One of the funny things about Atelier Iris 3: Grand Phantasm is that the main heroine is voiced by Matsuki Miyu. So, every time she opens her mouth, I hear Yoshinoya-sensei. It’s especially funny when she starts screaming out attack names.
Oh, and obviously, I followed through on my previous threat. They didn’t have any copies of Odin Sphere in stock, unfortunately, so I opted to start with something a little more traditional. I can get a lot of hours out of a good dungeon crawler.
Atelier Iris 3 is out? Arse, I forgot to order it. Of course, given I’ve not even got around to playing 2 year, or Ar Tonelico for that matter, even though I own both, I’m not really in a hurry.
I guess I should probably go order it anyway.
Nice Yoshinoya pic. As a Hidamari Sketch completist, but obviously not a very good one, may I ask where it came from?
Oh, and Miyu Matsuki also voiced one of my favourite characters from Pani Poni Dash, Media, although they were all favourites really.
Brain… hurts. “Ceramic Inspiration?” Ow.
The image is from one of the Hidamari Sketch calendars. You can find scans of most of the calendar pages here (make sure to check all three pages). I actually wouldn’t mind owning one of these calendars… I wonder if they can still be bought.
I hope you don’t mind me asking (hello! from a random stranger), but how is the game? Maybe on a scale of 1-10 so far? I really like most of Nippon Ichi’s works but haven’t played any of the Atelier Iris line. Thanks, Jeff! :)
Honestly, I’m not far enough along in the game to offer much of a review. I definitely couldn’t give it a grade at this point.
I know it hasn’t been as well-received as the previous two games in the series, but this positive review was enough to convince me to give it a try. At the moment, the game seems pretty open-ended, which is generally the way I like it. Of course, it could be the story just hasn’t kicked in yet.
> I actually wouldn’t mind owning one of these calendars… I wonder if they can still be bought.
Thanks for the link. The majority of those images - certainly the first page an a half, which includes the 2006 calendar - are from the Hidamari Sketch Sketchbook, which is still available from the usual places, yesasia.com et al.
The pictures are awesome and very cool. Just wondering…Is there a 2007 calendar out??
I’m still a bit hesitant on Atelier Iris 3. The first one is easily one of my favorite RPGs, but the second one kind of rubbed me the wrong way. This one seems to be more in that vein, but I should get around to picking it up sometime, see if I don’t like it more than the second.
Looks like we have similar tastes in TVs. :) I own the exact same one. :P Mine is solely for gaming though… and hasn’t seen much use in the last few months. There are like 10 RPGs for the PS2 alone that I’ve been meaning to pick up over last year and change that I never got to. I’ve got some cash right now, so I may indulge in a few… Atelier Iris 3 being one I’m debating on.
I played Atelier Iris once. It had exceptionally great artwork and some interesting ideas involving the mana creatures. Overall though the story was kind of weak (not the worst I’ve ever seen though) but the kicker was that I just got bored with it once I realized that none of the battles posed any challenge whatsoever (Ok that’s not entirely true, it took me 3 tries to beat Norn). In the end the only thing that hurts Gust’s games is the lack of any sort of challenge. Add some challenge that actually forces you to use some of the systems they’ve set in place and they will be ready to compete in the RPG genre. Right now I’m playing a little Ar Tonelcio here and there, although I’m not feeling the story so much yet, hopefully it gets better. The sexual innuendo is just everywhere though….
Thank you for the link, Jeff. It was really helpful, and the writer has very interesting style, haha! If I do try an Atelier Iris game, it looks like game 1 is the way to go. But we’ll see. Thanks very much, nonetheless!
I was debating whether to get Atelier 3 or not, due to some rather mixed reviews. Let us know what you think of the game, as you get farther in! Btw, Odin Sphere is probably worth a rental rather than a purchase, since it’s actually not an extremely lengthy game per se. What other PS2 games are you considering?
I have a strong urge to play Atelier Iris, and listen to the Hidamari Sketch OST now. Trust Jeff to be the one to make that happen.
& it has already been said, but wonderful Yoshinoya image.
Ender, the only other game I’ve bought is Gran Turismo 4. I’ve actually been playing more of that, as I haven’t had time in the evening for something as involved as Atelier Iris. As for what other games I’m considering… I haven’t thought much about it. I’m mostly in to RPGs, but I can only really handle one at a time, so until I finish Atelier Iris (or get bored with it), I probably won’t pick up anything else. Or so I say.
Gran Turismo 4 is a great game. What’s your choice car at the moment?
At the moment, the Audi A3.