Atelier Games

[Sephiroth]

Is anyone interested in the Atelier brand?

I am a total fan of these games. My favourite title is Atelier Totori.

[NeoCracker]

I've played Atelier Iris 1, 2, and 3, Atelier Annie, Mana Khemia 1 and 2, all three Arland games and Ayesha.

So you could say I have a.... passing interest.

Totori is, on a whole the best written, though Ayesha has a a couple superior characters with Linca. Ayesha is also mechanically superior to the Arland games, and has the series best crafting system easy. Considering this is a series known to have some of the best crafting set ups in gaming, that's an accomplishement. It's hard for me to pick between Ayesha and Totori for the best PS3 launch of these games.

However, Mana Khemia is one of my favorite games of all time. The actual combat is the best in the series, and it's writing is easily the best. This game has arguably one of the best final bosses of any game, not just the Atelier series.

And oh god some of the games endings. Muppy's is just outright insanity and hilarious for it, and then you have the likes of Pamela and Nikki who are just insanely touching and sweet.

Only weak link I feel is Jess, which is odd as she has probably the most interesting back story of your party (Asside from Vayne anyway), but as a character she kind of bores me.

Edit: And I'm eagerly awaiting an announcement for Atelier Escha and Logy: Alchemist of the Dusk Sky.

[Shauna]

I have a bunch of the Atelier games, but I've only finished Iris. Currently plowing my way through Iris 2.

I really like these games.

[Polnareff]

I've played the following:

Atelier Violet
Atelier Annie
Atelier Judie
All 3 Atelier Iris games
All 3 Arland games (Rorona, Totori, Meruru)
Both Mana Khemias
Atelier Ayesha

My favorite ones are Atelier Iris 2 and Atelier Ayesha. Iris 2 felt like the most well-put-together game to me; the only bad part was in the beginning when you had to switch between Felt and Viese, which really slowed the game down since the Viese parts were exploration-only.

Ayesha had the best crafting and some of the coolest characters, like Keithgriff.

I never really liked Mana Khemia because it was way too restrictive, especially when building your character. It made the battling aspect completely pointless since you level up by getting certain items, which is a crapshoot at best.

Atelier Iris 3 is another one I felt blah about, since you have the same 3 characters all game and the time limits in dungeons completely ruin the experience. That and the game severely lacks personality.

But other than those and maybe Rorona and Meruru, it's a great series. Like Neo, I'm waiting for Escha & Logy.

[CimminyCricket]

I played a bit of Atelier Iris and I think I bought the second one before I even opened the first and I wasn't really all that into them. I think it was the voice actors. I went through this stage where I couldn't get over that.

[Ultima Shadow]

Only played Mana Khemia and Ayesha thus far. But I loved both of them. Mana Khemia is possibly the best PSP game I've played, and I've played quite a few. Ayesha has, like mentioned before, an even more amazing and addictive crafting system though. And Linca. Linca is awesome.