We have to hand it to Gust. The Japanese developer is not only firmly holding onto the idea of a 2D role-playing game, but they're actually managing to create battle systems and exploration that isn't just a carbon copy of Final Fantasy or Dragon Quest, admirable considering those games are really the only international million-seller RPGs. In fact, Atelier Iris has managed to make a name for itself (however small) for having one of the deepest item crafting systems around, but with the third entry into the series, Gust seems to have successfully mixed things up so that the old and the new gel into something that feels like it's part of the series without feeling like a rehash of past games.

The city of Zey Meruze is awfully lucky. If they have any problems, they can just post something on a bulletin board and any number of Raiders -- sort of guns for hire -- will happily track them down and give them a helping hand. Usually, this means venturing into Alterworlds, pocket dimensions where items or enemies exist that would present way too much of a challenge for your average Joe (mainly due to the fact that you can only exist in one for a set amount of time), but it not only makes for an easy way for Raiders to go out and smack around some baddies, it makes for a great hub system for the gamers that control them.

In AI3's case, two particular Rangers, Iris and Edge, make a living spanking all manner of blobs and cutesy (but we're sure totally deadly) enemies. Though Edge is your typical sword-wielding asskicker and Iris is the series' token alchemist, the roles are mixed up enough that the pair aren't quite what you'd expect from past games. For one, Iris actually tags along rather than playing domestic goddess with a penchant for brewing up items at home. There's a reason why Iris tags along, though: she holds a gift from her ancestors - the Librim of Escalario. Problem is, the book is missing eight pages, and if someone actually manages to find all of them, sealed as gems somewhere in the world, they'll get their greatest wish granted.

Awwww, we're gonna go for world peace. Or a cute girl with huge fake boobs. Probably world peace, though. Oooh, maybe a cute, huge fake boobed girl who can instantly cause world peace just by loving us (which she totally will once she sees our awesome games collection). Yeah, let's go with that, what could go wrong?

Right, but we were talking about this game, sorry. We've gone and done a little fetching here and there for the Raiders' Guild's handy bulletin board, so let's dig into the battle system that inevitably comes up when diving into those Alterworlds. Or no, wait, maybe we should actually explain the alterworlds. For one, they're pretty easy to find. The pocket dimensions have handy static vortexes to dive into, but there's a catch: you can only stay there for so long before you get unceremoniously burped out (well, there's a little ceremony; you get some fog, maaan). The key, then becomes about finding what you're looking for and getting the f out. Since initially you can only use healing items as restoratives, you have to balance fighting enemies with searching for stuff, but luckily the enemies are right there to engage or avoid, so hooray for no random encounters.

Actually, the whole system for even encountering enemies -- forget fighting them for a second -- is rather interesting. See, at any given time you can just haul off an slash your sword. It doesn't really do a whole lot outside of Alterworlds, but inside it's your ticket to puttin' yo thump on some chumps. Enemies aren't immediately obvious until you get into battle, but you can tell how powerful they are just by their color coding. Blue enemies are weak sauce, and you can actually one-hit-kill them suckaz with a single hit from your sword. Clear ones are more or less an even match and red ones will cough up more cash and experience if you beat 'em. Huge red ones are bosses, and forget about running from them.