Atelier Iris
Ages: Teen

This is a wonderful, charming roll playing game that is a perfect starter game for those who have yet to play a RPG. There are instructions and clues throughout the game. Your path is indicated by suggestions in the dialogue and throughout the game there are amusing content sensitive tutorials.

The graphics are colorful and the combination of 2-D and flat card like images work well together. The story is about a young wanderer, Klein, who wants to pursue a career as an alchemist. He acquires his two main friends Lita a powerful female fighter and Delsus early in the game and the three combine their special fighting powers. Fights are always around corner -- and enemies both small and large come in various combinations. I am not revealing anything by advising that your friends should take out the smaller guys and leave the big one for Klein since he is the one who can use magic. There are bad guys, balder and baddest guys for you to conquer.

The city of Kavoc is your central base and where you set up housekeeping with Lita. Smashing things is always fun and you smash things to your heart's content because in the smashing you are picking up elements which will be useful in compounding things. Fanciful names like Fresh Dancing and hard carrot, spoiled meat are some of the items you will add to your inventory. Bags of money (Kole) are useful too.

Shops are important to buying and selling, saving your game, and getting information. In fact, one of the meanings of Atelier is shop. Shops will synthesize things for you using the elements you have collected or purchased. As this goes on you need to keep on gathering recipes for more stuff. Klein is the only one that can wield Mana items and to acquire them he has to gather elements, and find a Mana spirit -- wood, water, fire etc. -- to fabricate the items for him.

All this is activity plus the fighting makes for plenty of information to keep track of and fortunately there are screen to do just that. The game has lots of replay value because what you fabricate and how you apportion it has many possibilities so don't cry when you finish it -- start all over again.

Reviewed by: Editor - 08/05