Iris

Iris starts in a pub with Alex getting smacked around by a drunk and being rescued by an older man. In a profanity laden tirade, he tells Alex what his (Alex's) problem is, a lecture that is largely vague and useless and implies some advanced understanding of how the world works, but provides absolutely no map on how to attain that wisdom while expecting him to be able to understand (the point being is that if you can understand, then there's no point in playing the game). Of course, Alex doesn't understand. "I see better than you because I don't need eyes to see." Of course, as with any archetypal wise man, he never explains what he means.

Writing: I'll start here since this is where the bulk of my complaint is. Freedom of speech is a wonderful thing. It lets us speak our minds and who cares if anyone has a problem with it? Here's the thing: if your game leaves the starting gate dropping the F-bomb in every other text window, you can expect to turn away the majority of your audience. It certainly turned me off. For realism's sake, there's nothing wrong with cursing in your dialogue, but you have to decide if you're telling a story or emulating a Quentin Tarantino movie, and since this game reminded me nothing of Pulp Fiction, I must therefore assume that the writer was trying to tell a story. Next, our story type here uses the archetype of the unlikely hero. Alex is a spoiled rich kid with no street smarts. Character reactions to him are over the top and unrealistic. I assume we're trying to be funny, but in Alex's case, he only has to utter a three word sentence before someone says "Give me a break," or, "Is this kid for real?" It only serves to distract from the story. If you want the guy to look like a loser, give him a chance to actually put his foot in his mouth (it's true that he does, but the characters have already formed negative opinions about him before he's even gotten the chance to look like an idiot). Throughout the game, it simply looks like everyone else is an asshole and Alex is getting an undeserved psychological complex. The kid can't take two steps without being bullied, and then to add insult to injury he gets lectured about why it's his fault.

Story: The story is well conceived and laid out. It's an old and proven formula: idiot kid has to go out into the world and prove himself to his skeptical peers. Give more consideration to your character interactions. The concept is fine. It's the assembly that is suffering.

Graphics and Visual: Classic animation and graphics have been expertly employed. The atmosphere is well adjusted and the overall feel doesn't lose sight of the game's intention.

Music: Usually, I don't mention music since nobody writes their own stuff anyway, but here I had to say something because the music was so well selected. It fits the tone and the atmosphere of this game in all of its aspects perfectly.

Gameplay: Straight attacking in monster battles is next to useless. You could spend fifteen minutes in a fight with a pair of slimes swinging. The better alternative is the cumbersome and unwieldy mana system. Clearly, Alex serves as support, but he cannot maintain his MP level. At the end of every fight, his MP drops to zero. On the plus side, during a battle, his MP goes up by 10 per turn and he can focus to get another ten each turn. Helen does retain her MP, keeping it throughout, but she cannot replenish it. Alex has to give her his, literally meaning that they can't travel without each other. This isn't so much balancing the characters as tying them at the hip. It's an interesting idea, but proves to be fidgety. You spend more time working with the menu than you do playing the game. Also, battles are covered by one of four elemental fields: Earth, Thunder, Water, and Fire. This means you take damage every turn regardless of whether or not you're attacked, and for some fields, you take status ailments. As for the map, there are no random encounters. Instead, the enemies are sprited and are easily avoided if you wish, but I recommending killing them all and getting the XP.

Glitches: You have an issue in your forests. When Helen walks into the treeline, you can see her head poke through the ceiling. No music in the opening screen (I saw on your game page that there is supposed to be music).

Conclusion: One of the themes running through this game is that of first impressions. Had I not had the intention of reviewing this game, I likely wouldn't have got past the pub. I certainly wouldn't have given a future incarnation a chance. Since I had to force myself to play through, I wound up with a very different impression of this game and even liking it fairly well. First impressions are crucial and will make or break any endeavor.