(Winner of the "Plot and Backstory Award" for best representation of women, speech below)
Gust keeps cookin' up new ways for us to appreciate the Ryza games. Over this robust video game trilogy, the titular Ryza has shaped up into a well-rounded woman.
All of her assets are on display here: Her extensive knowledge of alchemy, her kindness, her charm... and as we explore her huge tracts of land, we can't help but appreciate how she's grown and how she has captured our... hearts, with her quirky charm.
And what talent she posseses! Civic engineering, economics, fighting off an extradimensional invasion.. all in a day's work for our perky protagonist.
And who could complain about this presumed final entry, with all of her old friends and allies joining in on the fun?
The past three games have been a long and satisfying ride, and while she's already called a cab and left for work, there'd certainly be no complaints if our alluring alchemist had us coming again.
Gust keeps cookin' up new ways for us to appreciate the Ryza games. Over this robust video game trilogy, the titular Ryza has shaped up into a well-rounded woman.
All of her assets are on display here: Her extensive knowledge of alchemy, her kindness, her charm... and as we explore her huge tracts of land, we can't help but appreciate how she's grown and how she has captured our... hearts, with her quirky charm.
And what talent she posseses! Civic engineering, economics, fighting off an extradimensional invasion.. all in a day's work for our perky protagonist.
And who could complain about this presumed final entry, with all of her old friends and allies joining in on the fun?
The past three games have been a long and satisfying ride, and while she's already called a cab and left for work, there'd certainly be no complaints if our alluring alchemist had us coming again.
I have a thing with Atelier games. I don't like finishing them. I can't fully explain why, I think it has to do with the vibes. I always find myself trying to prolong these games for some reason. With Atelier Ryza 3, that was multiplied to 100. Ok, between finishing my Zeldathon, Tears of the Kingdom, the trip to Spain i took, and finishing up the semester, along with work, it definitely took time out of me finishing this game. But it worked, because I didn't want to finish it. I'm still counting this game as a game i played in 2023 and it's going on the list but man, never before have i prolonged a game like this.
To kick things off, if i had a nickel for every 2023 game that is a sequel that reused the world map from it's predecessor while adding to it, i'd have three nickels, which isn't a lot, it's just weird it's happened thrice. Granted, unlike TotK and Spider-Man 2, the reused map isn't the "main" map if that makes sense, in fact it hardly matters this time.
I'm actually gonna start by listing some negatives first: while it's clear that Gust wanted the Secret trilogy to end with a bang, they banged too much, because the size of this game's areas isn't really justified. It's a technological achievement for the team for sure but by a certain point i was preferring the smaller maps. It didn't help that it's actually surprisingly easy to get lost in this game, in the sense that the navigation is pretty poor. I never had this problem with Atelier games before which is surprising to me that i'd encounter it here. I didn't have this problem with Xenoblade areas, which are still bigger than what's found here, so it leads me to believe that there's just something wrong with how Ryza 3 handled navigation.
Another negative i have with the game is the combat, specifically how enemies are handled. For some strange reason, enemies scale with your level so even in the starting area, you'll be coming across Lv.80 enemies eventually. Of course by that point in the game you'd have long snapped the game's balance in two but it's still just an odd decision. The Key system that is supposed to be central to the game (look at the title) is lame and undercooked and i barely used it except when I had to.
With these points, it seems like the game is a step back compared to it's predecessor and it some ways it still kinda is. In others, it's a great improvement. While navigation sucks, movement is actually pretty good, well as good as it can get for this sort of game. No longer do you have to stop in your tracks to gather items, you can just zoom around picking up everything and anything. How Ryza does this in heels i have no idea. You have different animal buddies you can ride. You can create wind surfing shoes that let you schmove down slopes. It's all pretty fun. The combat itself is mostly the same from Ryza 2 i think but it actually fixed my biggest problem i had in that game, the stun mechanics. In Ryza 2, whenever a boss would prep a big attack, you are given the opportunity to stun it by fulfilling certain conditions.....except it didn't matter anyways. Ryza 3 fixed this, i found myself stunning the bosses much more consistently by following the instructions.
The characters and story beats are also good. This game follows Lydie & Suelle in being a "trilogy ender" game that actually feels like it's ending the trilogy, as opposed to simply being a third game. Character arcs are wrapped up nicely and everyone is given a chance to shine despite the fact that there's 11 total party members, which isn't actually the highest number for an Atelier game but is a rather high number for all being part of the story. It was just really nice and pleasant to see. I'm truly gonna miss the Secret crew though i'm sure they'll be back in 2029 for the 10th anniversary of Ryza. My only complaint with the characters has less to do with them and moreso how character events are handled. This ties into my issues with the map but the character events feel "less accessible" than in previous games since they're no longer relegated to just the hub area.
The thing about this game's story and probably a big reason of why i held off on finishing it is because it hits pretty relevant right now. A subtle element to the narrative here is how growing up means that you'll be seeing your pals less often. It doesn't mean that you'll never see them again (though that might happen eventually) but the road of life often means going separate but connected paths. This probably would've hit even harder if i was a high schooler graduating but even as a 24 year old in college, i still strongly resonated with this. I hated school back in the day but i do find myself reminiscing on at least the simpler days back when the responsibilities were low and you could do relatively anything. Of course, despite it all, you still have to keep moving forward.
Music. Music in this game is still the good Gust stuff i know and love. Admittedly the battle themes are kinda lacking in this unfortunately but that's where good ol' "change BGM" came in. Final boss plays the game's main theme tho and that's based. Environmental themes are good, no issues there.
Once again, i am giving a game a higher score than i would've because the ending is very good. Love the ending. Even if i hate endings. I wish things didn't have to end. You know why Doctor Who is the greatest show ever? Cause it doesn't end, it just keeps on going and going and going, it is designed to not end. Endings suck.
.....nah but jokes aside, this game was the perfect sendoff for the Secret trilogy. And now we wait for the next Atelier game. Not the gacha shit, i mean the actual next Atelier game.
To kick things off, if i had a nickel for every 2023 game that is a sequel that reused the world map from it's predecessor while adding to it, i'd have three nickels, which isn't a lot, it's just weird it's happened thrice. Granted, unlike TotK and Spider-Man 2, the reused map isn't the "main" map if that makes sense, in fact it hardly matters this time.
I'm actually gonna start by listing some negatives first: while it's clear that Gust wanted the Secret trilogy to end with a bang, they banged too much, because the size of this game's areas isn't really justified. It's a technological achievement for the team for sure but by a certain point i was preferring the smaller maps. It didn't help that it's actually surprisingly easy to get lost in this game, in the sense that the navigation is pretty poor. I never had this problem with Atelier games before which is surprising to me that i'd encounter it here. I didn't have this problem with Xenoblade areas, which are still bigger than what's found here, so it leads me to believe that there's just something wrong with how Ryza 3 handled navigation.
Another negative i have with the game is the combat, specifically how enemies are handled. For some strange reason, enemies scale with your level so even in the starting area, you'll be coming across Lv.80 enemies eventually. Of course by that point in the game you'd have long snapped the game's balance in two but it's still just an odd decision. The Key system that is supposed to be central to the game (look at the title) is lame and undercooked and i barely used it except when I had to.
With these points, it seems like the game is a step back compared to it's predecessor and it some ways it still kinda is. In others, it's a great improvement. While navigation sucks, movement is actually pretty good, well as good as it can get for this sort of game. No longer do you have to stop in your tracks to gather items, you can just zoom around picking up everything and anything. How Ryza does this in heels i have no idea. You have different animal buddies you can ride. You can create wind surfing shoes that let you schmove down slopes. It's all pretty fun. The combat itself is mostly the same from Ryza 2 i think but it actually fixed my biggest problem i had in that game, the stun mechanics. In Ryza 2, whenever a boss would prep a big attack, you are given the opportunity to stun it by fulfilling certain conditions.....except it didn't matter anyways. Ryza 3 fixed this, i found myself stunning the bosses much more consistently by following the instructions.
The characters and story beats are also good. This game follows Lydie & Suelle in being a "trilogy ender" game that actually feels like it's ending the trilogy, as opposed to simply being a third game. Character arcs are wrapped up nicely and everyone is given a chance to shine despite the fact that there's 11 total party members, which isn't actually the highest number for an Atelier game but is a rather high number for all being part of the story. It was just really nice and pleasant to see. I'm truly gonna miss the Secret crew though i'm sure they'll be back in 2029 for the 10th anniversary of Ryza. My only complaint with the characters has less to do with them and moreso how character events are handled. This ties into my issues with the map but the character events feel "less accessible" than in previous games since they're no longer relegated to just the hub area.
The thing about this game's story and probably a big reason of why i held off on finishing it is because it hits pretty relevant right now. A subtle element to the narrative here is how growing up means that you'll be seeing your pals less often. It doesn't mean that you'll never see them again (though that might happen eventually) but the road of life often means going separate but connected paths. This probably would've hit even harder if i was a high schooler graduating but even as a 24 year old in college, i still strongly resonated with this. I hated school back in the day but i do find myself reminiscing on at least the simpler days back when the responsibilities were low and you could do relatively anything. Of course, despite it all, you still have to keep moving forward.
Music. Music in this game is still the good Gust stuff i know and love. Admittedly the battle themes are kinda lacking in this unfortunately but that's where good ol' "change BGM" came in. Final boss plays the game's main theme tho and that's based. Environmental themes are good, no issues there.
Once again, i am giving a game a higher score than i would've because the ending is very good. Love the ending. Even if i hate endings. I wish things didn't have to end. You know why Doctor Who is the greatest show ever? Cause it doesn't end, it just keeps on going and going and going, it is designed to not end. Endings suck.
.....nah but jokes aside, this game was the perfect sendoff for the Secret trilogy. And now we wait for the next Atelier game. Not the gacha shit, i mean the actual next Atelier game.
DNF. Found the English translation awkward and frustrating, an issue I didn't experience with Ryza 1 and Ryza 2. May revisit in Japanese in the future.
The story is the best in the series, but the gameplay feels like a downgrade from the second game.
this game was just so bad
This review contains spoilers
wonderful grand finale for the trilogy, finale falls a bit short compared to the epic of 1 and the emotion i felt in 2 but gameplay wise this game is so fast and fun. i preferred 2’s gimmick of exploring ruins more than the keys here but later in the game once i had plenty of resources it was fun to run around using OP keys.
Kala is a treasure
Kala is a treasure
In many ways this is a lovely send-off for Atelier Ryza, but it overall feels as though the ambition in this game served to distract from what it's done well in past entries. Opening up the world made the game less focused & exploration less rewarding. The new key system is needlessly confusing and poorly explained. The number of different effects a single key could have bogged down the entire system and resulted in me fully disengaging with it. The translation is also frankly abysmal, rife with strange grammar and typos. This makes the dialogue seem robotic, making the late-game, jargon heavy text more of a slog than its predecessors. I still enjoyed the battle system and the core alchemy systems, but the added aspects and botched translation dragged this one down in my eyes.
Probably the best of the Ryza trilogy, and quite possibly the best Atelier game. Pretty much everything they execute on is a home run. Fun new characters? Check. Cool new locations? Massive interconnected maps to gather and battle through? Check! The only thing I wasn't 100% on was the story. While it wasn't bad by any means, I think the names they gave some stuff and jargon associated with a lot of these terms was a bit too wordy. Luckily they have a glossary to help out with this.
I also love how cinematic they've made going in and out of battles. The opening segment in this game is probably the most unique and fun to an atelier game period. Everything in general LOOKS amazing, too. If I remember correctly, Sophie 2 was a big upgrade from Ryza 2, but this was an even bigger step up from that! I think my favorite little aspect of this game was how expressive some of these characters got. The facial expressions are incredible!
And finally, this game does a really good job at wrapping up Ryza's story, bringing in characters and plot points from previous games to culminate in the ultimate end to our honest alchemist's tale. If you haven't played these games before, I highly suggest you start. Ryza 1 is the perfect place to start. And this is the perfect way this series ends up!
I also love how cinematic they've made going in and out of battles. The opening segment in this game is probably the most unique and fun to an atelier game period. Everything in general LOOKS amazing, too. If I remember correctly, Sophie 2 was a big upgrade from Ryza 2, but this was an even bigger step up from that! I think my favorite little aspect of this game was how expressive some of these characters got. The facial expressions are incredible!
And finally, this game does a really good job at wrapping up Ryza's story, bringing in characters and plot points from previous games to culminate in the ultimate end to our honest alchemist's tale. If you haven't played these games before, I highly suggest you start. Ryza 1 is the perfect place to start. And this is the perfect way this series ends up!
this was definitely one of the more complicated atelier games for me. not in its alchemy, but as a game. because i can recognize so many things that don't work and especially feel really bummed at the kinda bad translation turning people off from this game (it still isn't as bad as lydie & suelle's tho and that is still my fav in the series so u know, not a huge issue for me) but nonetheless, absolutely incredible game that while i wouldn't say is better than ryza 2 or even in my top 5 from the series, still hits all the right buttons for me and has sooo much cool stuff going for it that it's easy to ignore certain gameplay mechanics having some lacking potential or again, the shoddy translation.
i loved the alchemy in this game, the mix of the keys into the formula makes it so fun and fresh and as always, the way the alchemy progresses along with you through the game is as satisfying as ever. the combat is great too with the like, no characters actually being bad or anything. all of them control so well and are so fun to use, especially the 4 new party members. and speaking of which, i loooove the cast so so so much i genuinely cried so hard at the ending cause even if most of my later time was spent exploring the world and synthesizing and fighting stuff, i still felt so connected to all these characters. it was just so nice to see the way characters like lent and tao, who i thought were pretty weak in the first game, have some of the best character development and minor plot points of the whole cast. i
was also very happy to see the ryza and klaudia still going so strong that even when the entire point of klaudia's character events was that she and ryza are learning to deal with the fact that their paths are drifting apart, they still are so gay. i love lesbians.
so yeah amazing game, incredible end to the trilogy, and as always, i am so excited to see where the amazing creatives at gust take this series next.
i loved the alchemy in this game, the mix of the keys into the formula makes it so fun and fresh and as always, the way the alchemy progresses along with you through the game is as satisfying as ever. the combat is great too with the like, no characters actually being bad or anything. all of them control so well and are so fun to use, especially the 4 new party members. and speaking of which, i loooove the cast so so so much i genuinely cried so hard at the ending cause even if most of my later time was spent exploring the world and synthesizing and fighting stuff, i still felt so connected to all these characters. it was just so nice to see the way characters like lent and tao, who i thought were pretty weak in the first game, have some of the best character development and minor plot points of the whole cast. i
was also very happy to see the ryza and klaudia still going so strong that even when the entire point of klaudia's character events was that she and ryza are learning to deal with the fact that their paths are drifting apart, they still are so gay. i love lesbians.
so yeah amazing game, incredible end to the trilogy, and as always, i am so excited to see where the amazing creatives at gust take this series next.
A good sendoff for Ryza, but the weakest of the trilogy.
Been a while since I did a review, been in a gaming slump for some time now but of course, the power of thighs compels me so here I am. After 4 relatively short years Ryza's life changing adventure has finally come to a close. Its bittersweet seeing it end, being as its the reason I'm neck deep into the franchise now. I started the game the same age as Ryza and the gang and finished it being the same age as well so it wouldn't be far-fetched to say it helped my enjoyment of their development into becoming adults. Cast aside, the story felt a little rushed, they basically had to speed run the cast additions' stories while also tying them into the main story and conclude them on top of the already established plot which was done as best as they could so I'll cut them some slack. However, the gameplay is where I had the most complaints. Look, I don't mind some backtracking here and there but my god, it was like every damn mission. Like literally you would talk to a character, fast travel across the world to talk to someone else, back to the atelier to synthesis an item and then back. Near the end of the game I was starting to go brain dead which how often it was. I think the key mechanic was pretty boring as well, I'm not sure if I wasn't using it to it's full potential or what but I rarely used it, in or out of combat. The synthesis also felt lacking and I think that's because it was also reliant on the key making, a cool idea sure but wasn't really executed the best in my opinion. The open world aspect was also a cool addition but I didn't feel an incentive to explore. Also final thing, there's 11 party members and they all have their personal events so seeing the entire game littered with them was not a pretty sight, also you can't tell who's quest it is unless you look it up so you couldn't even do a specific person if you wanted to.
All in all I think it was a decent game to end the journey on but the addons hinder it a bit and feel bloated. However I enjoyed my time so much with these guys I'm content with the fact they all got what they worked so hard to achieve. Just like Ryza and the gang, the journey of life never ends, so we keep moving forward one step at a time. Thank you for all the hard work everyone at Gust, I'll be patiently waiting for Marie and what's in store next for Atelier.
All in all I think it was a decent game to end the journey on but the addons hinder it a bit and feel bloated. However I enjoyed my time so much with these guys I'm content with the fact they all got what they worked so hard to achieve. Just like Ryza and the gang, the journey of life never ends, so we keep moving forward one step at a time. Thank you for all the hard work everyone at Gust, I'll be patiently waiting for Marie and what's in store next for Atelier.
This review contains spoilers
The best entry in the Ryza trilogy, despite some issues. (warning this is maybe a bit long for Backloggd review, but idk where else to put this)
In many ways, this game succeeds at feeling like the culmination of Ryza's adventure. Firstly, we have this third part's big new thing, the "open field" design, and it makes complete sense: remember when, for Ryza 2, they promoted the fact that now Ryza could swim? It seems to me that the idea, with this trilogy, was to build an Atelier game that was more like an adventure RPG, but in many ways in 2, it still felt like the pace and movement were very much that of typical Atelier game; in Ryza 3 however, movement is more free now that the field has opened up, and much, much faster. So it is that Ryza can swim, but she can now pick materials up at blistering speeds, and with some added verticality, can now jump across more obstacles than ever. There really is a sense of pleasure to traversal by this franchise's standards, and Ryza finally plays like the young, energetic traveler she is in the text. There's a few other advantages to this open field: first of all, it's now easier to do character quests at your pace, since you need to go to specific places; I found triggering them as soon as I entered one area quite fatiguing in previous titles, so I appreciate this. Secondly, the entrance into this new open field system is just excellent: walking up to this archipelago, watching it extend into the distance, being able to swim through it seamlessly, to explore different islands each of which has its own unique look and feel... it's a great way to sell this new level design, and I think they nailed that part. The idea of building new ateliers all over the world and being able to customize them each, too, is neat and lines up well with the whole fantasy of alchemy, too. In general, I appreciate the accelerated speed too, as gathering materials felt a lot easier than before. But this new design does, in my opinion, also underline that Gust are not exactly masters of level design: they're always functional, in that they allow to gather everything that you need, but they're typically very standard and lack a sense of purpose beyond that (I will say though, I prefer this one to the world of Sophie 2, which in my opinion really fell short of what it could've been based on its premise). If Gust want to pursue this open field design further--and I assume they might, given this trilogy's commercial success--they'll need to up their level design game, in my opinion.
The writing is, in my opinion, where this game succeeds the best at ending Ryza's story on a high note. Of course the story is simplistic and has little to no thematic depth, but I was pleased by how focused it seemed: on ending everyone's stories, and allowing them to talk about who they wanted to become once our right to travel alongside them had ended. The themes that had always been central to the previous two games: the desire to find purpose in one's life, the interconnectedness of all people past, present and future... are all here, and come across very well in the main storyline with its focus on ending the wrongs of the past and the prospect of collaboration between the two worlds. They are also nicely repeated on the level of the romances, and Federica's own storyline, among others. The ending especially, with Ryza departing in search of a disciple, felt extremely appropriate for her, and her concluding monologue was very touching. Really, my only complaint is they didn't make her and Klaudia kiss! C'mon, this is a game that will never miss a chance to remind us of how special their bond is... just let them KISS...
Anyway, I got the sense of a story that knew what it wanted to communicate to the player, and I was pleased by that; despite its extreme simplicity, it was a very pleasant time. That said, it really emphasized my doubts about the relevance of 2's entire story... where is Serri?! where has the whole lore gone?! and obviously, the exploration mechanic from 2 is gone. I'm not sure what all that was about, but in any case, 3 was a really nice story.
Where Ryza 3, and this trilogy as a whole, falters a bit, is the alchemy mechanics. Now, the first Ryza was the first Atelier game I truly fell in love with (after managing to reach credits in Sophie despite not really understanding the whole system much at all), and a huge part of that was that, compared to the aforementioned Sophie, the alchemy was a bit easier; no books with vague hints about how to unlock recipes, you just had to buy the books. No weird chessboard to optimize, you just put the materials where the game tells you to. But I think in 2 and now more than before in 3, this series' lost itself a bit by trying to add unnecessary mechanics. The whole "High Purity" trick, which makes it possible to break the game and reach incredibly high levels in the first hours of the game, symbolizes this: these types of loopholes are typically a sign that the developers added too many systems before they could make sure their balance was actually alright. I still remember finding the idea of a skill tree sad in 2, and this one makes it even worse: you can't even reach the highest level weapons by simply making weapons, instead you need to spend SP on weapon recipes! And given you can't see where the skill tree is headed, you can't really know where you need to go in order to unlock the most important recipes, either, which is grating to say the least. Why can't I just get lost in my alchemy? Why add unnecessary mechanics between me and the cauldron? I also don't like things like Item Rebuild, because it makes a bit too easy (in my opinion) to make stupidly good gear. Sophie 2, for me, might me the best in the franchise in terms of pure alchemy mechanics, in that it encourages making and remaking, and the rewards flow organically from engaging with the alchemy system: new recipes come, you progressively become able to make stronger and stronger items without a bunch of extra mechanics to easily make your stuff super strong... and Ryza 3 is simply a far cry from that. The other big aspect I didn't like was the key system... I barely used it, and why would I bother? If you understand the alchemy system well enough, you should be able to be strong enough even without them... but I speak as someone who just really enjoys the alchemy system. In many ways this comes back to the ambition of making an adventure RPG I talked about earlier: there's more mechanics around the alchemy, and thus less need to deepen your familiarity with that system alone compared to something like Sophie; it's easier to get into if you're a regular JRPG player, and that's why I still tend to recommend Ryza to newcomers who want to give this franchise a shot.
Finally, a few technical notes. Ryza 3 is far and away the best looking game in the franchise. The thicker outlines around character models do a lot to move away from the plastic-y look in Ryza 2, the skybox is way more pleasant to look at, the areas are more attractive overall, the long sights can be a treat too. It also seems to resolve most of 2's issues with nonsensical reflective properties on surfaces (I dare you to look at a rocky surface in 2 and not wonder if you're looking at a mirror). However, while the open field was clearly a challenge, I understand that, PS5 performance was disappointing at best. Here's my guess: they made this game for PS4, and given PS5 GPU good, higher resolution and framerate. This means: 0 CPU-level optimization. Areas with loads of NPCs? Stuttering! Random quests (a system I didn't like btw)? Stutters if the area is busy enough! Draw-in distances? Give me a hell yeah if you love seeing foliage pop up wherever you go. Also I'm pretty this game uses dynamic resolution scaling, which is fine, but it's kind of weird when in mid-battle you see the text become blurry. I guess they didn't have time to make it not apply to menu elements. Now these are not the biggest productions and overall none of this affected my experience too badly, but it's still a shame. The game is definitely pretty, and all I can hope is the people at Gust learn a lot from this big technical challenge they took on with moving to an open field design, and their next games take that next step forward technically.
This was long, but I mostly wrote this to put my own feelings in order; you see I love Atelier games, and Ryza 1 was my first experience falling in love with the franchise, and I just really, really love Ryza. And ultimately that's what this is about, and why I feel ever so slightly empty a day after finishing this game: it was a touching conclusion to her adventure, and this series is all about her. That's enough in my eyes for this game to succeed, because the Ryza series is one that's defined by its titular heroine, whose growth was wonderful to follow throughout. I still remember thinking she was a brat when I first started Ryza 1. She still kind of is, but well... she really has come into her own, hasn't she. She's just one of those protagonists who's so effortlessly charming that she can carry an entire series on her own; she kind of reminds me of Gravity Rush's Kitten, in that way. Which is to say, while none of the Ryza games may reach the heights of a Sophie 2 for me as an Atelier game, I'm still thankful to Ryza for really getting me into this franchise, and Ryza herself I'll always remember as one of my favorite video game heroines ever.
Thank you for letting me experience this journey with you, good alchemist. Goodbye!
In many ways, this game succeeds at feeling like the culmination of Ryza's adventure. Firstly, we have this third part's big new thing, the "open field" design, and it makes complete sense: remember when, for Ryza 2, they promoted the fact that now Ryza could swim? It seems to me that the idea, with this trilogy, was to build an Atelier game that was more like an adventure RPG, but in many ways in 2, it still felt like the pace and movement were very much that of typical Atelier game; in Ryza 3 however, movement is more free now that the field has opened up, and much, much faster. So it is that Ryza can swim, but she can now pick materials up at blistering speeds, and with some added verticality, can now jump across more obstacles than ever. There really is a sense of pleasure to traversal by this franchise's standards, and Ryza finally plays like the young, energetic traveler she is in the text. There's a few other advantages to this open field: first of all, it's now easier to do character quests at your pace, since you need to go to specific places; I found triggering them as soon as I entered one area quite fatiguing in previous titles, so I appreciate this. Secondly, the entrance into this new open field system is just excellent: walking up to this archipelago, watching it extend into the distance, being able to swim through it seamlessly, to explore different islands each of which has its own unique look and feel... it's a great way to sell this new level design, and I think they nailed that part. The idea of building new ateliers all over the world and being able to customize them each, too, is neat and lines up well with the whole fantasy of alchemy, too. In general, I appreciate the accelerated speed too, as gathering materials felt a lot easier than before. But this new design does, in my opinion, also underline that Gust are not exactly masters of level design: they're always functional, in that they allow to gather everything that you need, but they're typically very standard and lack a sense of purpose beyond that (I will say though, I prefer this one to the world of Sophie 2, which in my opinion really fell short of what it could've been based on its premise). If Gust want to pursue this open field design further--and I assume they might, given this trilogy's commercial success--they'll need to up their level design game, in my opinion.
The writing is, in my opinion, where this game succeeds the best at ending Ryza's story on a high note. Of course the story is simplistic and has little to no thematic depth, but I was pleased by how focused it seemed: on ending everyone's stories, and allowing them to talk about who they wanted to become once our right to travel alongside them had ended. The themes that had always been central to the previous two games: the desire to find purpose in one's life, the interconnectedness of all people past, present and future... are all here, and come across very well in the main storyline with its focus on ending the wrongs of the past and the prospect of collaboration between the two worlds. They are also nicely repeated on the level of the romances, and Federica's own storyline, among others. The ending especially, with Ryza departing in search of a disciple, felt extremely appropriate for her, and her concluding monologue was very touching. Really, my only complaint is they didn't make her and Klaudia kiss! C'mon, this is a game that will never miss a chance to remind us of how special their bond is... just let them KISS...
Anyway, I got the sense of a story that knew what it wanted to communicate to the player, and I was pleased by that; despite its extreme simplicity, it was a very pleasant time. That said, it really emphasized my doubts about the relevance of 2's entire story... where is Serri?! where has the whole lore gone?! and obviously, the exploration mechanic from 2 is gone. I'm not sure what all that was about, but in any case, 3 was a really nice story.
Where Ryza 3, and this trilogy as a whole, falters a bit, is the alchemy mechanics. Now, the first Ryza was the first Atelier game I truly fell in love with (after managing to reach credits in Sophie despite not really understanding the whole system much at all), and a huge part of that was that, compared to the aforementioned Sophie, the alchemy was a bit easier; no books with vague hints about how to unlock recipes, you just had to buy the books. No weird chessboard to optimize, you just put the materials where the game tells you to. But I think in 2 and now more than before in 3, this series' lost itself a bit by trying to add unnecessary mechanics. The whole "High Purity" trick, which makes it possible to break the game and reach incredibly high levels in the first hours of the game, symbolizes this: these types of loopholes are typically a sign that the developers added too many systems before they could make sure their balance was actually alright. I still remember finding the idea of a skill tree sad in 2, and this one makes it even worse: you can't even reach the highest level weapons by simply making weapons, instead you need to spend SP on weapon recipes! And given you can't see where the skill tree is headed, you can't really know where you need to go in order to unlock the most important recipes, either, which is grating to say the least. Why can't I just get lost in my alchemy? Why add unnecessary mechanics between me and the cauldron? I also don't like things like Item Rebuild, because it makes a bit too easy (in my opinion) to make stupidly good gear. Sophie 2, for me, might me the best in the franchise in terms of pure alchemy mechanics, in that it encourages making and remaking, and the rewards flow organically from engaging with the alchemy system: new recipes come, you progressively become able to make stronger and stronger items without a bunch of extra mechanics to easily make your stuff super strong... and Ryza 3 is simply a far cry from that. The other big aspect I didn't like was the key system... I barely used it, and why would I bother? If you understand the alchemy system well enough, you should be able to be strong enough even without them... but I speak as someone who just really enjoys the alchemy system. In many ways this comes back to the ambition of making an adventure RPG I talked about earlier: there's more mechanics around the alchemy, and thus less need to deepen your familiarity with that system alone compared to something like Sophie; it's easier to get into if you're a regular JRPG player, and that's why I still tend to recommend Ryza to newcomers who want to give this franchise a shot.
Finally, a few technical notes. Ryza 3 is far and away the best looking game in the franchise. The thicker outlines around character models do a lot to move away from the plastic-y look in Ryza 2, the skybox is way more pleasant to look at, the areas are more attractive overall, the long sights can be a treat too. It also seems to resolve most of 2's issues with nonsensical reflective properties on surfaces (I dare you to look at a rocky surface in 2 and not wonder if you're looking at a mirror). However, while the open field was clearly a challenge, I understand that, PS5 performance was disappointing at best. Here's my guess: they made this game for PS4, and given PS5 GPU good, higher resolution and framerate. This means: 0 CPU-level optimization. Areas with loads of NPCs? Stuttering! Random quests (a system I didn't like btw)? Stutters if the area is busy enough! Draw-in distances? Give me a hell yeah if you love seeing foliage pop up wherever you go. Also I'm pretty this game uses dynamic resolution scaling, which is fine, but it's kind of weird when in mid-battle you see the text become blurry. I guess they didn't have time to make it not apply to menu elements. Now these are not the biggest productions and overall none of this affected my experience too badly, but it's still a shame. The game is definitely pretty, and all I can hope is the people at Gust learn a lot from this big technical challenge they took on with moving to an open field design, and their next games take that next step forward technically.
This was long, but I mostly wrote this to put my own feelings in order; you see I love Atelier games, and Ryza 1 was my first experience falling in love with the franchise, and I just really, really love Ryza. And ultimately that's what this is about, and why I feel ever so slightly empty a day after finishing this game: it was a touching conclusion to her adventure, and this series is all about her. That's enough in my eyes for this game to succeed, because the Ryza series is one that's defined by its titular heroine, whose growth was wonderful to follow throughout. I still remember thinking she was a brat when I first started Ryza 1. She still kind of is, but well... she really has come into her own, hasn't she. She's just one of those protagonists who's so effortlessly charming that she can carry an entire series on her own; she kind of reminds me of Gravity Rush's Kitten, in that way. Which is to say, while none of the Ryza games may reach the heights of a Sophie 2 for me as an Atelier game, I'm still thankful to Ryza for really getting me into this franchise, and Ryza herself I'll always remember as one of my favorite video game heroines ever.
Thank you for letting me experience this journey with you, good alchemist. Goodbye!
BIGGER DOESN'T EQUAL BETTER
2 years ago, I played through the 1st game in this trilogy and had a pretty good time. That was right before the sequel came out. I had devoured 2 like I was a rabid animal. So, of course, I was very excited for this one. While I did enjoy it, I'm sad to say I'm not a fan of a lot of the changes that were made.
I had the same problem that I had with Horizon: Zero Dawn, in that a lot of the main story missions were just not... Fun. At a certain point, all the story missions are just you watching cutscenes of the characters figuring out what to do next. It's nice that the story takes its time to help you understand what is going on (it gets kinda complicated and convoluted at points), but it really drags on.
Instead of the limited spaces you got to explore in the previous games, everything is seemless, sprawling open world areas now. I don't like this one bit. In the other games, the limited spaces meant you always knew where the materials you needed were and it was never a hassle to gather them. That's pretty crucial in a game that can be as grindy as this series. Yes, the areas were somewhat linear in previous games, but it always felt like you had to take time to explore and grind to get through them. 2 had a perfect way to motivate you to explore and fight enemies by rewarding you for connecting the dots of the past. The only thing that motivated me to explore here was finding the landmarks in each area so I can see the map and fast travel. At a certain point it just became pointless to fight enemies as well, outside of gaining experience, but even that felt uneccessary with how easy it is to become overpowered. I thought turning up the difficulty to Hard would fix that, but I clearly need to play on Legendary or something.
The story is similar to the others in that you're trying to learn history so you can understand the antagonist (which is always a fairly unseen foe) and find a way to beat them. However, there are a lot of moments where main missions involve the slice of life elements that are present in the rest of the trilogy, but inserted into spots that either don't make sense, or could've been left to side quests. Did I mention this one has a billion side quests? There are so many games out right now that I can't be motivated to see every quest right now. I'm glad they really take time to flesh these characters and give you more to do, but I just found myself overwhelmed in a game that already overwhelms me with its incredible crafting system.
At the very least, the core gameplay is still present and addicting as hell, but that's the problem. I feel like the story barely asked me to engage with the actual gameplay that much. About 50% of the way through the game, I was completely overpowered, and anything you are asked to craft for story purposes is so easy to make that you won't spend more than a minute on it. So all you're left with at that point is again, the problem I had with Horizon: Zero Dawn which is that I enjoyed everything about the game when I WASN'T doing the main story.
At the very least, this was a nice close to the trilogy. I did feel sad knowing this is goodbye for Ryza and company. If you take away anything from this review, just know that I did have fun with this, but I'm looking forward to my next playthrough of 2 now.
2 years ago, I played through the 1st game in this trilogy and had a pretty good time. That was right before the sequel came out. I had devoured 2 like I was a rabid animal. So, of course, I was very excited for this one. While I did enjoy it, I'm sad to say I'm not a fan of a lot of the changes that were made.
I had the same problem that I had with Horizon: Zero Dawn, in that a lot of the main story missions were just not... Fun. At a certain point, all the story missions are just you watching cutscenes of the characters figuring out what to do next. It's nice that the story takes its time to help you understand what is going on (it gets kinda complicated and convoluted at points), but it really drags on.
Instead of the limited spaces you got to explore in the previous games, everything is seemless, sprawling open world areas now. I don't like this one bit. In the other games, the limited spaces meant you always knew where the materials you needed were and it was never a hassle to gather them. That's pretty crucial in a game that can be as grindy as this series. Yes, the areas were somewhat linear in previous games, but it always felt like you had to take time to explore and grind to get through them. 2 had a perfect way to motivate you to explore and fight enemies by rewarding you for connecting the dots of the past. The only thing that motivated me to explore here was finding the landmarks in each area so I can see the map and fast travel. At a certain point it just became pointless to fight enemies as well, outside of gaining experience, but even that felt uneccessary with how easy it is to become overpowered. I thought turning up the difficulty to Hard would fix that, but I clearly need to play on Legendary or something.
The story is similar to the others in that you're trying to learn history so you can understand the antagonist (which is always a fairly unseen foe) and find a way to beat them. However, there are a lot of moments where main missions involve the slice of life elements that are present in the rest of the trilogy, but inserted into spots that either don't make sense, or could've been left to side quests. Did I mention this one has a billion side quests? There are so many games out right now that I can't be motivated to see every quest right now. I'm glad they really take time to flesh these characters and give you more to do, but I just found myself overwhelmed in a game that already overwhelms me with its incredible crafting system.
At the very least, the core gameplay is still present and addicting as hell, but that's the problem. I feel like the story barely asked me to engage with the actual gameplay that much. About 50% of the way through the game, I was completely overpowered, and anything you are asked to craft for story purposes is so easy to make that you won't spend more than a minute on it. So all you're left with at that point is again, the problem I had with Horizon: Zero Dawn which is that I enjoyed everything about the game when I WASN'T doing the main story.
At the very least, this was a nice close to the trilogy. I did feel sad knowing this is goodbye for Ryza and company. If you take away anything from this review, just know that I did have fun with this, but I'm looking forward to my next playthrough of 2 now.
This is the best one in the Ryza series.
There is a lot of content in this game; I don’t have the data, but I still feel I can confidently say this is the longest one.
The game is very pretty, lots of nice biomes to explore. I’m surprised by just how big this game actually is; it is broken up into multiple large regions, containing areas with forests, canyons, caves, swamps, etc. Even the old region from Atelier Ryza 1 gets expanded on. Honestly, it felt a bit overwhelming at first. I do wish navigation was more convenient when going between the regions, however. I think my favourite visually was the Cleria region, but they are all good in my opinion.
I won’t go over the main story because of spoilers, but I will say I left Atelier Ryza 3 feeling satisfied with how it all played out. My only non-spoiler criticism of the main story is that there are quite a few points where you go to point A, watch a cutscene, go to point B, watch a cutscene, and then go back to point A to watch another cutscene.
The Random Quest mechanic is a clever way of having a bunch of generic "craft this", "collect this," and "hunt this" quests without them having the feeling of obligation that comes from a normal side quest. Random Quests give you something that can be solved almost immediately and where you get to decide if it is worth it without it being a constant marker on a map or having a "quest failed" mark in your list. There are still normal quests, but they do have a bit more to them and are not overly abundant.
World Quests are another new thing in Atelier Ryza 3. They are pretty much long, multipart side quests associated with a region in the game. I was surprised that they were all fully voiced. All of them I felt were worth doing and help add more to the world. But I do think they also have the same problem that the main story sometimes has with the running between Point A and Point B, ESPECIALLY one of the last ones you get.
I’m so happy that Bos finally got to be a party member because it was honestly weird that he wasn’t one in Atelier Ryza 2. All the new characters are great, especially Kala Ideas. She is incredibly fun and became my new favourite almost immediately. Something about Kala’s voice really brings everything together. I was surprised to learn her voice actor, Hina Yōmiya, is relatively new; her first role being in 2021. Alongside Kala, Federica and Dian fit in perfectly despite this being their first appearances.
All the returning characters are also great and it feels good to see these characters reach their arcs’ ends. But having reached the end of this three-game arc, I can now confidently say that Lent is the weakest character in your party. I’m sorry Lent, but you’re only interesting when your dad is in the scene with you. I do wish the Atelier Ryza 2 characters, Serri and Clifford had more presence in the story outside of just being mentioned. Not saying they should have been party members again because the party is big enough as it is, but something more would have been nice, like them having a World Quest or something.
Key crafting is a new gameplay mechanic that helps you in synthesising, field gathering, and combat. To be honest, I never used it to help in field gathering, so I don’t know how helpful they can be in that area, but I will say that they were really helpful for synthesising. There is never a reason not to use a key when synthesising; it’s always a smart decision, and I’m happy they added this feature.
Combat is pretty much the same as previous games, so I don’t really have anything to say. Using keys to buff you in combat can be a helpful addition against some heavy hitting bosses. I will quickly say that balance in this game can feel weird at some points, like enemies feeling weaker than they should be or stronger than they should be, and I could never figure out why it was like that at points. I think the Fatal Drives for most characters are not as cool as the ones in Atelier Ryza 2. They are definitely more flashy with effects and all that, but they don’t feel as dynamic or impactful. If you don’t really know what I mean, look at Patricia’s Fatal Drive in 3 and then compare it to hers in 2.
Some final minor random nitpicks I have are that the overworld dialogue can get repetitive really fast, and some of it can be pretty long. It probably would have helped if they either wrote more or had them occur less. Also, please make the container in the atelier bigger, Gust. I’m begging here; my brain desires hoarding.
The music was good. The Ryza games’ music is very cosy and great at creating the intended vibe, so no complaints there. The battle themes have a good balance between being upbeat and also getting you pumped for a fight. You can see what I mean in the battle themes, Summer Dawn and I'll Take You Down.
All in all, I’m very happy with Atelier Ryza 3 and the Ryza series as a whole. I’m very curious to see what the next Atelier will be.
There is a lot of content in this game; I don’t have the data, but I still feel I can confidently say this is the longest one.
The game is very pretty, lots of nice biomes to explore. I’m surprised by just how big this game actually is; it is broken up into multiple large regions, containing areas with forests, canyons, caves, swamps, etc. Even the old region from Atelier Ryza 1 gets expanded on. Honestly, it felt a bit overwhelming at first. I do wish navigation was more convenient when going between the regions, however. I think my favourite visually was the Cleria region, but they are all good in my opinion.
I won’t go over the main story because of spoilers, but I will say I left Atelier Ryza 3 feeling satisfied with how it all played out. My only non-spoiler criticism of the main story is that there are quite a few points where you go to point A, watch a cutscene, go to point B, watch a cutscene, and then go back to point A to watch another cutscene.
The Random Quest mechanic is a clever way of having a bunch of generic "craft this", "collect this," and "hunt this" quests without them having the feeling of obligation that comes from a normal side quest. Random Quests give you something that can be solved almost immediately and where you get to decide if it is worth it without it being a constant marker on a map or having a "quest failed" mark in your list. There are still normal quests, but they do have a bit more to them and are not overly abundant.
World Quests are another new thing in Atelier Ryza 3. They are pretty much long, multipart side quests associated with a region in the game. I was surprised that they were all fully voiced. All of them I felt were worth doing and help add more to the world. But I do think they also have the same problem that the main story sometimes has with the running between Point A and Point B, ESPECIALLY one of the last ones you get.
I’m so happy that Bos finally got to be a party member because it was honestly weird that he wasn’t one in Atelier Ryza 2. All the new characters are great, especially Kala Ideas. She is incredibly fun and became my new favourite almost immediately. Something about Kala’s voice really brings everything together. I was surprised to learn her voice actor, Hina Yōmiya, is relatively new; her first role being in 2021. Alongside Kala, Federica and Dian fit in perfectly despite this being their first appearances.
All the returning characters are also great and it feels good to see these characters reach their arcs’ ends. But having reached the end of this three-game arc, I can now confidently say that Lent is the weakest character in your party. I’m sorry Lent, but you’re only interesting when your dad is in the scene with you. I do wish the Atelier Ryza 2 characters, Serri and Clifford had more presence in the story outside of just being mentioned. Not saying they should have been party members again because the party is big enough as it is, but something more would have been nice, like them having a World Quest or something.
Key crafting is a new gameplay mechanic that helps you in synthesising, field gathering, and combat. To be honest, I never used it to help in field gathering, so I don’t know how helpful they can be in that area, but I will say that they were really helpful for synthesising. There is never a reason not to use a key when synthesising; it’s always a smart decision, and I’m happy they added this feature.
Combat is pretty much the same as previous games, so I don’t really have anything to say. Using keys to buff you in combat can be a helpful addition against some heavy hitting bosses. I will quickly say that balance in this game can feel weird at some points, like enemies feeling weaker than they should be or stronger than they should be, and I could never figure out why it was like that at points. I think the Fatal Drives for most characters are not as cool as the ones in Atelier Ryza 2. They are definitely more flashy with effects and all that, but they don’t feel as dynamic or impactful. If you don’t really know what I mean, look at Patricia’s Fatal Drive in 3 and then compare it to hers in 2.
Some final minor random nitpicks I have are that the overworld dialogue can get repetitive really fast, and some of it can be pretty long. It probably would have helped if they either wrote more or had them occur less. Also, please make the container in the atelier bigger, Gust. I’m begging here; my brain desires hoarding.
The music was good. The Ryza games’ music is very cosy and great at creating the intended vibe, so no complaints there. The battle themes have a good balance between being upbeat and also getting you pumped for a fight. You can see what I mean in the battle themes, Summer Dawn and I'll Take You Down.
All in all, I’m very happy with Atelier Ryza 3 and the Ryza series as a whole. I’m very curious to see what the next Atelier will be.
time to say goodbye and part ways
Absolute banger
Great game, but I think Ryza 2 is my favorite of the trilogy. This game feels like it takes a lot of the fluff out of Ryza 2 and replaces it with different fluff, like a needlessly big, SMT5-adjacent overworld that makes it really hard to find specific materials and enemies without looking it up. The fact that there are a staggering 11 party members; 4 more than the previous game; constrains resources quite a lot, as you really need to be crafting the best gear you can for everybody to keep up with the increasing power of enemies. Before you get to that, though, the early game for this one is such a drag; it takes a really long time before it feels like you're really in the swing of things and crafting some quality stuff, and for the first 10-12 hours of the game, you're gonna be stuck scraping by with whatever crappy gear and items you can get.
That being said, once it does get going, it really gets going; it's got by far and away the deepest and most complex crafting and combat systems in the trilogy. All of it culminates into a very satisfying game to sink your teeth into, even if some of it feels a bit undercooked, and some of it overwhelming. Loved the new iteration of the Wind Shoes.
That being said, once it does get going, it really gets going; it's got by far and away the deepest and most complex crafting and combat systems in the trilogy. All of it culminates into a very satisfying game to sink your teeth into, even if some of it feels a bit undercooked, and some of it overwhelming. Loved the new iteration of the Wind Shoes.
Torn on whether Ryza 2 or 3 is the best Atelier game, but they're way ahead of the others
6 deranged king battles
Still way too easy for its own good, and not all of the character subplots landed for me, but it's great to see a proper JRPG sequel that builds meaningfully on its predecessors.
Gust really nailed the feeling of adventure with this game; while the rewards for exploration aren't always as compelling as they could be, the world is magical enough that the act of exploration itself is satisfying, and I felt driven to see everything the game had to offer.
Combined with a strong script and poignant finale, I came away feeling that my time with Ryza was well spent.
Gust really nailed the feeling of adventure with this game; while the rewards for exploration aren't always as compelling as they could be, the world is magical enough that the act of exploration itself is satisfying, and I felt driven to see everything the game had to offer.
Combined with a strong script and poignant finale, I came away feeling that my time with Ryza was well spent.
The (maybe) conclusion of the Atelier Ryza Trilogy, and the new future of the Atelier series. This game serves as both a great conclusion to the first two Ryza games and a showcase as what the Atelier series is striving to be in its future titles. Much like with the first two Ryza games the crafting in this game is king, although there are a few things that I would change to make the process of getting new recipes a little more stream lined. They can keep the skill tree to unlock more recipes, that is not the issue with getting new recipes. About half way through the game there was an item that I had needed to make for a side story but I didn't have a recipe for one of the ingredients, so I spent about another fourth of the game working my way to that recipe I needed because I went I went in every direction on the tree other than the one that I needed to get that recipe. The easy solution to this would be to show the entire skill tree at the start of the game, so that players can gauge where they can put their skill points. Moving to the writing, it is great this time around as well. After having two games of watching these characters grow, it is amazing seeing how these characters interact with each other and the situations that they are put into. My personal favorites being Bos, Lent, Ryza, and Empel. The newcomers are also given plenty of screentime, and I ended up liking them just as much as the rest of the cast, as most of the original cast makes a return except for Clifford, and Serri from the second game (bring them back). One of the main points that the developers made in the initial trailer for this game was that the gameplay in this title was going to be the future of the Atelier series, and it was obvious that it was going open world, as oppose to the open level design. At first I was skeptical, could the team really make an interesting enough world to warrant exploring every nook and cranny? For the first attempt at this type of formula, it was a very good attempt, but there a couple of complaints that arise when playing the game. But before getting into the negatives, if what they were trying to do was translate the Atelier exploration gameplay to a seemless open world, they did a great job. These negatives are just mainly more on the polishing side of things, starting with getting rid of the need for invisible barriers in areas and when in higher elevations, to combat the higher elevation issue they could have a glider or wind shoes that allow for gliding as well, as there is already wind shoes that allow Ryza to slide down inclines at fast speed. Adding minigames to some of the gathering tools would also make the exploration more exciting in some areas, such as giving fishing a quick little minigame (kinda like the fishing present in Fire Emblem Three Houses or Sonic Frontiers), and give the player just a tiny bit more items for doing the minigame. Lastly is the size of some of these maps, while they aren't really all that big in comparison to other open world maps but some areas are not treated as well as others, with some being more barren than others. But as a whole package this game is great and an amazing send off to the Ryza trilogy. Much like with the others in the series, for those looking for a relaxing game to sink their teeth into, they should give this one a try.
Good game to close off the subseries on, I enjoyed myself with this one and it was great seeing a nice closing arc for some of the cast.
I wish the open world was better handled, because the game is very linear and the game doesn't reward you that much for exploring, because the materials you gather are mostly the same or locations you have seen before. The game definitely would have benefited more if it was open like Firis.
Anyway, while I do really like this game, this game is even more bloated. The game gives you so many stuff and you can just completely ignore them just because Alchemy is so easily broken and you can max out everything with the bare minimum, and the problem I mentioned with the big open world. Also the Keys mechanic seems really cool at first glance, but in the end it was very underwhelming and totally random what effects you get (the random is the dumbest part). Also Alchemy wise (I consider these as alchemy skills), it is way more barebones and underwhelming compared to Ryza 2.
For the subseries as a whole, I am mixed on it, but I can't deny the quality put into Ryza 2 and 3 (I am not a fan of Ryza 1).
I was super bored with Ryza 1, characters weren't interesting other than Bos and Empel, battle system was slow and uninteresting (restricting item use in a game about crafting items is dumb) and alchemy has no depth it is literally item stacking and there is no trait combining, transfer costs, quality management or skills to make it interesting. The super slow start isn't helping either, it took way to long to get actual fast travel.
Ryza 2 was personally a huge improvement for me, while I didn't care too much about seeing the old cast again, I did enjoy the new characters quite a bit. Something felt off with the writing for me but I can't quite put my finger on it, also not a fan of Fi. The more adventure part of the story was pretty nice though. Battle system is way more fun and fast paced now, items don't have a limited use with the inclusion of building up CC in battle which was a good decision. I still think turn based works better for the series and I still prefer that but they did a good job for this one. Alchemy system still doesn't have the depth I want, but the essences did add a little bit of depth the system needed.
I think I might prefer Ryza 3 over 2 more just because I had more moments where I had fun reading the dialogue. The engine is the best it has ever been for the series but I do think system design wise it is worse than Ryza 2.
Anyway I am glad the subseries ended on a note where I enjoyed myself despite me really not liking the first game and not being a huge fan of the alchemy.
I wish the open world was better handled, because the game is very linear and the game doesn't reward you that much for exploring, because the materials you gather are mostly the same or locations you have seen before. The game definitely would have benefited more if it was open like Firis.
Anyway, while I do really like this game, this game is even more bloated. The game gives you so many stuff and you can just completely ignore them just because Alchemy is so easily broken and you can max out everything with the bare minimum, and the problem I mentioned with the big open world. Also the Keys mechanic seems really cool at first glance, but in the end it was very underwhelming and totally random what effects you get (the random is the dumbest part). Also Alchemy wise (I consider these as alchemy skills), it is way more barebones and underwhelming compared to Ryza 2.
For the subseries as a whole, I am mixed on it, but I can't deny the quality put into Ryza 2 and 3 (I am not a fan of Ryza 1).
I was super bored with Ryza 1, characters weren't interesting other than Bos and Empel, battle system was slow and uninteresting (restricting item use in a game about crafting items is dumb) and alchemy has no depth it is literally item stacking and there is no trait combining, transfer costs, quality management or skills to make it interesting. The super slow start isn't helping either, it took way to long to get actual fast travel.
Ryza 2 was personally a huge improvement for me, while I didn't care too much about seeing the old cast again, I did enjoy the new characters quite a bit. Something felt off with the writing for me but I can't quite put my finger on it, also not a fan of Fi. The more adventure part of the story was pretty nice though. Battle system is way more fun and fast paced now, items don't have a limited use with the inclusion of building up CC in battle which was a good decision. I still think turn based works better for the series and I still prefer that but they did a good job for this one. Alchemy system still doesn't have the depth I want, but the essences did add a little bit of depth the system needed.
I think I might prefer Ryza 3 over 2 more just because I had more moments where I had fun reading the dialogue. The engine is the best it has ever been for the series but I do think system design wise it is worse than Ryza 2.
Anyway I am glad the subseries ended on a note where I enjoyed myself despite me really not liking the first game and not being a huge fan of the alchemy.
After 114 hours, four months with all character events and nearly all side quests completed including the DLC and tons of synthesizing, I have finally completed Atelier Ryza 3. Being the final game in the Ryza trilogy, it’s the most ambitious and grand Atelier game to date. With the most amount of playable characters in an Atelier game, huge open-world areas, and a mysterious plot to unravel. Gust was aiming for the moon with Alchemist of the End & the Secret Key. There is quite a lot of stumbling toward the finish line with some of the story execution and game balance but overall, Ryza 3 does manage to conclude the trilogy in a satisfying enough matter and the alchemy is as open as ever.
One of the biggest selling points of Atelier Ryza 3 is the open world and how the game is three times larger than Atelier Ryza 2, which includes all of Kurken Island, the main area for the first Ryza game, completely seamless with no loading areas. It was interesting to see Gust revisit the open-world idea after Atelier Firis but with even a bigger scope in mind. There is a lot of asset reuse and plenty of landmarks that are completely optional to visit. So some could argue the game is huge for the sake of it but I personally appreciate the second attempt at an open-world Atelier game. My only minor complaint is, graphically while it’s beautiful at times, there are places with low texture and polygon counts. Given the game’s scope and the budget and size of Gust, this isn’t too surprising but it’s an ugly and jarring look at times.
To freshen up the series’ formula between synthesis and combat, one of the major new gameplay (as well as story) elements in the game is the key system. There are a lot of complexities with keys, but essentially, you create hollow (and later pristine) keys, then you use a hollow or pristine key at a landmark or during battle to create a secret key. With secret keys, you can use them to enchant synthesis traits and qualities for items, increase stats and AP during combat, and gather new materials and items at supply boxes for exploration.
Speaking of exploration, there are new features that have been added. Random quests can occur at any time and anywhere in the game. The quests are extremely simple and repetitive since they’re nothing more than hunt, fetch, follow, or trading quests. After a short while, the full extent of random quests will be seen and they will become more easy to ignore when they pop up. However, they’re a useful and excellent way to gain more SP (skill points for the skill tree), gold coins, and money. Also, while a more minor feature of Ryza 3 ultimately, Atelier building will occur in every area you visit. However, there is customization on how each Atelier can give different benefits such as higher SP gain, higher chances of random quests spawning, and higher qualities of materials during gathering.
That said, at its core, Ryza 3 functions the same as the previous entries. Combat is still action-time based but it’s as redefined as ever thanks to skill usage, AP, and tactics levels all overhauled to be as responsive and smooth as ever before. Additionally, there are new features to combat such as order drives and switching between support and aggressive mode to tailor the usage of AP between the party and give the player a tactical edge in battle. Plus the skill tree allows you to unlock adventure gear and high-level synthesis items early in the game. Plus all of Ryza’s previous alchemy abilities such as item duplication and rebuilding, as well as gem reduction, forging, and sending out puni to gather materials. All of the enchantments to item creation can be obtained early on in Ryza 3 if the player desires so since there are no stop points in the skill tree that ties into the main story's progress.
Ryza 3 offers so much in gameplay since the alchemy system is as deep and fruitful as ever with the many tools the player is able to use almost immediately and more to come as they progress through the game. Combining that with the key system, and the potential for high-end alchemy is boundless. However…that can be a double edge sword by itself. From personal experience, I’ve found Ryza 3 to be the most breakable Atelier game to date thanks to all these tools on top of having no time limit like the past Atelier games. Not to mention if the player knows their way with the skill tree and makes the best usage with synthesizing, they can easily be at endgame strength within the midway point of the game. And by the time I completed the main game, I was so overpowered with equipment and items, almost nobody was a challenge at all even at the highest difficulty setting. Now, this can be avoided if the alchemy engagement is done at a minimum, but any game balance is thrown out of the window if the player chooses to get the most out of synthesis.
Now Atelier Ryza 3 offers plenty of depth with gameplay and there’s more that could be explained further but the appeal of Atelier isn’t just about the gameplay, it’s also the story. In Ryza 3, Ryza and her friends travel to solve the mystery of the Code of the Universe and the surrounding Age of God people in the past as well as the purpose and usage of the keys that appear suddenly in front of Ryza. Being the most focused in plot writing and text in the series, Ryza 3’s story offers a lot of lore and background information as well as tidying up any lingering plot threads and character development ongoing since the first Ryza game.
Atelier has always been excellent with character writing due to each character having its own series of events. Characters that have been in all three games such as Kladuia, Lent, Tao, and Bos have been thoroughly developed over the trilogy and evolved but there are still new tidbits to learn about the characters as well as resolving any conflicts that have started since the first game. While new characters such as Federica, Dion, and Kala get additional focus within the main story alongside character events and side quests. Speaking of character events, more characters are often involved in events, to the point one on one conversations are rather rare in Ryza 3. Personally, I like this since more people can draw out different sides of a person, plus the cast is rather very large so the interaction between each character has to fit somewhere.
That said, there are quite some issues with the game’s overall plot. At first, Ryza 3 appears to be very streamlined, focused, and getting straight to the point, assuming the player has played the first two games. However, after the first few hours or so, the game will often put off the main quest of resolving the issue with the Kark Islands and the Age of the Universe to resolve issues surrounding the new characters and the areas they are from. This is great for character writing but in exchange, it hurts the pacing of the plot. Even if the issues Ryza and company resolve are connected to the main conflict eventually, it just takes quite a while to make progress, especially near the end.
Another complaint I have with the plot is there is a lack of significant focus and urgency in Ryza 3 which adds to the jumbled pacing. There isn’t a single main antagonist in the Ryza games at all to actively be a threat to the group. While it wasn’t needed in Ryza 1 and 2 since the themes were more so about coming of age, seeking out adventure; and discovering new ruins, learning about a mysterious creature, respectively. Ryza 3’s story would serve very well with active antagonists since the plot is very actively focused on stopping evil from occurring again. However ultimately, the plot just felt like the group was cleaning up a massive incident that happened thousands of years ago and anyone that could potentially be an antagonist is long gone. It’s quite anti-climatic considering how ambitious and grand Ryza sets out for its narrative.
Perhaps the biggest flaw of Atelier Ryza 3 and even the entire trilogy is Ryza herself as the protagonist. Now I am aware this is the most subjective and personal part of the review but my feelings for Ryza as a character have been very flip-flopping. Ryza has been a massive improvement in the sequel but I was just quite frankly unsatisfied with her by the end of the third game. She has gotten almost no character development at all and when all of her allies have improved in strides, especially the same characters that grew up with her. It’s just not a great look.
Instead in Ryza 3, the game turns her into a convenient mary sue that can solve any immediate issue the game throws at all within minutes, or at best, a trip to the Atelier. There’s no challenge, no obstacle that has beaten down Ryza and took her a while to recover. Plus, in past Atelier games, there was always a deuteragonist that was considered the closest to the protagonist and help them grow and evolve as a person. However, for the Ryza trilogy, it just felt like Ryza wasn’t allowed to be too close to anyone. Ryza just felt like a “safe” protagonist. Lacking in character depth and writing but yet liked by everyone and able to solve the main conflict essentially by themselves and any potential threat to Ryza ended up being a near-instant recovery. I wasn’t sure what was Gust planning with Ryza but I personally believe the lack of a true deuteragonist hinders Ryza’s character overall, especially since this is the first time Gust created a trilogy of Atelier games based around a single character.
Other noteworthy quality-of-life issues I have encountered during the 100+ hours I’ve spent in Atelier Ryza 3 are the dialogue and script for the text is once in a while awkwardly translated or there are spelling or grammar mistakes. Not to mention, for a few side quests (mainly the DLC quests), the reliance on completing random quests which can trigger at any time and determine what the exact triggers is questionable game design. I could not complete a side quest because I struggled to trigger one of the required random quests despite trying different variables. I am not sure if Gust and Koei Tecmo was a tight deadline for Atelier Ryza 3, but despite a month's delay from the original release date, it wouldn’t hurt to have more polish, especially considering the size and scale of the game.
In the end, Atelier Ryza 3 is the biggest Atelier game in terms of scope from large open-world explorable areas, the number of playable characters and interactions, and the most potential for alchemy with its many systems and gameplay elements. All wrapped up with one of the most original and polished attempts in action time-based combat. The plot struggles quite a lot between the lack of focus, no true antagonist, and Ryza leading the charge being plain and uninteresting. But all and all, Ryza 3 does conclude and wrap up the trilogy in an overall solid ending with vague but promising endings for the entire cast as well as the future for Kukuen Island and beyond. The open-world approach can be better redefined and perhaps not give pave the road to the strongest items at the start of the game. However, for the future, my biggest wish for Gust is to return to just put in more character building into the next protagonist for Atelier…and maybe not attempt another epic world adventuring plot for a while.
One of the biggest selling points of Atelier Ryza 3 is the open world and how the game is three times larger than Atelier Ryza 2, which includes all of Kurken Island, the main area for the first Ryza game, completely seamless with no loading areas. It was interesting to see Gust revisit the open-world idea after Atelier Firis but with even a bigger scope in mind. There is a lot of asset reuse and plenty of landmarks that are completely optional to visit. So some could argue the game is huge for the sake of it but I personally appreciate the second attempt at an open-world Atelier game. My only minor complaint is, graphically while it’s beautiful at times, there are places with low texture and polygon counts. Given the game’s scope and the budget and size of Gust, this isn’t too surprising but it’s an ugly and jarring look at times.
To freshen up the series’ formula between synthesis and combat, one of the major new gameplay (as well as story) elements in the game is the key system. There are a lot of complexities with keys, but essentially, you create hollow (and later pristine) keys, then you use a hollow or pristine key at a landmark or during battle to create a secret key. With secret keys, you can use them to enchant synthesis traits and qualities for items, increase stats and AP during combat, and gather new materials and items at supply boxes for exploration.
Speaking of exploration, there are new features that have been added. Random quests can occur at any time and anywhere in the game. The quests are extremely simple and repetitive since they’re nothing more than hunt, fetch, follow, or trading quests. After a short while, the full extent of random quests will be seen and they will become more easy to ignore when they pop up. However, they’re a useful and excellent way to gain more SP (skill points for the skill tree), gold coins, and money. Also, while a more minor feature of Ryza 3 ultimately, Atelier building will occur in every area you visit. However, there is customization on how each Atelier can give different benefits such as higher SP gain, higher chances of random quests spawning, and higher qualities of materials during gathering.
That said, at its core, Ryza 3 functions the same as the previous entries. Combat is still action-time based but it’s as redefined as ever thanks to skill usage, AP, and tactics levels all overhauled to be as responsive and smooth as ever before. Additionally, there are new features to combat such as order drives and switching between support and aggressive mode to tailor the usage of AP between the party and give the player a tactical edge in battle. Plus the skill tree allows you to unlock adventure gear and high-level synthesis items early in the game. Plus all of Ryza’s previous alchemy abilities such as item duplication and rebuilding, as well as gem reduction, forging, and sending out puni to gather materials. All of the enchantments to item creation can be obtained early on in Ryza 3 if the player desires so since there are no stop points in the skill tree that ties into the main story's progress.
Ryza 3 offers so much in gameplay since the alchemy system is as deep and fruitful as ever with the many tools the player is able to use almost immediately and more to come as they progress through the game. Combining that with the key system, and the potential for high-end alchemy is boundless. However…that can be a double edge sword by itself. From personal experience, I’ve found Ryza 3 to be the most breakable Atelier game to date thanks to all these tools on top of having no time limit like the past Atelier games. Not to mention if the player knows their way with the skill tree and makes the best usage with synthesizing, they can easily be at endgame strength within the midway point of the game. And by the time I completed the main game, I was so overpowered with equipment and items, almost nobody was a challenge at all even at the highest difficulty setting. Now, this can be avoided if the alchemy engagement is done at a minimum, but any game balance is thrown out of the window if the player chooses to get the most out of synthesis.
Now Atelier Ryza 3 offers plenty of depth with gameplay and there’s more that could be explained further but the appeal of Atelier isn’t just about the gameplay, it’s also the story. In Ryza 3, Ryza and her friends travel to solve the mystery of the Code of the Universe and the surrounding Age of God people in the past as well as the purpose and usage of the keys that appear suddenly in front of Ryza. Being the most focused in plot writing and text in the series, Ryza 3’s story offers a lot of lore and background information as well as tidying up any lingering plot threads and character development ongoing since the first Ryza game.
Atelier has always been excellent with character writing due to each character having its own series of events. Characters that have been in all three games such as Kladuia, Lent, Tao, and Bos have been thoroughly developed over the trilogy and evolved but there are still new tidbits to learn about the characters as well as resolving any conflicts that have started since the first game. While new characters such as Federica, Dion, and Kala get additional focus within the main story alongside character events and side quests. Speaking of character events, more characters are often involved in events, to the point one on one conversations are rather rare in Ryza 3. Personally, I like this since more people can draw out different sides of a person, plus the cast is rather very large so the interaction between each character has to fit somewhere.
That said, there are quite some issues with the game’s overall plot. At first, Ryza 3 appears to be very streamlined, focused, and getting straight to the point, assuming the player has played the first two games. However, after the first few hours or so, the game will often put off the main quest of resolving the issue with the Kark Islands and the Age of the Universe to resolve issues surrounding the new characters and the areas they are from. This is great for character writing but in exchange, it hurts the pacing of the plot. Even if the issues Ryza and company resolve are connected to the main conflict eventually, it just takes quite a while to make progress, especially near the end.
Another complaint I have with the plot is there is a lack of significant focus and urgency in Ryza 3 which adds to the jumbled pacing. There isn’t a single main antagonist in the Ryza games at all to actively be a threat to the group. While it wasn’t needed in Ryza 1 and 2 since the themes were more so about coming of age, seeking out adventure; and discovering new ruins, learning about a mysterious creature, respectively. Ryza 3’s story would serve very well with active antagonists since the plot is very actively focused on stopping evil from occurring again. However ultimately, the plot just felt like the group was cleaning up a massive incident that happened thousands of years ago and anyone that could potentially be an antagonist is long gone. It’s quite anti-climatic considering how ambitious and grand Ryza sets out for its narrative.
Perhaps the biggest flaw of Atelier Ryza 3 and even the entire trilogy is Ryza herself as the protagonist. Now I am aware this is the most subjective and personal part of the review but my feelings for Ryza as a character have been very flip-flopping. Ryza has been a massive improvement in the sequel but I was just quite frankly unsatisfied with her by the end of the third game. She has gotten almost no character development at all and when all of her allies have improved in strides, especially the same characters that grew up with her. It’s just not a great look.
Instead in Ryza 3, the game turns her into a convenient mary sue that can solve any immediate issue the game throws at all within minutes, or at best, a trip to the Atelier. There’s no challenge, no obstacle that has beaten down Ryza and took her a while to recover. Plus, in past Atelier games, there was always a deuteragonist that was considered the closest to the protagonist and help them grow and evolve as a person. However, for the Ryza trilogy, it just felt like Ryza wasn’t allowed to be too close to anyone. Ryza just felt like a “safe” protagonist. Lacking in character depth and writing but yet liked by everyone and able to solve the main conflict essentially by themselves and any potential threat to Ryza ended up being a near-instant recovery. I wasn’t sure what was Gust planning with Ryza but I personally believe the lack of a true deuteragonist hinders Ryza’s character overall, especially since this is the first time Gust created a trilogy of Atelier games based around a single character.
Other noteworthy quality-of-life issues I have encountered during the 100+ hours I’ve spent in Atelier Ryza 3 are the dialogue and script for the text is once in a while awkwardly translated or there are spelling or grammar mistakes. Not to mention, for a few side quests (mainly the DLC quests), the reliance on completing random quests which can trigger at any time and determine what the exact triggers is questionable game design. I could not complete a side quest because I struggled to trigger one of the required random quests despite trying different variables. I am not sure if Gust and Koei Tecmo was a tight deadline for Atelier Ryza 3, but despite a month's delay from the original release date, it wouldn’t hurt to have more polish, especially considering the size and scale of the game.
In the end, Atelier Ryza 3 is the biggest Atelier game in terms of scope from large open-world explorable areas, the number of playable characters and interactions, and the most potential for alchemy with its many systems and gameplay elements. All wrapped up with one of the most original and polished attempts in action time-based combat. The plot struggles quite a lot between the lack of focus, no true antagonist, and Ryza leading the charge being plain and uninteresting. But all and all, Ryza 3 does conclude and wrap up the trilogy in an overall solid ending with vague but promising endings for the entire cast as well as the future for Kukuen Island and beyond. The open-world approach can be better redefined and perhaps not give pave the road to the strongest items at the start of the game. However, for the future, my biggest wish for Gust is to return to just put in more character building into the next protagonist for Atelier…and maybe not attempt another epic world adventuring plot for a while.
so this game is an asset flip of ryza 1
My jaw legit dropped when I launched the game and saw boring shit island AGAIN.
She talked how she wanted to go back there the entire 2nd game, but holy shit.
shitty writer from the first ryza game is back and it's very noticeable. Also what the fuck with teasing Bos being party member for 2 games and kicking him out after 15 minutes?
Thank god this trilogy is over. Never want to see Ryza again.
My jaw legit dropped when I launched the game and saw boring shit island AGAIN.
She talked how she wanted to go back there the entire 2nd game, but holy shit.
shitty writer from the first ryza game is back and it's very noticeable. Also what the fuck with teasing Bos being party member for 2 games and kicking him out after 15 minutes?
Thank god this trilogy is over. Never want to see Ryza again.
Downgrade from Ryza 2, the key system is bad & story is boring, exploration is fun at the start and movement is super clean, the new girls are cute but it's annoying that Serri was forgotten about.
I want to start off by saying that Atelier Ryza 3 is a very good game. If you liked Ryza 1 & Ryza 2 then you’re gonna have fun with the third entry in this franchise no question about it. So why do I mention this? Well I would argue as the final chapter of the trilogy, Ryza 3 doesn’t quite stick the landing. I feel like lately I’ve had this thing with third games in a series where I find myself feeling conflicted with certain aspects (Xenoblade 3, Bayonetta 3 etc.) & well the same is unfortunately true of the third & final entry in the Atelier Ryza trilogy. To me it makes a number of decisions I’m not a fan of. So the question we need to ask is what does Ryza 3 do well & what does it not do so well?
As expected the cast of this game is mostly great especially the new characters like Kala & Dian who were welcome additions to the lineup (sorry Federica you’re just okay). Ryza is as loveable as ever & seeing how her friends have grown alongside her across these three games is honestly really nice, shout-out to Bos who has definitely the best character arc in the entire Ryza trilogy, like he just does it’s literal facts. That’s probably the thing I enjoyed the most about this game & the Atelier games I’ve played as a whole. These are character driven stories with admittedly not a whole lot of narrative depth until the last hours & that’s something I’ve never really minded in fact it works in favour of this franchise. The writing is also fantastic, probably the strongest in the series actually. On the flip side however, I feel Ryza 3 lacks…focus. While the cast in itself are fun, I do feel it’s bloated & too big for it’s own good. Yes this is the final game in the Ryza trilogy so I expected Gust to go all out but I’d still argue there are too many characters & it leaves things a little messy especially in the third act where it feels everyone is trying to hog the spotlight & not be forgotten about.
I also feel like the character events in this game compared to the others in the trilogy are sorely lacking. In Ryza 2 they were much stronger whereas in Ryza 3, the character events are just sprinkled all across the world. And it doesn’t help there are ELEVEN main characters either. My advice is to not let these events overfill the map and do them as soon as you possibly can because unfortunately I learned about that mistake first hand. Still they definitely serve their purpose & getting to know more about the cast is always nice even if I do think it could’ve done a little better.
Ryza 3 also takes the approach of a more semi open world & while I admit I had fun traversing the areas of Ryza 1 & 2 I found this game’s exploration a tad lacking. It’s certainly not something I’d consider a major flaw because I can absolutely commend Gust for trying to adapt & do something new. My problem is I just didn’t find the exploration as enthralling. I’m not overly fond of open worlds these days so Ryza 3 isn’t gonna win points with me regarding its overwhelming size. Still for what it’s worth I did quite like the new regions in this game like Cleria. But yeah I definitely wasn’t a fan of the more open world structure overall. Still there are definitely some plus points to the gathering this time around with the fact you can move around quickly picking up materials & the return of mounts from Ryza 2 is certainly a welcome addition. Oh AND you can ride dolphins. Which is pretty cool I must admit.
The alchemy in this game is once again excellent & addictive as always. It’s mainly the same as the previous Ryza titles. Put the correct materials into the elemental loop (fire, ice, bolt, air etc) & just experiment with different combinations. This is the same system as always but there is one new inclusion this time, that being super traits. These are special buffs you can apply to items which can majorly overpower your equipment/items but also potentially debuff yourself while making them more powerful. I admit it’s an intriguing risk-reward system & absolutely worth investing in if you’re looking for the best equipment especially in the late game.
Now let’s talk about the keys, the big new mechanic of Ryza 3. I admit I was intrigued with this system when it was first shown off in the trailers & I wanted to see how it differed from the combat in the first two games. These will allow you with different effects when it comes to exploration & combat but unfortunately I just couldn’t get on with it & it’s a shame that a lot of the gameplay revolves around this mechanic because the combat like the other games I really enjoyed for the most part. Even though it’s admittedly quite clunky compared to Ryza 2. I know a number of people who don’t get along with the combat of Ryza but I personally think it’s good for an ATB system.
If there’s one thing I can definitively praise Ryza 3 for though, it’s the music. There’s so many excellent songs included & while I don’t think it’s quite on par with the first two games in the trilogy, there’s such a vast variety & I really enjoyed what was on offer especially the final dungeon theme which was maybe my favourite in any Atelier game to date.
Despite my grievances, I did enjoy Atelier Ryza 3. And once again if you liked the other games, you’ll definitely have fun with this one. I just don’t feel like it’s quite the finale that I was expecting & while I wouldn’t go as far to say I was “disappointed” I did feel slightly let down in a sense.
Still a pretty solid game though. The positives do majorly outweigh the negatives after all. And I’m incredibly eager to see exactly where Gust goes next with this franchise. So long until the next summer adventure…
As expected the cast of this game is mostly great especially the new characters like Kala & Dian who were welcome additions to the lineup (sorry Federica you’re just okay). Ryza is as loveable as ever & seeing how her friends have grown alongside her across these three games is honestly really nice, shout-out to Bos who has definitely the best character arc in the entire Ryza trilogy, like he just does it’s literal facts. That’s probably the thing I enjoyed the most about this game & the Atelier games I’ve played as a whole. These are character driven stories with admittedly not a whole lot of narrative depth until the last hours & that’s something I’ve never really minded in fact it works in favour of this franchise. The writing is also fantastic, probably the strongest in the series actually. On the flip side however, I feel Ryza 3 lacks…focus. While the cast in itself are fun, I do feel it’s bloated & too big for it’s own good. Yes this is the final game in the Ryza trilogy so I expected Gust to go all out but I’d still argue there are too many characters & it leaves things a little messy especially in the third act where it feels everyone is trying to hog the spotlight & not be forgotten about.
I also feel like the character events in this game compared to the others in the trilogy are sorely lacking. In Ryza 2 they were much stronger whereas in Ryza 3, the character events are just sprinkled all across the world. And it doesn’t help there are ELEVEN main characters either. My advice is to not let these events overfill the map and do them as soon as you possibly can because unfortunately I learned about that mistake first hand. Still they definitely serve their purpose & getting to know more about the cast is always nice even if I do think it could’ve done a little better.
Ryza 3 also takes the approach of a more semi open world & while I admit I had fun traversing the areas of Ryza 1 & 2 I found this game’s exploration a tad lacking. It’s certainly not something I’d consider a major flaw because I can absolutely commend Gust for trying to adapt & do something new. My problem is I just didn’t find the exploration as enthralling. I’m not overly fond of open worlds these days so Ryza 3 isn’t gonna win points with me regarding its overwhelming size. Still for what it’s worth I did quite like the new regions in this game like Cleria. But yeah I definitely wasn’t a fan of the more open world structure overall. Still there are definitely some plus points to the gathering this time around with the fact you can move around quickly picking up materials & the return of mounts from Ryza 2 is certainly a welcome addition. Oh AND you can ride dolphins. Which is pretty cool I must admit.
The alchemy in this game is once again excellent & addictive as always. It’s mainly the same as the previous Ryza titles. Put the correct materials into the elemental loop (fire, ice, bolt, air etc) & just experiment with different combinations. This is the same system as always but there is one new inclusion this time, that being super traits. These are special buffs you can apply to items which can majorly overpower your equipment/items but also potentially debuff yourself while making them more powerful. I admit it’s an intriguing risk-reward system & absolutely worth investing in if you’re looking for the best equipment especially in the late game.
Now let’s talk about the keys, the big new mechanic of Ryza 3. I admit I was intrigued with this system when it was first shown off in the trailers & I wanted to see how it differed from the combat in the first two games. These will allow you with different effects when it comes to exploration & combat but unfortunately I just couldn’t get on with it & it’s a shame that a lot of the gameplay revolves around this mechanic because the combat like the other games I really enjoyed for the most part. Even though it’s admittedly quite clunky compared to Ryza 2. I know a number of people who don’t get along with the combat of Ryza but I personally think it’s good for an ATB system.
If there’s one thing I can definitively praise Ryza 3 for though, it’s the music. There’s so many excellent songs included & while I don’t think it’s quite on par with the first two games in the trilogy, there’s such a vast variety & I really enjoyed what was on offer especially the final dungeon theme which was maybe my favourite in any Atelier game to date.
Despite my grievances, I did enjoy Atelier Ryza 3. And once again if you liked the other games, you’ll definitely have fun with this one. I just don’t feel like it’s quite the finale that I was expecting & while I wouldn’t go as far to say I was “disappointed” I did feel slightly let down in a sense.
Still a pretty solid game though. The positives do majorly outweigh the negatives after all. And I’m incredibly eager to see exactly where Gust goes next with this franchise. So long until the next summer adventure…
TL;DR: Weakest Ryza game, but left a legacy. Positive and negative points of this journey:
✅Ryza's biggest point is how perfect a lighthearted story it is. There are no dangerous conflicts or anything that makes the world suffer. It makes me chills to say that. We've consumed so many stories where characters fight to save the world, save those they love as if their lives depended on it, all for that peaceful tomorrow for the rest of their lives... that peaceful tomorrow is like the whole story of Atelier Ryza, the world has never been in conflict, but a beautiful plot has managed to be created with simplicity and showing us how we can evolve as a person, in addition to valuing the time we spend together with those who are precious to us. Like you're with your friends at school, and that time is so much fun that you'll remember it for the rest of your lives, you realize "ah, those were the best days of my life"
✅Franchise's best entry in slice of life and comedy. The characters are well explored as if they were alive. It's a coming of age as if we were actually accompanying a life.
✅ Not exactly a plus point, but something that draws attention. The game is focused more on slice of life and everyday life than on the plot itself. And ironically, it's still the Atelier with the most creative and well-done story.
✅Ah, the soundtrack. Of course, this is the BIGGEST positive point right here. This game is a dream of any music nerd who is a gamer. These are compositions that should be known throughout the world. For those who understand, they are highly complex with very peculiar and out of the ordinary time signatures, 5/4, 7/8, 6/8, a music lesson within a game, and this is VERY OUT OF THE NORMAL. Believe me. Rare.
❌The sides are inferior to Ryza 2. In Ryza 2 they were more interesting and deeper, where you explored more deeply the places related to the main plot and about the universe of that game. Most of Ryza 3's are just random sides around the map.
❌The game doesn't look better than Ryza 2 in graphics. Yes, it's a bizarre case where the graphics of a game from 2-3 years ago are superior to the current one. As much as the map is bigger and more open, the draw distance is very reduced.
❌Another loss for Ryza 2 itself, the artistic direction has gone downhill. It was one of the strongest points of Atelier Ryza, its artistic direction, which became less clear in 3.
❌ In narrative it loses to Ryza 1 (and Ryza 2 ofc), and also for being a sequel. The credit will always go to the first game for having created and presented everything, a sequel will always have to bet on a deeper narrative to be better than the first game, but Atelier was always mediocre in its story, so obviously Ryza 3 wasn't better in narrative than the previous games. I kneel to the epilogue after the last boss though.
❌ Honestly speaking, this game was the weakest Ryza in almost all aspects, including the soundtrack.
🌐 PERSONAL OPINIONS:
🌐 Didn't beat Ryza 2 for me, which is the most emotional Atelier of all. That journey was awesome, so Ryza 2 still my fav Atelier. It also doesn't beat Ryza 1, responsible for creating the world and introducing summer and characters in a way that no other Atelier does.
🌐 I can't believe they didn't put Clifford and Serri in this game, who were two of my favorite Ryza characters. It was a sin, I swear.
CONCLUSION
The ending is beautiful and still a worth journey. I love Reisalin Stout and her character progression. Empel plot also surprised me. Ryza was the Atelier of my generation and I should be proud that my generation had the best Atelier in the history of the franchise. And it's from here for the better. Thank you, Koei Tecmo for the experience. I don't even know what to say here, but damn, didn't make such a big review like this in a while. See you again someday, Atelier series, in another summer!
✅Ryza's biggest point is how perfect a lighthearted story it is. There are no dangerous conflicts or anything that makes the world suffer. It makes me chills to say that. We've consumed so many stories where characters fight to save the world, save those they love as if their lives depended on it, all for that peaceful tomorrow for the rest of their lives... that peaceful tomorrow is like the whole story of Atelier Ryza, the world has never been in conflict, but a beautiful plot has managed to be created with simplicity and showing us how we can evolve as a person, in addition to valuing the time we spend together with those who are precious to us. Like you're with your friends at school, and that time is so much fun that you'll remember it for the rest of your lives, you realize "ah, those were the best days of my life"
✅Franchise's best entry in slice of life and comedy. The characters are well explored as if they were alive. It's a coming of age as if we were actually accompanying a life.
✅ Not exactly a plus point, but something that draws attention. The game is focused more on slice of life and everyday life than on the plot itself. And ironically, it's still the Atelier with the most creative and well-done story.
✅Ah, the soundtrack. Of course, this is the BIGGEST positive point right here. This game is a dream of any music nerd who is a gamer. These are compositions that should be known throughout the world. For those who understand, they are highly complex with very peculiar and out of the ordinary time signatures, 5/4, 7/8, 6/8, a music lesson within a game, and this is VERY OUT OF THE NORMAL. Believe me. Rare.
❌The sides are inferior to Ryza 2. In Ryza 2 they were more interesting and deeper, where you explored more deeply the places related to the main plot and about the universe of that game. Most of Ryza 3's are just random sides around the map.
❌The game doesn't look better than Ryza 2 in graphics. Yes, it's a bizarre case where the graphics of a game from 2-3 years ago are superior to the current one. As much as the map is bigger and more open, the draw distance is very reduced.
❌Another loss for Ryza 2 itself, the artistic direction has gone downhill. It was one of the strongest points of Atelier Ryza, its artistic direction, which became less clear in 3.
❌ In narrative it loses to Ryza 1 (and Ryza 2 ofc), and also for being a sequel. The credit will always go to the first game for having created and presented everything, a sequel will always have to bet on a deeper narrative to be better than the first game, but Atelier was always mediocre in its story, so obviously Ryza 3 wasn't better in narrative than the previous games. I kneel to the epilogue after the last boss though.
❌ Honestly speaking, this game was the weakest Ryza in almost all aspects, including the soundtrack.
🌐 PERSONAL OPINIONS:
🌐 Didn't beat Ryza 2 for me, which is the most emotional Atelier of all. That journey was awesome, so Ryza 2 still my fav Atelier. It also doesn't beat Ryza 1, responsible for creating the world and introducing summer and characters in a way that no other Atelier does.
🌐 I can't believe they didn't put Clifford and Serri in this game, who were two of my favorite Ryza characters. It was a sin, I swear.
CONCLUSION
The ending is beautiful and still a worth journey. I love Reisalin Stout and her character progression. Empel plot also surprised me. Ryza was the Atelier of my generation and I should be proud that my generation had the best Atelier in the history of the franchise. And it's from here for the better. Thank you, Koei Tecmo for the experience. I don't even know what to say here, but damn, didn't make such a big review like this in a while. See you again someday, Atelier series, in another summer!
A nice conclusion to the Ryza trilogy, taking most of what was built up prior and wrapping it all up with a neat bow.
The alchemy and battle systems are mostly the same as in 2, just with the addition of the Key Modification, a new mechanic that only adds to these systems. The new characters and returning cast all have great interactions with one another.
The open-world aspect did worry me beforehand, but it's handled in a way where there's always something to see/do.
Most shops/treasure chests feel drastically reduced in usefulness, which didn't bother me personally, as I much preferred making materials/equipment myself.
Overall, a very good game, do recommend.
The alchemy and battle systems are mostly the same as in 2, just with the addition of the Key Modification, a new mechanic that only adds to these systems. The new characters and returning cast all have great interactions with one another.
The open-world aspect did worry me beforehand, but it's handled in a way where there's always something to see/do.
Most shops/treasure chests feel drastically reduced in usefulness, which didn't bother me personally, as I much preferred making materials/equipment myself.
Overall, a very good game, do recommend.
(rambles)
Generally enjoyed it.
Combat is fast and somewhat visually confusing. Would really appreciate the camera being zoomed out more so you don't only see one enemy. While linking combos together with character swapping takes awhile to get used to (the tutorial, in particular, does not explain this well), the lack of any animation cancelling into blocking is weird. I suppose it's to balance out the stun potential of full combos, but seeing an oncoming attack and not being able to do anything about it is annoying.
Not that this really matters, because the game is easily breakable. You can fill out the stat tree and get endgame stats within the first few hours of the game. Thank you Ultra Purity.
Maps were way too big for little to no reward. Treasures were barely worth hunting for and aside from several new items per region, each type of gathering largely had the same items from map to map. The final zone, in particular, had nothing new to offer at all, which was really disappointing. Even bosses were reused several times.
My real gripes were the localization (genuinely seemed machine-translated at points), which was stilted and awkward, and the overabundance of flashing white lights. Every key animation, every fatal drive, and some synthesis animations almost strobed at times and I had to stop playing due to eye strain somewhat often. I am sensitive to this, though.
But yeah. It's an atelier game. It's fun, cozy, and easy to coast through. Doubt I'll platinum it due to the lack of 'wyvern' enemies in the game (unless I'm down to craft ultra-rare keys with 'rare monster spawns' and reload the game over and over until they finally show up) and the bug I ran into that didn't allow me to finish Klaudia's side story.
Generally enjoyed it.
Combat is fast and somewhat visually confusing. Would really appreciate the camera being zoomed out more so you don't only see one enemy. While linking combos together with character swapping takes awhile to get used to (the tutorial, in particular, does not explain this well), the lack of any animation cancelling into blocking is weird. I suppose it's to balance out the stun potential of full combos, but seeing an oncoming attack and not being able to do anything about it is annoying.
Not that this really matters, because the game is easily breakable. You can fill out the stat tree and get endgame stats within the first few hours of the game. Thank you Ultra Purity.
Maps were way too big for little to no reward. Treasures were barely worth hunting for and aside from several new items per region, each type of gathering largely had the same items from map to map. The final zone, in particular, had nothing new to offer at all, which was really disappointing. Even bosses were reused several times.
My real gripes were the localization (genuinely seemed machine-translated at points), which was stilted and awkward, and the overabundance of flashing white lights. Every key animation, every fatal drive, and some synthesis animations almost strobed at times and I had to stop playing due to eye strain somewhat often. I am sensitive to this, though.
But yeah. It's an atelier game. It's fun, cozy, and easy to coast through. Doubt I'll platinum it due to the lack of 'wyvern' enemies in the game (unless I'm down to craft ultra-rare keys with 'rare monster spawns' and reload the game over and over until they finally show up) and the bug I ran into that didn't allow me to finish Klaudia's side story.
Arguably the best Atelier and the best Gust game since Ar Tonelico 2. Taking more dev time and going for a far more ambitious game resulted in a level of mechanical polish exceeding the previous games, recognizing the good and bad of the Ryza trilogy's systems and hammering down on them, delivering what's easily the most fun combat system in the series, although the alchemy system is surpassed by the one previous trilogies.
But what truly makes it stick is the narrative; the Dusk trilogy already proved that Atelier stories are at their best when they manage to marry the series' characteristic slice-of-life-esque charm to a more pointed thematic edge. Ryza 3 understands that, developing it's character interactions in a way that is thematically conjoined with its melancholic meditation on the passage of time and the way the past can shackle the present.
The new semi-open world structure is certainly flawed: The size feels somewhat superfluous at times and exploration isn't particularly rewarding, but at the same time it never becomes a slog to traverse so I don't consider it a negative at all, as it is otherwise competently thought out and its mechanics work well with the combat and synthesis systems. It is certainly a move in the right direction for the series; having finally cast away the shackles of being PS3/Vita games in spirit, this new structure, if polished and improved upon, makes me very hopeful for the quality of future entries. However it should be mentioned that the English loc of this game is of a very low quality, and can only hope KT does not make this a common occurrence moving forward.
It is also the only game with Kala Ideas in it, which is a plus.
But what truly makes it stick is the narrative; the Dusk trilogy already proved that Atelier stories are at their best when they manage to marry the series' characteristic slice-of-life-esque charm to a more pointed thematic edge. Ryza 3 understands that, developing it's character interactions in a way that is thematically conjoined with its melancholic meditation on the passage of time and the way the past can shackle the present.
The new semi-open world structure is certainly flawed: The size feels somewhat superfluous at times and exploration isn't particularly rewarding, but at the same time it never becomes a slog to traverse so I don't consider it a negative at all, as it is otherwise competently thought out and its mechanics work well with the combat and synthesis systems. It is certainly a move in the right direction for the series; having finally cast away the shackles of being PS3/Vita games in spirit, this new structure, if polished and improved upon, makes me very hopeful for the quality of future entries. However it should be mentioned that the English loc of this game is of a very low quality, and can only hope KT does not make this a common occurrence moving forward.
It is also the only game with Kala Ideas in it, which is a plus.