curious Starmongoose, how are the Atelier games different from Mana Khemia and the Atelier games not released here, I was gonna play Iris but decided on Mana instead (no real reason, just grabbed it first, lol) but now you have me curious about differences.
Well, the Atelier Iris games are more like your traditional RPG, questing to save the world from the evil bad guy, but with a strong focus on item creation. Though really you only need to make an item once because when you create it the first time you can then replicate it by spending Elements, which you collect by breaking down objects. Like breaking a rock gets you Stone elements and breaking a shrub gets you Water and Wood elements.
The Atelier games that were never brought over here were less about the saving the world and more about meeting the deadlines. Item creation was probably more in depth as well, to make up for lack of emphasis on battle. You are pretty much relegated to making things the hard way at all times, not handy dandy elements.
Mana Khemia is like a happy medium. You have your deadlines for creating items, but also a reason to battle, since there is a villian who needs stopping. My favourite of all the games.