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.
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.