Alchemy, Dear Boy

Ah, the old crafting formula:

Step 1:  Unleash the Harvest
Step 2:  Toss the proceeds into the cauldron
Step 3:  ALCHEMY
Step 4:  Profit!
Step 5:  Unleash the Harvest again

I'm not quite sure why, but there's something really satisfying about this Atelier business.  Maybe it's because there's a real sense of player agency when it comes to what you get to make your toys from and what to do with your shinies.  Maybe it's because you can actually make your own, better shinies from the shinies you find.

This series pretty much renders the Harvest to its essence; you go out and smack crittters, cultivate plants, and mine rocks, and then use them to fuel your crafting rampage.  I can see why there is some suspicion among the series's population, and why there's such a sense of discipline and need-to-know and iniation among alchemists.  Talking Sword Sauron alone came across like what would happen if a Captain Planet villain was actually competent and wound up with magical replicator technology.  Damn if this isn't fun, though.

Things are coming along quite well in Atelier Iris 2.  I'm already pretty close to the end of the game (Atelier games are many things, but 60 hour epics they are not) and I'm taking a brether and just fiddling with the Dragon's Den, a nice little arena where you can battle certain series of monsters for XP and prizes.  On top of all that you get to keep the cash and item drops, so some planning and a bit of luck can really grow your material stash like crazy.  It's great if you feel like level grinding, but really you're just here to grab rare alchemy ingredients (like the crazy expensive mana orbs), plus do amusing things like turn demons into Elvis impersonator suits.  Whoever thought of that one is awesome, by the way.

Well, we'll see what happens when I finally get back to the storyline.  The Harvest Never Rests!