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.
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.