The original Atelier Iris: Eternal Mana was an exceptionally solid game that seemingly nobody talks about at all. To be honest, outside of Clay, who reviewed the first part here, I haven't heard a single person talk it up. However, it's quite clear that people have thought well of NIS's little gem, as the sequel has come to American shores (a bit more quickly than its predecessor did). Last time, it may have been due to releases with a higher profile coming soon after it. This time, though, Atelier Iris 2: The Azoth of Destiny should have the spotlight to itself, and it quickly becomes apparent it deserves all of it.
The game begins in earnest (although preceded by random, almost meaningless appearances by other major characters in the game) in the land of Eden, where a teen girl named Viese Blanchimont (tying in with Lita from the first game, although it's never made clear whether or not this takes place in the same world) has just been promoted from apprentice to a full-fledged alchemist. She's an orphan, and she lives with a boy, Felt, she obviously cares about. Felt is still an apprentice alchemist, but that's because he dreams of exploring the world of Belkhyde, which lies beyond a magical gate that remains inactive.
Of course, just after Viese makes her first pact with a Mana spirit, an elemental spirit that allows her to perform alchemy, naturally things start to go very bad. Earthquakes rock the woods she and Felt visited to make the pact, and large sections of Eden disappear. Felt then manages to pull out the Azure Azoth, a legendary sword that supposedly is embedded in stone to keep Eden safe, and its removal is only possible in the most dire of circumstances. Knowing what he must do (and because there's absolutely nothing at all to fight in Eden), Felt travels to Belkhyde with only the Azoth and a ring that allows him to share items with Viese in order to save their world. Of course, Felt stumbles his way into political turmoil, and ends up having to try to save Belkhyde while he's at it. You know, the usual.
Atelier Iris 2's plot isn't anything unexpected or new by any stretch of the imagination. I'm quite familiar with how it plays out, and the general progression of things didn't surprise me much at all (I could tell you which game used AI2's final plot twist first, but then that would be spoiling things). However, the game manages to do a very solid job for three reasons. First, and perhaps most important, is that everything fits in and makes perfect sense. The writing of the entire scenario is fluid, and if you ever ask yourself, "well, how did that happen?" you can rest assured that the game will tell you. It also manages to pace the revelations well with the questions, so you aren't sitting there wondering about major plot information for large stretches of game time. Falling back on old plot ideas and tropes is perfectly fine as long as you execute them well, and Atelier Iris 2 manages that.
Perhaps one reason it manages to execute familiar tropes well is because of the second strength of the game – it's perfectly willing to subvert them to keep things interesting. Among other things, I like how Viese has to come to Felt's rescue (via their shared connection) at a regular pace during the game. It's not because Felt is stupid or completely incompetent (he obviously has no problem taking out armies on his own), but because Viese is a strong character in her own right and just as capable of being heroic. Others turned on their head are the requisite would-be ladies' man (here, a diminutive fairy voiced by a woman), the cute furry thing (a catgirl who inexplicably becomes more entertaining each time she appears), and the elegant femme fatale (among other things, her appetite is legendary). It's not only enough to keep you guessing how plots will resolve almost before they come up, but it does add a few enjoyable wrinkles in the otherwise standard plot.
The final strength of the game carries over from the first – it's frequently quite funny. It isn't quite the riotous farce Atelier Iris could be at points – the fact that you constantly hover over the potential destruction of two worlds combined with the fact that the two main characters who are obviously in love with each other are separate for most of the game casts a serious tone that the game is careful to never step too far away from. However, the game makes sure to insert enough levity at various points to keep the player entertained without losing the tone of the game. The comedy feels much more like a relief, rather than a distraction.
Along the same lines as the points about the plot, the characters overall are a well-built crew. Nothing about them is overly surprising, except for one thing – the writing is actually quite subtle, and the game seems content to have smaller actions and phrases show serious romantic interest. Thus, you don't need dramatic proclamations to know how much Felt and Viese feel about each other. You don't need a brooding soliloquy from another character to know that she pines for Felt but knows she can't ever have him. The only one who is really effusive with their emotions is Poe, the aforementioned ladies fairy, and even that is mostly played for laughs. The writing actually feels genuine, because you can imagine people really expressing their emotions in the way they do in the game, and this really helps make the characters easy to identify with.
The game's battle system at first seems like a simplified version of Grandia's time-honored system – both you and your opponent move about on a bar (but are static on the field of battle), and you act when you reach a certain point in the bar, and you can interfere with your opponent's placement on the bar. At first, veterans of Grandia and the like are going to think little of the battle system, seeing it as a competent but over-simplified version of what other series have. The first problem with that is that it's much easier to tell when moves are going to happen in Atelier Iris 2, so it's much easier to plan your attack and decide who to attack and when. While you certainly will learn that while playing the various Grandia games, it's highly intuitive here. Being able to quickly grasp the battle system is always a plus.
However, even more beneficial is that the game gives very tangible awards for pulling off combos. Sure, if you manage to perform a knockback attack that sends the opponent to the nether reaches of the bar, you activate a combo. That kind of thing has been done in other games too (like cancel attacks in Grandia). However, in many other games, the most you'll see is a marginal increase in damage for performing these attacks. Atelier Iris 2? They reward you with extra experience points and skill points to learn new attacks. And it's not just a piddling amount, either. Once you get down the basics of the system, it's not hard even at the beginning of the game to increase your earned experience by 50%. By the end of the game, you can triple or quadruple the amount of experience you earn in battle. I've shown off in games before, but seldom have I felt this rewarded for doing so.
Lest you get the wrong idea, though, the game is far from simple. Even normal fights can chip your health quite well, and I actually got my party wiped out by more than one boss in this game. For a game with save points, they thankfully place them in convenient places all over the world, so they're not huge setbacks more often than not. However, you have to constantly keep on your toes to make sure you survive the battle. It's the right amount of challenge – enough to make me have to work to win a battle, but not enough to bore or frustrate me.
Of course, one thing that has to be discussed is the alchemy system of this game. Perhaps out of complaints about the complexity of the previous game, it's much more simplified in this one. Here, you only buy recipes that can be made when at an alchemy pot, and even then only Viese can make them (thankfully, you can switch which character you control at any save point). You can sell raw materials at shops, but you never provide them with items for them to sell and build reputation with (in fact, you can't sell anything produced by alchemy). Moreover, you cannot break these down into component elements to make other items (and breaking down objects into components is the only action the square button does outside of battle), though either alchemist can make items with the components they've acquired. On one hand, the alchemy system in this game is more simplified.
But then again, it certainly has its intricacies. See, each ingredient has various bonuses it bestows, which can stack. Moreover, you can swap out many items for other items in the creation process, which serves to allow people to mix and match ingredients and refine items. For example, take the Cure Herb and the Heal Jar, two early healing items. At first, they had minor bonuses. But then I repeatedly used Cure Herbs in conjunction with other items to make better Heal Jars, and then used the resulting Heal Jar Recipe to improve Cure Herbs. By the end of the process, I had Cure Herbs which cured twice as many hit points, affected my whole party at once while on the status screen as opposed to just one, and which cost half as many components to make. While not as complex as Atelier Iris, the sequel definitely rewards experimentation (and you always have the option to refuse to use a new recipe if it isn't an improvement).
The game's graphics are overall quite solid, although comparing them to the screen shots does end up showing the limitations of standard definition television. I was all prepared to actually just throw a 6 in for graphics and leave it at that, but then I look at the screens and realize how much nicer they are on a computer resolution than my television. If you have the chance, definitely play Atelier Iris 2 on something nicer than a standard television (a progressive scan television, a computer monitor, HDTV, whatever). If not, you're going to get a bit gypped, to be honest.
However, the game's graphics aren't perfect even in the highest clarity – too many enemy designs get recycled, and many of the attack animations get repeated for the more powerful attacks. It's not like they blew the space budget on in-game video – there's only 8 of those, and that's counting the opening and closing movies. Everything is easy to navigate, but I honestly get the sense the game could have looked a bit nicer, particularly on normal televisions.
However, you don't need an awesome sound system to appreciate the game's music. To me, the fact that's indicative of the game's quality soundtrack is that I can only think of one track in the entire game that isn't great – the music for shops (and given that you produce most of your items yourself, you seldom need to visit those). The opening theme is a particular high note, and it honestly reminds me of some of my favorite anime themes from the mid to late 90's, a particularly good time for anime theme songs. When my wife actually compliments the game's music when she passes through the room (and she's ever the music geek), it's a sign of high praise. The fact that the entire game's soundtrack is unlocked once you beat the game is almost reason enough to plow through the game (if the plot, characters, or battle system somehow weren't enough). The only real complaint I have in regards to the music is that the opening theme should have been presented with subtitles (or at least allow an unlocked version where you could watch a version with subtitles).
The voice acting, in both English and Japanese, is fairly solid overall, although each language track has its issues. Although the English track doesn't have quite as many top-notch moments as the Japanese version (only the English Viese is an unqualified success), it also doesn't have as many horrendous moments as the Japanese cast (The woman who does Poe in Japan owes me an apology). Overall, I preferred the English version, even during the occasional slip-up where the words on screen were a bit different (though the same meaning) as the ones spoken.
Now, there are admittedly some ways in which Atelier Iris 2: the Azoth of Destiny doesn't quite equal its predecessor. The item creation system is simpler here, and it doesn't have quite the humor of the previous incarnation. All that aside, though, this game clearly is among the top role-playing games I've had the pleasure of playing in a good long while. Much like my work in the game's alchemy system, they took a winning formula and just modified it to make it work better than before. It's the kind of game that made me feel disappointed it was over. If all games that were just polished versions of older games like Atelier Iris 2 is, then I'd never want for an original game again.
