As of now, I have only finished this with the normal and good endings. Going for the other three/all achievements, but I thought I would begin writing my thoughts down.

This game became very fun after awhile! Lydie and Suelle are excellent, fun, charming characters, and I enjoyed the new additions to the series, as well as the returning faces. The events nicely closed out the original mysterious trilogy.

However, it took a long road to get there! For the first six of twelve chapters (about 30 hr in game), I was very bored with the game’s formulaic gameplay, with it being so formulaic that each chapter was structured the same, and the story was predictable. It wasn’t until they broke away from the formula a bit/there was more to do, that I enjoyed it.

This alchemy system is probably my favorite Atelier one so far, and the combat is very fun in the late game, especially for bosses. However, in the early game, regular mobs take way too long, due to both sides not doing much damage. There are some weaker story elements like most Atelier games, but I still overall enjoyed it.

In my opinion, the gameplay pales in comparison to Firis, but is better than Sophie. I’d rank this story highest, and Firis’ as lowest though.

Only 4 stars due to the slow first half…it was going to be 3 before the game picked up. Could have been a 4.5-5 star game if the beginning was given more love! Recommended, but have some patience for it to get better!

Note: 13 trophies to plat. Will play casually until then.

Edit: 9 to plat. Got true ending, so shelving for now.

Edit: downgraded to 3.5 stars. The road to the money ending, as well as platinum are extremely tedious.

Probably my last Atelier replay for a bit, but I really enjoyed it! I am putting it at half a star higher than a few years ago.

This game is a pleasure to play, and is in my opinion, an improvement on Sophie. As the Atelier series’ first open-world game, they really nailed some things here. The world is fun to explore, the characters are charming, crafting is well thought out, and the enemies are enough to be somewhat challenging, but not ridiculously overpowered. I am not a completionist, but I am only two trophies away from platinum and I have 95% of the in-game database.

The flaws…for one, I wish there was more of an overarching narrative with more conflict and some higher stakes. Here, you have many slice of life type stories, which are fun, cute, and provide some nice world-building after Sophie, but I wanted more. While I prefer this game to Sophie, I will admit Sophie did better in this regard.

There are a few little things about the open-world that don’t work as well. A couple of glitches here and there, repeated conversations as you travel, and in my opinion, it takes much too long to get a fast travel option. In addition, there is a quest line/boss that is too hidden away for how much lore it provides. I know it is relevant in the sequel as well, so I don’t know why it is difficult to access…

Finally, this can be an extremely misleading Atelier game for newcomers. It leaves the impression that the pre-exam portion of the game is most of the game, when it is indeed the opposite. I have seen many posts with people asking what they are supposed to do after, or if after the exam is just an “epilogue.” Gust could have really touted that this is where the adventure actually begins.

Overall, solid experience that I put 120 hours into, and am still not completely finished with. The good outweighs the bad, but I won’t give it 5 stars since I mainly give that score to my really special games. Highly recommended after playing Sophie though!

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!