My time to enjoy Atelier games, that is.
Just like famous bands, long-running video game series evolve and go through
phases, losing and earning fans along the way. The Atelier series has
been through two such phases lately: first the Dusk subseries, which seems to
be considered by Atelier veterans as the beginning of the end for the
venerable series; and then the Mysterious subseries, which those same veterans
seem to brand as a complete travesty of what Atelier games are supposed
to stand for. Being the farther thing from an Atelier veteran myself,
I'll wisely abstain from any judgement on the series' evolution; all I can say
is that I kinda disliked the Arland games, loved Ayesha, and absolutely adore Lydie & Suelle.
L & S totally fits my early dreams of what an alchemic RPG should be
like: tons and tons of foraging, no time limit whatsoever, adorkable characters
and lovely little areas choke-full of materials. And those bright, vivid
colours! Oh, what a pure eye-candy! I thought the land of Dusk in Ayesha was
gorgeous, but it pales — in every sense of the word — when compared to the
twin's dazzling homeland. As for alchemy, it has never been simpler, easy to
figure out and intuitive to a noob like me. I so love the grid system,
which makes things deliciously obvious and clear! Ayesha's Trait system
always remained a bit of a mystery to me, even after two full playthroughs; on
the other hand, I already have a good grip on the L&S grid after a
mere 5 hours of play. Hooray!
For all intents and purposes, L&S is actually a regular RPG with
some alchemy spread on top, whereas older Atelier games tended to be
time management games sprinkled with RPG features. Alchemy is nearly treated as
an afterthough in L&S: not only is the number of recipes really
tiny, but they must be unlocked by doing things you naturally do in RPGs — such
as fighting, crawling, foraging and the like. So far, my own run has been 90%
crawling, foraging and questing and 10% alchemy; an unbalance that can be
blamed partly on L&S' diminished focus on alchemy and massively on
my uncanny passion for all things grinding and crawling. My only beefs with the
game so far are minor ones that only serves to highlight how much I love doing
what I do in L&S: there's just not enough room in the basket, and
enemies don't respawn! Heck, I'd spend even impossibly more time roaming zones
if that were the case.
Long story short, I love L&S like no other Atelier game
before it, which totally puts me in the cohort of new fans that were brought
into the fold by the Mysterious subseries — and, to a lesser extent, by the
Dusk subseries. This raises interesting questions such as "Should I
purchase the rest of the Mysterious entries despite the fact that they are
digital-only games, which I hate?" and "Should I blindly purchase all
Atelier games from now on, or remain vigilant and check them
individually to make sure they fit me?" I'll ponder the answers in due
time; for now, back to da grind!
Tehvidya29 January 2020 at 22:02
Aha. I always
suspected there were people out there who liked the new trend of the Atelier
games, and lo and behold, I have discovered one today. Quick, I must take a
photo for National Geographic!
:-p I kid, I kid. I can see the attraction of the simpler system for newer
fans, but this "actually a regular RPG with some alchemy spread on
top" thing you mention is what makes the Mysterious games so unbearable
for me. They're not even good RPGs IMO, or at the very least Sophie wasn't.
But as long as you're having fun with gaming again, that's what counts.
Isleif30 January 2020 at 21:18
:D :D :D
Even though I looove Lydie & Suelle, I think this new Atelier trend should
have been the beginning of a spinoff series, with even simpler alchemy and more
emphasis on RPG elements. Then we could have had hardcore Atelier games with
super-complex alchemy and stringent time management for the faithful, and solid
RPGs with lite alchemy for the casual; and everyone would have been happy.
The way Atelier games are designed now feels more like a compromise, an attempt
to humour both old and new fans; and as such, it's bound to disappoint both to
an extent. I love L & S as it is, but I would love it even more if it
sported simpler alchemy and deeper RPG elements.
Geddy27 February 2020 at 18:59
>For all
intents and purposes, L&S is actually a regular RPG with some alchemy
spread on top, whereas older Atelier games tended to be time management games
sprinkled with RPG features
This is a good description of how I felt about Arland. I only played Rorona and
I had a blast with it, but I had no desire to do the same damn time-based thing
2 more times.
Based on your review, this is a lot more laid back. I'd like to try out an
Atelier game again (and they've been getting released seemingly once a month!)
- this seems like a lot more of a relaxed experience.
Funny, I kinda
had the same experience as you with the Arland games — apart from the blast
thing, that is. :P My run of Rorona was more on the tedious-slash-stressful
side, and that's certainly not something I'd wish to go through again.
But yeah, Lydie & Suelle is MUCH more laid back than the Arland games, or
even the Dusk ones. If you want the Atelier experience without the time
management hassle, L&S will be right up your alley. :D
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