said, later in the game you’ll get an extra finisher gauge tacked onto the Burst Gauge; provided you fulfil a certain condition whilst in Burst (such as attacking with a particular element, using knockback attacks, buffing your allies and so forth), this gauge will fill- and once it is at it maximum, you can select one of your characters to perform a deadly finishing move.

Those who recall that Atelier Iris 3 only had three playable characters will be pleased to learn that Mana Khemia has a more rounded eight possibilities, which means that the ability to switch characters in and out of battle is back. This time around, you can have three characters in your active party and three on standby, with the option to switch them. Unlike earlier AI games, however, when you start a battle or switch party members, the person who was switched out must wait a short while before being able to rejoin the fray- a feature that isn’t very forgiving of mistakes or short-sightedness with regard to party setup.

The other notable change is the return of MP- gone is the Skill Gauge of AI2-3 in favour of a more traditional system. Characters also have special ‘List Skills’ which require items rather than MP to enact.

After battle, however, you might notice another major shift from RPG norms- your characters will be gaining AP, but EXP is nowhere in sight. Unexpected as this may seem, this is because Mana Khemia simply doesn’t have conventional levelling up- instead, characters advance via the ‘Grow Book’, the latest take on the Sphere Grid type system. With the Grow Book, nodes are activated when you synthesise a particular item, and then the abilities or stat increases associated with that node can be obtained by spending AP. It’s a system that takes a bit of getting used to, but whilst it isn’t something you’d want to see in every game, it is worthy through sheer novelty value alone.

Playable characters

• Vayne: Like most main characters, Vayne is a balanced character with an emphasis on physical attacks. His weapon is his cat, Sulpher, who transforms into a bladed gauntlet, making him perfect for multiple hit attacks. Vayne is also the only one with the Analyse skill- unlike Atelier Iris 3, monster HP is not automatically displayed until you use this on a particular monster type. Fortunately, Analyse also does damage, so it doesn’t feel like a waste of a turn.
• Jess: the healer of the group, Jess’ basic attacks do magical damage, whilst she can also do ‘On the Spot Synthesis’- a two-turn attack that lets her synthesis and use Mana items on the field. Her deadly handbag also has the ability to transform enemies into candy.
• Nikki: A good backup character, it’s no surprise that Nikki’s massive spiked ball does some decent physical damage, but while her special skills are solid, there’s nothing particularly overwhelming about them. As a catgirl, however, Nikki’s kinship with beasts enables her to convert monsters into special hearts that she can use to re-summon them in battle.
• Flay: Once you get Flay, Nikki will probably be relegated to the back row, as he supersedes her in the physical department. With a giant mechsword that must have been borrowed from AI3’s Edge, Flay can do huge damage with multi-hit and drilling attacks. He can also imbue his attacks with Lightning element- his one concession to the existence of magical abilities.
• Pamela: A ghost with a killer teddy bear, Pamela is a weak attacker whose few healing abilities aren’t worth the pain of putting up with her weak specials. Still, it’s nice to see series staple Pamela finally being playable, even if I hardly ever used her.
• Anna: A master of swordsmanship, Anna is an amazingly swift samurai whose piercing blade ensures that she should almost always be on the front lines. The speed of her attacks more than makes up for lagging behind the like of Flay in terms of sheer strength, with her multi-hit repertoire often carving through the enemy.
• Roxis: the anti-hero of the piece, Roxis uses trading cards for magical and time-based attacks- he may not do much damage with a basic attack, but over time his specials will do a lot of cumulative damage. He can also clear the time bar of enemy spells, which remains a vastly useful skill.
• Muppy: A mysterious alien, Muppy is a rather incongruous addition to the game who arrives too late for players to care about him that much. He has a lot of fire based abilities, but overall he’s surplus to requirements.

Story

Although the overall story of Mana Khemia is pretty standard as RPGs go, the game recaptures the feel of the original Atelier Iris when it comes to feeling that you are actually part of a properly interacting world. All the main characters are well developed, and although side stories such as Flay’s quest for justice are rather annoying, overall the character exploration remains interesting.

Audiovisual

When it comes to visuals, sound and music, Mana Khemia is pretty much on a par with previous games in the series, with cute sprites, well drawn but not overly sophisticated backgrounds and a solid blend of background themes. This time around, however, the character designs have a different style- they are still attractive, but they are more angular than those of the Atelier Iris series.

Final Thoughts

Although it may seem a little simplistic and repetitive in places, Mana Khemia is a worthy successor to the Atelier title, and remains a highly enjoyable experience from start to finish. I’m looking forward to the English release of Mana Khemia 2.

In the town of Zey Meruze, childhood friends Edge Vanhite and Iris Fortner work as Raiders, travelling to Alterworlds to complete quests and earn a living. It’s a standard occupation for the people of the city, but unlike all the others, Iris is one of the last few alchemists in the world, and owner of a mystical book known as the Escalario- a tome, which, when completed, is said to grant the owner any wish. So when pieces of the Escalario begin appearing around the world, Iris and Edge are quick to pursue them, blissfully unaware that a darker force is also awakening.

With Atelier Iris offering such an immersive world and its sequel delivering vastly improved game play, there was no doubt that the series had me hooked, and so even when I heard that Grand Phantasm was a victim of ‘third game syndrome’, there was no way I couldn’t add it to my collection. And indeed, whilst the game does suffer a lot from repetitiveness, it somehow proved an addictive experience anyway.

The world of Atelier Iris 3

In Atelier Iris 3, you take on the role of Edge, a young Raider based in Zey Meruze, which, as with Kavoc in AI1, becomes your base for the entire game. A city so large that you’ll need to rely on the map and the local ferry boat to traverse until you get used to the layout, Zey Meruze is the hub of the game, containing various shops, NPCs, your workshop, the Guild (more on that in a moment) and the only save point in the game. Yes, that’s right, there’s only one location in which you can save, although as the game is largely easy, this isn’t as much of a problem as it might sound.

At the workshop

As your base of operations, the workshop (or atelier, if you prefer), is the place where you can save your game, perform alchemy and change job class via the Blades system, all of which will be explained below. Unlike the previous two Atelier Iris games, alchemy no longer involves collecting Elements; instead, it is entirely about item synthesis. Recipes can be learned either by buying them from shops, collecting them as rewards for quests, finding them in treasure chests, or by Iris receiving inspiration when she visits certain locations. The more new items Iris creates, the more her alchemy level will increase, which in turn will cause her to get inspiration from more places (it should be noted that there is a glitch where Iris’ alchemy level can carry over to a new game if you start it on the same memory card without switching off the power after quitting your old game- this also causes related scenes to trigger too early in the game). As before, substituting ingredients in a recipe can result in a new item being created, and as with AI2, it will always be clear when this is going to happen.

The other main function of your workshop is the ability to change Blades, the game’s job class/Dressphere system. Although Iris cannot use it, both Edge and Nell (the game’s third playable character) are able to switch Blades once Iris starts making pacts with different Mana. Each time a Mana is revealed after defeating certain bosses, either Edge or Nell will gain the ability to equip a new Blade in addition to their normal form. Each Blade confers its own stats and special abilities, which can be learned by accumulating Blades Points (BP) in battle, but as they can only be changed at the workshop, you can’t switch Blades on the fly in dungeons if you find you’ve come ill-prepared.

The Guild

Like Arc the Lad 3, the main force driving the plot forward in AI3 is accepting quests at the local guild, which take the form of defeating specific monsters, collecting or synthesising items or mediating between NPCs- all the usual RPG staples. Rewards come in the form of money, items and quest points, which are needed to level up your rank, thus unlocking more quests. There’s no limit to the amount of quests you can have ongoing at the same time, but whilst most only appear once in the game and give you unlimited chances to finish them, a few are repeatable and will crop up again and again, whilst others must be completed within a certain number of visits to the relevant dungeon.

As you can imagine, what this all adds up to is a formula that is either repetitive or addictive, depending on your mood. There are times when you’ll simply tire of doing the same old routine over and over again, but equally there are points when the satisfaction of completing a quest leads you to want to keep taking on just one more. In short, it isn’t innovative or mind-blowing, but if you’re in the right frame of mind, then it does have its own appeal.

As well as quests, each of the game’s ten chapters concludes with a mission which is usually triggered when you rank up (except in the case of going to face the final boss), during which time all quests are put on hold and advancing the story is all that matters. In between cut scenes you’ll be given a place to go, usually with the aim of defeating a boss and collecting a piece of the Escalario. Only when the mission is complete can a new chapter begin and the routine of collecting quests pick up where it left off.

Alterworlds

Instead of the usual dungeons and other field locations, the game play of Atelier Iris 3 takes place in Alterworlds, alternative worlds that can be entered via portals for limited periods of time. Excluding the final dungeon (which is just an amalgam of all previous locations anyway), there are actually only five Alterworlds to be unlocked in the entire game, which means you will be visiting the same areas again…and again…and again- the only consolation being that new parts of them will be unlocked as the game progresses. Worse yet, since the time you can spend in each Alterworld is finite before you get sent home again, if you can’t find what you’re looking for in one visit, you’ll have to go back and work your way through from the entrance again. Fortunately, to help you navigate through dungeons that much more quickly, the game provides a map of the area that fills in as you explore; the only trouble is that each screen is depicted as a basic square, so any twists and turns on the actual screen are not depicted, making the map a little confusing in the more complex areas.

Although the Action Dial from the first game has finally made a return, it is rather limited compared to the original version- for much of the game, the only action available to you is a simple sword slash, with a flamethrower and hammer being added later on. Between them, these three actions enable you to cut grass, smash rocks and crystals, melt ice and even knock items and enemies down from trees.

In contrast to the previous two games, enemy encounters are no longer random- instead, enemy groups are represented by Puni-esque blobs moving about the field. Blue blobs represent weak enemies that can be destroyed simply with a sword slash, white blobs are considered to be equal to your party in strength, and red blobs are stronger than your party (there are also purple and large red blobs that correspond to enemies and bosses that only appear during certain quests). Even though you repeatedly visit the same few areas, enemies don’t level up with you, resulting in an increasing number of blue blobs as you level up.

In what is gradually becoming RPG tradition, Alterworlds also contain fishing spots, so that once you earn a rod of your own, you can try to land a big catch. Fortunately, fishing is much less painful than it is in other games, consisting of you merely pressing X whilst the moving cursor is in the ‘Success’ portion of the fishing bar to land anything from a fish to a boot- or even a monster. As well as fishing, there are also spots where you can plant Mysterious Seeds and wait for them to grow into flowers or vegetable produce.

Once you’ve either run out of time, been killed in non-story battle or simply chosen to go back home, you’ll be transported back to your workshop and automatically healed. Before you go, any crystals collected and special achievements made (such as sword slashing ten enemies, fishing five times or not looking at the map at all) will be totted up, and you will be awarded points towards a cumulative score. As your score slowly builds up over the course of the game, you will receive bonus items at 1000, 3000, 5000, 7000 and 10,000 points.

• Ancient Forest of Valtessa: The first and most basic Alterworld, the Ancient Forest is highly straightforward and home to the weakest enemies. Partway through the game, the Forest Depths are opened up, which are ever so slightly tougher.
• Grimoire Castle: This period castle has several floors, a few annoying switches and a library on the third floor which is home to the ghost Pamela. Once you gain the flamethrower, you can melt away the ice and enter the freezer and the basement, which leads to the Squawk Village. The basement area is quite annoying to navigate, but the rest of the castle is reasonably straightforward.
• Posporia Battlegrounds: The homeland and battleground of the fairies and Kuma, Posporia can be a pain to get around due to each side blocking the way whenever they advance on their opponents. Fortunately, there are cannons to aid transfer from one side of Posporia to the other, but it can still be a pain to get around. Later in the game, the Great Tree becomes accessible.
• Crystal Valley of Dakascus: A large crystalline area with a well laid-out map and soothing background music in 3/4 time, the Crystal Valley is home to the Pengies, Gust’s take on Nippon Ichi’s Prinnies. Over the course of the game, the East, West, North and Celestial Rookery areas become available.
• Grand Gardens of Ishtar: Possibly the most frustrating location of all, Ishtar consists of three terraces, connected by teleports and large drops down that can be a pain to navigate (even the map isn’t a great help since you still have to remember which teleport takes you where). At one point in the game, you get the slightly pointless ability to use Lithographs, which enables you to change time for a limited effect on the map (for example, going to the past will rejuvenate a lake that dried up years ago, whilst going to the future means that a tree blocking your way will finally have been cut down).

Once the game is complete, you can also save clear game data which will unlock an Extras section in the game menu with BGM, character profiles and completed quest information. The latter two can be looked up in-game in the reference section anyway, along a bestiary, alchemy list and tutorial section.

Battle

Before you get into battle, it’s important to make sure you’re properly equipped for the trials ahead- not just with Blades, but with weapons and armour. As well as weapons specific to their Blades and armour specific to the character, each character can be equipped with up to two accessories that either boosts their stats or provides them with additional skills. Unlike AI2, characters can no longer permanently learn skills by keeping accessories equipped for a certain period of time- instead, you can only access a skill when that accessory is equipped. Also, there are no skills to be learned from equipping weapons- weapon synthesis is now as simple as Iris whipping up a new recipe in the workshop.

Instead of the “Active Cost Turn Battle” system in Atelier Iris 2, AI3 tweaks battle a little and relies on the “Active Cost Card Battle” system, which basically means that instead of having characters move along a time bar until they reach the end and take their turn, they now move along a line of cards until they reach the end and take their turn. Isn’t progress great?

Okay, to be fair, there are some other changes, and discussing them is just what this section is about. Charge Attacks and Break Attacks are gone, replaced by the standard attack command, and similarly there is no ‘Break’ section in the card bar- you can still Break (stun) an enemy, but it now just happens randomly. It is, however, also possible to knock an enemy back along the bar with any special skills marked “Knock back”. As with AI2, there are also attacks that can move independently along the bar until they take their turn, but now there is a wider variety than just “specials that appear five times and disappear”- you can have skills that go round the bar for a set number of turns before disappearing, or ones that immediately appear multiple times in the card bar, with each instance disappearing as soon as it gets its turn. Clear as mud, I know, but the good news is that there is an ability that clears the card bar of all these potentially irritating special attacks.

As far as special abilities go, the Skill Gauge is back, and it works much the same as before in that normal attacks charge it up, and special attacks use it up. The main difference is that the gauge no longer automatically starts at 1 at the beginning of each battle- instead, the level of the gauges carries over from one battle to the next, and it even slowly increases whilst you’re exploring the Alterworld. It is also worth paying attention to special abilities, as some of them rely on items, and the fact that they may be using up your precious stock isn’t always readily apparent.

One completely new addition to the game comes in the form of the Burst Gauge (yep, the designers really couldn’t get enough of gauges), a feature which is quite often the difference between a battle being easy or hard. The Burst Gauge increases by one point for every hit you score on the enemy (halved if the enemy is resistant to your attack, doubled if it is weak against it) and decreases each time your characters take damage (in order to better fill the Burst Gauge, you can equip weapons that do more hits per turn- their overall damage for a given strength will still be the same as a 1-hit weapon, but they fill up the Burst Gauge that much more). If you can manage to completely fill the gauge, you will enter Burst Mode, whereupon all enemies will be stunned for a short period of time, the Skill Gauge will fill up to 9, and the effectiveness of all your attacks will be greatly increased. Time it right, and your characters will be able to inflict massive amounts of damage, rendering most enemies little more than mincemeat.

In fact, like the other Atelier Iris games, overall the difficulty level isn’t much to boast about it- provided you work your way through all the quests presented, even the final boss isn’t that much of a big deal- in fact, the optional bosses Shadowstalker and *Mini-puni* (it looks just like the weakest enemy in the game, but packs a punch) present more of a challenge due to their ability to summon copies of themselves.

Playable characters

One of the biggest disappointments of Atelier Iris 3 is that there are only ever three playable characters- something of a shame when there are so many great NPCs in the game that you just wish you could recruit.

Edge

• Normal: In his normal form, Edge is the usual balanced swordsman type- a frontline attacker who specialises in Fire element and multi-hit abilities. It’s a solid starting form which will serve you well at the beginning of the game.
• Plua: With Plua’s Blades, Edge transforms into a ninja- weaker than normal, but with high speed and excellent evasion. His most reliable attack here is a quick strike which lets him take another turn directly after it is executed.
• Jiptus: In contrast, Jiptus’ Blades make Edge strong but slow, but they are arguably the best form for most occasions. As well as an ability that lets him drain a massive chunk of enemy HP to restore his own, Jiptus gives Edge the killer Soul Burst skill, which is an unstoppable killer move when used in Burst Mode with the Skill Gauge at maximum.
• Fanatos: With Fanatos, Edge transforms into a spiky-haired, winged warrior who uses books to call down wrath upon the enemy. He does have some decent moves in this form, but nothing outstanding.
• Luplus: Although Luplus can only be gained by fighting an optional boss, it is well worth the effort, as this is Edge’s only real option for becoming a mage type character with rare time-based skills. As well as being able to clear off any annoying recurring enemy attacks, Luplus enables Edge to slow down the enemy with Slow and knock them back with Cosmic Bane.

Iris

Unlike the others, Iris cannot change Blades; instead, she remains a staff-using alchemist throughout. Like Viese and Klein before her, Iris’ attacks are magical rather than physical, with Elemental Conversion hitting an enemy multiple times for significant damage, and Mana Storm being a great crowd-clearer. Iris can also summon any of the Mana she has made a pact with, and whilst this offers a useful set of skills, it does highlight the elemental imbalances that have always plagued the series. This time around, elements have been reduced to just Fire, Ice and Lightning, but whilst there has been an effort to reduce Fire’s dominance in the skill set, for some reason there is no Fire Mana, just one of the many Mana who don’t get to appear in this game.

Also, unlike her predecessors, Iris is unable to synthesis Mana Items during battle; instead she and the other characters can only use Mana Items from stock.

Nell

• Normal: In her normal form, Nell is a solid physical attacker who relies on a rapier for sharp, piercing attacks. A useful choice in areas where enemies are magic-tolerant, plus her weapons usually have plenty of hits- perfect for building up the Burst Gauge.
• Nymph: A healing form, Nymph’s Blades turn Nell into a mage who can use her Healing Echo to make Mana Items more effective (for example, a simple Heal Jar will heal the entire party for three turns). A useful form until you can synthesise accessories with powerful healing and resurrection spells.
• Siren: With Siren’s Blades, Nell is again a mage, but this time her skill set is rather different- her special abilities mainly rely on summoning Kobolds and forest creatures to attack the enemy, whilst she also has Norn’s skill of being able to turn the enemy into candy- a vital ability if you wish to collect items such as Vanilla Syrup and Chaos Candy for quests.
• Diemia: A souped-up alternative to Nell’s normal form, Diemia transforms her into a lance-wielding physical attacker. Probably the most useful form if you wish to use Nell as a warrior rather than a mage, Diemia even comes equipped with a skill that lets her turn her lance into a giant rocket and launch it at the enemy.
• Faustus: The Pokemon-esque Dream Mana enables Nell to turn into a doll-wielding magical attacker- she may look a little strange, but the Chomp ability, which has a high probability of causing instant death to regular enemies, is a valuable addition to her arsenal.

Story

With the driving force behind the story involving collecting parts of a mystical book and combating an evil force that wishes to end the world, Atelier Iris 3 doesn’t have much in the way of originality to offer on the story front, although with the fate of one character resting on whether the player gets the game’s good and bad ending, there is an incentive to work through the game properly.

Although it never really recreates the feeling of being part of the game that AI1 had, the fact that you have so few places to visit does give you sense of ‘getting to know’ the NPCs, simply because they appear so much. From slowly making friends with 12-year-old tsundere receptionist Phenyl to helping fellow Raiders get back on their feet, you’ll have plenty of exposure to all named characters.

Audiovisual

Again, Atelier Iris 3 is much the same as its predecessors in terms of both graphics and music, although the difference in quality between the attractive character designs and their corresponding sprites is more noticeable, whilst there is a lot of repetition in the game’s soundtrack. The English dub is even less bearable than usual due to all the bizarre accents the Vas use, but fortunately the original Japanese audio has been retained.

Final Thoughts

With its quest based system and lack of dungeons to explore, Atelier Iris 3 is most certainly a repetitive game, and for that reason everyone’s mileage for it will differ. The relative ease of the game means that it’s easy to make significant progress whilst you’re still in the addictive phase, but if you let it drag on for too long, it will inevitably become boring. Even so, if you’re an Atelier fan, you won’t want to miss out on adding this to your collection.

After completing the original Atelier Iris, the obvious next step was to learn Japanese and play the earlier Atelier games pick up the sequel (although technically it’s a prequel, taking place many generations before the original Atelier Iris) and see how it measured up. Fortunately, many lessons had been learned from the original game and used to tighten up game play for Atelier Iris 2, but at the same time, it was hard not to miss Klein, Lita and friends when presented with a whole new set of characters to get used to.

The world of Atelier Iris 2
Despite its flaws, the original Atelier Iris had a unique draw that made it stand out from other RPGs- it gave the player a real feel of being a part of the game world. Unfortunately, this aspect has not been carried over to Atelier Iris 2, which, despite trying to spice things up by letting you switch between the two main characters, feels a lot more like a conventional “start at a place with level one monsters and linearly unlock new, progressively harder locations” game.

For the majority of the time, you’ll be playing as Felt, making your way through the world of Belkhyde, picking up allies and encountering towns and dungeons as so many RPG heroes have before. At save points, however, you have the option to switch to Viese, who remains behind in Eden until the last few chapters of the game. As there are no monsters in Eden, Viese won’t encounter battle until she comes to Belkhyde later on; instead, her job is to handle the alchemy side of things.

As a fully qualified alchemist, Viese’s job is to travel around Eden, making pacts with Mana of different elements so that they can lend their skills to the party. Even though there are more Mana for Viese to recruit than Klein had access to, their role has been much reduced- although they are now vital in all types of synthesis, they have no other role to play- in fact, you don’t even need to keep them happy with gifts anymore.

As for synthesis itself, even this has been overhauled for Atelier Iris 2. Synthesising mana items still requires recipes, but actually getting those items made requires a different method. First, Viese must cook up the mana item at home using a particular Mana and set of items; this initialises the item so that it now can be made by both Felt and Viese in battle or at the menu screen using that mana and a particular set of elements (the item method can also be used if elements are rare). The amount of element needed is now always fixed since you can’t mix and match Mana the way you could in the first game; the only thing that remains the same is how you obtain those elements- either in battle or through elemental extraction of objects in the field (it is, however, no longer possible to extract elements from items in your inventory).

In the old days, item synthesis was a separate process handled by shopkeepers, but now Viese has control of that as well, taking some of the fun out of it, but also ensuring that the largely useless items of previous games are gone. Instead, Viese and her Mana can create accessories and alchemy items- unsurprisingly, accessories can be equipped to increase stats, whilst alchemy items can either be used to synthesise more complex items or equipped to teach a character support skills (more on this later). As in the original game, the raw materials can sometimes be substituted to make a slightly different item, with clear messages saying “a different item will be made if you use this” replacing the hit and miss guesswork of the old days. Better yet, you can now have up to 99 of any type of item, a nice expansion from the rather limited nine allowed in the previous game.

Viese may be the expert at alchemy and synthesis, but out in the field Felt himself has a few tricks of his own. As well as being able to make any mana item that Viese has initialised for him, Felt also learns weapon synthesis early in the game, and happily it is far more useful than its incarnation in the previous game. Since new weapons cannot be bought, weapon synthesis (using items and Mana) is the only way to upgrade weapons, but of course it isn’t as simple as just making the strongest weapon possible- not only do you have to upgrade in a particular order, but you’ll need to keep that weapon equipped for a while if you want to learn its inherent attack skill (think Final Fantasy 9).

There have been a few other changes from the first game, one of which is most welcome- instead of the once tortuous maze of winding paths, the world map has been replaced with an easy-to-navigate over-map that lets you simply use the arrow keys to go from one location straight to the next. No mess, no fuss and most importantly- no encounters along the way.

Other omissions include the Growloons (who had dubious purpose anyway) and the Action Dial- instead of gaining actions to use in the field, Felt and Viese gain different Mana items which can be used in specific situations. For example, near a plant you might be able to use an item that makes it grow, whilst certain cliffs can be scaled with a Grappling Hook. The new system does add a degree of separation with the field map, but this is only what you’d expect from an RPG anyway.

Battle
With all these changes, it should come as little surprise that the battle system has been overhauled as well. Encounters remain random with a higher than comfortable rate, but now most screens have an encounter gauge which not only tell you how close you are to danger, but also empty out with each battle, so that even if you end up lost and wandering around forever, you won’t be plagued with battles forever (the gauge refills if you use a save point or exit to the world map).

Once you actually get into battle, the old turn-based ways have been replaced with the ‘Active Cost Time Battle’ system, which, in plain terms, means that everyone moves along a time bar and gets their turn when they reach the end. When your turn comes around, the usual options of attacking, using special skills and items or running away are all on offer, but with yet more changes from the original game. The basic attack has now been split into two commands- Charge Attack, which fills the skill gauge (more on that below) and Break Attack, which knocks an enemy further back on the time bar and may even put them into Break status. When an enemy is in Break, they remain stunned for a time, during which you can rack up huge chains of damage whilst remaining safe from counterattack.

The time bar also allows for a new style of delay attacks; as well as the usual type of attack that takes a turn to charge, it is possible to use various skills that move along the time bar independently for five turns and take effect each time they reach the end. Each side can have one of these delay attacks in effect at any one time (casting new one cancels the old one), and since there is no way to remove them once they appear, you just have to endure them until they run out.

Getting back to the skill gauge, this is the game’s replacement for mana or MP; you have one gauge to serve the entire party, which starts at 1 and can be filled by using charge attacks or taking damage. The gauge is then depleted by one, two or three units when a special skill is used- it can be a limiting system compared to more conventional MP, but it can also be useful to build up the gauge with one character and then bring in another character to use it for their special.

Veterans of the original game will remember the importance of switching characters in and out of battle, and happily this feature remains intact, although there is no longer the option to leave a dead character in battle- they must be replaced by a living character in reserve if one is available (I imagine the reserve characters to be sitting in deck chairs a few metres behind the front lines). In contrast, party formation has been simplified- instead of each character having the choice of front, middle and back row, you have to have one character in each row.

Another notable and welcome change is alchemy’s contribution to battle- Felt and Viese may be the only ones able to synthesis mana items in the heat of conflict, but anyone can use a mana item from stock. Compared to the days when your non-alchemists had no access to useful items, this is a welcome change, especially when combined with the fact that most characters also have some sort of healing skill as well.

Unfortunately, skills in other areas are not so generous, with an odd imbalance cropping up in elemental abilities. For some reason, there are numerous options when it comes to fire-based abilities, but the ice and thunder elements are very poorly represented in comparison, and the effects of those skills are often so weak that you might as well have just used a basic attack in the first place. That being said, aside from a few tricky combinations of generic enemies, the game is largely rather easy- throughout the entire game, I only glimpsed the game over screen twice (once because I strayed into an optional area that was too high-level for me at the time, the second time because I missed a couple of healing Mana items I should have had), and the final boss was easily beaten on the first attempt. Personally, I’m not too bothered about the difficulty since it isn’t Rhapsody-level of pathetically easy, but hardcore players might yearn for something a bit more frustrating challenging.

After battle, alongside the usual EXP that gets dealt out, each character gets SP, which are used for learning attack skills from the equipped weapon and support skills from equipped alchemy items.

Playable Characters

• Felt: the typical all-rounder main character, Felt is both an alchemist and an accomplished swordsman (although all his attacks count as magical rather than physical). Although he has standard-style specials to hit one enemy or all enemies, his best skills are Strike Edge and Phantom Edge, which clobber the enemy with giant copies of his Azoth.
• Noin: Through lack of choice, you have to use Noin early on, and whilst she is useful then thanks to her healing skills, she is too weak to be of much long-term use. I tend to keep her in reserve once there are enough party members to do so.
• Gray: Many people dislike Gray because he is so slow, but I actually didn’t find him too painful in that department- in fact, my Poe was slower. Not only is he a strong physical attacker, but he has killer attacks in the form of Twin Dragon and Shredding Dragon, as well as some elemental breath attacks. The only drawback is that he is geared toward fire element attacks- not useful against fire-type monsters.
• Fee: Although her strength is probably the lowest of all six characters, Fee is incredibly swift and able to target multiple enemies with her basic attack- important factors that put her ahead of Noin. Better yet, her Ein Zecksclaw attack is a killer move that only takes up a single unit of the skill gauge- and just when that stops becoming useful, she should have learned the more powerful Ein Zeckslash. Her only drawback is that she has absolutely no magical attacks, rendering her useless against enemies that are immune to physical moves.
• Poe: A gun-wielding fairy, Poe is one of those characters that serves no real purpose other than to enter the fray when your good characters have been wiped out. Although his basic attack does magical damage and he is imbued with some healing abilities, his below average stats mean there’s hardly ever a reason to bring him out.
• Viese: Only playable from episode twenty of the game (don’t worry, equip the right accessories and her stats will rival those of her fellows), Viese is much more of a traditional alchemist- she has the same mana-item enhancing skills as Klein, plus some healing skills, plus a staff that deals average magical damage. Fortunately, her alchemy skills make her indispensable- two alchemists are better than one, after all.

Story
Unsurprisingly, Atelier Iris 2 follows the usual pattern of a misguided human antagonist, an evil force trying to destroy the world for no real reason and a fantasy world with hidden sci-fi elements- none of it particularly designed to inspire. Even the characters, whilst likeable enough, aren’t as well developed as those in the original Atelier Iris, although the game does regain some ground by being a prequel about the origin of the famous Iris.

Audiovisual
Both graphically and musically, Atelier Iris 2 is on a par with the first game; the visuals may not be the most advanced, but they have their own charm, and the original character designs are attractive. Since the game comes with a bonus soundtrack CD, the music can easily be sampled outside of the context of the game, giving me a new appreciation for the music of both this and the original game- again, they are nothing special, but the mix of styles makes for comforting background music.

Final Thoughts
By polishing up the gameplay from the first game, Atelier Iris 2 makes for another worthy entry in the series- there are a few flaws in terms of balance and difficulty, but largely these can be overlooked. Whether or not you’ve played the first game, this is an RPG worth looking into.

Part II: Shu

Liu Bei: A youthful lover, effeminate to the point that no one really knows his (or her) true gender. Despite his lack of experience, his uncertain sexuality should please those who like to experiment.

Zhuge Liang: God’s own son, a master in the bedroom. Few have seen him “tackle out”, and it will take someone very special to get the full HARD GAY treatment from him.

Guan Yu: A rough and direct lover, consumed by the Lord’s Sphere to the extent of becoming violent in the bedroom.

Zhang Fei: Similat to Guan Yu, only even more lacking in finesse.

Zhao Yun: A skilled and secretive lover, he likes to laugh at any partner inferior to him. Only those able to keep up with his swift technique need apply.z

Part III: Wei

Cao Cao: In any other world, Cao Cao would be refined and effeminate, but as it stands he is more masculine than the other kingdom leaders. A man who prefers unpredictability and bondage in the bedroom, a night with him may be exciting, but not necessarily for the right reasons.

Cao Ren: A rough and boorish lover, not recommended except in the most desperate of circumstances.

Zhang Liao: A quiet lover, prefers to remain submissive in the background.

Xu Zhu: Likes to cosplay as a Man in Black- bring your nurse and maid costumes for a fun, kinky night with him.

*NEW* Dragons’ Den: Death Note

Welcome to a brand new feature based on the TV program of the same name, in which anime characters try to market their great idea to five fat cats of anime! President Aria made his fortune in the gondola industry of Neo Venezia, and is now CEO of a well-known company. Mikoto started her business in the capital of Wind Bloom, and is now a trusted advisor to the queen, with business partners scattered across the world. The Admiral‘ first business venture was to invest in a Chinese restaurant, but a meteor threat to Earth saw her buy shares in ground and space based defence technology, which she currently administers with her protégé “The General” (aka Shogun). Mr Tibbs started his career as a tea cat for the bank, but his sound grasp of finance saw him rise up the ranks until he became one of their most prominent managers. Finally, The Cardinal is the world’s most powerful fat cat, with a wide range of business interests that ensure that he has a paw in every pie (often literally, depending on his appetite). These five cats represent some heavyweight investment clout in every sense of the word, but is any deal attractive enough to get them to roll off their backsides and shake paws with a budding entrepreneur?

First into the Den is Light Yagami, looking to secure investment in his new innovation, the Death Note.

Light: Hello everyone, I’d like to present my business idea- the Death Note. Basically, you write down a person’s name whilst picturing their face, and then they will die of a heart attack or other specified cause. Using this, you can quickly eliminate your business rivals and increase your profits.

Cardinal: Hmm, and how will this be better than the system I’m already using?

Light: It’s no mess, no fuss- instant killing!

Admiral: Can I ask you something? Did you actually come up with this idea yourself?

Light: Uh, no- it actually belongs to the world of shinigami.

Admiral: So any shinigami could come down to Earth and put one of these on the market?

Light: Hmm, I suppose so…

Admiral: That’s it- I’m out.

The Admiral has declared herself out already, and Light is in for more bad news when President Aria has his say.

Aria: Punyu [this sort of thing goes against my morality, so I'm out].

Aria is out, but could Mr Tibbs be about to throw Light a lifeline?

Mr Tibbs: So, Light, have you any proof that this thing can actually make money?

Light: Well, the Yotsuba group used it to great effect.

Mr Tibbs: But they were caught, weren’t they?

Light: I’m sure you’re smart enough not to get caught.

Mr Tibbs: Well, quite.

Cardinal: Would it be possible to perhaps take this product in a slightly different direction? I mean, killing people is all very well, but what if I just want to teach them a lesson? Would it be possible to make a sort of Punishment Note that just gives them an electric shock or something?

Light: I’m afraid it’s death or nothing.

Cardinal: In that case, I’m out.

Mr Tibbs: I’m going to declare myself out too.

Tibbs and the Cardinal are both out; now all of Light’s hopes rest with Mikoto. Mikoto has remained quiet throughout the negotiation, but now she is about to reveal her hand.

Mikoto: I’ve been listening to all this, and I actually like the idea. You see, there are a lot of annoying characters in Mai-Otome, and so far there’s been no way to kill them off. With your Death Note I could change all that, so I’d like to invest.

Light: I’d like to accept your offer. Hail Kira!

After a tough time in the Den, Light has walked away with the deal he wanted, but will he write the names of the Dragons down in the Death Note? We hope not, or there’ll be no follow up to this feature!

Bokurano

“I am the Bartender, here to mix you your destined drink.”

“Look, I don’t have time to go over my life story so you can decide what that drink is- just get me plain old water.”

“I’m really into shogi ever since I watched Shion no Ou!”

“Do you think I could take my shogi board business into the Dragons’ Den?”

As far as dialogue goes in this sort of situation, this has to be the worst line ever.

Gonzo reveals their next plan- a spin-off studio called Sagonzo.

Poor guy- tired out from too much HARD GAY.

“I know I said I’d given up HARD GAY, but I couldn’t resist!”

“They’ll get their Liangs out no matter how much you try to stop them.”

Yes, there’s a lot of things you can’t do when you’re dead- say stupid lines, for one.

HARD GAY corner: Atelier Iris

As an alchemist, Klein Kiesling was well versed in using his “cane”, but unfortunately, he just couldn’t seem to shake off the interest of women. At last, however, he found an older and more experienced lover in the form of Delsus, before later catching the eye of expert “swordsman” Arlin. Unfortunately, Arlin was so obsessed with his ex-lover Mull that he frequently went off for Hyper Self Pleasure instead of committing to his new partner, forcing Klein to confront Mull in battle in the hopes of removing him from the equation entirely and winning Arlin’s heart. He was even undeterred on finding out that Arlin was just a Pleasure toy created by Mull- after all, androids are programmed with multiple techniques.

This week in Anime

Hands up who remembers Quantum Leap.

“What the f*ck do you mean, I’m not allowed to f*cking swear!?”

Brown dog plots revenge for its fallen comrades.

“It would become this big!”

Is that Kyo from Fruits Basket lurking in the background?

The secret base of the tomatoes is discovered.

Advertising, anyone?

“Oranges, fresh from their traversal of the Antarctic wastes.”

“Don’t you like my new girlfriend?”

Apples find a new champion.

Mini-editorial: Do we stop being ourselves the more popular our blogs become?

When we start blogging, it is usually in a sea of obscurity- no one knows us, hardly anyone reads us, and the anonymity afforded by the net enables us to rant about what we wish without fear of reprisal on the dreaded Letter Bomb Night.

Nonetheless, as the blog draws attention from readers, aggregators and fellow bloggers, there may well be a tendency to abandon the plain-speaking of the earlier days and adopt an outlook more suited to fitting in than expressing ourselves. If all our contemporaries like Lucky Star, then how tempting it must be to either agree with them to avoid being called an insensitive idiot, or to deliberately provoke them with flaming about the series- all regardless of our actual feelings about the show.

Aside from the occasional flame-baiting by the usual suspects, however, does this sort of thing actually happen as our readers turn from faceless generics into named characters? Do we start conveniently sweeping our dissenting opinions under the rug so that everyone will like us? Do we conveniently fail to admit the guilty pleasure found from sneakily watching certain series? Or do we go the opposite way, and try to antagonise other bloggers for the sake of hits? If people want to do such things, who are we to dictate what they write on their blogs? Perhaps all we can do is respect those brave enough to sit alone at their computers and post their true opinions under an alias.

Reverse Harem of the week: Akane Motomiya (Harukanaru Toki no Naka De)

A character so useless that even in the original game all she could do was use Cheer to motivate her AI controlled party members, Akane managed to make men fall in love with her for no apparent reason.

Harem

Tenma: The possessive wife-beater, and most likely to become Akane’s boyfriend. He becomes extremely paranoid and jealous whenever she as much as looks at another man.

Shimon: The good natured and optimistic shota- voted most likely to love Akane from afar for all eternity whilst serving as Tenma’s whipping boy.

Inori: The hothead young man who initially claims to have no interest in girls.

Tomomasa: The seductive older man with an eye for the ladies.

Yasuaki: The gentle mystic whose cold professionalism hides an innocent heart.

Yorihisa: The honour-bound samurai.

Takamichi: The scribe with a mother complex- most likely to become a family man in later life.

Eisen: The gentle and innocent musician.

Akram:The demon and main villain of the piece, he has an unhealthy fascination with Akane.

Rivals

Ran: A rival priestess and Tenma’s long-lost sister.

Shirin: A female demon who adores Akram and tries to seduce Takamichi.

Sefuru: A young male half-demon who befriends Shimon.

Amusing Search Terms

“fate/stay night” anime continue: No, it must never continue!

gay yaoi: Is there any other kind?

childhood in victorian England: can be best researched on an anime blog.

Amusing Spam

“Topless Putin: Russia goes ga…

MOSCOW: Few could have predicted the squall of gossip and speculation that would follow after Russian President Vladimir Putin stripped…”

This made me laugh so much.

“POWELL…

To much to shallow. This just sounds to liberal for me. Kinda brings back some memories of dating sites….”

So sorry- let’s keep things conservative for now.

“slave porn…

free sex slave training…”

Free, you say? Hmm…

Klein Kiesling is an alchemist- one of an increasingly rare breed of people who make a pact with magical spirits known as Mana in order to manipulate the very elements of nature. Together with his childhood friend and Mana Popo, Klein is on a journey to seek out items related to alchemy, but a chance encounter with a bounty hunter named Lita sees him caught up in a series of events that could determine the fate of the world.

The original Atelier games formed one of those obscure series that never made it out of Japan, but with the adoption of more traditional RPG features in Atelier Iris, English-speaking gamers could finally get a taste of Gust’s alchemic adventures. A mix of the addictive and the frustrating, Atelier Iris is generally an enjoyable game, but one that could use a little fine tuning in certain areas.

The world of Atelier Iris
On the surface of it, Atelier Iris is just another entry in a long line of similar RPGs- your party wanders the field and world map, triggering cut scenes to advance the story and getting into a few too many random battles along the way. Fortunately, there is more to it than that, thanks in no small part to the game’s alchemy system.

As an alchemist, Klein can make pacts with the different elemental Mana he meets in the course of the story, enabling him to use their power in various ways. The first and most obvious use is in the synthesis of Mana items, where Klein gets different Mana spirits to combine different elements to create offensive and defensive items in battle. The raw elements are obtained via elemental extraction- objects in the field, enemies and inventory items can all be deconstructed into their component elements and stored for later use. The cost of turning these elements into items depends on both the item being created and the Mana used- different Mana handle different elements, so it’s in your best interest to find and recruit them all. Fortunately, almost all Mana are either required for the story or not too far off the beaten track, so it shouldn’t be too much of a struggle to locate them. And once you find the rare Aroma Material later in the game, you will even be able to transform some of your Mana into more powerful forms.

As well as lending their power on the synthesis front, Mana can come in handy elsewhere too. After a certain point in the game, it becomes possible for each playable character to equip one Mana- a feature that enables them to boost their stats in fairly predictable ways (Rock enhances defence, Wind boosts speed, etc). Meanwhile, out on the field, most Mana also contribute an ability to the Action Dial- a feature of the game that gives it something of an action and platforming element.

Klein can already put one over on most RPG heroes by being able to jump in the field, but with the Action Dial, he can also tap into a hell of a lot more. As well as the basic yet useful functions of accessing the help menu and checking the current mission, the Action Dial offers Klein the ability to do everything from performing healing and elemental extraction in the field to flying and even transforming into a small rabbit. Unsurprisingly, most of these abilities must be unlocked as the game progresses (usually they are granted by a Mana), and the complete set ranges from minor novelties to actions that are utterly essential if you wish to clear the game. Unfortunately, the flip side of this is that it can make some makes near nightmarish as you try to figure out if you are actually at a dead end, or if you’re supposed to use some clever combination of actions to get yourself to the next map.

Where most RPGs cast your characters as itinerant travellers who pass through town after town of insipid NPCs, Atelier Iris actually does a good job of drawing you into its world. Klein and his allies don’t just stay in the nearest inn- they rent their own house, complete with all saving, healing and synthesis facilities that they need. Better still, the NPCs are more than just two-line characters- certain named characters have their own side stories which slowly unfold every time you meet them, whilst even random generics can adapt and change. For example, when I synthesised an ‘extremely hard’ pie at the bakery in Arcose (more on item synthesis later), all the NPCs complained about how extremely hard it was, but once something new had been synthesised, they switched to talking about that instead. They’re small touches, perhaps, but there’s something nice about walking into a shop and being greeted by a cut scene instead of the standard message box time after time.

That being said, there are times when being caught up in the world to such a degree can feel like a chore. Little more than a twisted tangle of long and winding paths, the world map will ultimately test even the most patient soul by requiring you to practically memorise it, not to mention backtrack to and from various locations over and over again (and often the place you want to go to is several screens into the location, forcing you to experience the high encounter rate of the field maps along the way). Even the teleport system set up mid-game is of limited use as it only lets you travel to a handful of locations, whilst unspecific clues such as “find a cauldron with the right type of soot” given later in the game will really test whether or not the player has been paying attention.

As if that wasn’t enough, Atelier Iris manages to pack in a few more features to keep you occupied- and if you’re feeling a little too daunted to start the game at this point, I must step in with some words of reassurance. In an attempt to avoid information overload, the game does at least space out the introduction of these features- and each time a new system is introduced, the characters take time out to narrate an amusing tutorial that covers the basics nicely. Nonetheless, it is possible to complete the game without really delving into any of the following- although doing so can be quite enjoyable.

If Mana synthesis just doesn’t provide enough item creation fun for you, then your next port of call should be the weapon and item synthesis facilities. Where weapon synthesis is quite a limited function that lets you enhance your weapons at your home base, item synthesis is actually a lot of fun- you bring ingredients to shopkeepers around the world, and they combine them together using a variety of recipes. Triggering certain events will unlock new recipes, whilst substituting an ingredient with a similar item may cause something completely different to be created. The key is to stock up on items from all around the world and experiment to your heart’s content- and once an item has been synthesised, you can also buy it ready made from the shop. The only limitations are that you can only carry a pitiful nine of each item (this goes for Mana items as well), and shops have a strictly limited inventory that mean they may not always have what you need.

One of the most bizarre inclusions in the game, however, must be that of the Growloon- strange round beasts that apparently summon evil spirits if left alone. Weak enough to be defeated with elemental extraction, Growloons appear all over the world, and by destroying them you can own some tidy bonuses. One must still wonder at the point of them, however.

Finally, for obsessive completionists and game addicts, Atelier Iris also has its own stab at item completion- at one location there is a woman who can show your inventory to, and as it gradually fills up, she will unlock art, character info and music for the main menu ‘bonus’ section. How’s that for artificially extending game play time?

Battle
By now, you’re probably reeling with information overload whilst wondering if the game ever actually gets past all these systems and lets you participate in battle. Thankfully, the answer is yes- in fact, world map aside, the encounter rate is a little higher than most will find comfortable.

The basic battle system is pretty standard- characters stand in either the front, middle or back rows and take turns depending on their relative speed stats. Each turn you can attack, use skills and items, defend, switch characters (even dead characters can switch in and out) or run away. The only exception is Klein, who can bring his alchemy onto the field- he can either synthesis an item for use there and then (elements allowing), or use one from stock. You might wonder why you’d ever bother to waste a Mana item in stock when you can make a brand new one on the spot, but there is actually a point to having both commands- ready made Mana items can be used in conjunction with skills to enhance their power and range.

With all the extra healing and attack Mana items available to him, Klein is easily in command of the most useful range of abilities, but because his stats are generally average, he either spends all of his time healing or he gets killed- a death knell for some battles since he is the only one who can heal and revive with skills until Marietta joins later on (there are healing items, but they seem to be generally weak).

As far as difficulty goes, the first half of the game is surprisingly easy- you may only scrape through some boss battles, but keep a cool head and the dreaded game over screen can be completely avoided for at least the first half of the game.

It’s not all plain sailing, however, and at a certain point in the game, the difficulty suddenly and unexpectedly ramps up to make things a bit more challenging. Regular enemies become more aggressive and prone to special attacks, whilst bosses start to pose a real problem. The likes of Prism and Elder Virum are particularly hideous, and by the time you’ve claimed victory against them, even the final boss won’t seem quite so hard in comparison.

Playable Characters

• Klein: As the main character and only alchemist of the group, Klein is nigh essential to the successful completion of the game. As his stats are generally average, I like to keep him out of battle until his alchemy is needed for healing (or offence, on the odd occasions that he gets the chance to attack). Nonetheless, the fact that his basic attack is magical rather than physical (it also extracts elements when the enemy dies) can come in handy against enemies with high physical defence, whilst in the early stages of the game you can use his Mace Attack for a physical attack.
• Lita: Although she starts off as one of those swift and weak characters that usually get abandoned later on, Lita can actually be made into a strong character who belongs on the front line at all times. Her sweeping claw attack can target multiple enemies at once, whilst her Jump Kick is a powerful blow against single enemies. Whilst they are costly in mana, Stone Blast is a good way to get Lita safely offscreen (she can also use an automatic Dodge move once she learns it, but it activates randomly and sometimes even reacts to attempts to heal her!), whilst Force Blast is a powerful magic attack that makes a change from her physical repertoire.

Unfortunately, for much of the game Lita suffers from a condition where her total mana decreases steadily until she enters a mode where she grows wings. The advantage of this mode is that attack and defence increase, but in exchange her maximum HP is curtailed.

• Delsus: A crossbow user, Delsus starts out as a powerful attacker who can target an entire column with either physical or magical attacks, but sadly he soon drops behind in terms of effectiveness. His inconsistent strength against different types of enemies, coupled with specials that don’t seem to do much more damage than a basic attack would, means that Delsus tends to stay in reserve once other party members join.
• Norn: Like most magic users, Norn is low on HP and defence and lacking in physical attacks, but when it comes to magic, she can really do the damage. With high speed and a basic magic attack that rips through the defence of most enemies, Norn is a good ally to have on your side.
• Arlin: A powerful swordsman, Arlin also has a Mana Strike that does massive magical damage, a Berserker move to increase his already formidable attack stat and a Double attack that counter intuitively hits three times. Unfortunately, much as I love having him on the front lines, he leaves the party before the end of the game and never returns. Damn you, Arlin!
• Marietta: Arlin’s replacement, she wields an impressive whip-sword which does both physical and magical damage on basic attacks, not to mention strike entire rows and columns. She is also the only character other than Klein to have a healing skill.

Story
Although Atelier Iris’ story is a little too bogged down in the standard “magic is leaving the world”, “technology was better in the past” and “lone madman is trying to destroy the world” RPG elements, the story still has nice touches. As mentioned before, both NPCs and player characters get a nice level of development, and whilst the story won’t blow anyone away with originality, it works well enough in moving the game along at a decent pace.

Audiovisual
Visually, Atelier Iris goes with the 2D sprites on isometric maps layout that has worked for so many games before- the graphics aren’t particularly advanced, but they suit the tone of the game well. The basic character designs are attractive, and there is a worthy anime sequence before the title screen.

Background music generally sets the atmosphere without being too intrusive, but whilst the battle and boss themes are catchy, as a whole the music doesn’t lend itself to being listened outside the context of the game. As always, the English voice acting can be a bit grating, but for some reason I thrive on the cheesiness of game dubs despite my dislike of them for anime.

Final Thoughts
Thanks to its inventive alchemy system, Atelier Iris manages to distinguish itself from the masses, resulting in a fun and addictive game overall. Yes, there are a few points where you will get lost or frustrated, but if you can overlook these moments you’ll find the game a generally enjoyable experience.