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Atelier Iris 3

Dude, she can protect herself, she's the STAR!

Atelier Iris 3: Grand Phantasm is the third in the series of the "Iris" video role playing games, itself a subseries of the Atelier Series, produced by the GUST company in 2006. The game may or may not be a direct sequel to the previous games, all of whom feature a female alchemist named Iris in an important role. However, Grand Phantasm is the first that actually has Iris as a playable character.

The story takes place around a city called Zey Meruze, that resembles Venice in that it is crisscrossed by water channels (with Fairies offering a gondolier service.) However, Meruze also has portals to other dimensions, called "Alterworlds" where, for some reason, humans can't stay for more than a short time (they eventually are magically transported out.) Iris (who in this game is still an amateur alchemist) and her friends Edge and Nell work as "raiders" for the Raiders Guild, an organization that performs tasks for people for a price. Usually these involve missions into the Alterworlds, but can also be as mundane as finding missing pets.

The game basically follows Iris's team as they rise through the Guild's ranks. The real story however, involves a sealed book that Iris owns- and which contains an enormous power that can only be released by finding eight "gem-like fragments", so she looks for them. And if you're Genre Savvy, you can probably guess that it isn't going to be quite that simple...

Tropes featured in this game:

Action Girl -Nell
Another Dimension -The Alterworlds
Badass Bookworm - Iris
BFS - Several used by Edge. Yula also wields a Big Fraggin' Mace.
Blood Knight - Alvero.
Bonus Boss - Several, via Quests. One (generally considered the hardest boss in the game) isn't listed on the quest board, however. Finding him and getting the Luplus blades requires entering the right area in Ishtar during the final chapter. The Shadow Stalker is often considered That One Boss, since he'll divide, copying himself over and over and casting Meteor, but there's a strategy that makes him a piece of cake: wait until he divides into four, and then use the high level attack items. Thunder Rod especially fill the the Burst Gauge instantly, allowing the player to spam their most powerful techniques until the burst ends, at which point repeat until he's dead. He theoretically resists these items, but it doesn't really make much difference. Since there aren't really any other bosses in the game hard enough to require these items, the player will probably have picked up more than enough in the course of the game.
Boobs of Steel- Nell
Bratty Half-Pint - Phenyl, the secretary at the guild, is short and has a TERRIBLE temper.
Breaking the Fourth Wall - Edge does this in "Your Love" quest, regarding whether they should ask Anna if she is romantically involved with Phenyl or not.
Edge: I guess it's possible. What's this game rated?
Brown Note - Repre's song will draw monsters. Subverted later when it turns out the monsters come because they actually love to watch her sing, just like the rest of her fans.
The Chick - Iris, before Nell joins up. Though Nell is more childish than feminine.
Cain and Abel - Nell and her sister Yula.
Class and Level System -Edge and Nell can switch between several character classes at will.
Cool Clear Water -The canal waters of Meruze are good enough to cook with!
Cosplay - Some of the Beastmen wear animal costumes depending on their tribe. Also, the player characters have several costumes, though you can't see them wearing them (except the default ones that come with each class change.)
Cute Monster Girl- Repre the fox girl. Also, Pamela the Ghost.
- Cute Clumsy Girl - Pamela was apparently this in life. In a mission to discover how she died, it is revealed that she fell off a stool when trying to get something out of an upper cupboard shelf and landed on her head.
Demonic Possession - Crowley, by Uroboros. The poor guy didn't even get to die as himself.
The Ditz - Iris comes across as one. This is mostly because the game uses her to ask the player's questions, but also because she doesn't tell her friends about her visions, at first.
Dumb Blonde - Nell
Eldritch Abomination - The Uroborus.
- Subverted as he's also a Well-Intentioned Extremist (although definitely overlapping with Knight Templar) rather than just a mindless mass of evil.
Fantastic Racism -between humans, Beastmen and Fairies.
Fetch Quest -What you do in many of your Guild quests.
From Nobody to Nightmare - Arguably, Crowley. Not quite a nightmare, but he surely managed to mess with some people's life.
Item Crafting -A complex system that has you looking for inspiration for several items before inventing them.
Get On The Boat- subverted in that the gondolas are a taxi service around the main town only.
Gotta Catch Them All - The fragments.
Hero Antagonist - Ash
Hopeless Boss Fight - Ash the first time you encounter him.
Humanoid Animals- Some of the Beastmen tribes are this; others only dress like animals. (?)
Idiot Hair - Alvero has one. That's saying something...
Idol Singer - Repre becomes one later.
Jerkass - Ash.
Jerk with a Heart of Gold -Edge. Well, he's not really a jerk, but with his permanent scowl, he certainly looks like one. He's actually embarrassed to admit it when he's being kind!
Just a Stupid Accent- Repre's
Love Makes You Crazy - Winna, a scientist, falls in love with Pamela (a ghost) and Pukko (a Fairy) falls in love with Phenyl (!)
- Interestingly, in Winna's case, it actually makes him a better person, as at the end of his quest chain he becomes more sociable.
Mass Monster Slaughter Sidequest - One of the very last combat quests available requires you to kill 200 Punis, supposedly for research purposes. Doing this allows access to the Bonus Boss, who is understandably out for revenge. The game even calls it genocide.
The Medic - One of Nell's Blades focuses on recovery and support.
Ms. Fanservice -There are a *lot* of attractive female characters in the game, most notably Eva, the Barkeeper.
- Nell is probably the most blatant example. She's incredibly busty, sports Underboobs in some of her outfits, and wears a midriff-baring top and a short skirt in her standard outfit.
Mythology Gag - Upon closer look, the "Alchemist Robe" item for Iris looks like the robe worn by the titular heroine of Atelier Marie...
The Napoleon - Don't try to say anything about Phenyl's height, even if you do it indirectly. Just look at what happened to Ewan and Funan.
Non-Linear Sequel -Iris was a famous alchemist in the first game, a child in the second, and a completely different character in the third.
Not Allowed to Grow Up - The Fairies look like human children.
Powers via Possession - Crowley.
Power Trio- Iris, Edge and Nell (ego, superego and id). They are the only playable characters.
Recurring Boss - Alvero, Yula, and the Stone Emperor.
Sealed Evil in a Can - The Uroborus
Shout Out -To, of all things, The Powerpuff Girls! (with some of Nell's costumes.)
- Another costume is named "Rozen Maiden".
Shut Up, Hannibal! - Nell delivers one to her Evil Twin (which is a monster trapping the Faustus Mana) in a quest.
Small Name, Big Ego - Apparently, Funan the Fisherman. He is bad at fishing and his words (which are supposed to be... poetic) hardly make sense, but that doesn't stop him from bragging in front of others.
Spell Book - Edge's weapon when equipped with Luplus Blades, with one exception (which falls into Throw the Book at Them).
Stripperific -Many female characters in the game dress like Malibu Barbies, including both female player characters! (Others are more conservative, however.)
- Some of the armors the girls can equip are actually pieces of underwear!
Summon Magic -Iris eventually gains this.
Supporting Protagonist - Edge, who apart from the very beginning of the Rufina sidequest, could have been completely removed from the game without hardly changing the story at all.
Timed Mission -Any that takes place in an alterworld.
Tranquil Fury - Noella will descend into this should anyone pokes the topic about her age.
Tsundere - Several of Phenyl's portraits hint this.
The Unreveal:
- To understand the full story (and avoid the Bittersweet Ending) you have to complete the Shadow Gem quest. It does not show up until the portal to the final dungeon (which you cannot return from) opens.
Unwitting Pawn: Several characters, but especially Alvero.
War Has Never Been So Much Fun - The war between the Fairies and the Kuma (bear) Tribe doesn't look as serious as the game claims it is...
What Do You Mean, It's Not Awesome? - The game's opening FMV, both the opening theme (Schwarzweiss/ Black And White) and the video itself, focus almost entirely on the antagonism between Edge and Ash, promoting as some epic rivalry and a major part of the plot. Epic rivalry my arse, the whole thing's just a mere jealous grudge Edge has, which is all only a very minor and barely noticeable part of the plot.
- Also, the opening itself. Schwarzweiss is a far more intense and dramatic opening theme than the two others in the series, the actual game is easily the most laidback and non-epic installment of the trilogy.
Well-Intentioned Extremist - The Uroborus, who wishes to remake the world (or outright destroy it in the Good Ending, apparently), the Shadow Gem controlling Crowley, who wants to destroy the world to eliminate greed and sin and Ash, who just wanted to stop the awakening of Uroborus.
You Look Familiar -Several characters from the earlier games -or lookalikes- turn up here: Pamela the Ghost, Yach the Shopkeeper and Hagel the Smith. Iris herself may count.
- Roxis inherited several of Winna's mannerisms.