Atelier Iris: Eternal Mana Part #39

Part 39: Ups and Downs

Update 39: Ups and Downs

Good news, everyone! Our town square, while permanently scarred, has once again gained its capacity to spontaneously generate boxes for our destructive pleasure! I should have known the game would come through for us.

Flight offers a couple new avenues through the sewers (we could reach Pamela's spot before, I just wanted to show that she's come back to Kavoc after her stuff in Alexia Cave). If you fail to kill any of the Growloons during the actual attack on Kavoc bit, they're still hanging around down here, so I took the opportunity to kill off the rest. Sadly, Norman's RIP GRWLN journal is missing at the moment (I think the game still thinks we're in the “attack on Kavoc” stage until I go to Iris' Resting Place, and thus is locking me out of some stuff – not really sure, though) so I can't check on how well I'm doing or get rewards.

Speaking of Norman...

Atelier Norman: Infinite Death

Music: Sleeping Reality

I can't say this loud...so come here. I have a dangerous sounding job for you.

Hm...I've never seen you like this, old man. It must be pretty bad.

I know this isn't really your thing...but there's nobody else I can trust with it right now.

So we should be honored that you thought of us, huh?

My client wants me to make poisoned food...for a large banquet. I normally wouldn't even consider it, but the client's a regular.

Baji Poison is a reasonably common drop from...uh, some enemy somewhere, I want to say it's the little guys with axes at Ka Luda's Playground. The other ingredients are Norman's own recipes.

Here's the ultimate in poison dishes...I call it The Last Supper.

Just looking at it makes me want to pass out.

I'm sure it tastes good. Want to try some?

No thanks, I-I'm good.

Hmph...Well maybe you could use it as a weapon – force the enemy to eat it.

I've probably said something along this line before, but I love that Norman is both the nicest, most pleasant character in the game, and also a professional killer. This also marks two major synthesis characters who have casually suggested that Lita eat something they know will kill her.

Now that we have The Last Supper, we can replace Powder with it in the recipe, and...

Huh? You guys wanted an even more poisonous dish?

Uh...we didn't now this was going to happen.

This can't be considered The Last Supper any longer...Now it's Purgaroni! It would probably make you suffer even after death.

Purgaroni's effect is “incapacitate”. I didn't get a chance to see if I can straight up kill enemies with it or not, but I want to try it out.

That's it for Norman today. Let's see how Blaire's doing over in Arcose.

Atelier Blaire: The Problem With Salt and Sugar

Hello!

You're lucky you came in today, Klein. Have some ice cream, on me.

It's been really hot lately, so I had her make some ice cream. It's good.

Yeah, it is!

Looks like it was a lucky day.

Mmm...That was great.

Are you going to sell any of this?

Music: Future

(I don't know why this song plays during this scene but it's great and you should listen to it).

Did you get the owner's permission to make ice cream?

No...I can't make or sell it. It's just bread for me. The owner's very old fashioned. She believes bakeries must not make anything but bread. I think we could make some money with sweets, though. That's why I make them in secret. Plus, I get good bread ideas from sugary recipes. I'm trying to find the fine line between sweets and breads.

I'm impressed your working so hard.

Yeah, me too.

Of course you are! With this bakery, I will...once again... … … …

...Uh, Blaire?

Oh, I'm sorry. I was just...thinking about long ago. Here, Hute, please take some of this ice cream to Villa. She doesn't like the heat, so this will probably help her cool off.

Thanks!

You're giving Villa ice cream? That's really nice of you.

See? You are friends, meow!

N-No, that's not it! Villa just...gets irritable in the heat. Yeah, I'm saving myself some trouble.

We decided that ice cream and Leheruun Cream are the same thing, right? Shouldn't this also be dangerous for Lita to eat? I guess it doesn't matter now that she's got her energy source back.

Back to Kavoc...

Atelier Veola: Same Ingredients, Different Results

Music: Cute Witch

I can.

Do you know how to make a Sitar?

...A sitar? I'm afraid I've never heard of that instrument.

Norman showed one to us the other day. It had a very beautiful sound...

Apparently the tone differs depending on who made it.

I'd love to hear your tone, Veola...if you ever made one.

Huh?

I'd...like to play my sitar for you, Klein...

Um...

Do you have any idea what you're doing?

If I make a list of materials, could you find them for me?

How can you make a list of materials if you've never heard of it before?

I'll ask Mr. Norman later.

...You might have to go outside. You do know that, right?

One of the game's charms is how it increases and decreases font size to indicate volume. It does it infrequently enough so it doesn't get annoying, and I personally like it more than CAPSLOCK.

Apparently Veola made good on her plan to ask Norman – their Sitar recipes are identical.

Here's a Sitar.

Are you sure...? It doesn't look like Norman's sitar.

He's the one who showed me how to make them. It should be identical to his.

I think Norman's got more style...The instrument's body looks wrong. Hey, why don't we call this one the Imitation Sitar?

It still sound cute...I guess.

You should pay me to name things for you.

I dunno, Norman's looked sort of goofy to me. I'm not really an expert on instrument design though, so I don't have any business talking about what's what. By the way, Veola's Sitar also has the Incapacitate effect. Yikes.

In the meantime I revisited a few other old recipes and got some new stuff out of them.

Remember the Fairy Clothes and Fairy Hat? I decided to try out one of my rather rare Twisted Landos in the recipe alongside some other higher quality ingredients, and...

heart-pounding

Hmm...this doesn't resemble Fairy Clothes very much anymore.

Um...There's sheer, and then there's just plain see-through.

Whoa! Talk about lingerie! Hey Lita, why don't you give us a little modeling show?

Shut up, you perv!

Perhaps he's right...I'll call this the Sexy Robe.

Then I used one of my also fairly rare Gold Legiens for the Spike Bomb (Hute gave me a bunch earlier so I can afford to spend a few), and...

I'm done. This bomb's even stronger than the Spike Bomber. Naturally I gave it a stronger name.

So we're talking Extreme Rad Spike Bomb to the MAX!!?

Don't be ridiculous. Just listen to the name...It's called the Hyper Spike. See, the “hyper” indicates superior capabilities.

...You know what? If it requires an explanation, just name it something different.

I'm sorry to report that this game does not include an actual item called Extreme Rad Spike Bomb to the MAX!! That could have been pretty great.

And now for a non-synth scene that triggered during this update...

Music: Sadness is Whisked Away By the Wind

Would you like to inherit my shop?

Inherit...What are you talking about?

I may be gone soon, so...

Are you moving away?

Of course not – that would involve going outside. I'm referring to my death.

Your...death!?

Are you really that surprised?

Don't talk about stuff like that!

I was not joking. I've considered this for a long time. If I died now, I would have no regrets...I believe that, sometimes, death serves a purpose.

Stop talking like that! You shouldn't think about death! If something's bothering you, I want you to talk to me about it, okay?

Heh...You've always been kind, Mr. Klein. That must be why I like you so much.

Please don't die, Veola. Without you this game wouldn't be worth playing. I mean, the other synthers are cool and Mofuma's the cutest thing since Winnie the Pooh, but you're what holds this game together and I don't want to have to continue it without you.

Music: The Laughable Pair

Oh, hello. I was about to bake a cake.

That sounds like fun.

You want to try it? It's actually pretty hard.

Come on, Norn, Marietta...Let's give it a shot!

Why must I help?

Doesn't it sound like fun, Norn?

...Not as fun as eating it, meow.

Hold on a minute...Only one person can try.

Just one? Oh...Who wants to do it?

You're the one who wanted to, Lita.

No, no...That's no good. We have to decide this fairly.

… …

I don't know what Lita's thinking trying to back out of this all of the sudden. She gets to do it.

Okay, I'm sorry everyone. I'll just try it myself.

Okay, let's begin. First, we have to make the batter...

Hmm...It should be sweeter.

Now we put the batter into a pattern. Divide it up a few times.

Careful...I did it!

The screen switches to show Lita and Blaire at the oven.

Finished.

It looks a lot better than I was expecting.

Let's call everyone in to try it.

Looks normal enough.

It should taste as good as it looks. Try it!...So, how is it?

...Salty.

What!? That can't be right...*cough* Oh wow...it is salty...

Odd...I gave you all the ingredients.

Well, I wanted it to be extra sweet, so I used that white powder over there.

… …

Shoot, I screwed it up...Klein, why are you still eating it?

I don't like to waste food.

...Uhkay.

Do you have any idea how strange you are?

I've actually made this mistake in reverse. When I was a kid I dumped sugar all over a burger and fries thinking it was salt. Such a waste...

Also, that's two pretty good scenes with Blaire but still no new recipes. She better not be waiting for me to improve the quality of her food again.

Our next stop is the Animal Village. Before we synth stuff, check out this accessory I found with the power of flight.

That's FOUR Battle Lord PWR on Lita now – or +140 ATK and HP just from equipment effects. And Murder Mode just inflates that attack power even further.

Atelier Totopop & Mofuma: Data Storage Device

Music: Animal Village

You humans are coming here often to be the regular customers? Let us having the tea party...since you are regulars, yes? I would liking if you tried my favorite, the Bagel Sandwish.

Yay, meow!

… …

What's the matter?

...I am lacking the ingredients at this time.

Shoot, meow!

If you humans are bringing me ingredients, I can make sandwiches for all!

This is another pretty straightforward recipe, though as you can see it's also yet another of Mofuma's items that needs help from a human chef.

Perhaps I am the too long baking.

You scorched it pretty good, but it's not a lost cause.

No way, meow! It tastes like ashes!

I am having the idea. Why not use this as boomerang?

I dunno...It's still edible. Would it really hurt anyone?

This being my greatest weapon so far! I call it Burnt Bagel, yes?

Atelier Iris: The game where even bread can be weaponized. I think Blaire is the only synther so far who hasn't made something seemingly benign that that was actually intended for combat. That will change.

Totopop didn't have any new scenes, but I do have that Gear sans-gear whatsit so I can make some new stuff.

I made a Rainbow Disk, po! Mystical beasts use these disks to record their diaries, po. Many words and drawing can be stored on just one disk.

That doesn't make sense...They're so small!

Mystical beasts are good at compressing our data. These disks can hold a gig of information.

...What are you talking about?

The thing I love about Totopop isn't so much that he kind of but not quite breaks the fourth wall with this improbable technology, but that he doesn't really seem to get that no one else understands what he's saying.

The Organite requires a Gold Handle or a Broken Handle. I think this is the only recipe that calls for either one, so you might as well use a gold if you have one. Cold Cogs can be bought form the Mana shopkeeper, and Golden Gears are sold by Delsus' Grandma in Duran. I think this is the only recipe that requires either of those things, as well. And, of course, it indirectly requires a Cueparts and a Gear sans-gear via the Rainbow Disk. I think (but am not totally sure) that the Gear sans-gear I found above Veola's shop is the only one in the game, which would subsequently mean you can only make one Rainbow Disk and one Organite if I am correct.

Sweet, an Organite, po! I've already put a song on it that I thought you'd like. Ancient people used to sing this song several hundred years apo! I bet a song like this could lull you to sleep forever!

Sounds interesting, but I feel like this might end up being in my “too rare to use” set of items.

Okay, I guess it's time to proceed with the mai-

ATELIER OSCAR: A FEAST FIT FOR A KING

Music: Albion

How'd you make a full-course meal without proper cooking utensils?

My eyes have been opened...cooking isn't about fancy contraptions. It's about the heart of the chef, the strength of his blade, and this iron plate! It's a mountain's worth of food, but my pride in it reaches to the heavens! If you manage to eat all this, you'll know your true strength.

And thus we are done with Atelier Oscar. Shangri-La boosts Max HP to go with Chubby Bunny's boost to Max MP. I wound up giving them both to Marietta because I could.

Incidentally, Oscar actually had a Chubby Bunny available for sale. I really wasn't expecting to ever be able to buy either of these, I figured I'd have to synth them all. Nifty.

By the way, Lector's caravan has an ever increasing group of these curious Puni statues, which I believe appear as you find more and more items and show them to her. Once there are enough, you can climb high enough to reach this Jade Mana.

Duran also has a couple more common Mana Stones (and a semi-rare Glowing one) on a rooftop we can reach with flight.

Okay, main plot for real this time.

Music: Beat of the Rumbling Earth

...I finally found you. You're going to hell for what you did to my kind.

Arlin...What a surprise. I thought you'd run out of power by now. Do you honestly believe you can stop me? You're not even human.

Mull summons a cat. The game actually transitions into a battle screen just to show Arlin killing it, then comes back to cutscene mode for the rest. Yep.

You can't kill me with parlor tricks, Mull.

Perhaps you're right. It seems you've improved.

Mull reappears, clearly unharmed by Arlin's Flashy Attack.

Mull...You bastard!

You shouldn't be surprised. I'm the greatest alchemist in the world. Creating doubles is simple...or perhaps you're so defective that you couldn't notice the difference.

… ...