The 7th core Atelier game and the second in the Iris Series. Its story is a Prequel to the first game.
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Known in English as Atelier Iris 2: Azoth of Destiny, I was super psyched to jump right into this game as soon as I finished the first game in the Atelier Iris sub-series. This was a game I hadn't heard a ton about other than a friend who recommended it a fair bit, and with how much the first game was "almost great" in so many ways, I had fairly high hopes for this game. The thing I ultimately found with it left me feeling something similar as to when I finished the first game: wishing something "almost great" had actually made that step to being genuinely great. But either way, I did almost everything in the base game and that took around 36 hours in total to do on the Japanese version of the game on real hardware.
Atelier Iris 2 is the second game in its sub-series, but it's a prequel to the first game set many hundreds of years in the past to that one. It follows the stories of Vieze and Felt, two childhood friends and budding alchemists who were raised at the same orphanage in the peaceful floating island of Eden. However, just after Vieze gets her certification to be a real alchemist and makes her first pact with a Mana (magical familiars who allow alchemy to occur), a sudden cataclysm occurs and nearly all of the holy spots of each mana group suddenly disappear. Finding the titular magical sword, the Azoth, suddenly talking to him, Felt pulls it from its legendary resting place and events push him out on an adventure to save Eden by traveling to the other world just beyond the magical gateway.
Iris 2's narrative is, on the whole, a fair bit weaker than that of the first game. I'm barely scratching the surface of the plot setup in the above paragraph (I didn't even mention the appearance of the titular Iris, though she's a mysterious child and not a playable character). There is just a ton of lore and plot but not actually all that much on the level of meaningful character writing (and very little in the way of narrative-focused side content, to be perfectly honest).
Even the big themes and character beats of Atelier Iris 2 are very similar to those of its predecessor, with Felt and Vieze unsurprisingly realizing they view each other as more than just friends over the course of the narrative. But where Klein and Riita were strangers who grew to trust one another before, Vieze and Felt are already close for the whole narrative, and it's a much quieter and less engaging relationship. Other characters have either virtually no character arcs to speak of or have ones that simply repeat standard tropes (secret princess not ready to rule, and child of the estranged father (who himself is a good guy on the wrong side of the war, a plot line I think is handled particularly clumsily)) in pretty uninspired ways. The game tries to frame Vieze and Felt as two equal main characters in the story, but the actual mechanics and happenings of the story fly in the face of that constantly. Vieze is stuck in Eden making recipes and support information for Felt while he's the one on the front lines meeting new characters, fighting big bosses, etc. Though she does eventually get some more important action as the story progresses, the way the two main characters are split up and the way the woman is made to stay home and simply prepare materials for the man leaves a pretty sour taste in the mouth, even for a game released in 2005.
The characters themselves are likeable enough, but they go through so little actual struggle on a personal level that I found it very hard to ever care terribly much about the story. Iris 2's narrative is a very weird case where the same team (more or less) managed to make a sequel that for the most part feels like a cheap ripoff of the story of their previous game, and after how charming so much of the first game's writing was, that was a pretty big disappointment.
Where Iris 2's genuine improvements shine brighter is in the mechanics and combat. Finally, after having the thing hidden for so many games, we have a visible turn order counter visible at the top of the screen. You even have "break" normal attacks you can do to send an enemy further back in the turn order, and a lot of strategy can be employed on whom to try and push back and when. This is especially true as in addition to special moves and using items, you also have "charge" normal attacks that charge your skill gauge, and those skill gauge charges give you ammo to spend on special moves. This game has no MP at all, and so most decisions in battle come down to the health you had going into it as well as the decisions you make in that battle itself.
This is where Iris 2 hits another one of its main stumbling blocks. Sure, combat animations and overall time is reduced heavily from the first game, as is the amount of time spent in menus. It's a game that overall moves a LOT faster, but it's also a game that is way WAY easier than the last game. The game has a really clever combination of the alchemy systems from the first five games and from the first Iris game, where Vieze makes the "master" versions of consumables using item combinations like the first five games, and then Felt can "mass produce" copies from that master using source he obtains just like how alchemy works in Iris 1. But the fact is that this system basically doesn't matter at ALL because you can get through the large bulk of the games encounters (and boss battles) by only ever using charge moves, break moves, and maybe a special skill if you feel like it. Some later bosses dish out nasty mass debuffs that you'll need to spend a turn undoing with one of the better mass-heal items you have, but even these are super easy to craft and make a TON of, and you can't avoid getting one of the best ones due to how the story goes.
Healing items in general are super duper easy to mass produce to the point where running out of health is virtually never a problem, and the game as a whole just never actually hits any sort of resource management. Not all games need to be super hard, but there was basically never a time I meaningfully thought I was going to get a game over, even against the final boss. Combat is snappy and fun, but it's so simple it ends up coming off as almost pointless due to how poorly balanced the underlying systems are. The overly simple combat combined with the overly easy story add up to an experience that feels like an earnest attempt to improve the formula of the previous game without time being taken to actually polish those systems into something that works.
The presentation at least is as good as ever. The musical tracks lean a bit more towards pop-styles than prior games, and the character design is a little more sexualized than the relatively (although certainly refreshingly) modest designs of Iris 1, but those in themselves aren't bad things and are kept well in moderation. It's got a very pretty, colorful art style and loads of good tunes. Nothing out of the ordinary for a Gust game of the time, thankfully~.
Verdict: Hesitantly Recommended. This is a borderline "recommended" game, but it's just so underwhelming in so many ways that I feel your time is probably better spent playing a different RPG. This game is very rarely outright "bad" in one way or another, but it just also doesn't do anything particularly well either. Even for the Atelier series, the bar had been raised in terms of the quality of experience in an RPG in 2005, and I don't believe that Atelier Iris 2 does a fantastic job of passing that bar. You likely won't dislike your time with this game (outside of perhaps being bored), but you'll also likely enjoy most other PS2 RPGs of the time more than you will have enjoyed this.
Atelier Iris 2 is the second game in its sub-series, but it's a prequel to the first game set many hundreds of years in the past to that one. It follows the stories of Vieze and Felt, two childhood friends and budding alchemists who were raised at the same orphanage in the peaceful floating island of Eden. However, just after Vieze gets her certification to be a real alchemist and makes her first pact with a Mana (magical familiars who allow alchemy to occur), a sudden cataclysm occurs and nearly all of the holy spots of each mana group suddenly disappear. Finding the titular magical sword, the Azoth, suddenly talking to him, Felt pulls it from its legendary resting place and events push him out on an adventure to save Eden by traveling to the other world just beyond the magical gateway.
Iris 2's narrative is, on the whole, a fair bit weaker than that of the first game. I'm barely scratching the surface of the plot setup in the above paragraph (I didn't even mention the appearance of the titular Iris, though she's a mysterious child and not a playable character). There is just a ton of lore and plot but not actually all that much on the level of meaningful character writing (and very little in the way of narrative-focused side content, to be perfectly honest).
Even the big themes and character beats of Atelier Iris 2 are very similar to those of its predecessor, with Felt and Vieze unsurprisingly realizing they view each other as more than just friends over the course of the narrative. But where Klein and Riita were strangers who grew to trust one another before, Vieze and Felt are already close for the whole narrative, and it's a much quieter and less engaging relationship. Other characters have either virtually no character arcs to speak of or have ones that simply repeat standard tropes (secret princess not ready to rule, and child of the estranged father (who himself is a good guy on the wrong side of the war, a plot line I think is handled particularly clumsily)) in pretty uninspired ways. The game tries to frame Vieze and Felt as two equal main characters in the story, but the actual mechanics and happenings of the story fly in the face of that constantly. Vieze is stuck in Eden making recipes and support information for Felt while he's the one on the front lines meeting new characters, fighting big bosses, etc. Though she does eventually get some more important action as the story progresses, the way the two main characters are split up and the way the woman is made to stay home and simply prepare materials for the man leaves a pretty sour taste in the mouth, even for a game released in 2005.
The characters themselves are likeable enough, but they go through so little actual struggle on a personal level that I found it very hard to ever care terribly much about the story. Iris 2's narrative is a very weird case where the same team (more or less) managed to make a sequel that for the most part feels like a cheap ripoff of the story of their previous game, and after how charming so much of the first game's writing was, that was a pretty big disappointment.
Where Iris 2's genuine improvements shine brighter is in the mechanics and combat. Finally, after having the thing hidden for so many games, we have a visible turn order counter visible at the top of the screen. You even have "break" normal attacks you can do to send an enemy further back in the turn order, and a lot of strategy can be employed on whom to try and push back and when. This is especially true as in addition to special moves and using items, you also have "charge" normal attacks that charge your skill gauge, and those skill gauge charges give you ammo to spend on special moves. This game has no MP at all, and so most decisions in battle come down to the health you had going into it as well as the decisions you make in that battle itself.
This is where Iris 2 hits another one of its main stumbling blocks. Sure, combat animations and overall time is reduced heavily from the first game, as is the amount of time spent in menus. It's a game that overall moves a LOT faster, but it's also a game that is way WAY easier than the last game. The game has a really clever combination of the alchemy systems from the first five games and from the first Iris game, where Vieze makes the "master" versions of consumables using item combinations like the first five games, and then Felt can "mass produce" copies from that master using source he obtains just like how alchemy works in Iris 1. But the fact is that this system basically doesn't matter at ALL because you can get through the large bulk of the games encounters (and boss battles) by only ever using charge moves, break moves, and maybe a special skill if you feel like it. Some later bosses dish out nasty mass debuffs that you'll need to spend a turn undoing with one of the better mass-heal items you have, but even these are super easy to craft and make a TON of, and you can't avoid getting one of the best ones due to how the story goes.
Healing items in general are super duper easy to mass produce to the point where running out of health is virtually never a problem, and the game as a whole just never actually hits any sort of resource management. Not all games need to be super hard, but there was basically never a time I meaningfully thought I was going to get a game over, even against the final boss. Combat is snappy and fun, but it's so simple it ends up coming off as almost pointless due to how poorly balanced the underlying systems are. The overly simple combat combined with the overly easy story add up to an experience that feels like an earnest attempt to improve the formula of the previous game without time being taken to actually polish those systems into something that works.
The presentation at least is as good as ever. The musical tracks lean a bit more towards pop-styles than prior games, and the character design is a little more sexualized than the relatively (although certainly refreshingly) modest designs of Iris 1, but those in themselves aren't bad things and are kept well in moderation. It's got a very pretty, colorful art style and loads of good tunes. Nothing out of the ordinary for a Gust game of the time, thankfully~.
Verdict: Hesitantly Recommended. This is a borderline "recommended" game, but it's just so underwhelming in so many ways that I feel your time is probably better spent playing a different RPG. This game is very rarely outright "bad" in one way or another, but it just also doesn't do anything particularly well either. Even for the Atelier series, the bar had been raised in terms of the quality of experience in an RPG in 2005, and I don't believe that Atelier Iris 2 does a fantastic job of passing that bar. You likely won't dislike your time with this game (outside of perhaps being bored), but you'll also likely enjoy most other PS2 RPGs of the time more than you will have enjoyed this.
Anti imperialist masterpiece of a story, it's like if Fullmetal Alchemist had the balls to have good political takes
Gameplay is just aight.
Gameplay is just aight.
This review contains spoilers
Two words.
HOLY. SHIT.
How they followed up the flat nothingness of Iris 1 with this absolutely ASTOUNDS me. When people talk about sequels that are better than the first game, I'm going to be using this game as a prime example.
The world building is great, constructing a land with history and conflict, and with a load of different locales.
The characters are remarkable and have real motivations and defining traits, which extends to even the antagonists, especially Chaos. Even Felt, who fills the "Protag who saves the day" role has his own small quirks that set him apart. I absolutely adore the usage of Felt and Viese's letters to give them that little bit more.
The music is ASTOUNDING, with Empty Corridor being my personal favorite, but you could choose most any other song and not be disappointed.
The combat gameplay does take some getting used to with the split attack system, and knowing when to use which does feel rewarding, plus the "skill meter" to use battle skills is novel, I just wish getting skill gauge points was just that tiny bit easier.
The alchemy is much more refined off of Iris 1, with mana synthesis no longer being the be-all-end-all and not needing to arbitrarily throw materials together and hope you get a good item result. The addition of weapon forging and skills learned off of certain equipment also adds a nice layer to equipment that I do enjoy.
This game has a fantastic cast set within a well constructed world partaking in a well written story, all set to a fantastic OST.
Gust somehow gave you Viese at level 1 and remain underleveled, yet not be dead weight, AND they pulled a twist villain THAT ACTUALLY WORKS. HOW???
Palaxius WILL slam you into the concrete if you are not carefully prepared.
HOLY. SHIT.
How they followed up the flat nothingness of Iris 1 with this absolutely ASTOUNDS me. When people talk about sequels that are better than the first game, I'm going to be using this game as a prime example.
The world building is great, constructing a land with history and conflict, and with a load of different locales.
The characters are remarkable and have real motivations and defining traits, which extends to even the antagonists, especially Chaos. Even Felt, who fills the "Protag who saves the day" role has his own small quirks that set him apart. I absolutely adore the usage of Felt and Viese's letters to give them that little bit more.
The music is ASTOUNDING, with Empty Corridor being my personal favorite, but you could choose most any other song and not be disappointed.
The combat gameplay does take some getting used to with the split attack system, and knowing when to use which does feel rewarding, plus the "skill meter" to use battle skills is novel, I just wish getting skill gauge points was just that tiny bit easier.
The alchemy is much more refined off of Iris 1, with mana synthesis no longer being the be-all-end-all and not needing to arbitrarily throw materials together and hope you get a good item result. The addition of weapon forging and skills learned off of certain equipment also adds a nice layer to equipment that I do enjoy.
This game has a fantastic cast set within a well constructed world partaking in a well written story, all set to a fantastic OST.
Gust somehow gave you Viese at level 1 and remain underleveled, yet not be dead weight, AND they pulled a twist villain THAT ACTUALLY WORKS. HOW???
Palaxius WILL slam you into the concrete if you are not carefully prepared.
This was the first JRPG I've finished.
It's very nostalgic to me, and the looks of this game are literally perfect.
It's very nostalgic to me, and the looks of this game are literally perfect.
Super fun game and great prequel to Iris 1. Mostly every aspect has slight improvements over the first game. The encounter system is really cool and unique. The best part is the dual-scenario system, with both perspectives being super fun. This game also reminded me how much I loved Iris 1. This game is better in most ways but there are some things I like more in Iris 1, Like the atmosphere, and relationship between Lita and Klein (I wish Viese and Felt got some progression in the end) so I like them about the same.
not a super memorable experience (if asked to recall anything concrete about this game i would probably only be able to tell you the protagonist's name is felt) but i do remember that i enjoyed it at the very least, and felt that the game was an improvement from the first in the iris series. iirc i liked the ost as well.