Screenshots of the game are taken from Gamespot
After playing Yakuza 2, I felt like taking it slow and play something not so action-packed. Atelier Iris 2: The Azoth of Destiny seemed to fit my criteria. It has turn-based battles and seems to be fairly light-hearted. I have not played other games in the Atelier Iris series but if it has a sequel, it must be of some standard right?
The Story
Two orphans, Felt and Viese, lives in a world called Eden. Eden is a peaceful place, filled with magical beings called Mana. Viese passes the test to become an alchemist while Felt is not really into studying.
One day Eden is struck by an earthquake and after the tremors stops, Felt and Viese discovers that other parts of Eden has disappeared. While everyone is trying to figure out what happened, Felt pulls out the legendary sword, Azure Azoth, from its resting place. Guided by the sword and a mysterious image of a girl, Felt passes through the Belkhyde Gate into another world known as Belkhyde.
He soon discovers that Belkhyde is a world devoid of magic and no one there has heard about Eden. But Felt believes that the answer to the disappearance of the parts of Eden lies in Belkhyde and sets out to search for it. He meets some people on his journey and gets mixed up in the battle between the Empire and the Simsilt rebels who wanted to return the rule of Slaith dynasty. Along the way, Felt bumps into an Imperial Champion called Chaos. Chaos carries sword called the Crimson Azoth which seems to be related to the Azure Azoth.
Meanwhile Viese stays back in Eden and keeps worrying about Felt’s safety. But through the Share Ring, which lets them share the same inventory, they are able to communicate with each other through letters. Viese also meets a young girl called Iris who is an orphan. So Viese adopts her into the family.
Felt eventually discovers that Eden was sealed away from Belkhyde after a catastrophe in which, the power of the Crimson Azure destroyed a town. After the machinery sealing Eden away was damaged, parts of Eden disappeared. So Felt has to find out the secret locations of the machinery and repairs them. In a confrontation with Chaos, Felt was turned into stone.
After not hearing from Felt for a long time, Viese gets worried and ventures into Belkhyde. She meets up with Felt’s friends who help her to find Felt. Viese manages to find a way to turn Felt back.
With the main machinery maintaining Eden destroyed, Eden reappears in the world of Belkhyde. By this time, Chaos was possessed by the spirit of the Crimson Azoth, which turned out to be a powerful alchemist Palaxius who lived a long time ago. Hoping to possess the powerful of the Goddess of Creation, he waited until she was reincarnated as Iris. He made use of Chaos’ wish to revive his dead sister to help him accomplish his goals.
To save Iris, Eden and the world, Felt and Viese and their friends face Chaos in a finale showdown. During the battle, the two Azoths are destroyed but everyone else is unharmed. Felt and Viese returns with Iris to their cottage to live a peaceful life.
Liked
Likable characters: The characters are quite likable although somewhat stereotypical. The dialogue between them is often funny and silly.
Graphics: The graphics are very retro and reminds me strongly of the old 2D games. The characters are cute and there are also anime-style pictures which appeared when they talk.
Battle system: Say what you like about turn-based battles, I still like them. I like to take my time to think about what move to use. The battle system in TAoD is slightly different but easy to pick up. Your characters and enemies will move along a bar and when they reach the end, they are ready to attack. You can execute certain attacks to push your enemies back and once they crossed a certain point in the bar, they will get a dizzy-like status where they do nothing and attacks on them will be more powerful.
Choice of English or Japanese: There is a choice for Japanese or English voices. For some reason, I like the English voices more. The subtitles are only in English.
Neutral
Easy battles: The battles are very easy. I don’t have to spend time training my characters. While I like not having to do hours of level grinding for my characters as in many RPGs, there is also no accomplishment whenever I win a battle. This is also no incentive to upgrade or find the best equipment for my characters. I also seldom use the special moves which is a waste.
Disliked
Switching between leads: Having two leads in different places and fulfilling different functions sounds interesting in theory. In reality, it is a pain switching back and fro. Viese’s story is not as fun as Felt’s as for most of the game, she just walks around, talks to people, collects mana and creates things using alchemy.
Lack of sidequests: There is only one thing to do in the game, and that is to follow the story. There are no sidequests or mini games or hidden areas to explore.
Graphics: The graphics felt like something that is found on Playstation 1 and not Playstation 2. It made the game felt like it came out 10 years ago and not something as recent as 2006.
