Atelier Iris 3 for Europe News

Koei has confirmed this afternoon that the third game in the Atelier Iris series, Grand Phantasm, will be coming to Europe in July.

It brings a bountiful horde of new features and updates to the role-playing table. Gone are the random battles, for instance, with little markers now pointing out enemies on your map, and you'll be able to pick and choose your quests - enjoying a much greater level of freedom this time around.

The card-battle system has also been updated, rewarding quick reflexes with a reduced wait for your next turn, and powerful combos can be triggered when you fill up your "burst meter".

Those of you who like tinkering with the item and weapon creation system will be pleased to see it return in a new and improved way, while story-chasers will enjoy a climatic finale to the series.

"The Atelier Iris series has proved to be immensely popular since we first brought it to Europe, ending up as one of the UK’s best selling Japanese RPGs of last year," boasted Will Curley, sales manager for Koei.

"With this latest instalment featuring countless improvements and advances we hope that fans of the series will see this as a fitting finale to such a fondly regarded series."

Grand Phantasm follows the adventures of Edge and Iris, two inquisitive types that happen upon a part of a magical book. It's this dusty tome that soon turns out to be able to grant wishes, but you'll need to find all eight pieces before it will work.

It's been out in Japan since last summer, and an initial scour of the Inter-void shows it to have a mixed reception - settling somewhere in the "one for the fans" section.

You can catch up on our thoughts from the second instalment in our Atelier Iris 2: The Azoth of Destiny review.