An Enthusiastic Cast + Unique Gameplay Elements = One Very Heartwarming Experience
Simply put, Atelier Iris is short and to the point. Naturally, being a game published by Nippon Ichi, the story does not match up to the epic status of Final Fantasy XII, Xenosaga, or Kingdom Hearts. The beauty though, lies in the light-hearted plot which consists of a well-rounded and highly amusing cast. Each character presents a very distinct personality, and when together in a scene, the chemistry between them is amazingly high. Delightful scenes that involve fun and intriguing dialog help thrive Atelier Iris's sweet charm. This change of pace from more serious RPGs is very welcoming, because this game may be the funniest RPG I have ever played (yes, it even beats out Disgaea). Even though it's funny, that doesn't mean it doesn't have much of a story to it. It seems a little too simplistic, but progression in the game relies on performing short, pleasant side-quests, not just exploring the world randomly. You meet interesting characters, both who join your party and others who assist you in various ways that seem unorthodox. Fun twists unravel that you don't normally see in other games, leaving a great feeling of refreshment. At certain points, the player will go through cute, little tutorials which could act as fillers. Character depth though, seems rather short and leaves the player hanging on not knowing a lot about some members of your party. This can make it seem empty in some scenes, but the personalities of each character make up for these minor shortcomings.
Innovative and addicting- probably the only two words that can perfectly describe it. Exploring the world is a joy, and each dungeon or town you encounter is interactive with the player. Obtaining materials for synthesizing is a key feature while maneuvering around the field, which is where those equations start to hold presence. You need to make certain items for spells and health before you head off into battle. During your journey, you obtain certain abilities that are required for progressing through some dungeons. Adding puzzles in a game always makes the value of the gameplay higher, and certainly we see that in Atelier Iris, where puzzle elements and alchemy equations are more enjoyable than many other RPGs on the market today. This is one game where it is hard for the gameplay to become tedious, as there is always something to do and places to travel. And when every place has already been explored, it's of no distress to travel again and again to dungeons and either perform side-quests you didn't finish, or using your abilities to acquire as many materials as possible.
Battle is standard turn-based fare, with the opportunities to switch out characters when needed to give you the edge. Each character has certain skills based on their default weapons, and in which case switching out characters is also fun because each skill is fun to use. When attacking, you can attack various numbers of enemies depending on how spaced out they are laid out on the field. The battles are quick and clean, with the difficulty ranging from easy to medium-hard, but no boss-battle will (or should) take at most two or three times to beat.
Moving around for the most part stays consistently smooth, with the only minor fault in a stationary camera that makes certain tasks a tad bit more difficult to perform than usual. This, in later stages of the game, becomes less apparent because you should be used to everything by then. Controls both in the field and in battle are smooth and fluent, thereby wrapping up the gameplay as outstanding.
An amazing art style and soundtrack only make the charm of this game more memorable. Unlike most RPGs on the PS2, Atelier Iris uses 2-D backgrounds with anime character designs, which is nothing short of fitting for the humorous dialog and light-hearted plot. The animation appears clean, with sprite NPCs wondering around towns and dialog scenes looking like anime done to perfection. This is where the graphics might differ to different players, because in order to truly appreciate this game, you have to dearly love anime, or at least be open-minded enough to tolerate it. Looking like an SNES game has nothing to do with how good this game looks or plays, because the graphics engine utilized for Atelier Iris is much more enjoyable, and easier on the eyes than a lot of 3-D RPGs. Vivid colors grant life not just for the game, but also for the player because dark, depressing games are all too common these days. Very pleasant graphics complement what the story and theme of the game bring to the table.
As for the music, not much to be said besides its heartwarming. Upbeat tracks can be found everywhere, including dungeons. Only a few songs might stick in your head well after you've finished the game, as no song stands out like a "One-Winged Angel" but the soundtrack is consistent enough by providing catchy tunes. Each track is fitting to its environment, allowing each scene to feel right as it is complemented with the right song. A few songs can be found annoying after a while, but the way the game is paced by balancing the players' time between towns and dungeons lessens the harshness of listening to the same track over and over again. Sound effects are overall good, and the voice-acting is for the most part enjoyable, but they can be buggy. Sometimes the voice-acting cuts out or repeats rapidly a line or two, and that will cause the mute function to turn on until you've progressed through the scene, but it doesn't take away from the overall experience of the game.
So much to do, plenty of time. There are plenty of side-quests to complete and materials to collect. Depending on how you decide to play, the story can last from 25-40 hours. The music and humor alone could make one easily come back for another play through, maybe even two. When one looks for a "feel good" game, Atelier Iris falls into that category as a top runner.