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I found this game to be more fun that any other RPG I've played. While the story doesn't keep you on the edge of your seat, it is interesting and takes many unforseen and amusing turns. The items system is the best thing about this game. It is based off of the use of alchemy, where you create items as Visse using components. Once you have unlocked an item by creating it once, you can make more of them wherever you are using elements which are found across the world. The result is that you are not afraid to use items, which makes the game far more enjoyable. At the same time, money is still important as you need it to buy recipies so you can create armor, accessories, and more expendable items. I suppose the item system makes the game less challenging, but I was too busy having fun to notice.
The battle system is innovative, and still remains simple. You can use a break attack, which delays the enemies turn and can allow you to do critical damage if you keep the enemy broken. You can use a charge attack which increases your skill bar, allowing your team to use powerful special attacks or healing magic. Or you can a skill or item. Simply breaking an enemy is not a path to victory, as bosses will not stay broken for long and will just bash you while you are doing small amounts of damage because you are not using skills. Against normal enemies, they show up in groups so it is rare you can keep them all broken unless they are so weak they die in one or two hits anyway. A combination of breaking, charging, and skills is required to effectively defeat enemies.
A large part of the game is spent playing as Viesse on Eden where there are no battles. However, even this part is surprisingly fun. As Viesse you go around Eden making pacts with Mana spirits to increase your alchemy abilities and to help the people who live there. Her part of the game is primarily character development as you learn about those who live on Eden and what Felt, the other main character, is up against.
The characters are an amusing group of rebels freeing a Kingdom that has been conquered by a foreign empire. The graphics are not amasing, but suit the world very well. The voiceovers add alot to that characters, giving them a great deal of personality. Between the item system and the skill bar systems, I never found myself worried that I'm running low on mana and items deep into the dungeon. Overall, I would describe this game as easy and convenient. It's the kind of game that doesn't challenge you too much, but also doesn't have any of those frustrating moments that usually accompany a more challenging title.
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I'm an RPG buff, through and through. I've been playing RPGs ever since Dragon Warrior I and I just love a certain style to my RPGs. I played Atelier Iris 1 and, while the game was enjoyable, it had flaws. It seems that those flaws, all of them, were fully addressed in part 2.The positives:
if you're an SNES fan this game is right up your alley, as the games feel like they're fresh from that system, just with anime clips throughout.
The music is outstanding. It just gets better and better with time, like a fine wine.
The storyline is a little confusing at first, but as you progress through the game, you'll unravel quite the thread and everything will start to make sense.
Dialogue is hilarious at times. Especially with a certain other character who keeps messing up Felt's name, and even at one point calling him Klein (from Atelier Iris 1).
Felt can actually fight on his own, unlike Klein who was useful for only one thing alchemy. This got you killed, because Klein was the only one who could revive others with items. If he died, your battle was done. In this one, there are revival items that anyone can use, plus ones that Felt OR Viese can use. Much improved.
The bad:
Viese is horrible to use at first. All she does in the beginning of the game is make items for Felt to use during his quest in the opposite world. Though some of her storylines are interesting, it starts to get old. Fortunately, a plot twist will happen which will finally thrust her into the real gameplay, and that's when the game starts to get really interesting.
Either Felt is a pimp or something's wrong with the game direction. Viese seems to think of Felt like a brother who she's attracted to, as sick as that sounds. The other females in the story seem to be attracted to Felt but don't really show it, and Felt is just in the center kinda breezing through with no real bond to any of them.
The map was removed in exchange for a point-and-click interface. You tell them where to go and they go there, and new locations are opened as you progress through the story. I call this a negative because I like free roam, though I understand why they did it; it speeds up the game play significantly.
Do I recommend this game? Absolutely. The best part is that you don't need to have played part 1 to understand part 2, it just gives you a little bit of insight, but part 2 is light years ahead of part 1 in terms of gameplay and graphics.
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