I love Final Fantasy Tactics-style RPGs, and generally speaking I love most of the games NIS America produces as a result. I’ve even enjoyed the first two installments of their Atelier Iris series, including Eternal Mana and Azoth of Destiny, when some reviewers were vowing they’d rather spend time listening to sales pitches for time shares at condo hotels than play Atelier Iris 1 or 2.
But with the third installment, Grand Phantasm, I finally have to admit I’m disappointed with the series. The main reason is the game was made with a new design concept that simply doesn’t go over well and kills off interest in exploring the game’s work, no matter what other strengths the game has to offer.
I’m speaking of the “auto-recall” feature that activates whenever you enter a battle area; you get only so much time to explore, battle, complete quests and solve missions before you’re ripped away from that world and sent back to town.
WHAT?
It’s a feature that is as stupid as it sounds, and it just destroys the whole experience. Which is too bad, because other than that, the game seemed enjoyable.
