Atelier Mysterious Trilogy DX - Review

Atelier Mysterious Trilogy DX - Review

Review for Atelier Mysterious Trilogy DX. Game for PC, PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch, the video game was released on 22/04/2021

When we reviewed Atelier Ryza 2 in January we called it an excellent JRPG that you can take calmly for hours of gameplay more akin to those spent in an Animal Crossing than to those found in a Final Fantasy. To talk about Atelier Mysterious Trilogy DX we can take that same sentence and copy-paste it on three other adventures published by GUST. This trilogy, which includes Atelier Sophie: The Alchemist of the Mysterious Book DX, Atelier Firis: The Alchemist and the Mysterious Journey DX, Atelier Lydie & Suelle: The Alchemists and the Mysterious Paintings DX, offers an exorbitant amount of hours of play with 3 games of fair quality; however, it also shows the weak side of the brand very clearly. Let's go back to crafting in the worlds of the various alchemists and let's talk about Atelier Mysterious Trilogy DX.




Atelier Mysterious Trilogy DX - Review

Atelier Mysterious Trilogy DX is, as mentioned before, a collection of three titles from the series released during the PlayStation 4 generation and re-released in a deluxe version for the same console. The main value of the collection comes from an excellent value for money rather than from the convenience in recovering titles that are difficult to find, however it seems to us perhaps too early for this type of operation. After all, the most recent title of the collection was released in March 2018, only three years ago and as mentioned before, all the "basic" versions of the three available Ateliers can be purchased without too many problems. At the same time waiting for some time to bring the games back to the next generation could also have given GUST time to rejuvenate a bit the oldest entry, Atelier Sophie, which visually has aged really badly and can hardly attract new fans to the series in its current form. The only improvement actually applied to the trilogy, thanks to the DX version, is found in the addition of the race and the possibility of accelerating the fighting. These features are welcome, but they are not enough to rejuvenate Atelier Sophie. As can be guessed from this beginning of the review, much of our criticism is aimed precisely at the oldest Atelier of the trilogy. That said, let's move on to a quick overview of what the three games individually offer.



Atelier Mysterious Trilogy DX - Review

Atelier Sophie: The Alchemist of The Mysterious Book DX tells the adventures of Sophie, a young owner of an Atelier left to her by her grandmother struggling with her studies to improve as an alchemist. A very common concept in the series, so much so that we will find many elements of it in another title of the trilogy. The story unfolds around the mysterious book holder, a talking tome with a soul, but without memories. These will be recovered as Sophie fills the book by discovering alchemical recipes. The premise is very simple and not particularly interesting, however the gameplay loop that accompanies the narrative is enough to allow Atelier Sophie to be an enjoyable title for fans of the saga. Sophie's activities are few and simple, but their simplicity gives a certain charm as it translates into a very light and satisfying gaming experience with little effort. Essentially the loop is composed of: exploration, gathering, combat, crafting, with the first two activities simplified down to their most basic form. Gathering is simply collecting bright spots on the ground without any special interaction required, unlike Atelier Ryza where to get many objects you needed to interact with the environment. Plus, the maps cut down on exploration due to their being flat and boring. Yet the simple missions given by the mystery book to unlock new recipes manage to make sense of these activities and the simple day-night cycle helps create the feeling of being part of a quest anyway.. Despite the simplicity of the title and its flaws, we can't deny that Sophie's quest has a certain charm. However remains a game that we cannot recommend to those who do not already appreciate the saga. In fact, Atelier Sophie is also plagued by 2 other huge defects. The first, as mentioned in the introduction, is given by the graphic rendering: put simply, Atelier Sophie has aged very badly and nowadays it is rather ugly to look at. The second instead is given by the characters: although the Atelier series has hardly ever stood out for extremely interesting narratives, it usually makes up for it with a good cast of characters. Unfortunately, Atelier Sophie did not impress us in this respect and the usual specks that GUST normally manages to make memorable here show their side, making them forgettable and banal.



Atelier Mysterious Trilogy DX - Review

Atelier Firis is set 4 years after Atelier Sophie and talks about the journey of a neophyte alchemist called Firis, who becomes passionate about art thanks to the help of Sophie. In a way it is a direct sequel, although the light narrative of the two titles does not make it necessary to know Atelier Sophie to appreciate Atelier Firis. This title starts off on the right foot, presenting a rather inviting premise thanks to the fact that the protagonist has almost never seen the sky in her life, as her hometown is underground and she is unable to open the heavy door that leads to it. on the outside. However on balance, Atelier Firis has only the premise of compelling. All the writing problems discussed during the analysis of the previous title recur in this one: bland characters, inconclusive story.

Atelier Mysterious Trilogy DX - Review

However, it is true that the aesthetic sector undergoes a clear step forward and the gameplay loop tries to embellish itself by becoming a sort of "open world", a choice that at the time of its release on PSVita condemned the game to suffer heavy drops in framerate. Fortunately these are completely absent in this re-edition. The open world itself on the other hand is not particularly inspired, with the same bland game design that characterizes Sophie present in full force and applied to much larger maps. In retrospect, this experiment by Atelier Firis is appreciable, which gives it a sort of uniqueness compared to other titles. However, this originality soon vanishes when one realizes that, as already mentioned, the open world formula of Atelier Firis is nothing more than taking the flat maps of Atelier Sophie and Atelier Lulua and enlarging them. All in all it is a title on par with its predecessor, with a better graphics sector, an equally mediocre narrative sector and a fun gameplay loop but still far from its best form.


Atelier Mysterious Trilogy DX - Review

Atelier Lidye & Suelle is the best title offered in the Atelier Mysterious Trilogy DX, as well as the most recent. Set after Atelier Firis, the game follows the two young alchemists Lydie and Suelle on their adventure to become the best alchemists in the world, climbing the royal rank and while discovering the secrets behind the mysterious magical paintings painted by their father.. Among the three titles in the collection, this is the one that comes closest to the solidity and depth of Atelier Ryza. The maps finally have a first hint of complexity, there are gathering mechanics through tools that help give the gameplay loop a sense of progression and the six-character combat system is very interesting although it is never "stressed" too much. Graphically it is considerably inferior to the last two titles of the saga, but it maintains its charm and has “aged” very well. Particularly the sections in the paintings are really nice and the choice to use a style similar to oil painting for these parts of the game is a nice touch.

Atelier Mysterious Trilogy DX - Review

Narratively we are always on the same level of extreme simplicity seen in Firis and Sophie, however we have enjoyed much more the time spent with Lydie and Suelle thanks to the two sisters. The cast includes various characters from the two previous Ateliers, so much so that they have both Sophie and Firis, but the stars of the show are the cute little sisters able to have fun and memorable dynamics with all the characters that go around them. In a way, Suelle and Lidye improve the old characters by giving them a way to express their characters through interactions with the two sisters. At the level of pure story, however, it is not too memorable a title, however the banthers between the characters and the simple satisfaction of seeing Lydie and Suelle grow are enough to push us to appreciate the developments of the game. Among the three titles present Atelier Suelle & Lydie is certainly the best and is the only one we would recommend to a novice to approach the Gust series. Atelier Mysterious Trilogy DX is definitely a more inviting package thanks to this title.

Atelier Mysterious Trilogy DX - Review

As you can already see just in describing in general the three titles offered in the Atelier Mysterious Trilogy DX we could not help but repeat ourselves over and over again. This is probably the biggest problem of the trilogy and of the Atelier saga more generally. As difficult as it is to find a "bad" Atelier, it is undeniable that the titles are all extremely similar to each other with one exception that is not present in this bundle. Although the offer in hours of play and quality of experiences is very advantageous, Atelier Mysterious Trilogy DX lacks a lot in variety and with its best title already available on PlayStation 4 we cannot suggest anyone to take advantage of this collection. The improvements made by the DX version are minimal and useful mostly in Atelier Sophie. For this reason we do not feel like recommending Atelier Mysterious Trilogy DX to the curious who want to get closer to the brand. However, we consider it a good offer for those who have already been conquered, perhaps thanks to the two Ryza who have popularized the brand.

Ultimately Atelier Mysterious Trilogy DX is a very good collection which, however, risks not to tire the players before they finish all three titles. This is due to the extreme similarity between the various games offered and the lack of a real narrative that invites the progression from game to game. Atelier Firis and Atelier Lydie & Suelle are excellent JRPGs while Atelier Sophie suffers a little from age, however only one of them will most likely be enough for many players and investing for the entire trilogy is not advisable for anyone who is not already a fan of the saga of Gust.

► Atelier Mysterious Trilogy DX is an RPG type game developed by Gust Co. Ltd. for PC, PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch, the video game was released on 22/04/2021

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