Third Time's Almost A Charm
Atelier Iris 3 is a short, familiar old-school-style romp, but is that enough anymore?
Published: June 22, 2007
Unfortunately, even if they are initially quite refreshing, the whole combat system doesn't really change too much, and the only real difference between normal fights and boss battles is that they go on longer. The process of building up the Burst Gauge and then chaining big hits together is the same in almost all battles. Add to this the fact that you'll probably have to grind enemies fairly often to satisfy side quests and you have a battle system that loses a bit of it's luster early on.
One of Atelier Iris' core features has always been alchemy, however, and this is still every bit as good as it's ever been. More of a main component of the game than an unnecessary side project, crafting items and weapons and armor is a simple, easy process and it's helped by the fact that Iris isn't some stay-at-home caldron jockey, she's out mixing it up with Edge (and later more party members). She draws almost constant inspiration from the world around her, leading to some hilarious banter as recipes are discovered, and it's probably safe to say that Iris is the most endearing of the admittedly eclectic characters.
If the storyline and the battle system are a little underwhelming, NIS America's work on localizing the cast is at least a plus. Though the voice acting isn't always spot-on (it's basic anime quality, though that will hardly surprise fans of the series, and of course there is Japanese voice support), the dialogue and the characters' myriad quirks and humor pop through just fine. It was about the time that I ended up helping a slightly masochistic faerie find love that it all started to make sense.
Though I love that Gust refuses to abandon sprites, I am getting a wee bit tired of seeing so few frames of animation for stuff. The characters just sort of ice skate around, and though there are some genuinely beautiful backdrops and the game does run at a butter-smooth 60fps, adding more fluidity to things would have really punched it up. After seeing games like Odin Sphere or even Jeanne d'Arc on the PSP, Atelier Iris 3's animations just ain't cuttin' it anymore. By all means, support 2D, but put some effort into it, guys. Even Ar Tonelico really tried to work multi-layered backgrounds in wherever it could, and it really did help.
One thing that was shared between Ar Tonelico and AI3 was the general feel of the soundtrack. The same whispered words bouncing between speakers and the mostly light-hearted tracks meld perfectly with the characters in the game, though as a whole the songs aren't nearly as catchy as AT's stuff. That, and there's nobody rapping about fish sticks, so it loses by default. Still the rest of the effects and the overall quality of the audio is certainly solid enough, though not really superlative in any one area.
Which is probably the best way to describe Atelier Iris 3: solid enough, but nothing that you haven't seen before, nor anything that will bring in newcomers by the fistful. What fans the series has managed to collect now will probably end up enjoying this, but in just about every respect, from game length to storyline to presentation, this just feels like Gust phoned the whole thing in. Maybe they're getting tired of the series. Maybe they're busy with that Ar Tonelico sequel. Whatever the reason, it's just not a very good game, and as I said before, with all the amazing RPGs out on the PS2, there's no room for mediocrity.
