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Atelier Raiza announced for PS4

Bullet Club

Banned
Atelier Raiza announced for PS4

The latest entry in the long-running RPG series revealed.

The latest issue of Dengeki PlayStation reveals Atelier Raiza: The Queen of Eternal Darkness and the Secret Hideout for PlayStation 4. It will launch this fall in Japan for 7,800 yen. 10,800 yen and 19,540 yen limited editions will also be available.

It is worth noting that this was revealed through Dengeki PlayStation, so while there is likely also a Switch version, this information has yet to be confirmed. We will update this post when that information is available.

Gust recently launched a teaser website teasing the announcement for Atelier Raiza, which will be updated on May 28.

Atelier Raiza is a coming of age story The world is constructed through a new method of expression, the scenario is written by Gust and Shakugan no Shana manga creator Yashichiro Takahashi, and character design is by Toridamono.

The protagonist is Raizalin Staud (voiced by Yuri Noguchi), a normal girl who feels uneasy in her tranquil everyday life. Seeking excitement, she is always on the lookout for something interesting with her friends. She is a freewheeling girl with a strong sense of justice. When she thinks she is right, it is not easy to tell her otherwise. This is her story about finding something she never thought was so dear to herself after discovering alchemy and meeting a certain someone.

Three other characters are introduced by illustration only: a male soldier, a female priest, and a child scholar.

As for the field, in order to depict daily life and adventuring even deeper than previous Atelier titles, the height of the sky, flower thickets, and the like are being made more realistically in order for players to get a greater sense of the land than before.

Battles utilize an all-new turn-based command system, and are more tense and aggressive than before. There is also a new system in which players get a sense of their bonds with other characters.

Synthesis utilizes a new system in which “creation” is the keyword. It uses an easier to understand and more responsive format. Rather than the tile-based systems of recent Atelier titles, it is now more of a a skill tree-like tree system.

For gathering, items change depending on the tool used, even at the same gathering points.

Here are some tidbits from the magazine’s interview with producer Junzo Hosoi:

  • “Development is led by Gust’s Nagano studio, with myself as the sole producer.”
  • “The concept itself was developed alongside Atelier Lulua. Full-blown development began around July 2018 at about the same time as Atelier Lulua.”
  • “For the concept, I wanted to depict a coming of age story of boys and girls. So the concept of this game is something like, ‘summer memories.'”
  • “The graphics are more realistic and have life-like proportions, which is a significant change from our visual expression on PlayStation 4 thus far starting with Atelier Sophie, but this time we are doing a complete overhaul.”
  • “We’re working hard on the visual side to depict summer memories and the new expressions we want to see.”
  • “We’re also trying to find a balance between photo-realism and ‘toon rendering’ using graphics we are capable of making.”
  • “There won’t be any romance, but there are some more or less bittersweet moments. They won’t develop into love though (laughs).”
  • “There are character episode and side story-like elements, but there won’t be any individual endings.”
  • “Development is simply difficult all around! (Laughs.) From here on it will be even more rigorous as we continue to polish the game to ensure it’s fun.”
  • “We chose Toridamono as character designer because he is able to draw appealing illustrations, but also because his art has a certain charm that’s unique to himself.”
  • “Raiza is a lively one! She is similar to Lulua in a way, but not as impulsive as her. She’s a lively child who really doesn’t know much about the world.”
  • “The three others aside from Raiza are her friends who she spends her time with. This is a story of these children growing up.”
  • “Toridamono really fixated on getting Raiza’s thighs right. There were even staff on the Gust side that followed his lead (laughs).”
  • “The catch copy (Bye-bye, Atelier. I will never forget this adventure.) is a reference to the Atelier in which Raiza and her friends spend their days, not a goodbye to the Atelier series.”
  • “The scenario is being produced in the way that we did Blue Reflection. The plot feels like it was written by Takahashi while coming up with it at Gust.”
  • “For the subtitle, we wanted to sound fresh and new, so our subtitle is made up of the game’s keywords.”
  • “For the music, we’ve asked for those charge of previous Atelier games, as well as new folks to create high-quality music befitting of the game.”
  • “Synthesis, gathering, and battle being the core three elements of the game has not changed.”
  • “For players, the feelings of familiarity and relief [in games staying the same] have gradually become a groove that haven’t been able to get out of, so this time there is big change at the core of the game.”
  • “Our goal is for Atelier Raiza to utilize all of our experience thus far, what makes our games interesting, and what we do best, while also challenging the game systems. Since we are evolving and revising various parts, I think it will be a game of considerable change.”
  • “Since both the story and systems are changing, some players might be dissatisfied, but we’re prepared for that. But this is the first step towards a new Atelier, so we want people to experience it.”
  • “We want to release it before it gets cold out. Development is currently 45 percent complete.”
Source: Gematsu

 

sublimit

Banned
Hmm it sounds (and looks) like they have finally upgraded their graphics engine. Hope its world also has more density and is more interesting to explore.
 
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Bullet Club

Banned
Looks like it's actually called Atelier Ryza.

Update 5/27/19 at 11:07 a.m.: Famitsu has gone up with its online preview of this week’s issue of Weekly Famitsu, which features Atelier Ryza and confirms plans for release on Switch and PC in addition to PlayStation 4. While the PlayStation 4 and Switch versions are due out this fall in Japan, a release date for the PC version has yet to be announced.

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j6S8pzN.jpg
 

Boss Mog

Member
I guess these games must sell decently for them to keep coming out with them so often. They're so generic and soulless though, I don't quite get the appeal.
 

Dr. Claus

Banned
I guess these games must sell decently for them to keep coming out with them so often. They're so generic and soulless though, I don't quite get the appeal.

Clearly you never played one. They are neither generic nor soulless. Very much more focused on "Slice of Life" style story telling over "journey to stop the end of the world" stuff you tend to see with JRPGs. These games are super relaxing, slower affairs and that is why people love them.
 
I never noticed before, but Gust plays some name games. The Arland series protagonist all have double syllables (rorona, totori, meruru, lulua), and Dust uses Shya (Ayesha, Escha, Shallie). Firis (which is more adventure than slice of life) is just Iris with an F slapped on front. Even Ryza (ra-i-sa) is similar to Iris (i-ri-su) and is supposed to be more adventurey. Probably a coincidence though. Probably.
 
This feels like Firis, and Firis is the best one, so I’m in.
I thought the same.
Adventures like Ayesha and Firis are my favorites.
I guess these games must sell decently for them to keep coming out with them so often. They're so generic and soulless though, I don't quite get the appeal.
''I love going on message boards etc''.
What do you guys get from trash talking video games you've never played?
 

Boss Mog

Member
I've played a few of them and that's how they felt to me, but there's no sense debating this with fanboys of the series though.
 
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I've played a few of them and that's how they felt to me, but there's no sense debating this with fanboys of the series though.
Name three similar series, even ones that don't have alchemy synthesis in it, I'll wait.
And no, you don't get to pull the ''the fanboys are here so I'm out'' card buddy, not after you voluntarily came in here to tell us how ''generic and soulless'' the Atelier games are.
 

Sakura

Member
Good thing there is a Switch version in case it gets censored, though I'd prefer to play it in 1080p.
 

Yasuraka

Member
Is there a recommended play order for these? Recently bought Sophie, Firis, Lydia and Suelle. Lulua is on order. I didn't play any of the PS3 titles and swayed away from the digital purchase of the 3 pack due to preferring boxes on my shelves. A quick blast of Sophie and its quirky enough to make a refreshing change to other RPG Ive played but if there is an overall story arc I would prefer to follow that.
 
Is there a recommended play order for these? Recently bought Sophie, Firis, Lydia and Suelle. Lulua is on order. I didn't play any of the PS3 titles and swayed away from the digital purchase of the 3 pack due to preferring boxes on my shelves. A quick blast of Sophie and its quirky enough to make a refreshing change to other RPG Ive played but if there is an overall story arc I would prefer to follow that.
Production order for all sub-series.
If you want to enjoy even more Lulua you should absolutely play the previous Arland titles (Rorona, Totori and Meruru), even if you have to get the digital Arland collection (which is great, mind you) instead of the singular titles on PS3.

Edit: Here's the game's website
 
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Bullet Club

Banned
Premium Box (10 800 Yen + taxes)

- a copy of the game
- Serial Code for special costume for Ryza (released early, will be available for free for all players after launch)
- Artbook
- Cloth Poster (B2 size)
- Stained Glass-style Clear File (x2)
- Acrylic Mini-Character Charm

Special Collection Box (19 540 Yen + taxes)

- a copy of the game
- Serial Code for special costume for Ryza (released early, will be available for free for all players after launch)
- Artbook
- Cloth Poster (B2 size)
- Stained Glass-style Clear File (x2)
- Acrylic Mini-Character Charm
- Large Cloth Poster with exclusive illustration
- Acrylic Diorama Set
- Set 6 of Posters featuring the characters
 

Hudo

Member
So, can we confirm that the thighs on the in game model correspond to the thighs on the artwork in terms of squishiness?
 
Looks like a step up from previous Atelier games (at least graphically)
Definitely looks closer to Firis (yay), but I was planning on going Switch-only for this series and now I'm worried about performance. Also, hope there is the option to take off the yellow raincoat. What's the point of making juicy thighs when you just cover them up? Makes the character design less interesting from the back too, which is where you'll be looking for 99% of the game.
 
S

SLoWMoTIoN

Unconfirmed Member
She's a Oppai Loli, so of course she will be censored.
That isn't right at all Komi. Oppai loli's have bigger tits. She' s a shortstack.

This feels like Firis, and Firis is the best one, so I’m in.
How?

It was so bland I dropped the Atelier series after playing the previous 10 games. So was Sophie tbh. Gust are hacks, this is their 3rd Atelier game this year alone. They reuse assets and despite having coded for over a decade they still can't framerate. If I had to compare them to any other company it would be Compile Heart excep they still make a decent game every 3 years. CoD usually gets shit for their yearly releases but at least they ARE yearly releases. I expect nothing different from this game and will stay say the game series peaked with Ayesha. THAT BEING SAID the music is usually pretty good and their character designs are cute.
 
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Because I liked Firis the best. The open world was large and varied. It felt like going on an adventure. I liked the characters. Really, there wasn't much I didn't like about the game.

It was so bland I dropped the Atelier series after playing the previous 10 games. So was Sophie tbh. Gust are hacks, this is their 3rd Atelier game this year alone. They reuse assets and despite having coded for over a decade they still can't framerate. If I had to compare them to any other company it would be Compile Heart excep they still make a decent game every 3 years. CoD usually gets shit for their yearly releases but at least they ARE yearly releases. I expect nothing different from this game and will stay say the game series peaked with Ayesha. THAT BEING SAID the music is usually pretty good and their character designs are cute.
None of that is criticism against Firis. That's criticism against Gust, and I'm not even sure it is valid criticism. It comes off more as somebody who simply grew tired of the formula rather than a scathing indictment against the formula itself. Lots of people started the series with Sophie and they loved it. The ones who didn't love it had all played the shit out of the previous half dozen titles. They wanted it to be exactly like the previous titles (including the stupid time limits) while being bigger and more technically competent - an expectation that is completely unreasonable for a TINY company making a yearly title - and when Firis comes out and is bigger and more technically competent (and even includes a time limit), they complain about it and call it the worst title in the series, then blame Koei Tecmo for forcing them to use the Musou engine (which is what allowed them to make such large, open areas compared to their previous engine, has been refined over hundreds of games, and which is multiplatform, allowing them to release games simultaneously for multiple systems) and for giving them a bigger budget, better QA, and a super quick localization. Damn that Koei Tecmo for giving Gust exactly what everybody thought they desperately needed! Oh, but there's no dub now, so that must also be KT's fault.

Fans of niche series can be the most unreasonable people on the planet. They want things to stay the same while changing completely, then complain about how things never change AND change too much. Real fans are able to accept new entries on their own merits and see them as individuals rather than as the next rung on the ladder, climbing to their own personal perfect iteration of the series.
 
S

SLoWMoTIoN

Unconfirmed Member
Because I liked Firis the best. The open world was large and varied. It felt like going on an adventure. I liked the characters.

Congratulations that is a Gust game. They make likeable characters (most of the time) with re used assets that date back 10 years because they rehash things in general. Ok music and a game that has more framedrops than a Bethesda game has bugs. When Sophie came out they vowed to their fans they were going to bring new assets and ideas just like for this title if I recall correctly.

The ones who didn't love it had all played the shit out of the previous half dozen titles. They wanted it to be exactly like the previous titles
That isn't true at all. Sophie was suppose to be a better change but all it did was KEEP the date system and made you fuck around for the longest time before an event triggered vs before where it just did unless you were fucking around which ironically made the previous time system more efficient. Lots of people liked Sophie? That is news to me. I guess if you start at the bottom of the barrel (get it barrel?) you might not know better. From what I gather the game sold since it was paired with Nights of Azure for 30 dollars on steam and even then it sold as much as the Vita/Ps3 atelier games.

Real fans are able to accept new entries on their own merits and see them as individuals rather than as the next rung on the ladder, climbing to their own personal perfect iteration of the series.
Not so much as comparing it to previous titles but how is asking for a game to run well asking much? They pump at least two Atelier games a year now ffs! Well damn, I'm not a fan of the series and never was because even though I bought the games long before the Sophie people even knew what the series was I had the gall to ask Gust to slightly get it together?
 

Dr. Claus

Banned
Congratulations that is a Gust game. They make likeable characters (most of the time) with re used assets that date back 10 years because they rehash things in general. Ok music and a game that has more framedrops than a Bethesda game has bugs. When Sophie came out they vowed to their fans they were going to bring new assets and ideas just like for this title if I recall correctly.


That isn't true at all. Sophie was suppose to be a better change but all it did was KEEP the date system and made you fuck around for the longest time before an event triggered vs before where it just did unless you were fucking around which ironically made the previous time system more efficient. Lots of people liked Sophie? That is news to me. I guess if you start at the bottom of the barrel (get it barrel?) you might not know better. From what I gather the game sold since it was paired with Nights of Azure for 30 dollars on steam and even then it sold as much as the Vita/Ps3 atelier games.


Not so much as comparing it to previous titles but how is asking for a game to run well asking much? They pump at least two Atelier games a year now ffs! Well damn, I'm not a fan of the series and never was because even though I bought the games long before the Sophie people even knew what the series was I had the gall to ask Gust to slightly get it together?

Nelke and Lulua was the first time in over 10 years that two new atelier games were released within the same year for NA. Unless you are counting ports, the last time this happened was back in 2009 with Atelier Annie. Couple that with the fact that Nelke is a spinoff and a completely different type of game compared to the mainline Atelier franchise. Stop with the disingenuous claims already.
 
Congratulations that is a Gust game. They make likeable characters (most of the time) with re used assets that date back 10 years because they rehash things in general. Ok music and a game that has more framedrops than a Bethesda game has bugs. When Sophie came out they vowed to their fans they were going to bring new assets and ideas just like for this title if I recall correctly.
I don't know why you are blaming Gust when it is obviously your own franchise fatigue at work here. Frame drops? Reused assets? So fucking what? They couldn't release a yearly Atelier game if they had to start from scratch every time, so there's places where they focus their attention. Every game has new characters, new environments, and a new story - and beyond that, they moved to a new engine, which meant a new asset pipeline, new tools to get used to, new management from the merger with KT. In addition to that, Gust uses the Atelier series as a mainstay so that they can be experimental with other games - where's your praise for Blue Reflection, Nights of Azure 2, Nelke, or Ciel Nosurge?

They focused on the parts that were most important, and every game is an incremental improvement with a ton of shit going on behind the scenes that you don't see, but you don't care about that because they keep reusing the same puni models.

That isn't true at all. Sophie was suppose to be a better change but all it did was KEEP the date system and made you fuck around for the longest time before an event triggered vs before where it just did unless you were fucking around which ironically made the previous time system more efficient. Lots of people liked Sophie? That is news to me. I guess if you start at the bottom of the barrel (get it barrel?) you might not know better. From what I gather the game sold since it was paired with Nights of Azure for 30 dollars on steam and even then it sold as much as the Vita/Ps3 atelier games.
Yeah, lots of people like Sophie, but you'd never know it based on how the hardcore Atelier fans talk about it. But it was a lot of people's first Atelier game (beginning of a new series, first on the PS4, and had the most crossovers with other games), and it made a lot of new Atelier fans. You don't have to prefer the game, but don't act like the game was objectively terrible.

Not so much as comparing it to previous titles but how is asking for a game to run well asking much?
I've thought the games ran fine on the PS4. These are turn based games, so frame drops here and there don't affect playing the game at all. If you played the Vita version of these games, well, then you have no one to blame but yourself.

They pump at least two Atelier games a year now ffs!
This will be the first year they release two Atelier games in the same year (Lulua and Ryza - Nelke isn't an Atelier game). Lulua was a fanservice game dedicated to the Arland series, while Ryza is a completely new setting and it looks to be a rather drastic departure from previous Atelier games. To me, it doesn't seem any different from releasing Blue Reflection, Atelier Firis, and Nights of Azure 2 in the same year.
 
S

SLoWMoTIoN

Unconfirmed Member
Nelke and Lulua was the first time in over 10 years that two new atelier games were released within the same year for NA. Unless you are counting ports, the last time this happened was back in 2009 with Atelier Annie. Couple that with the fact that Nelke is a spinoff and a completely different type of game compared to the mainline Atelier franchise. Stop with the disingenuous claims already.
Right? That is why I said now. Read my post again.
I don't know why you are blaming Gust when it is obviously your own franchise fatigue at work here. Frame drops? Reused assets? So fucking what? They couldn't release a yearly Atelier game if they had to start from scratch every time, so there's places where they focus their attention. Every game has new characters, new environments, and a new story - and beyond that, they moved to a new engine, which meant a new asset pipeline, new tools to get used to, new management from the merger with KT. In addition to that, Gust uses the Atelier series as a mainstay so that they can be experimental with other games - where's your praise for Blue Reflection, Nights of Azure 2, Nelke, or Ciel Nosurge?
My complaints are valid to the topic at hand whether you chose to defend said practices mean nothing to me. Whether you think I have franchise fatigue or whatever excuse you can think off doesn't change the fact it is a C+team rehashing assets because they can get away with it. These are the Otome CoD games after all.
where's your praise for Blue Reflection, Nights of Azure 2, Nelke, or Ciel Nosurge?
I have to give em praise? Is this where we are at now? Nosurge? The dead series that got a vita port? It was ok but that was 4 years ago. Right, Nights of Azure 2 was an abomination. Take out the best parts from 2 and make it the same generic yuri shit we always see versus the first one which felt more natural and had a far better theme. Arnice shits all over the new protagonist. Blue Reflection was an incomplete game hell it felt like a tech demo glad I got that for cheap.

They focused on the parts that were most important, and every game is an incremental improvement with a ton of shit going on behind the scenes that you don't see, but you don't care about that because they keep reusing the same puni models.
False, they reuse every monster.

Yeah, lots of people like Sophie, but you'd never know it based on how the hardcore Atelier fans talk about it. But it was a lot of people's first Atelier game (beginning of a new series, first on the PS4, and had the most crossovers with other games), and it made a lot of new Atelier fans. You don't have to prefer the game, but don't act like the game was objectively terrible.
"You don't have to like the game but don't hate it on it" I can't have an opinion? The removal of the time system was implemented terribly and was a bigger chore than just having a time system. The quests were boring and it felt bland when the only good thing about was Platcha's doll forms. It was simply mediocre and this isn't an unpopular opinion either.

I've thought the games ran fine on the PS4. These are turn based games, so frame drops here and there don't affect playing the game at all. If you played the Vita version of these games, well, then you have no one to blame but yourself.
Sophie had frame drops on the Ps4 even though it looks like a ps3 game. Framedrops matter as it ruins immersion. They got a pass from me from the ps3 days but not anymore. I played Firis on the go but that doesn't change the games' characters, plot and world does it? It was simply just not a fun game.

This will be the first year they release two Atelier games in the same year (Lulua and Ryza - Nelke isn't an Atelier game). Lulua was a fanservice game dedicated to the Arland series, while Ryza is a completely new setting and it looks to be a rather drastic departure from previous Atelier games. To me, it doesn't seem any different from releasing Blue Reflection, Atelier Firis, and Nights of Azure 2 in the same year.
Yes? I did say now right? Why even type this paragraph out? These are (or were) comfy games aimed at women in Japan. See half of the things didn't matter as long as it was entertaining but they've become so dull recently am I really saying something crazy here?
 

Frizzie

Banned
I have to give em praise? Is this where we are at now? Nosurge? The dead series that got a vita port? It was ok but that was 4 years ago. Right, Nights of Azure 2 was an abomination. Take out the best parts from 2 and make it the same generic yuri shit we always see versus the first one which felt more natural and had a far better theme. Arnice shits all over the new protagonist. Blue Reflection was an incomplete game hell it felt like a tech demo glad I got that for cheap.

Hi,

I just wondered why you felt Blue Reflection was an incomplete game?

I'm playing it at the moment and I'm really enjoying it. It's the first type of game in the "slice of life" genre I have played. Having read about it a lot before hand I set the combat to hard straight away because people were saying it was an easy game, which so far I have found to be true. I'm finding it a very relaxing change of pace.
 
Right, Nights of Azure 2 was an abomination. Take out the best parts from 2 and make it the same generic yuri shit we always see versus the first one which felt more natural and had a far better theme. Arnice shits all over the new protagonist.
I loved Nights of Azure 2. It may have one of my favorite soundtracks ever. It was a significant step up in gameplay over the first one and I liked how the Pokemon were now special abilities (and weapons) rather than glorified meat shields. I guess they didn't make the game people were expecting them to make. People wanted Nights of Azure Part 2, and instead they got a very different game that makes you wait a half dozen hours before Arnice shows up. Coupled with a poor first impression and you get a game that is hated and sold poorly. Completely undeserved, in my opinion. If they had continued with a Nights of Azure 3 in the same fashion, it would truly be an amazing game.

"You don't have to like the game but don't hate it on it" I can't have an opinion?
I said "don't act like the game was objectively terrible." That's basically saying feel free to have an opinion, but don't forget that it is just an opinion.

The removal of the time system was implemented terribly and was a bigger chore than just having a time system.
If you want to talk about a chore, let's talk about the Arland series, where the typical advice is "your first play through, just enjoy it, then play through it again (20+ hours of content you've just seen) with a guide in order to see the good ending".

It was simply mediocre and this isn't an unpopular opinion either.
It isn't an unpopular opinion that Sophie was mediocre, but that opinion is almost universally held by Atelier fans who've played 6 - 12 previous games in the series. They are comparing it against other Atelier games, and overwhelmingly, their favorite series is also the first one they played. If they started with Arland, that's their favorite. If they started with Dusk, that's their favorite. And guess what? A lot of people started with Mysterious, and that's their favorite too. But because they are newer fans, they aren't as entrenched in Gust fandom. A few more games from now, you'll start to see a lot more people praising Sophie (and especially Firis), and probably chiming in to the chorus of whatever the current game is being boring. Atelier fans make Zelda fans seem reasonable.

I played Firis on the go but that doesn't change the games' characters, plot and world does it? It was simply just not a fun game.
You played Firis on the Vita? And that doesn't color your opinion of the game, while occasional frame drops on Sophie ruin your immersion?


Yes? I did say now right? Why even type this paragraph out? These are (or were) comfy games aimed at women in Japan. See half of the things didn't matter as long as it was entertaining but they've become so dull recently am I really saying something crazy here?
You make it sound like releasing two Atelier games in one year is the new normal - they haven't even done it yet. Ryza could be delayed (like Nelke was delayed) pushing it into next year. And unless they do a simultaneous worldwide release, WE won't get two Atelier games in the same year. Not this year, at least.
 
S

SLoWMoTIoN

Unconfirmed Member
Hi,

I just wondered why you felt Blue Reflection was an incomplete game?

I'm playing it at the moment and I'm really enjoying it. It's the first type of game in the "slice of life" genre I have played. Having read about it a lot before hand I set the combat to hard straight away because people were saying it was an easy game, which so far I have found to be true. I'm finding it a very relaxing change of pace.
It was short there was a small variety of enemies and the plot was meh. It was a very pretty looking game and the monsters looked cool. But yeah variety.


I loved Nights of Azure 2. It may have one of my favorite soundtracks ever. It was a significant step up in gameplay over the first one and I liked how the Pokemon were now special abilities (and weapons) rather than glorified meat shields. I guess they didn't make the game people were expecting them to make. People wanted Nights of Azure Part 2, and instead they got a very different game that makes you wait a half dozen hours before Arnice shows up. Coupled with a poor first impression and you get a game that is hated and sold poorly. Completely undeserved, in my opinion. If they had continued with a Nights of Azure 3 in the same fashion, it would truly be an amazing game.
The gameplay felt even more off than the first game. The transformations were way better than the Lily crap and if you played it at launch the time limit was horrible. I heard that was patched later. Also I don't remember an action game that didn't have proper feedback/vibration since the ps2 era either. Found that weird. (something that wasn't fixed in the first game) The music was good enough to listen to while driving though was still superior on that end. 1 was good enough even with its warts and all. All they had to do was fix and iron out what people didn't like about it. But we got 2. Which was a worse game in every aspect outside having more characters in it. I think this review sums up my feelings on this game

If you want to talk about a chore, let's talk about the Arland series, where the typical advice is "your first play through, just enjoy it, then play through it again (20+ hours of content you've just seen) with a guide in order to see the good ending".
I agree on the first bit but I never needed a guide for the endings.

It isn't an unpopular opinion that Sophie was mediocre, but that opinion is almost universally held by Atelier fans who've played 6 - 12 previous games in the series. They are comparing it against other Atelier games, and overwhelmingly, their favorite series is also the first one they played. If they started with Arland, that's their favorite. If they started with Dusk, that's their favorite. And guess what? A lot of people started with Mysterious, and that's their favorite too. But because they are newer fans, they aren't as entrenched in Gust fandom. A few more games from now, you'll start to see a lot more people praising Sophie (and especially Firis), and probably chiming in to the chorus of whatever the current game is being boring. Atelier fans make Zelda fans seem reasonable.
You are being hyperbolic. There are barely any Atelier fans as is and nobody is more obnoxious than Zelda fans since they like and defend every game in the franchise. How dare anybody criticize perfection?
You played Firis on the Vita? And that doesn't color your opinion of the game, while occasional frame drops on Sophie ruin your immersion?

Well yeah the ps vita is weaker than the ps3. Sophie is a game that could run on the ps3 no problem, it shouldn't have framedrops on the ps4 version.
 

Frizzie

Banned
It was short there was a small variety of enemies and the plot was meh. It was a very pretty looking game and the monsters looked cool. But yeah variety.

I'm kind of glad it's not going to be overly long as I didn't want another 100hr+ rpg just yet, although I am already quite a few hours in and not close to finishing it.

I can see that the monster variety is not huge (although I have only really spent most of my time in one common area so far) but this fits if the game is not too long. I also find that you don't have to grind battles like in other JRPG's as they offer no experience points. Battles can take a while but unless you are on a mission or after a specific item they are easily avoided so this also helps to prevent monster variety getting too old.

Like you, I got it cheap in a sale and would agree it's maybe not worth its full price. I think it is and does feel like a full finished game though, but would advise anyone to research it well before buying as it really is best to know what you are getting with this one.
 
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