People seem to have a lot of questions about this series whenever it is brought up in casual conversation, online or otherwise – “What is it called again?”, “What’s the objective?”, “Is there a cool storyline?” Normal questions to ask about a JRPG, right? Needless to say, Atelier is quite different from the normal pale of JRPG series out there – for one, this title is the 19th one in the series! Now THAT is prolific!
I think people are naturally drawn to the beautiful art and character designs that Gust manages to drum up for each game, as well as the beautiful arrangements/soundtrack. So really, what is Atelier Lydie & Suelle about? Let me preface by saying the only Atelier titles I have played are Atelier Totori, Atelier Sophie, and Atelier Firis.
Like past Atelier titles, our story begins on a very small scale with two alchemists, Lydie & Suelle (hereafter referred to as “Sue”), running their unsuccessful atelier in a town with their father, a few years after their mother’s untimely passing. An atelier in this series is a workshop run by an alchemist – a person who can make or fix objects with base materials in a way that could be compared to magic. Even though Lydie & Sue haven’t been successful thus far, that starts to change when the Alchemist Rank up system is introduced as an impetus for them to improve. A character from the previous game in the Mysterious series, Illia, is reintroduced and shortly thereafter takes the two girls as pupils. It isn’t long before they discover that alchemists with rare talent can make alternate realities in portraits, called “Mysterious Paintings.”
If you’ve played Sophie and Firis before this, you’ll understand the character rich world you are jumping into right away. Many of Lydie and Sue’s friends and family will experience challenges as you go about your task of becoming the best alchemist, and some of those challenges aren’t solved up in a nice bowtie by the end of everything, which adds a little bit of realism. Make no mistake – this game is as saccharine and wholesome as every other game in the series.
Some returning favorites are back, such as Fritz, Drossel, and Corneria from Sophie. Fritz was especially one of my favorites, so I’m relieved to see he is as important to Gust as he was to me when I was playing through Sophie!
One of the most gratifying things in this series is playing a follow-up title only to see the girl you had played as in the previous game having achieved her life long dream. They feel like your children in a way – you want to watch them grow up and live their life the way they wanted to. It can be said I have an special soft spot in my heart for the alchemist of the previous game Firis. I even feel myself getting mad when enemies attack her in normal encounters, hearing her sad little English “Ow”.
That’s enough for plot. Most of the game is spent by exploring environments, collecting, synthesizing, and battling. Most of your tasks will be through NPC interaction, gathering, making interesting items to help you out of a bind, and min/maxing the hell out of your equipment by trying to get the best traits in your ingredients. As is stated by Illia herself – Alchemists aren’t warriors! This means most of the combat they perform is through the items they make and can use – usually bombs. It’s immensely satisfying to encounter a group of enemies weak to a power use item like an Ori bomb, drop it on them, and watch the triple digit numbers make them completely disappear in an explosion.
There are also a lot of subquests you can perform as you go through the story – most of the time you’ll be synthesizing items for townspeople who need help. Occasionally you’ll need to destroy an especially powerful monster, and these are the quests I enjoy the most. You’ll need to gear up before going out, as these monsters are quite powerful.
As far as difficulty goes, the game is not too difficult – but if you find yourself taking on the extra challenges and bosses you are not required to fight, you’ll find yourself singing a different tune as they are very difficult. There is no meaning to the word “overgeared” in this case.
So far, I’m in Chapter 7 and a lot has happened, but I’d hate to spoil it for you if you were looking for a relaxing but gratifying RPG like this to enjoy. If you’re looking for a diving in spot in the series, I highly recommend the earlier PS4 titles Atelier Sophie.
