gamespot score:6.2 (fair)
my score: 7.5
(+)pros:- great in-game characters have loads of personality,- battles are fun,- dungeons are somewhat good to explore,- alchemy system still remains great to use and play around with
(-)cons:- doing those quests are as repititive as hell,- the world isnt as great as before ,- the main story doesnt have much to offer.
Gameplay time:30-40 hours (above average)
Okay here it is. As I said I have been busy as hell and dont have the time to blog as often. Anyway, so heres atelier iris 3, probably the most underated atelier iris among the 3 released for the PS2. I never got the chance to play atelier iris 1, but I have to say atelier iris 3 is a step down from 2. Those looking for something thats exactly the same as atelier iris 2 that focuses more on the story and moving from area to area and exploring every different thing that the party comes across...will be disappointed. Atelier iris 3 is somewhat different, and will cause some to hate, but still, its a good RPG if players can withstand through the whole game.
Story wise, there isnt much, but its like this. Edge and iris have known each other for awhile, and they are raiders, working together. Iris is an alchemist, and she is looking for lost gems to piece up together and form the grand phantasm, which is a book that grants wishes. So they go taking quests from the raider's guild to find leads to quests that enable them to gather the pieces. To do so they have to seek the mana, creatures that hold secrets to these gems. So yeah basically they gather every single mana out there in order for those pesky gems to show up.
From my summary of the story above it may sound quite empty, because it is. Atelier iris 3's main core gameplay focuses on you going to the raider's guild and then taking quests, again and again and again and again......and in doing all this the story doesnt progress, cause its just fufilling the townspeople's requests! And after you do a fix amount of quests, a special event pops up and when you go to do it, the story pushes in front abit and that chapter concludes. So if you take out all the quest-doing you get a super short game. Yep. Its really a pity, cause iris from this game is my favourite female game character of all time. Seriously I think shes more attractive than tifa from FF7, UAHAHAHA. Ahem..so anyway, long story short, side quests are boring as hell.
Still, though the game has a dumb quest system, there are a couple of good things, such as the characters in the game, they all have good personality, just like previous atelier iris games. Iris is so cheerful and bubbly, and she really goes well with edge, since hes the kinda guy who like to bring down the mood, iris always manages to lift it up. Also, the 3rd party member nell is one hell of a...immature girl, pulling off silly comments and stuff, making the game even more funny. There are other funny characters, such as pamela the ghost and a few others, they make the game all the more quirky and the dialouge all the more comedically interesting. The other good thing in the game is the same old battle system, its simply to old style that it still appeals and battles are still fun as ever. Though the game has only 3 party members, it makes up for it by giving the characters each different playstyles, ranging from the different kind of mana you have, so theres actually quite a variety of styles to use in battle.
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Happy gaming.
