"Atelier Iris: The Workshop that Needs Work"

Actually I give this game a 7.6, but decimals are not allowed, and I round down on reviews. This game is considered a sleeper game and is limited production. There is no doubt that in a six months copies of this game will be selling on E-Bay for around a hundred dollars. So why is this game getting a 7.6?

Well for me a score of 10 is a must have game. It must appeal to almost any gamer, that is not prejudice towards the game to begin with. A 9 is a game that is among, if not the, best that populates a particular genera. Sometimes we go for years with nothing deserving a 9 or a 10 =(. A 7 is a game that is around par, it may have great qualities, but the decencies take away from the overall experience, if your into this genera, then you should buy it, other wise rent it, or borrow it first. A 5 is something that I wouldn't advise you to spend much money on, I would suggest you borrow or rent it first..

The 7.6 means that if you are interested, you should buy a copy of this game, if the opportunity arises, and the price is reasonable. I wouldn't spend more than the $50 on this game, and if the game wasn't so rare, I would be advising you to wait for a price drop. Also don't lose sleep over not getting copy of this game, because as good as parts of it are, the bad parts really drag it down. So the +.6 is really because the game is rare.

The great things about AI:EM stack up nicely, and if the rest of the game was up to par, the game would be an easy 8+. The problems are flaws inbreed in the game itself. Most noticeably, the glitches and the story.

Gameplay: We start off on the line with game play. While moving the character is easy, and the controls are not complex at all, there are several major problems that arise. The menus in the game are poorly done. The battle menu is small, and until you get the hang of it, you wont know what you are doing, because there is an almost memory function in the battle menus. This is frustrating, as it doesn't ever work predictably. Also in the management menus, the options and functions are poorly planed. Some of the options are redundant, while some that you expect do not exist at all (like turning the memory function off, or on, which the game seems to do on its own, never to any pattern that I notice). The game also has many bugs in it, and it is not uncommon for the voices to glitch, or for the words to run outside of the boxes, or for the screen options to change themselves…... There is also the infamous end glitch which kept me from seeing the ending credits until my third try =(. The item synthesis is wonderful, however, and is the true heart of the game, rivaling any other item synthesis I have ever seen, but it alone does not hold up the rest of the game. The game does have its own in game walkthrough, but that walkthrough does not help you with the side-quest at all, it just lets you know that you are on a side-quest.

Story: Ok here we find out the truth behind what kind of game this really is. The main story is poor. It was poorly written, scripted, and produced. The major part of enjoyment and “story” to the game comes in the form of side-quest, and NPC relationships. Kind of like Harvest Moon, in that you spend a lot of time making the NPCs happy, and running their errands for them. The actual story itself is very short, linear, and really just hollow. It is the same with the characters. While each one has a “secret” its nothing that you can't figure out for yourself, soon after you meet each character. The NPCs are the characters who go through character development. While interesting, it leaves me with a feeling that something is missing.

Graphics: Well here is one place where the game is top notch. 2D graphics can't be any better than this on a PS2. Everything from backgrounds, to characters, to enemies is beautifully done. While the different types of monsters are really just color pallet swaps, they still are nicely done.

Sound: First off the English VA is wonderful, and it is not often that I praise any type of dubbing. It really shines out as a job well done, and the transliteration is top notch also. The choice of the English or Japanese voices is really nice, and the Japanese is still better overall. The soundtrack also is well done, with the music and sound effects being above most other games. The biggest down fall here is the sound glitches, which occur far too often.

Glitches: Everything from the cut-scene glitches to the voice acting glitches, to the problems with the words staying in the boxes, makes me wonder, why did they even bother keeping the game back for another month? I was really let down due to the pushback, and to have the same problems present themselves, in this form really upset me. The “extra” work that went into fixing these problems wasn't finished, even with an extra month to do it in. This, combined with the weak story, is what keeps this game down from getting a good score.

So here it is, after five other issues of the Atelier series, we finally get one imported to the North American continent. After all that anticipation that I went through, the preorder, fighting for the bonus CD, having the ship date pushed back at the last week, for another month, and about 50 hours of playing the game across eleven days, what do I think about the game….

It is the workshop that needs work. The bugs are still in it, in fact after going through a twenty minute final boss battle, I got a couple of little skit cut-scenes, then the game froze. Not the best way to keep a good impression on a players mind. While you can finish the game in around 25 hours, totally completing the game will take you 70+ hours, and as much fun as item hunting and synthesis is, after about 35 hours, I was getting tired of it.

In conclusion, if you want the game, and can find a copy, then I advise you to pick it up, after all it is a good game, with some glitches, not really a bad one. Just don't go crazy trying to find a copy, or spend a lot of money buying a copy from E-Bay.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 07/13/05