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Atelier Iris : Eternal ManaReviewed by Carl Custodio
Normally when one hears of Nippon Ichi Software (NIS), one usually thinks of strategy role playing games like Disgaea and Phantom Brave . This time around NIS brings back one of the coolest traditional RPGs from back in the day, Atelier Iris :Eternal Mana .
This is the 8th game in the atelier series with another just around the corner. Unlike the Usual Strategy RPGs we're all accustomed to seeing from NIS, Eternal Mana is more like traditional role playing games, turn based, menus, traveling the world, multiple battles and more. As in the previous Atelier series, this game is built around alchemy, which is the science of creating objects through mana synthesis. The main character, Klein, with the help of other mana spirits, must save the land of Regalzine. There is a wide assortment of items a player can create including some that one could use outside of battle. In addition to the creation of items for personal use, a player can also create items with some shopkeepers to boost the shops popularity rating. A gamer can also introduce new items such as drinks or plates to the shop in order to sell to normal customers. In other shops one can fuse together other items like threads, clothes, bombs, potions, and more. Along with the creation of more items one can use for general game play, creating additional items with the shopkeepers will progress side stories and such. Eternal Mana's game play isn't anything new. The battles are pretty straight forward with the standard fight, run, and magic commands. Klein can utilize Alchemy abilities to create more weapons as well as extract elements from fallen enemies for future use. However, there are only three character slots for battles; therefore, if one selects a healer then a player only has two fighter slots. This makes for limited strategy but also allows for powerful characters. Graphics and sound is a mixed bundle. Visuals still seem 16-bit-ish but the sound is updated. There is also a choice of English or Japanese Dialogue just like the other NIS titles. More Screenshots (click image to enlarge view):
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Developer: GUST
Don't let the beautifully animated introduction fool you. The Atelier series has been around since the 16-bit days and unfortunately the graphics demonstrate that fact. It begins with way too much back-and-forth travel for errands, but that actually bleeds off into more side quests. There are some added extras, music and illustrations, but not too much replay value. Hopefully there will be more to offer when the next game is released. With funny dialogue, and good character interactivity, it's no wonder that the publisher of Disgaea and Makai kingdom chose this one. 
