Having just finished playing this game, I felt like sharing my impressions here. I will try to avoid spoilers, and any that are included will be tagged. I 'll start with just the facts (ma’am) on each game element, followed by my comments:
THE STORY: The game takes place in a world called Abevard, in a city called Zey Meruze, which resembles Venice as it is full of water canals; it even has a gondola service! The city also includes portals to other dimensions, known as the “alterworlds.” For some mysterious reason, humans cannot stay for long in the alterworlds; they eventually fade back to the city. On the other hand, the races native to those worlds can come and go as they please; their budding relations with humans (and each other) are a subtext of the story.
The main character of the game is Iris, a female alchemist who may or not be the same Iris from the previous games (apparently she’s not, though with some juggling of facts it could be arranged that way). In this game she’s a teenager still learning alchemy, as well as a “raider”- an agent of the Raiders Guild, an organization that arranges “quests” for the people of the city (and the Alterworlds) in exchange for rewards; these run from killing dangerous monsters to mundane things like helping find missing pets. Curiously, this is the first Atelier Iris game where Iris is a playable character; there are only two more- Edge, Iris’s supposedly-grim young male warrior friend, and Nell, a female warrior who is the very embodiment of the “dumb blonde” concept, who joins up with them later. The rest of the NPCs are the common folks who hire you, and the villains who oppose you.
For the most part, the game is about Iris’s team rising up the ranks of the Guild (by doing quests); however, the TRUE story is about the Escalario, a sealed magic book that Iris inherited. By finding eight gem fragments that have been scattered across the Alterworlds, the book can be opened, and a wish will be granted to the user. Naturally, Iris sets out to do just that, but so do other people. And, this being an epic fantasy, the very fate of the (worlds) will be at stake by the end…
My Opinion: I found the setting quite interesting; the constant presence of water around Meruze was an attractive visual effect, and the gondolas made it easy to get around.
What bothers me about the story is that a LOT of things were not made clear: Who or what created the portals? How old are they? WHY are humans unable to stay in the alterworlds? Is Iris the same character as in the other games? Who was Crowley, really, and why was he so obsessed with destroying the world? How were the events that led to the creation of the Escalario forgotten if half the world was destroyed in the process (and only “a few centuries ago?”) How did the legend about it get so twisted out of shape? Why did the book’s spell start to fade? Was reassembling the Escalario the right thing to do or not?
Ehh, most of the answers to these questions are not necessary to enjoy the game; the characters themselves were likeable and their dialog was very good (in fact, I wish we could have learned more about all of them.) Still, rarely have I played an RPG that left me wondering about so many things in the end. Note that I missed a few quests before finishing, so maybe some of these facts are explained in those.
GAMEPLAY:
-Exploration: This game features a lot of platform-style action, from jumping to breaking things. Frustratingly, not EVERYTHING that looked like it could be broken (or jumped over, for that matter) actually could be, though that may be a graphics error (see below.) Note that the type of items found (or dropped by monsters) changes as your party rises in level, so constantly smashing things in your way (even if you’ve done it several times before) is the way to go.
-Combat: Mostly the old-fashioned turn-based style, except there are three(!) on-screen gauges to keep track off: one indicates whose turn is next (necessary since some attacks could slow down your characters or the enemies); another indicates when the characters could use their special skills, and the last indicates when “burst mode” (in which the Skill Gauge fills up instantly, and ALL the enemies are stunned) happens. They are not really that hard to keep track of, though the conditions to fill each one up are different.
-Advancement: In addition to the old-fashioned level-gaining, the game has a “Job” system not unlike some Final Fantasy games; each time Iris makes a pact with a Mana, Edge or Nell would gain a new “Blade” (character class, so named because each uses different weapons.) Each Blade has its own unique skills, which are learned with “blade points” earned in battle. Blades can be changed at will, thought this requires a trip back to Iris’ workshop.
Iris does not learn Blades (don’t ask me why) instead, she has her own skills, including the ability to use FF-like summons (the Manas, of course, which are gained by defeating certain bosses.) She also has the ability to make magical items at her workshop, though she needs to find the recipes and the ingredients first. Some of the recipes are bought or earned as rewards; others can be figured out by the player, either by varying the ingredients, or by finding “clues” scattered around the place. Note that Iris’ level of alchemy skill rises separately from her “combat level”, each time she invents a new item.
-Quests: The quests are simple enough: you check the bulletin board at the Guild, and choose from those that are available at the moment (they are random) though you are limited by your Raider Rank on which ones you can do. Then you talk with the character that put that request up, do what he asks of you, and then go back to inform him or her of the results, and you get the reward. Your rank raises from points earned from doing (some of) the quests. Needless to say, many of these are actually triggers for in-game events, that allow you to get to know more about the characters. Note that each time your party raises in rank, you’re given a mission related to the Escalario storyline, and you are prevented from doing any other quests until you finish that mission.
MY Opinion: I enjoyed the platform elements of the game, except that sometimes I didn’t know when it was possibly to jump or climb and when not (also, because of the game’s 2D graphics, the fact the direction you jump from does matter is not obvious.) The game only has about 3 action effects (besides jumping) and they are earned too slowly (in my opinion anyway.)
Despite having three gauges to follow, I found combat to be easy enough, especially due to the Burst Mode (which is not explained in-story, btw.) You can win most fights simply by hitting the enemy multiple times until a Burst is achieved, and THEN let them have it with your most powerful skills. This might make the game TOO easy for some people.
I liked the Blade System, because it gave the game variety despite having only three playable characters. Some of the blades were VERY inventive- in addition to the usual Ninja or Cleric types, you could also be a Puppeteer, for example. And some of their abilities (like the Ninja’s ability to avoid an attack by replacing himself with a disguised log, ala NARUTO, or the Time Mage’s ability to cancel a foe’s multiple-round attacks) are rare among games of this kind.
The quests varied from boring to a riot, depending on who and what you were asked to do. In particular, the war between the Fairies and the Bear Clan -which takes several quests to deal with- was both amusing (sort of a child’s version of what a war is) and is resolved in an unexpected way (thanks to an unlikely Singing Idol) that left me smiling afterwards.
In general, despite the annoying time limit on exploration (and the fact that there is only one Saving Point during most of the game) I found the gameplay addictive; of course, I’m the stubborn kind, who would not accept a “running out of time before finishing a dungeon” kind of deal, and kept going back until I had each area mapped out (which as it turns out is part of one of the later quests anyway.) Note that running out of time (or dying in combat, except during the main storyline quests) does NOT result in a Game Over; you’re sent back home with all your points and items earned instead.
VISUAL AND SOUND EFFECTS: This game does not feature animated sequences at all; instead, it uses nonmoving character images, plus text (and voice acting on some scenes) whenever a close-up of the action is required. This actually works very well; each character is shown almost completely (not just a ‘Head Shot’) with some very expressive art, and the voice acting is very good, definitely adding character to the text. The rest of the time, typical sprites are used, but they’re animated very well, and the backgrounds were in general very pretty to look at. In fact, one of the Alterworlds, (The Sky Gardens of Ishtar) has one of the most imaginative designs I’ve ever seen (it’s composed of GIANT WEAPONS, such as swords and hammers, that FLOAT IN THE SKY!) The only flaw in the art is that, as mentioned above, there IS a “3d effect” in place, so you CAN walk or jump behind some object such as trees, but because everything looks flat, you can’t tell by just looking. That led to my missing hidden entrances several times, and that really pissed me off.
The music, as usual for the Atelier games, is very good- however, strangely, I found that I couldn’t stand listening to any of the BGM for long- probably because I was too focused on either finding my way around an alterworld before time ran out, or trying to make an item via alchemy, and the music distracted me. Thought that is probably just a quirk of mine.
IN SUMMARY: Atelier Iris 3 is a fun game, to play, to listen and to look at, and I found it addictive in a way I haven’t in a long time. But it does have annoying factors, in particular the time limit on exploration, and the way it leaves some facts unexplained by the end. Still, I recommend it- it’s not the greatest game ever, but (I dare say) it’s the best of the Iris games yet.