My 5th Atelier game, straight after Sophie 1, and this is the best one I've played yet. The grid crafting is so much better than it was in Sophie 1 (I haven't played Firis or L&S yet, they are next) and it's both much easier to understand the bonus and much easier to see what element everything is. There's a catalyst system in place of swapping out cauldrons, but serves the same purpose and does not have the frustrating exp one. Combat is much closer to what we saw in Shallie, but polished up, faster, and with new two character team up special moves with different effects. Some team ups are pure offense, some are buffs or healing. There's only six party members this time, meaning you will always use everyone, and they are all active members of the story. And all these gameplay improvements are on top of the most emotional story I've played from the series yet, with some amazing character relations/dynamics/interactions. As I mentioned in Sophie 1 review, my grandmother was taken to the hospital towards the end of my play through and was still there as I started this one, so the way Sophie and Ramizel's relationship developed in this game was extra potent for me, and made me tear up a good number of times. There are some very good stuff between Sophie and the young Plachta as well, and some very good stuff between past and future Plachta too (this game''s story takes place in a dream world time bubble inbetween Sophie 1 and Firis). Best combat and crafting both of the games I've played so far, best/most emotional story, great music and some great characters. The only problem is the use of in-game models for the opening song instead of 2D animation, a soulless practice that apparently started with Ryza

The absolute pinnacle of the series at this point. The story still takes second place to Ayesha but the gameplay, the characters, the world, the synthesis, all of it is the best it's ever been for Atelier. I was concerned with them repeating a lead heroine again (Ryza 2 was a big step down from it's predecessor) Sophie was someone I enjoyed a lot the first time and so I went in with worried but positive expectations when this came out. I'm still surprised all this time later by just how good this game is, there is nothing about it that didn't feel perfect and like the best possible next step of evolution for a series that is always evolving. It was new and fresh yet maintained it's tradition so well - it fit really well with the setting in this game that brings both the past and the present together as well.

Coming off of playing both Ryza 1 and 2, the expectation was more of the good crafting gameplay that Ryza had. But the crafting system and the way that crafting recipes are gathered had changed enough for me to take notice. Having the crafting system be on a grid of different elements is a good idea but having so many different options and so many items to make, crafting in Sophie 2 can both seem and be time consuming. Using the auto-place feature is something that is offered but I recommend not using it as it doesn't take advantage of party skills that can be used during crafting. So I ended up doing a mixture of both throughout my playthrough. The plus side to this is that it is way easier to get certain traits on the different items that are crafted. The recipe discovery still leaves a little to be desired as almost every recipe had tasks attached to them to unlock them. From gathering/obtaining a certain material, to craft an item with a certain trait or fighting x amount of enemies, the problem in itself is not the fetch quest nature of these tasks. It's that none of anything that was done before hand does not count to the count, only when the player is working toward the recipe does anything count. This gets really annoying about mid way through the game, as most of the requirements are material requirements and the player would have most likely already found them, making them have to go back and look for the item. The battle system is turn-based this time around, and at first I did not really enjoy it. But as I got further into the game and got more party members/skills, chaining different moves and breaking auras and landing major damage never gets old. The story of the game takes a sort of back seat, but the character interactions (also goes for their side stories) and I will give it credit in not taking apart in a lot of the anime tropes that I see in these games, such as the hotspring scene where instead of the usual girls in the hotspring and the boys get branded as pervs for going near them, instead they all hang out and have a good time. It was refreshing to see something like that. The environments are very nice to look at, and seeing the areas have the weather change is very cool to see. Although, having the first half of the main areas be nothing but forest or a grassy plain makes it get really old, pretty fast. Music was a bit of shock this time around, as there are so many different battle themes that I have heard through out the game and they all sound really good. Overall, if a comfy game is what you are looking for, then you wouldn't be too hard pressed to give Sophie 2 a try.

They said take Sophie 1, one of my favorite games, and make literally everything better. The peak of the atelier games I have played. Some of the most fun gameplay ever (albiet very easy which doesn’t bother me)
Story is super nice and super heartwarming scenes with Sophie, Ramizel, & Plachta. Really everything any fan of Sophie 1 could have asked for and more. The other characters are all really great too, friendship events are fun & cute, music isn’t as good as Sophie 1 but still fantastic even though it’s not metal. Would be an understatement to say this is the best alchemy system in the series as well. ONLY complaint is that there is no post-game super bosses because that’s one of my favorite aspects of Sophie 1 and probably where the insane metal boss themes would’ve been

the mysterious quadrilogy within the atelier series is possibly the closest one could ever experience an identity crisis while playing video games. but at the same time i utterly adored every game before this one for how ambitious they were and for the amazing characters every game brought. so going into this i did expect a lot and i can thoroughly say i was not let down at all.
obviously i have my small gripes like wishing there were more cgs and vocal songs like there were in the previous mysterious games but as a whole, this game is overflowing with passion for not just being apart of the atelier series, but also for being a game in general. even more so than previous entries honestly.
the gameplay mechanics are absolutely on point here with a lot of ideas being taken from previous entries (the tetris-esque alchemy from the mysterious games, a similar quest-reputation system to ryza 2, gathering minigames which apparently were from the mana khemia games, etc.) and the nods to both sophie 1 and firis are really really cute and enjoyable.
i loved the entire cast through and through and the story was great too. obviously, it isn't too deep or anything with what it says but i really do appreciate the messages about dreams a lot and the continued message of showing empathy and happiness that the mysterious games are known for is amazing here too.
one last complaint tho is that playing on the hardest difficulty (when you first start playing the game) can cause a couple fights feeling kinda bs, particularly the final two fights but not only did the final boss slap hard still, a majority of the fights in this game are really really good.
anyways yeah perfect video game, 10/10, the atelier series does it again.

also when the final line had "mysterious journey" in it i popped off.

Eventuell der Teil, den ich am wenigsten genießen konnte.

Das Alchemiesystem wurde mal wieder verbessert und das ist auch schon das einzige, was verbessert wurde.

Es macht keinen Sinn, sich in die Alchemie hineinzuarbeiten, da es nicht gebraucht wird. Das Spiel ist nicht nur zu leicht, es wird auch nie gegen starke Gegner gekämpft, was den Alchemieprozess unnötig macht.

Der Soundtrack ist für die Reihe unterdurchschnittlich.

Die Story spielt in einer Traumwelt und ist daher absolut irrelevant.

Ausnahmslos alle Frauen haben riesen Brüste..

Kein Gespräch wirkt unbeschwert, wie es für die Reihe typisch ist.
Es geht ständig um belanglose Probleme, die keinen interessieren. Die kindliche Unbeschwertheit der meisten vorigen Teile ist nicht vorhanden.

Die NPCs haben nun wirklich gar nichts mehr interessantes zu sagen, es gibt zu viele und die Stadt ist viel, VIEL zu groß.
Warum soll ich mehr als eine Minute durch die Gegend laufen, um am Ende einen!! lieblosen Satz zu lesen?

Und da dieser Teil offenbar der erfolgreichste war, wird sich an den Problemen nichts mehr ändern, was wirklich bescheiden ist.

I got abouuut halfway through maybe? Just kinda lost interest. As cute as sophie is, the interactions with the other characters are just really low energy and not super enjoyable. I get that the game is supposed to be really chill but if 70% of the game is just average SOL scenes then I don't have much reason to not just watch a CGDCT anime instead. The story isn't really anything notable either. The combat is pretty solid and snappy compared to ryza's but I'm not a fan of every single battle having an aura-clad enemy once they get introduced.

Loved it, to a kinda stunning degree, honestly.

Extremely smart in what it incorporates from Ryza, as well as what systems from the first Sophie it brings back to execute on far better. The writing is sharp, the characters are absolutely lovely, and the central relationship between Sophie and both versions of Plachta, as well as her grandmother Ramizel, are just incredibly well handled. I could go on about it all for hours, but I'll just say that the ending left me bawling. I'd grown extremely attached to every member of this cast and was so, so sad to say goodbye to them, especially with the sense of finality this whole game carries.

What a wonderfully smart, charming game. I've loved the Ryza games a bunch, but I honestly think this might be my favorite Atelier at this point. There's so much good here that I really hope future games incorporate.

If this is my last time seeing Sophie and Plachta, then honestly, what a wonderful note for things to go out on. Incredible sendoff for the Mysterious games.

The Mysterious trilogy is my least favorite Atelier trilogy. I found the casts a tad bland and it just generally felt like a weird in-between period for the series where Gust games were having some growing pains, especially after the fantastic Dusk trilogy. When I heard Sophie would be getting a sequel, I was cautiously optimistic at their second chance with the main character, and the premise sounded interesting.

Well, I'm happy to say that I finally liked a Mysterious game! The characters especially are crazy good, I loved all of them, but especially the younger Plachta was much more interesting than I ever found Plachta herself. The turn based battles are fun and snappy, and there is a lot more care and variety put into every aspect of the game. I think some of the late game is a bit strangely balanced and it definitely feels like they pointed the game in a more Ryza-ish straight up JRPG direction, I'd like to see a liiiittle bit more of a return to the daily life shenanigans that the series used to frequent.

But overall this is definitely a top 5 in the series for me, maybe my new favorite! Maybe a Dusk sequel next? Please?

I've completed Atelier Sophie 2, The Alchemist of the Mysterious Dream at 56 hours, completed all events, synthesized most items, and got the adventurer rank at S rank. Although it feels very similar to past games. It's a great sequel with various improvements even with a few hiccups in between.

The gameplay feels like a mix between the first Sophie game and Atelier Ryza 2. The core alchemy system is very similar to Sophie 1 with putting alchemy elements on a puzzle like grid and making them fit into certain spots to get the best out of the synthesis. But exploration, gathering, and game progress feel like a copy and paste from Ryza 2, from map design to handling requests. This is understandable and not even a bad thing considering the fast development time for Sophie 2 but it's very notable. Combat is most standard turn-based like Sophie 1 but the new mechanics like support guard and twin actions make combat more dynamic and engaging across all 6 main party members. Furthermore QoL improvements like turbo mode in battles, auto add materials and seamless transitions from exploring and combat make playing Sophie 2 very smooth and fast compared to previous games.

The overall story is solid. Sophie 2 is definitely much more plot-focused with an overall narrative holding up the game from beginning to end. Atelier games always had a slice of life focus and while the Ryza games attempt to be more plot-focused, I always thought the games struggle with that a lot. However, even if I thought some of the overall themes of dreams were a bit cheesy and there was no real challenge the protagonist Sophie has ever faced. Sophie 2 exceed the plot writing by staying unpredictable, changing the characters' objectives throughout the game, and having good pacing. The characters themselves are also very likable. Even if I thought the writing quality varied drastically, from characters that faced their own personal vendetta throughout the game to characters that just felt like they exist for comedic relief. It's very difficult to hate the characters due to the fact they all get around with each other well with emotional bonding and they're very engaging with the main plot.

As for flaws? Well, I've noticed there has been less content this time around. Gameplay is a bit more limited. There is no option to upgrade weapons, improve crafted items with alchemy or even have a puni to go out in the wild and gather materials for you. Sophie 2 feels more stripped down of all of that and instead has the player focus on just alchemy to get by with improving party stats. Also, I noticed there have been fewer characters events outside the main party and absolutely no side quests from NPCs. While Sophie 2 has great focus with its story and gameplay, it feels like Gust has cut corners with its side content. Also while the weather mechanic to change the environment to progress the map is an interesting idea in order to not make exploration too familiar to past games. Throughout the game, I personally just found it irksome to keep up with and just an artificial obstacle.

Overall, Atelier Sophie 2, while it's quite fanservice-y with a sequel of a popular Atelier character and it does have a few writing flaws along with a lot of cut mechanics of past games. It manages to take the best of previous Atelier games, from gameplay to story beats and churn out one of the best Atelier games in recent memory with a strong focus on story, gameplay and various quality of life improvements to make playing Atelier Sophie 2 very smoothly and enjoyable. If you enjoyed the Mysterious series or even want to play an Atelier game, then I highly recommend Sophie 2. It's arguably the best game of its subseries and one of the best games in recent memory.

This game is both a great follow-up to the first game, and an awesome modern Atelier. Hell, it's probably one of the best of the series, period.

The game looks incredible (the character models especially). The only complaint I'd have in this department is that I feel there is less Event Art than in Sophie, and previous Atelier games I've played. I wish there was more.

The world this game takes place in was really cool. It was both a smart idea, using it to make the game fit nearly in the timeline of the Mysterious saga (Probably, I haven't played Fyris or Lydie/Suelle yet). The weather system is really creative, and part of me wishes it would be possible in future titles. The interconnected world is fun to explore and complete objectives in. ...Mostly. Near the end of the game, I got tired of trying to remember what way to traverse the map in order to get to a specific spot, since changing the weather can change what paths are open and closed.

Alchemy is the most fun as it's ever been. The puzzle alchemy is so much fun to try and make happen. I've spent hours just tetris-ing the best configurations of some items to get certain traits. It's so much fun.

This game probably contains my favorite Atelier battle system, too. I love the ability to include your entire party in battles directly, it's a really smart system. And I love when these games allow you to use items with non-alchemist party members, too.

And the story... Kind of one the weaker side as far as Atelier games go. This world's logic is kind of wishy-washy sometimes, and the ability to magically solve an issue with alchemy kind of goes beyond the realm of believability sometimes. I'm not a huge fan of the main antagonist, either. They are pretty infuriating at times.

Gripes aside, I'd like to once again reiterate this is one of the best Atelier games made to date. You could probably play it without having played Sophie 1 (though it is probably way more rewarding to do so), but if you don't, there's a catchup option on the main menu. Not that there's a lot to catch up on, since the first game's story is so basic. Anyway, if you're interested, definitely check this game out!

The only Atelier entry that made me care about the mechanics. I had so much fun with the crafting in this game. I actually had to get good at it too because of the surprisingly well balanced difficulty(on very hard). It never felt unfair but it pushed me to engage beyond the bare minimum. I loved the weather mechanic and the cool level design it let Gust show off too. Just a great time all around.

I found the story to be pretty meandering, despite liking the cast for the most part. The setting intrigued me at first but it spends 90% of its runtime being really underdeveloped and its implications being left on the table. Thankfully, the final dungeon to the end of the game gives the context the story and setting needed. It's such a powerful end of the story arc that I can only forgive how boring the story was at times. Perhaps it goes to show how a strong last impression is all you need for a memorable story.

A bit of a letdown after how much I enjoyed the previous games. It outstays its welcome a bit and the battle system ends up completely leaning on a fairly lame stagger mechanic. By the end it just feels like the game's preventing you from using your items and skills more than dealing with them more directly which makes even basic fights much more spongey than they need to be. Item management feels kind of a pain too. It's still fun to blow up bosses in one shot, you just need to spend a few turns lining that up, even more so in late bosses where not only does it have the stagger point but also summon enemies which soak up even more damage. Ultimately unsatisfying.

Atelier Sophie 2: A redemption arc for Sophie Neuenmueller

The precedent that Atelier Sophie 2 followed was a genuine surprise. Like Atelier Lulua, it was a new entry in a subseries that had already concluded years ago. And like Atelier Ryza 2, it was an Atelier game which featured a character reprise their role as the main protagonist. But where it differs from those two games is the circumstances of it's release. Before Ryza came along, Sophie was Gust's fan-favorite Atelier protagonist, so when the time came to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the series, it made sense why Gust chose to go back to Sophie. However, the currently ongoing Secret subseries of Atelier had not yet finished so in addition of following the precedent set by Lulua and Ryza, Sophie 2 would set it's own: that a subseries can be interrupted, temporarily. Now, i doubt it'll happen again for a good while but it is no longer out of the question. While i'm always in the mood for Atelier, i will admit that the reveal of Sophie 2 set off some concerning bells for me. First, while i enjoyed Sophie as a character, i was never really a fan of her original game. Second, while the Mysterious series does get better with each installment, it was still in my opinion the weakest subseries in my opinion. Third, i was really enjoying the Secret series coming off after Ryza 2 so for the next game to not be Ryza 3.....yeah, i was a little disappointed. Fourth, Lydie & Suelle was such a natural conclusion to all of the character arcs in the Mysterious series that i wasn't sure if going back in time would be worth it. Despite all that, i went into this game with an open mind, as i always do with games that aren't Balan Wonderworld. What i would proceed to play would be yet another banger entry in the series.

First off, Atelier Sophie 2 manages to do something that Mysterious kinda struggled with before: great characters, but more importantly, great characters that can stand on their own, without needing to be carried by the main cast. Sophie 1 sucked at this, having no returning cast because it's the first game in that series. Firis was better at it but was still mainly carried by returning characters. Lydie & Suelle's original characters were much much better but like half the cast, playable or not, were still returning characters. Sophie 2 manages to continue that trend of improving in each installment by having a cast of characters that stand on their own, finally giving Mysterious a cast that stands among the great casts from across the series. Sophie 2 only has two returning characters: Sophie herself and Plachta. By not having a lot of returning characters, this gives a lot more time for the new cast to shine, while also allowing newcomers to jump into this game with no prior knowledge (there is even a recap video covering Sophie 1). Every character is good, from Alette's over-the-top energy to Diebold's cool guy factor. But the two shining stars of this game's cast are Ramizel and young Plachta. Due to this game's isekai setting, it allowed for some out-of-time interactions but i am so glad that Ramizel's character wasn't just "wow Sophie, you're my future grandaughter, that's crazy" and young Plachta's character wasn't just "wow future me, that's what happens to me in the future, that's crazy". Instead we get genuine interactions that rarely bring up the nature of meeting someone from your own future. The nature of the isekai setting also allows Sophie 2 to blend elements from the previous Mysterious games: obviously we have Sophie and Plachta representing Sophie 1 but besides that, the game's structure builds off of what Firis tested out long ago and some of the areas are very reminiscent of the Mysterious Paintings from Lydie & Suelle. I just think this is neat.

As far as the story goes, it's Atelier so it doesn't matter too much but i did find it interesting how this game's tone and structure is more akin to the Secret series than the Mysterious games. But unlike Secret, this game found a different way of showing Sophie's growth. Whereas Ryza 2 allowed Ryza to relearn her recipes from her first game with SP since she "needed to get used to the new equipment", Sophie 2 has Sophie keep most of her original recipes at the get go and has her initial battle and alchemy level be set at the levels which it would be maxed out in the first game, which honestly was a way better way to do it. Another good thing about the story here is that despite the story being light, it was still one with an ending that genuinely made me shed a few tears. Ryza 2 did this as well but i feel like this one hit harder. I have no idea how Gust managed to do this twice in a row but they did it and yes, this ending bumped this game up to top 3 Atelier material.

Gameplay-wise, this game saw a bunch of numerous improvements.....even if it did take some steps back, more on that later. As far as the combat goes, this is right up there with Escha & Logy and Shallie in terms of having the best combat in the series. This is because Sophie 2's combat basically rips off the combat in those two games, in a good way plus it makes some neat additions. For the first time ever in a turn-based RPG, i am able to see aggro lines (that's a lie, i've seen it in Three Houses but that's an SRPG). This is a mechanic i'm familiar in more action-oriented games but i've never seen it done in turn-based games and believe me, it does make a difference in strategy making. The combat also features a team-attack combo thingy, in which the front and the back characters swap in while attacking. In E&L and Shallie, you could not do this, you could only swap in to defend. Here you can do both, even if being unable to swap without preforming these actions is a little bit cringe. Honestly, if you ask me, this is the best turn-based combat Atelier has had period and the only annoyance is that giving regular enemies Aura barriers can drag some fights out.

On the other half of the gameplay, the crafting, i can finally say that i fully enjoyed the "Tetris crafting" in this game. I barely enjoyed it in Sophie 1, found it unintuitive in Firis and liked it enough in Lydie & Suelle but i never really got addicted to it until this game along and made very well improvements to it. I won't really go about explaining the crafting mechanics, they rarely hold up to simple text explanations but just know that i was able to enjoy it significantly more than the previous Mysterious games.

In the rest of the gameplay, Gust has finally, finally added in quest markers for items and enemies.....although this has a little asterisk because this only applies to main and quest objectives. You'll still be forced to search for anything you'd need outside of that but with so much shit to keep track of, it was just easier to bust out a guide at that point. It's especially egregious when the game has a point of no return (you are warned of this) and any character events get locked out forever after that but the last two character events require items that would be easy to get after the point of no return. If i didn't look it up, i would've never found which quest specific boss i needed to kill in order to get that one item drop i needed. I would like in the next game for me to just be able to set trackers for anything i'm searching for. This is baby steps but i'm actually kinda shocked it was never implemented before in the series about gathering and crafting items. However, while the gameplay is mostly good, i was disappointed at the removal of some features from the Ryza games. Gone is being able to swim, swing and ride beasts. Instead, we get the ability to change the weather which sounds cool but it honestly gets a bit annoying at times, making the navigation of some areas a bit confusing (and don't even get me started on the exclusive enemies and items that depend on the weather, once again making the absence of markers outside of quests strange). The Item Rebuild mechanic, which allowed you to upgrade already existing equipment instead of starting from scratch, is also gone though at least thankfully Ryza's duplicate system remains intact, even if it just requires money now instead of gems, so it's not as easily farmable (although after certain discount upgrades, it becomes a non-issue anyways, ironically making it better than requiring gems).

Visually the game is a marginal improvement over Atelier Ryza 2's visuals, which were already good to begin with. The typical Gust budget is still there but you really don't think about it with these recent games. Sophie 2 has a graphics/performance toggle, of all things, not that it seemed to make too much of a difference, at least on Switch. Musically, it's an Atelier game, which means it's got bangers. The desert theme in particular gets high praise from me, i haven't heard an RPG desert theme that good since Xenoblade X and 2. Only negative thing i could say about the presentation is that some of the areas are a little bland compared to Ryza 2 (the hub town especially) and there's a surprising lack of CG stills.

When i think about it, Atelier Sophie 2 did exceed my expectations going in. A direct sequel to a game disliked, in a subseries i saw as the weakest, should've not popped off like this, yet Gust managed to pull through. And in hindsight, why wouldn't they? These guys have been on a great roll with Atelier since Lulua (fine i'll be fair and say since Lydie & Suelle) and i don't see them stopping anytime soon. Keep it up!

Not a mindblowing game, but certainly a delightful one.

Combines the snappy pacing and tight balance of the Fushigi series with the more standard/linear storytelling style of Ryza, and the end result is a well-rounded JRPG experience. While I personally would have liked more character/town events, the game is already quite long by Atelier standards -- it took me 55 hours to complete, playing mostly on Very Hard -- and it likely would have been difficult to realize the sheer volume of events seen in Lydie & Suelle. Ultimately the story is surprisingly effective at what it wants to do, even if there are some elements that could be fleshed out a bit more. And they brought back character commentary on every entry in the encyclopedia, so I can't complain too much!

One thing I'd like to praise specifically is the field/dungeon map design. While the maps aren't DRPG levels of complexity or anything, they do require some effort to navigate and use gimmicks in ways that don't feel like pure busywork. I also enjoyed the sort of... Metroidvania-esque progression the game has going on with the weather system; as you unlock new forms of weather manipulation, more of the game world opens up, and exploring the new areas available to you is always worth it. The landmark feature works to provide an extra push to encourage players to comb through the world as well.

One thing I was worried about before release was the soundtrack -- I consider the original Atelier Sophie to have one of the greatest soundtracks in all of gaming, so the sequel had some big shoes to fill, especially since Asano wasn't returning and Yano only contributed a single piece of BGM. I ended up being pleasantly surprised, though, mostly thanks to Yanagawa's efforts. Achiwa's tracks are the standard Achiwa stuff, for better or worse, but Yanagawa really evoked the joy and wonderment I associate with Atelier, something lacking even in his own tracks for Ryza 1/2. Of particular note are the themes where he made use of Shimotsuki's chanting for backing vocals; they elicit a je ne sais quoi you just can't find outside of Gust games. Overall, I'm satisfied with the soundtrack; thank you, Yanagawa.

On the audio front, the voice cast in Sophie 2 is also worth mentioning. Iguchi Yuka, Yuuki Aoi, Takahashi Rie, Ueda Reina, Numakura Manami... it's stacked with big names, and they all deliver performances to live up to their reputations. I'm particularly fond of Takahashi Rie's performance as Ramizel; she really brings the character to life and infuses every line with personality. The return of seiyuu commentary (it's even fully transcribed this time) and full voice acting are also to be celebrated. I don't think Gust has actually made a fully voiced game since Lydie & Suelle, and I didn't quite realize how much I missed this element of the Fushigi series until experiencing it again in Sophie 2.

Overall a very solid entry in the Atelier series. Personally, I enjoyed it more than either Ryza game, but I think it incorporated some of their DNA in an intelligent way. Gust is on a roll recently and I'm excited to see where they go from here.

So I have quite a few thoughts on this game.

When it was announced I was somewhat cautiously optimistic, an unnecessary direct sequel to a game that was already fine as is? Anyone would be sceptical but after the near perfect game that was Blue Reflection Tie/Second Light I decided to trust in Gust's plan with this one because if Tie was anything to go off this game could potentially be fantastic

And was it? Well yes and no, it took the world of the Mysterious games and put them in a game that feels way more like a Ryza game which I'm mixed on because I do enjoy some elements from those but massively dislike a lot of other things from them so if have much preferred a more traditional style of Atelier game from this along the lines of what we previously had in this trilogy with Sophie and Lydie & Suelle but alas they gotta keep it somewhat similar to Ryza to appeal to the new fans those games brought in

The game being essentially Mysterious 1.5 makes it obviously still aimed towards the somewhat longer time fans of the series as well so it kind of feels like it's trying to appeal to both audiences and feels somewhat weird at times especially with how story focused and less focused on slice of life and synthesis it is much like the Ryza games and much like those the focus on story leads fit a mixed bag where the story is decent enough but has a lot of kinda generic plot points, which if you've played the first Sophie game you'd know it was far more focused on the slice of life content and the synthesis for almost the entire game so while they did ditch the boring Ryza mechanics to bring back the synthesis mechanics that had actual depth the game feels far less focused on them

It's not all questionable though as they did some things I did really enjoy, the new battle system was an enjoyable return to form after the icky Ryza ATB systems that for some reason limited the use of items in games in a series about creating and using items???????? and some of the new and technically returning characters like Elvira, Ramizel and young Plachta were handled well (young Plachta especially was a highlight of the cast)

Those are just some quick thoughts I'll avoid saying some other things because I'd prefer to keep this spoiler free but yeah, game is alright

Also I'd like to add that they make this as a 25th anniversary title for the franchise then proceed to give it the perfect setting to have returning characters from previous Atelier games (they even went out of their way to state that people in the world of this game were from all across time and space) only to just not do that, I definitely wouldn't be nitpicking this if it wasn't supposed to be a 25th anniversary game but it is one, at least they had plenty of other references to previous games in the series I guess