Atelier Ryza: Ever Darkness & the Secret Hideout

1. arh3399

   Dec 13, 2020

   10

   I have never played an Atelier game but saw this game got good reviews and decided to give it a shot. I am so glad I did. I absolutely loveI have never played an Atelier game but saw this game got good reviews and decided to give it a shot. I am so glad I did. I absolutely love this game, from the characters to the different environments to the gameplay, I love it all. The battle system is very fast paced and most random battles are really quick so it never feels too grindy. The characters are great and have big development arks over the course of the game. The story builds really well and its pretty relaxing to play through, but also still really interesting as you learn more about the history of the world. The crafting system is one of the most addicting gameplay loops I can remember in awhile. This is one of those games where I would sit down to play it and before I knew it 4 hours had flown buy. It was a great experience and it runs really well on switch. If you like JRPGs and you haven't tried this you really should cause it very quickly became one of my all time favorites.… Expand

   • 0 of 0 users found this helpful
2. theprotagonist

   Jan 25, 2023

   10

   My first time playing an Atelier game. I was suprised by how much I love this game. The protagonist is adorable. Everything about it is superMy first time playing an Atelier game. I was suprised by how much I love this game. The protagonist is adorable. Everything about it is super fun and upbeat.… Expand

   • 0 of 0 users found this helpful
4. millzy

   Jul 30, 2020

   10

   Amazing
   Just amazing This game should be bought by everyone who owns a switch

   • 1 of 1 users found this helpful
5. midipon

   Dec 6, 2019

   8

   I had basically given up on Atelier after playing Shallie, but I've been playing this and I'm excited by how much they really went out ofI had basically given up on Atelier after playing Shallie, but I've been playing this and I'm excited by how much they really went out of their way to improve in this game. They should stop with yearly releases and keep up the good work they've started with this game.… Expand

   • 1 of 1 users found this helpful
6. yorgash

   Nov 9, 2019

   7

   I played almost every Atelier games, and loved all of them since Rorona greatly.
   
   This one is... a bitter, very bitter letdown for me. I'mI played almost every Atelier games, and loved all of them since Rorona greatly.
   
   This one is... a bitter, very bitter letdown for me. I'm not saying it's not a decent game, but if I rate other titles 9/10 I can not honestly give this one more than 5, were it not for the many new ideas implemented, and the somewhat decent if a bit overly basic story.
   
   1.) Synthesis:
   Of course the new ideas are welcome, but not if they come at the price of letting the old ones go. Nearing endgame it becomes more and more obvious that this game almost entirely lacks item traits; it has maybe 5 useful traits coupled with 5 "stack-able" level-based ones. Compared to the 100+ that could be combined in many ways in former titles. Not to mention the "reformed" synthesis is basically dirt-cheap compared to the second most recent one, Lulua (I could say Lydie+Sue or Shallie too) for example. You just... add materials if you have them to the effect you want to have. And you can edit it later, not even having to worry about the quality.
   
   2.) Battle
   The battle is also a mess. I see what they were trying to do, making it a bit more "active time" than plain old turn-based, but it really is just turn-based. Worse yet, one could say you can only control one character, since going for speed build and trying to control all characters is plain impossible. To be a little more exact, it needs you to make about 20 button mashed in 0.5 seconds. If there were a way to issue or set up tactics for your party that might actually work, but you can only choose "spam what they have enough AP for" or "normal attack". Can't even make them use items. Not to mention that aside from the 3 members you currently select the others are just there being reserves - no assists, stat boosts, combination, nothing. That's a huge step down from almost every other Atelier games. Not to mention you can simply not get excited to battle with any monsters, since basically there are 4 enemies recolored, two "big bad" ones, 1 optional boss for recoloring and maybe 2 additional models. Their strength increases linearly to match your progress while in the main story, nothing afterwards.
   
   3.) Characters
   Aside from the main character and maybe one of the other party members the others are just comically simple avatars of their archetypes. Of course the glasses shorty acts just like he's "supposed to" being a scaredy-cat bookworm. The hot-blooded warrior wants to beat up monsters. The "alchemist with a heavy past" is just that. The interactions between characters are minimal and hardly interesting or entertaining. You just... don't feel for any of them.
   
   4.) Music
   The music not only is forgettable, it's almost impossible to like them. And it's not that they are terrible; it has more to do with being way too atmospheric and trying hard not to overtake the scene. You can almost use the battle music for your atelier comfy music and vice versa... It's the first time that after playing 50+ hours I have no desire to listen to its OST - nor could I recall them if I wanted to.
   
   5.) The pros
   ...are the new things implemented poorly. The premise of a gathering synthesizer is good, adding materials in this fashion could be good, reactor forge is an interesting - if not overpowered - tool, no nonsense way to duplicate items is also pretty decent for an idea. Item rebuild would be a nice touch if it came with any restrains (aside from the ridiculously negligible constraint of your alchemy level). Most of these ideas could make a good foundation for an actually good implementation, but as is currently it's a pretty bad mix. And after getting through the initial confusion it's sickeningly simple.
   
   Overall this game could be improved upon so vastly it'd be more efficient to do it the other way around: just use any older titles and implement the good parts of this one. Atmosphere, OST, characters and everything... not saying they are terrible, but way out of Atelier's league.… Expand

   • 4 of 4 users found this helpful
7. Nintendopost24

   Jan 29, 2020

   7

   Atelier Ryza est un excellent JRPG. La série a passé un cap avec cet opus. Que ce soit techniquement mais également dans le gameplay, le jeu aAtelier Ryza est un excellent JRPG. La série a passé un cap avec cet opus. Que ce soit techniquement mais également dans le gameplay, le jeu a su moderniser la formule. Le scénario, un peu cliché au départ, prend ensuite de l’épaisseur pour nous offrir une jolie petite histoire. Sans doute le jeu Atelier le plus à même de faire passer un nouveau palier à la licence, notamment en occident.… Expand

   • 0 of 0 users found this helpful
8. BulgarianCritic

   Dec 5, 2019

   0

   This is an unplayable port.There are zero mouse controls and everything is done with a joystick and keyboard and the keyboard layout isThis is an unplayable port.There are zero mouse controls and everything is done with a joystick and keyboard and the keyboard layout is incredibly crappy.Badly optimized game… Expand

   • 0 of 12 users found this helpful

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