Not nearly as good as I remembered it being having played a chunk of it when it came out, but never finishing it.

It's an atelier game so the alchemy is fun as usual, I do like how it works in this one although it took me a while to realise that a bigger cauldron isn't always a better one. By the end of the game I was using a 4 x 4 Fairy Cauldron for almost everything because the bonuses for filling the space are so high. I also really liked discovering the combined traits you can get by alchemising certain things together, and taking those and making equipment with ridiculous stats was fun. Though as with all the atelier games I've played, most of my damage was coming from bombs even by the end of the game. The aesthetic of the Doll Building body modification stuff for Plachta is really cool.

The combat is pretty neat although eventually gets repetetive outside of boss battles. choosing your moves carefully to manipulate the timeline, and save your big combo attacks for when you need them was engaging but not enough of the fights actually last long enough for any of it to matter.

The biggest disappointment for me was the writing which felt underwhelming compared to other Atelier games I've played, (mostly the Arland trilogy). Most of the dialogue is super stilted, though it's hard to tell if thats due to a wonky, overly literal translation or not. It unfortunately takes away a lot of the enjoyment of the otherwise cosy story and setting. I do like a lot of the characters in theory but the dialogue is so bland that it was hard to get too invested. I do like Sophie and Plachta's dynamic though, son I'm looking forwards to seeing more of them in Sophie 2 and the rest of the Mysterious trilogy when I get round to them.

Overall an Atelier game for people who already know that they like these games, but not one I'd suggest as anyone's first as it lacks a lot of the charm of other titles even if the art is very nice.

Interesting that despite being the game immediately following Shallie its narrative content being orders of magnitude light make it feel like a return to an earlier point in the series. Probably the most unremarkable entry in the series, but the baseline quality is solid enough for that to not really be a mark against it. The game's still quite good. As is standard the music had some real standouts (my favourites from the soundtrack being Con Liela Xea & Juno) and the gather-craft gameplay loop was enjoyable. Its crafting method of placing material shapes on a tetris grid was really fresh too. Sophie & Plachta were nice deuteragonists, and the hometown of Kirchen Bell having such a strong non-cynical church presence makes it pretty unique within the genre.

Managed to scrape out victory against the last boss first try. Then got immediately demolished by the Wise Dragon. But it's only like half an hour of following a short guide to get the right traits to become overpowered so eh.

Narratively definitely a step down from the Dusk Trilogy, though ironically the localisation quality improved drastically. Sophie is a fantastic character and I'm definitely interested to see how where she goes in the next two games as well.

The music overall is pretty good, though once again the vocal tracks don't match up to the quality of Stargazer, Altair, Colony Collapse Disorder or Luto from the Dusk Trilogy.

The decisions to input all commands and the automation of the support system are not ones I agree with, though I got used to them eventually. The lack of a marker on when new events became available also dampened my initial enjoyment of the game till checkin in with the cast became routine.

Wrote a review of this one a while ago where I called it "very dull" and just left it at that. Truth be told, in the frame of mind I was in when I first played this, I think that's the kindest I could be about the game. It killed my interest in a series I'd adored before Ryza brought me back into things.

Then they announced a direct sequel that looks really fantastic, and I started to wonder if I should give this one another shot. It came out when I was much harsher towards everything I played, and I'd reassessed games from the same period that I'd disliked then and ended up loving now. Even if I didn't click with it, the sequel looks nice enough that I'd be fine trucking through a game I didn't like to get to something more exciting.

Turns out I probably need to replay just about everything from 2016, because oh my god what was wrong with me then? Sophie's a lovely, ultra-relaxing game that does so much right even if it feels a little sparse in spots, visually. The combat's speedy and fun, if a little basic, the cast here is largely lovely, and the crafting system is such a fun little puzzle to figure out that I really, really adore it. I never played any of the other games in this trilogy, but I'm really thrilled to see how they build on what was laid down here sometime down the line. And gosh, I'm ultra excited for Sophie 2 now.

Ryza really was a shot in the arm for the series. It needed something with that much more time and money behind it to really show how much Gust was capable of to a broader audience, but man, they've always had it.

Replayed this as part of my Atelier replay marathon. It definitely is not the best Atelier game, but it was still a ton of fun.

There are tons of charming characters and the gameplay is leisurely enough to just make you want to sit back and chill with it. The story is somewhat cliche and isn’t my favorite, but is still decent. I really do miss the heavy humor present in the Arland sub series, but I can still appreciate this entry of the Mysterious series all the same.

I am changing my rating from back in 2020, raising it by half a star. My reason for doing so is probably due to how I played the game this time versus last time. I tried to progress in the main storyline quickly last time…and had to grind levels at the end for the final boss. This time, I played more slowly, doing side content and character quests while leveling. This is definitely how the game is supposed to be played. There is more to it than battle and narrative, as I am learning is the case with Atelier in general.

If you want a chill game that is fun, play this! Not the best game or even the best one in the series by any means, but a solid entry and beginning of a new sub series.

Edit: finally got plat!

CWs for Atelier Sophie: The Alchemist of the Mysterious Book: fatphobia, body horror.

A painfully middling Atelier release, Sophie has the strong character beats you can count on from the franchise but makes understanding alchemy and gear progression far too muddy in trying to re-frame modern Atelier's more casual design choices. There's fewer hard alchemy checks here, producing a more chill moment to moment game until sudden and completely avoidable difficulty spikes send you to do alchemy catch-up on a bunch of crap that you didn't really have a need for. I love my lesbian book doll girlies and I like the attempt to keep the game rural, but I've never had a worse time with exploring or alchemy in one of these games.

Atelier - an artist or designer's workshop. In the case of the video game series, alchemy. The workshop is the centerpiece of the rpg series and the gameplay revolves entirely around this conceit. Find materials, collect materials, craft a recipe, gain some plot keys, rinse and repeat. This is the status quo and there's little reason to move beyond it.

This sort of faux-important introduction pretty much exposes right away: I have never played this franchise before. I mainly started this as part of a sort of yearly dare list I take on for a variety of games and books and so on. I didn't really know what to expect and my initial impressions were... pretty bad! At this point in my life, I have a pretty low tolerance for many anime cliches or archetypes. They just grate on my nerves and Atelier Sophie's dull combat and duller characters just instinctively set off my alarm bells.

But gradually, as I learned more about the history of the series and experimented with more of the game, the tranquility of the experience kinda started to set in. There's just a coziness to the game's main loop of gameplay. You explore some hills and valleys, fight some monsters, you craft some recipes. Craft enough recipes and the game rewards you with some new plot. That plot opens up more recipes. You go into town and meet various people and gain side stories you can engage with. There's no time limit. There's no major punishment for dying to monsters. The game's not interested in a hard-core, thrilling challenge. No, the game's scope is firmly set in a gentle, largely conflictless small town and gently building up your talents into bigger and better recipes. And sometimes, that gentle gameplay loop is exactly what you need. Its pure, concentrated slice-of-life.

That aside, there's just not a lot of meat to the bones of this. The characters just never become memorable enough to latch onto, making the rewards of plot for progress... less appealing. I don't think the game is even particularly interested in an engaging plot. This is the 17th game in a long-running series. No one's looking to reinvent the wheel. And I'm not even sure that it needs to. This is a franchise that knows what it is and is perfectly willing to ride the coattails of its feel good gameplay structure. Its not trying to be more ambitious than that. And that's ultimately fine.

Its just not... particularly for me. I might attempt another one of these down the line, but I'm ultimately just satisfied peaking into this franchise and understanding its appeal and how it justifies its own existence.

This is a review of the DX version on Nintendo Switch

I've often seen other Atelier fans claim that Atelier Sophie was the worst game in the series. So when Gust announced DX versions of the Mysterious trilogy, i decided to see for myself. Turns out, it's not the worst game in the series but at the the same time, it's understandable why many feel that way. Truth is, Atelier Sophie is probably the most underwhelmed i've felt with this series.

While the game isn't actually horrible, compared to the game that came both before and after it, Atelier Sophie just seems to lack a presence. The alchemy system tries doing something new as always but this time it didn't quite end up feeling as satisfying. Battles were irrelevant. The worst offender though are the characters, as most of them just feel completely shallow and unlike other Atelier games with a similar issue, there were no characters from the previous title to back them up (unless you count Logy but even this version of him pales in comparison to the Dusk incarnation). Heck, this game had an actual villain, which is extremely rare for this series, but he left as quickly as he came so eh. I also felt that Gust kinda dropped the ball on the soundtrack of this game too though thankfully, that issue was reminded by the Change BGM option, which lets you set music from a bunch of the other games.

As for the things i did like, Sophie's character is actually decent all things considered and i liked her relationship with Plachta. Honestly though, that's about the extent of what i actually liked in this game.

It's not the worst Atelier game, that title still goes to Atelier Totori by a significant margin. But this is definitely one of the lowest points in the series. If it was my first Atelier game, perhaps i could enjoy it more, though i don't know by how much. As of this review, i have not checked out the DX-exclusive post-game episode. I probably will just to wrap things up but i doubt anything there will change my mind.

There is something irresistible about the soothing charm of Atelier Sophie's relaxing nature, which permeates both its world design and its story. It's a slice-of-life anime made into JRPG, and for what it's worth, it's a unique standout in a genre that has made deicide into an overused cliech.

Of course, same can be said for many of other entries of this long-running franchise. What does make Sophie stand apart (at least when it came out) is the accessibility and overall quality, relatively speaking. Gone is the time limit from previous games, and now the progression is as relaxing as its story and characters. Instead of the time limit, there is now day-night cycle, and the materials and enemies you encounter change depending on the time of the day.

The crafting is also easy to understand for newcomers and deep enough for series veterans (even though the UI could use some more user-friendly options for browsing traits). It revolves around making sure you have the right traits in the ingredients, and making the best items requires careful planning. The actual alchemy involves a light puzzle inspired by pentomino, and due to its addictiveness, crafting itself never feels cumbersome throughout the game's 50-hour journey.

Gaining recipes is also more organic now, with many of them tied to certain actions that often require finding certain materials, going to a certain location, or making a certain item. This adds to the slice-of-life feel of the game, as your actions directly impact the progression of the most central mechanic of the game.

The battle system is also surprisingly good. It's generally a modified version of Final Fantasy X's system, but you can choose everyone's action at once. Using your crafted bombs on the enemy is still fun, but it also allows you to really min-max your battle potential through crafting, and works as a perfect experiment ground for all the alchemy you do. In fact, the late-game bosses force you to rely on your alchemy than traditional level grind, since your level will hit the cap (20) before the final boss, who requires you to bring some serious gears and items to even have a chance.

It's not going to wow everyone, but it certainly has its charm that is difficult to find in other series.

What has distinguished the Atelier series over the years is Gust’s ability to create JRPGs that, beyond conventional mechanics of exploration and turn-based combat, still manage to convey to the player feelings of relaxation and placidity rather than frenzy and hunt for the battle. Of course, their games are still plagued by busy work, flat and impersonal side-quests and an amount of grinding that, especially in this Atelier Sophie, will absorb far more hours than one could afford to spend in the name of completism and fun.

From the gameplay viewpoint, mixing the already discussed turn-based combat with the simulation system of the alchemical synthesis, Atelier Sophie offers to the players the possibility to enjoy the fruits of their loots (which actually include, among other things, fruits) and be able to transmute them from poor quality plants or minerals into medicines, equipment and weapons that will save the party from massacre in the next dungeon. Keeping an eye on recipes, requirements to unlock new equipment, traits and effects of materials and the potential of mixing them together to obtain stronger skills is essential to ensure the players keep up with their opponents. The synthesis minigame by itself is addictive enough to make one spend tens of minutes on a single item to ensure that the highest number of bonuses is attained from its transmutation so that, when it will be used in combat or reprocessed in turn as a material, they will always have stronger skills at their hands: this works by proposing to the players different cauldrons, in the form of grids, into which they must insert, in the form of blocks of various shapes, previously selected ingredients, taking into account that the order and position of their insertion can vary enormously bonuses and final quality of the synthesized object. Juggling between combinations of shapes, colours, effects and qualities make a system initially simple and straight-forward an excellent base for the insane tetris one will deal with later in the game, to interlock blocks in combinations made of the most useful traits, and this mechanic is by far one of the better and more entertaining aspects of Atelier Sophie.

As for the combat and the gathering system, they are busy work, plain and simple. The combat gives a cap in levelling your characters pretty early on if one is dedicated enough to exploring new areas and fighting new monsters, so that by that point onwards all the efforts are going to be devoted into maxing the party’s abilities and synthetizing the best possible gear as to encompass all the useful skills one might need in various situations. The party can also use a limited number of skills and items so there will rarely be any need to strategize before an encounter. Also, enemies’ levels don’t scale so once their patterns are figured out the only problems are going to be the mini bosses and the endgame dungeon: those are though, especially on the higher difficulties, but otherwise combat is going to be a simple medium to gather more materials.
Gathering works by either harvesting different areas including different varieties of resources or killing specific enemies to collect what they drop as loot (for example plants can be harvested but killing a monster grants bones and fur). During the exploration, the map also displays five different levels of gathering, the higher the level the better the items and the stronger the enemies: said levels increase by gathering many resources or killing many enemies, it is hard to hit the fifth level without having already completely filled the basket but it is worth dropping some early collected junk to ensure better loots in the long run.

The story is primarily focused on the mundane life of a young girl, the title’s Sophie, as she pursues her desire to become a better alchemist so to help the people of her village and the ones she meets along her journey. Once she finds a talking book, who presents herself as Plachta, Sophie quickly finds new means to improve her abilities as an alchemist and, with the help of her newfound book friend and companions, she is going to fill her everyday with joyful meetings and caring smiles. The plot is the textbook definition of “love thy neighbour” or “smile and the world and the world will smile back”, so if one is into this kind of soothing tales about daily life with no urges or excessive drama, then they are going to have a very pleasant experience. There are some pretty serious developments towards the end, but just a quick major plot that needed to be told, with no lasting consequences.
All the other major characters, either party members or store owners, have their subplots to explore and, on some degree, ‘solve’, and they are a very mixed bag: on one hand, not one of them is anything really original or memorable, but on the other hand, for the aforementioned reason of the story being exclusively a peaceful experience, there is no need for anyone being memorable. Still, while some of the characters are likeable and pleasant to explore, others are just stiff gimmicks that only resorts to one, comedic trait and never add anything substantial to their personality (yes, I am talking about Fritz and Oskar).

Atelier Sophie is a nice game, it’s about repeating over and over the same activities but also about understating the value behind such routine, much like playing as a farmer that has to collect his crops over and over across the years to make a living. If this kind of life where to grow onto the player, the experience they will receive will undoubtedly be rewarding, otherwise they will mostly feel robbed of their time and think that real life is generally a dull routine rather than a stream of possibilities hidden in known grounds waiting to be discovered.