the game is fine, just fine. graphics are decent for a jrpg, and a gust one at that. runs good, although on the steam deck its pretty bad without the async fix. i dropped the game due to it feeling pointless to play. i know thats the point, its a slice of life and i love slice of life anime and whatnot. this one just for some reason didnt hit right. also, a personal pet peeve but i wish it was true turn based combat and not the real time turn based it is. most will enjoy it, i sadly am not "most".
Really enjoyable "nice" game. That's not disparaging, it was nice to play. Good battle system, decent characters, end-of-the-world story but done well, and just an all round fun time. Alchemy system got a bit too layered for me but I was able to progress fine without going too deep. Only got stuck once grinding for a specific item. Looking forward to the second and third games.
I love this game
I've seen Edible Arrangements less fruity than the relationship between Ryza and Klaudia
Pretty fun time sink, but unfortunately all of these characters just sort of skip into character development rather than feeling natural
Pretty fun time sink, but unfortunately all of these characters just sort of skip into character development rather than feeling natural
While the crafting system holds up well, and the combat is relatively intuitive, the lack of character development throughout the games' runtime, combined with the slow beginning makes the game boring at times.
Probably my second favourite Atelier Game I've played so far. Took a while before I actually bothered to finish it though
my first atelier game ive played/finished !!
this game is so chill & fun with great characters
klaudia x ryza is so real btw
this game is so chill & fun with great characters
klaudia x ryza is so real btw
Atelier Ryza can only really be described as "adorable". It's a quaint little story about a group of kids and outcasts breaking free from an ordinary life in an extraordinary world, becoming adventurers.
I think it's a fantastic game that breaks a lot of the tropes of the JRPG genre, in a very good way. Definitely a game I recommend to anyone looking for a comfy game that still has a good story and world to wrap yourself up in.
My singular complaint is that, of the 6 character cast, one character falls to the wayside pretty hard, and another has an arc that is set up interestingly, but wrapped up almost entirely off screen. HOWEVER the other four characters - and especially our protagonist, Ryza - are phenomenally written and executed.
A wonderful, quaint, fun romp.
I think it's a fantastic game that breaks a lot of the tropes of the JRPG genre, in a very good way. Definitely a game I recommend to anyone looking for a comfy game that still has a good story and world to wrap yourself up in.
My singular complaint is that, of the 6 character cast, one character falls to the wayside pretty hard, and another has an arc that is set up interestingly, but wrapped up almost entirely off screen. HOWEVER the other four characters - and especially our protagonist, Ryza - are phenomenally written and executed.
A wonderful, quaint, fun romp.
This review contains spoilers
Felt the characters kind of lacking in this one but there's two other games, so I'm hoping they develop them a bit more. I really liked the themes presented in the story. An island that never changes despite being a giant piece of technology that can change on a whim. I also liked that Ryza was the only one to stay even though she was the main person saying how much she wants to leave. I also liked how you could see the theme of change and growth if you did the side quests, all the NPCs change in their own way or their small arcs revolve around change or revisiting the past in new ways. The story was serviceable since the story is focused more on the characters.
I thought the gameplay was decent, I spent more time breaking the game with the alchemy which doubled my playtime. I thought it was simplistic but engaging enough where I wanted to mess around with items and make myself OP. Great entry point into the series and I would recommend it for people who haven't gotten into Atelier yet.
I thought the gameplay was decent, I spent more time breaking the game with the alchemy which doubled my playtime. I thought it was simplistic but engaging enough where I wanted to mess around with items and make myself OP. Great entry point into the series and I would recommend it for people who haven't gotten into Atelier yet.
This review contains spoilers
Atelier Ryza is the first Atelier game I have ever played and completed. It was a toss up between Atelier Rorona: The Alchemist of Arland DX or Atelier Ryza. I went with Atelier Ryza because everyone said that Ryza’s personality is as big as her thighs. I am kidding; my reason for choosing this game is because it is considered beginner friendly for people wanting to get into the Atelier series and it is one of the more recent entries.
The game was enjoyable. I liked how it looked and the music was great. There is this free DLC pack that lets you download all of the songs from the previous Atelier games at the time of Ryza’s release and this franchise has great music.
This game’s combat system is real-time and I was overwhelmed at first. You have three party members and you control one at a time. Your other two party members will attack on their own. You can switch to a party member and manually control them by pressing R1 or L1 (assuming you are playing with a PlayStation controller like I was one on the PS4 version of this game).
In this game, you have Action Points (AP) to perform skills, a stun gauge that will leave you unable to attack when it hits zero, and a tactic level that increases if you sacrifice a full gauge of AP. The cool thing about the tactic level is that once it increases, you get benefits like stronger attacks and additional effects from your skills. You get AP by doing physical attacks and your whole party shares the AP. Once I got a hang of it, I grew to like the combat. I will always prefer standard turn based or action hack and slash in my RPGs, but this combat system is tight.
Another thing I was overwhelmed with was the alchemy system. Even with the in-game explanations, I was haphazardly making items in not the best shape. I know the bare basics of synthesizing because I played the Kingdom Hearts games, but I never heard of material loop or recipe morphing prior to playing this. After a few online guides, I somewhat got the hang of it. If this is your first Atelier game, I recommend looking up some guides to get a better explanation on how the alchemy system works. Also, I recommend you look up an item guide to know where to get certain items for synthesizing because there are some items that are required to make if you want to continue the game. One last thing: Make sure your alchemy level is high because certain creations are locked behind high alchemy levels like weapons and important story items.
Speaking of story, Atelier Ryza has an uninteresting story. It started off fine, but it got bland as it went on. The game’s story is divided by chapters and by the “Arid Lands” chapter, I stopped caring. I heard that the Atelier franchise is not known for its story, more on the alchemy and characters. The characters are alright. Some are one-note, but I do like all the main characters’ designs. All are distinct and their designs fit their personalities.
For my first game in the Atelier franchise, Atelier Ryza was enjoyable. The combat and alchemy were overwhelming at first, but I got the hang of it eventually. I could care less about the story and the characters were alright. Another RPG franchise off my bucket list.
The game was enjoyable. I liked how it looked and the music was great. There is this free DLC pack that lets you download all of the songs from the previous Atelier games at the time of Ryza’s release and this franchise has great music.
This game’s combat system is real-time and I was overwhelmed at first. You have three party members and you control one at a time. Your other two party members will attack on their own. You can switch to a party member and manually control them by pressing R1 or L1 (assuming you are playing with a PlayStation controller like I was one on the PS4 version of this game).
In this game, you have Action Points (AP) to perform skills, a stun gauge that will leave you unable to attack when it hits zero, and a tactic level that increases if you sacrifice a full gauge of AP. The cool thing about the tactic level is that once it increases, you get benefits like stronger attacks and additional effects from your skills. You get AP by doing physical attacks and your whole party shares the AP. Once I got a hang of it, I grew to like the combat. I will always prefer standard turn based or action hack and slash in my RPGs, but this combat system is tight.
Another thing I was overwhelmed with was the alchemy system. Even with the in-game explanations, I was haphazardly making items in not the best shape. I know the bare basics of synthesizing because I played the Kingdom Hearts games, but I never heard of material loop or recipe morphing prior to playing this. After a few online guides, I somewhat got the hang of it. If this is your first Atelier game, I recommend looking up some guides to get a better explanation on how the alchemy system works. Also, I recommend you look up an item guide to know where to get certain items for synthesizing because there are some items that are required to make if you want to continue the game. One last thing: Make sure your alchemy level is high because certain creations are locked behind high alchemy levels like weapons and important story items.
Speaking of story, Atelier Ryza has an uninteresting story. It started off fine, but it got bland as it went on. The game’s story is divided by chapters and by the “Arid Lands” chapter, I stopped caring. I heard that the Atelier franchise is not known for its story, more on the alchemy and characters. The characters are alright. Some are one-note, but I do like all the main characters’ designs. All are distinct and their designs fit their personalities.
For my first game in the Atelier franchise, Atelier Ryza was enjoyable. The combat and alchemy were overwhelming at first, but I got the hang of it eventually. I could care less about the story and the characters were alright. Another RPG franchise off my bucket list.
Empieza demasiado lento y sus primeras horas son coñazos, tiene su sentido narrativamente pero es aburrido, luego mejora y el juego es entretenido y sus personajes tienen un bonito desarrollo, pero sus primeras horas me pesan mucho, me costó jugarlo
Feels-good-man type beat. You meet some bums and you kick their butt but nothing terrifying is aluded to in the course of your life as Ryza (or is it?). I wouldn't have it any other way. Being faced with the prospect of finding a real job, there are no thoughts in Ryza's head... Same, girl. It goes well with the mandatory quest system where this time it's limited mostly to people Ryza has known for some time, and new skills are locked behind personal achievements for the characters. Diegetic achievement system?? So, no trope of meeting a bunch of random people and changing the course of their lives forever (yeah I played Octopath recently), Ryza gossips and does shopping, there's literally a quest where you talk to this old dude Ryza knows who's back from traveling for some time and that's it, the quest is completed without doing anything... feels like half the quests don't require you to do anything but talk actually.
The battle mechanics are a bit goofy BUT I appreciate it trying to be unique (inb4 dozens of games pop up on my feed with that exact system) and it gets better as the mechanics start to sink in, and don't be surprised when the Pokémon syndrome of bosses going from house-sized to goat-sized during battles starts to creep in. The movements are jank but not too severely, I don't really see the point of adding a jump other than having me mash the jump button when I'm running because yes, I'm that restless. I also wanna point out this hoe is insulting me every 30 seconds in the background while I'm writing this review, so I'll wrap this up... farm girls smh.
The battle mechanics are a bit goofy BUT I appreciate it trying to be unique (inb4 dozens of games pop up on my feed with that exact system) and it gets better as the mechanics start to sink in, and don't be surprised when the Pokémon syndrome of bosses going from house-sized to goat-sized during battles starts to creep in. The movements are jank but not too severely, I don't really see the point of adding a jump other than having me mash the jump button when I'm running because yes, I'm that restless. I also wanna point out this hoe is insulting me every 30 seconds in the background while I'm writing this review, so I'll wrap this up... farm girls smh.
if I had a remnant of doubt whether or not I would enjoy the atelier series this game smacked my face and made me come back to reality as soon as it was necessary
can't believe I bawled at the ending
atelier ryza is my first iteration with the entire series and while I have never played ANY atelier game in my entire life after being advised by trustworthy gaming sites (gamefaq lmao don't @ me) this game elevated the bar so high already i'm surrounded by stars and planets and I cannot drop down anymore
as my first dive into this franchise I was expecting a lot of things and its so weird that they managed to crush them eat them and spit them in my mouth in a runtime of something like 30 hours what the fuck how did they even do that
talking meat of the game the gameplay is probably the most intoxicatingly addictive loop I've ever experienced since the binding of Isaac i started the game by chance one day when I just wanted a quick look into this and ended up play for like 10 hours in a row it was MAGICAL SHIT don't get me started
while I have zero means to cross examine this title what I saw here can be already peak of the series for what it's worth the exploration of the different and unique places gathering and foraging for items is so fucking fun I swear to god if you had told me picking flowers up and breaking stones and cutting grass would be so entertaining I wouldve not believed you (no actually I wouldve I've played stardew valley yknow) and thats probably the whole meat of the game just going around getting as much material as possible to just throw it in the cauldron and wait for something to happen
and this may be boring at first sight but it has such a lit of nuance there's genuinely infinite amount of items to get a lot of variety to not make it as redundant as it would probably get and when you think it could not be better the game shoves different gathering items that can be used to get DIFFERENT LOOT from places you already visited before this is insane the depth of this mechanic is so deep I can't see the bottom
while it could probably not impress other people as much as it did to me it's probably unfair to say that this is not a great mechanic like just going around living your life getting some ingredients for a couple of potions likeeeeeee I wish that were ME OK??????
this is probably the main reason why filled the container in like a single day (real life day) and I was like umhhhhh… so what now
sure getting items is the main focus but I gotta say the whole sense of exploration here feels so fucking tight every single part of the world is filled with so much wonder to look at points of interest to note on your diary and stuff to get apart from being fucking gorgeous but that's something for later
this all culminates in the alchemy system which is just so fun as a whole you get a lot of items into the thing and new stuff comes out wow greatest premise ever . gotta say at first this system confused me a lot it's really intricate when you have like items quality traits effects materials elemental balls to fill (sounded better in my mind) to think about and at first it's just so fucking intimidating you're like “ok lemme make a cute little potion teehee” and university level maths diagrams come out worst jumpscare of my life genuinely what the hell
that being said when you get in the flow you realise how actually all this is tied together and its actually not that hard but since the tutorial is less comprehensive than I thought it would be (maybe it is but I'm adhd) I ended up walking in the dark maybe because I've also never played an atelier game that could be also the reason and I kid you not theres insurmountable amount of stuff to make that range from flower potions to fucking lintels to construct the hideout im not joking what the fuck is ryza cooking in there and for most of the stuff you will get a recipe at some point but if you fuck around enough you can get new recipes from the ones you already have and that shit is cool as fuck don't touch me
there's some more nuance to this like the item worlds or the duplicator or the forge but they're just some more addendum to the already intrinsically deep alchemy system so that's a plus
something that really confused me was the battle system . i read everywhere that the fighting is the weaker part of the entire game and while I think that is definitely not the focus of the game how dare you say its terrible when I had so much fucking fun with it you deserve nothing in your life but drakengard 1 type of gameplay
sure it's simple sure it's not as bad as people say and I gotta tell you they worked with what they had and made a super engaging way of slaying enemies and I will not disrespect this kind of effort theres nothing more fun than upgrading your tactics and seeing your main combos and skill go from 1 hit slashes to a full 100 attacks assault in a couple of levels
the shit is simple . turn based combat . some kind of final fantasy ATB . normal attacks and skills and items . special moves and tactics and when you want you can actually switch to the other party members to issue commands
as I said simple ! but effective the action is super fast and the battles go super smoothly for the most part as soon as you realise how this combat system works youre gonna be enthralled just trust me
only gripe: items are a pain in the ass somehow they have a super low counter of like 10 points for use and when you have no more points you either have to temporarily sacrifice an item for the sake of more points or go all the way back to the hideout to replenish it . not the greatest item system I've ever seen but its serviceable for the type of combat you're gonna engage in
so all this to say
atelier ryza as a character story and an overall narrative absolutely struck me im not joking here
ryzas story is simple yet effective an adhd tomboyish girl with fat ass cheeks and thicc thighs is tired of her ordinary life in a island in nowhere and with her friends the hung cavalier lent with a huge sword and a huge heart and also another sword that he carries all the time if you know you know and tao a … knowledgeable blonde twink ? I'm not sounding very professional here so I was saying
girls tired so as soon as she meets new visiting alchemists from overseas she decides to mix drugs and help the townspeople and theres that
the plot thickens a lot during the last ⅓ part of the game there's a lot of political intrigue and invasion war typa talk I was not expecting and the lore of the entire island really is the center of this entire plotpoint which is definitely a cool highlight it's good to have a “lives are at stake” trope for the tension but while I think this is also great what really bewitched me of atelier ryza are characters their little interactions and their little development arcs
ryza goes from a bratty child with family farm duty to a powerful alchemist genuinely interested to townspeople and the towns entire wellbeing lent gets more and more courageous and hunk ish as time goes on tao umh… likes books !!! I think !!! and klaudia is my sweet little sweetheart with daddy issues and lesbian energy to boot
I love all my children dearly I have nothing bad to say about this apart from the fact that maybe having klaudia and ryza scissor for 2 and a half hours in a 3d rendered lesbian cutscene was a bit too much
really tho the sexual tension between those too… women
empel and lila are also nice characters with good backstories and arcs but the main 4some is what I really liked of this entire affair they're just ughhhhh I love them so much I can see them caring for each other and shit they're sweethearts
bos is a pretty nifty addition and it's definitely a huge part of the game dealing with him and his superiority complex but his character arc pays out and I can't wait for him to actually be a cool lad in the sequels
last but not least the art direction is incredibly tight the little character portraits for each one of the crewmembers is super charming and even the 3d models have a lot of character to them sure you're gonna have ryzas fat ass in your face for the entire game but is that a bad thing
I can really respect the fact that they indeed put horny designs like lila has an H cup and all her coochie out ryza has pants that hold her entire butt with the help of the Holy spirit klaudia isn't inherently a horny design but she's my favorite one and the girl I want as my wife for the rest of the years to come so it's horny design FOR ME and lent is also horny design FOR ME because you put a knight with his man tits out and pretend I won't thirst cmon but what I was saying is that even though they put these designs they never used them in an oversexualised way belittling the characters and their arcs so there's that
the environments are lushly constructed and super diverse from one another the hometown is cozy the mountains are as dangerous as ever and the pixie forest is dreamlike and soothing and the ruins are haunting and shit like theres a lot of variety in the places this game is gonna opt for and I genuinely had so much fun exploring the nooks and crannies of each one of them
unfortunately the monster design falls flat not because of the monster designs in themselves (they're gorgeous) but the fact that they're really heavy on recolors something that i sure don't like in dragon quest and here the monsters aren't as numerous or as iconic to actually have a reason to be reused for the entire game but I digress they're still pretty good looking….. if you know what I mean I like the scissor hands
last point of note the side quests and the character quests are pretty straightforward but very fun to do I don't know I usually don't care for side quests and here they aren't even as deep as some other side quests I saw in other games but they're so fun wtf
OH and the music is great but I put some restrictions on the amount of stuff I'm gonna link but in the meantime I can say that every single ost hits whether it be a soundtrack for a certain place in the game or a recurrent theme during your stay in the secret hideout or even battle themes for some reason atelier games have the sickest battle themes like just listen to this one why did they have to snap this hard I don't get it I don't get it what the hell anyway the entire ost is a gem just listen to it honestly
I said everything I wanted to say and last but not least I cant wait to play the next games in the ryza trilogy and in the series as a whole the finale of the game left me no tears in my eyes it's not even that sad but I care for each and every one of my sweet children so when I say it hit it HIT
I wasn't expecting atelier ryza to be the game for me or even actually have this much on an impact on my current videogame backlog situation and shit but now I know why it has such an affectionate cult following there's nothing else that felt like this till now
ryza can't wait to play your second game and for you to actually have a french kiss with klaudia im literally aching here please please please
I'm trying to convince a friend to actually get this game but it's 59.99 lmao OK whatever
can't believe I bawled at the ending
atelier ryza is my first iteration with the entire series and while I have never played ANY atelier game in my entire life after being advised by trustworthy gaming sites (gamefaq lmao don't @ me) this game elevated the bar so high already i'm surrounded by stars and planets and I cannot drop down anymore
as my first dive into this franchise I was expecting a lot of things and its so weird that they managed to crush them eat them and spit them in my mouth in a runtime of something like 30 hours what the fuck how did they even do that
talking meat of the game the gameplay is probably the most intoxicatingly addictive loop I've ever experienced since the binding of Isaac i started the game by chance one day when I just wanted a quick look into this and ended up play for like 10 hours in a row it was MAGICAL SHIT don't get me started
while I have zero means to cross examine this title what I saw here can be already peak of the series for what it's worth the exploration of the different and unique places gathering and foraging for items is so fucking fun I swear to god if you had told me picking flowers up and breaking stones and cutting grass would be so entertaining I wouldve not believed you (no actually I wouldve I've played stardew valley yknow) and thats probably the whole meat of the game just going around getting as much material as possible to just throw it in the cauldron and wait for something to happen
and this may be boring at first sight but it has such a lit of nuance there's genuinely infinite amount of items to get a lot of variety to not make it as redundant as it would probably get and when you think it could not be better the game shoves different gathering items that can be used to get DIFFERENT LOOT from places you already visited before this is insane the depth of this mechanic is so deep I can't see the bottom
while it could probably not impress other people as much as it did to me it's probably unfair to say that this is not a great mechanic like just going around living your life getting some ingredients for a couple of potions likeeeeeee I wish that were ME OK??????
this is probably the main reason why filled the container in like a single day (real life day) and I was like umhhhhh… so what now
sure getting items is the main focus but I gotta say the whole sense of exploration here feels so fucking tight every single part of the world is filled with so much wonder to look at points of interest to note on your diary and stuff to get apart from being fucking gorgeous but that's something for later
this all culminates in the alchemy system which is just so fun as a whole you get a lot of items into the thing and new stuff comes out wow greatest premise ever . gotta say at first this system confused me a lot it's really intricate when you have like items quality traits effects materials elemental balls to fill (sounded better in my mind) to think about and at first it's just so fucking intimidating you're like “ok lemme make a cute little potion teehee” and university level maths diagrams come out worst jumpscare of my life genuinely what the hell
that being said when you get in the flow you realise how actually all this is tied together and its actually not that hard but since the tutorial is less comprehensive than I thought it would be (maybe it is but I'm adhd) I ended up walking in the dark maybe because I've also never played an atelier game that could be also the reason and I kid you not theres insurmountable amount of stuff to make that range from flower potions to fucking lintels to construct the hideout im not joking what the fuck is ryza cooking in there and for most of the stuff you will get a recipe at some point but if you fuck around enough you can get new recipes from the ones you already have and that shit is cool as fuck don't touch me
there's some more nuance to this like the item worlds or the duplicator or the forge but they're just some more addendum to the already intrinsically deep alchemy system so that's a plus
something that really confused me was the battle system . i read everywhere that the fighting is the weaker part of the entire game and while I think that is definitely not the focus of the game how dare you say its terrible when I had so much fucking fun with it you deserve nothing in your life but drakengard 1 type of gameplay
sure it's simple sure it's not as bad as people say and I gotta tell you they worked with what they had and made a super engaging way of slaying enemies and I will not disrespect this kind of effort theres nothing more fun than upgrading your tactics and seeing your main combos and skill go from 1 hit slashes to a full 100 attacks assault in a couple of levels
the shit is simple . turn based combat . some kind of final fantasy ATB . normal attacks and skills and items . special moves and tactics and when you want you can actually switch to the other party members to issue commands
as I said simple ! but effective the action is super fast and the battles go super smoothly for the most part as soon as you realise how this combat system works youre gonna be enthralled just trust me
only gripe: items are a pain in the ass somehow they have a super low counter of like 10 points for use and when you have no more points you either have to temporarily sacrifice an item for the sake of more points or go all the way back to the hideout to replenish it . not the greatest item system I've ever seen but its serviceable for the type of combat you're gonna engage in
so all this to say
atelier ryza as a character story and an overall narrative absolutely struck me im not joking here
ryzas story is simple yet effective an adhd tomboyish girl with fat ass cheeks and thicc thighs is tired of her ordinary life in a island in nowhere and with her friends the hung cavalier lent with a huge sword and a huge heart and also another sword that he carries all the time if you know you know and tao a … knowledgeable blonde twink ? I'm not sounding very professional here so I was saying
girls tired so as soon as she meets new visiting alchemists from overseas she decides to mix drugs and help the townspeople and theres that
the plot thickens a lot during the last ⅓ part of the game there's a lot of political intrigue and invasion war typa talk I was not expecting and the lore of the entire island really is the center of this entire plotpoint which is definitely a cool highlight it's good to have a “lives are at stake” trope for the tension but while I think this is also great what really bewitched me of atelier ryza are characters their little interactions and their little development arcs
ryza goes from a bratty child with family farm duty to a powerful alchemist genuinely interested to townspeople and the towns entire wellbeing lent gets more and more courageous and hunk ish as time goes on tao umh… likes books !!! I think !!! and klaudia is my sweet little sweetheart with daddy issues and lesbian energy to boot
I love all my children dearly I have nothing bad to say about this apart from the fact that maybe having klaudia and ryza scissor for 2 and a half hours in a 3d rendered lesbian cutscene was a bit too much
really tho the sexual tension between those too… women
empel and lila are also nice characters with good backstories and arcs but the main 4some is what I really liked of this entire affair they're just ughhhhh I love them so much I can see them caring for each other and shit they're sweethearts
bos is a pretty nifty addition and it's definitely a huge part of the game dealing with him and his superiority complex but his character arc pays out and I can't wait for him to actually be a cool lad in the sequels
last but not least the art direction is incredibly tight the little character portraits for each one of the crewmembers is super charming and even the 3d models have a lot of character to them sure you're gonna have ryzas fat ass in your face for the entire game but is that a bad thing
I can really respect the fact that they indeed put horny designs like lila has an H cup and all her coochie out ryza has pants that hold her entire butt with the help of the Holy spirit klaudia isn't inherently a horny design but she's my favorite one and the girl I want as my wife for the rest of the years to come so it's horny design FOR ME and lent is also horny design FOR ME because you put a knight with his man tits out and pretend I won't thirst cmon but what I was saying is that even though they put these designs they never used them in an oversexualised way belittling the characters and their arcs so there's that
the environments are lushly constructed and super diverse from one another the hometown is cozy the mountains are as dangerous as ever and the pixie forest is dreamlike and soothing and the ruins are haunting and shit like theres a lot of variety in the places this game is gonna opt for and I genuinely had so much fun exploring the nooks and crannies of each one of them
unfortunately the monster design falls flat not because of the monster designs in themselves (they're gorgeous) but the fact that they're really heavy on recolors something that i sure don't like in dragon quest and here the monsters aren't as numerous or as iconic to actually have a reason to be reused for the entire game but I digress they're still pretty good looking….. if you know what I mean I like the scissor hands
last point of note the side quests and the character quests are pretty straightforward but very fun to do I don't know I usually don't care for side quests and here they aren't even as deep as some other side quests I saw in other games but they're so fun wtf
OH and the music is great but I put some restrictions on the amount of stuff I'm gonna link but in the meantime I can say that every single ost hits whether it be a soundtrack for a certain place in the game or a recurrent theme during your stay in the secret hideout or even battle themes for some reason atelier games have the sickest battle themes like just listen to this one why did they have to snap this hard I don't get it I don't get it what the hell anyway the entire ost is a gem just listen to it honestly
I said everything I wanted to say and last but not least I cant wait to play the next games in the ryza trilogy and in the series as a whole the finale of the game left me no tears in my eyes it's not even that sad but I care for each and every one of my sweet children so when I say it hit it HIT
I wasn't expecting atelier ryza to be the game for me or even actually have this much on an impact on my current videogame backlog situation and shit but now I know why it has such an affectionate cult following there's nothing else that felt like this till now
ryza can't wait to play your second game and for you to actually have a french kiss with klaudia im literally aching here please please please
I'm trying to convince a friend to actually get this game but it's 59.99 lmao OK whatever
This was my first Atelier game and I really enjoyed it! The characters are very likeable (specially Ryza and Klaudia), the art style is gorgeous and the game has this really cozy and relaxing vibe to it. The music is also a positive, but nothing remarkable either.
Storywise the game is fine I guess, it was nice to see the growth of the party and the unfolding of the main plot. Side content was a little repetitive and boring, so I didn't played that much of it. Crafting was somewhat confusing, and required a lot of grinding to create stuff with really high quality.
One thing that really bothered me was the real time nature of the combat. In think the game would be a lot more enjoyable without it.
Overall a solid experience that made me look forward to play more atelier games in the future.
Storywise the game is fine I guess, it was nice to see the growth of the party and the unfolding of the main plot. Side content was a little repetitive and boring, so I didn't played that much of it. Crafting was somewhat confusing, and required a lot of grinding to create stuff with really high quality.
One thing that really bothered me was the real time nature of the combat. In think the game would be a lot more enjoyable without it.
Overall a solid experience that made me look forward to play more atelier games in the future.
comfy
I played this because I liked what I saw from the music and aesthetics and wanted a comfy game, and it sure delivered. The environment and accompanying soundtrack are absolutely stunning, and I didn't expect the battle system to be this much fun either. Definitely interested in checking out the rest of the series after this; this was my first Atelier game.
This game's both super comfy, and ends up being a pretty decent coming of age story.
I had a great time playing this game. The story is good, combat was fun, great soundtrack. Looking forward to play the sequels and other from the series.
oh je pleure sur le poulet
An excellent crafting system with a charming coming-of-age story and lovable characters. Battle system could be better.
A fun departure from the more intimate Atelier games. Atelier Ryza dives into more typical JRPG waters with a larger focus on exploration, combat and the story. Lovely characters and a fun time.
This game is pure comfort food for when you just need to do something cheery, which i say entirely as a good thing.
This was a fun, nice time! The crafting based RPG system was interesting, material collecting was boring, but never felt too bad. I'm not a big fan of ATB, I prefer to be able to pause and think for a while on a turn, but it was still solid!
i still don't know what the "ever darkness" is...
i really want to love this game and i like the characters but man THERE IS NO CONFLICT EVER
This review contains spoilers
Atelier Ryza is the best place to start the fabled Atelier series of RPGs. Having tried to play the other most commonly touted entrance place, Atelier Rorona, and failing at least three times, this entry has more to offer in terms of gameplay, story, and polish than Rorona does.
Ryza, at its core, is a gathering/crafting game with some combat and story tacked on as a fun diversion. You play as an aspiring alchemist who is quickly wrapped up in a coming-of-age story with your three best friends and a colorful cast of supporting characters. The story is cutesy, simple, and uncomplicated. The combat is a strange hybrid of heyday FF and the Trails series, with the player needing to manage a tension gauge, ATB bars, and item uses. While this system initially showed promise, around the 20 hour mark, it was clear that all combat would be for Ryza was a series of stat checks. There is no incentive to spend your action points on anything but increasing your tension gauge unless you are using an interrupt action to stun a boss- if you’re having to use AP any other way, you’re likely behind the stat check curve and are going to lose anyways. Only being able to realistically juggle one character is frustrating; it would have been nice if every time a player character’s turn rolled around in the order, the flow of time would stop for the player to manually input that character’s attack. Not being able to easily or directly control NPC party members has always been a gripe of mine ever since playing Persona 3.
Regardless, the core loop of exploring new places to get new crafting materials to make new items and improve your weapons, armor, and accessories is rock-solid and crafting broken consumable items is a blast. If Ryza either scaled combat difficulty to the player’s level or gave the player a level indicator for a region, there’d be less frustration. Overall, Ryza is a good way to zone out and enjoy some anime-flavored filler, and that’s enough to warrant a solid middle B in my book. After hitting a wall vs. the second to last boss, I just watched a supercut of Takanashi Kiara play through the rest of the game and got just as much fun as I would have grinding the game out for myself. The best part of my playthrough was definitely going infinite in the crafting and mass-producing 999 quality items.
Ryza, at its core, is a gathering/crafting game with some combat and story tacked on as a fun diversion. You play as an aspiring alchemist who is quickly wrapped up in a coming-of-age story with your three best friends and a colorful cast of supporting characters. The story is cutesy, simple, and uncomplicated. The combat is a strange hybrid of heyday FF and the Trails series, with the player needing to manage a tension gauge, ATB bars, and item uses. While this system initially showed promise, around the 20 hour mark, it was clear that all combat would be for Ryza was a series of stat checks. There is no incentive to spend your action points on anything but increasing your tension gauge unless you are using an interrupt action to stun a boss- if you’re having to use AP any other way, you’re likely behind the stat check curve and are going to lose anyways. Only being able to realistically juggle one character is frustrating; it would have been nice if every time a player character’s turn rolled around in the order, the flow of time would stop for the player to manually input that character’s attack. Not being able to easily or directly control NPC party members has always been a gripe of mine ever since playing Persona 3.
Regardless, the core loop of exploring new places to get new crafting materials to make new items and improve your weapons, armor, and accessories is rock-solid and crafting broken consumable items is a blast. If Ryza either scaled combat difficulty to the player’s level or gave the player a level indicator for a region, there’d be less frustration. Overall, Ryza is a good way to zone out and enjoy some anime-flavored filler, and that’s enough to warrant a solid middle B in my book. After hitting a wall vs. the second to last boss, I just watched a supercut of Takanashi Kiara play through the rest of the game and got just as much fun as I would have grinding the game out for myself. The best part of my playthrough was definitely going infinite in the crafting and mass-producing 999 quality items.
Not my favorite Atelier game but it's a respectable first outing for the trilogy.
My expectations for this game were pretty low as my experience with earlier Atelier titles left a bit to be desired. And I was very surprised to find a fun story with fun characters and a compelling, deep alchemy system. Another thing surprised me was that at no point was there any weird or creepy fanservice moments, the game is very wholesome and I'm all the more glad for it. There's nothing wrong with horny character designs, at least they made a hot buff dude to balance things out. But to then not sacrifice your integrity for the sake of sexualising the protagonist was a very welcome addition to this game.
At the time of release this was the best in the series gameplay-wise, though the story was just middling (but fun and enjoyable!) and the cast was also mostly kind of alright to pretty good without anyone standing out. While the obsession with making Ryza a sex icon in a series never about that (though featuring fanservice in general) had me worrying the focus would detract from the game, that didn't happen until Ryza 2 and especially 3.
I loved the idea of building your own Atelier as well, and the little universes or whatever were a cool idea for grinding ingredients late-game as well. I just wish the sequels weren't such big steps down - it really shows that the formula of replacing the lead character usually (sophie 2 is an exception to the rule) is one of the keys to their success and they should return to it.
I loved the idea of building your own Atelier as well, and the little universes or whatever were a cool idea for grinding ingredients late-game as well. I just wish the sequels weren't such big steps down - it really shows that the formula of replacing the lead character usually (sophie 2 is an exception to the rule) is one of the keys to their success and they should return to it.
A shortish, low stakes JRPG in which you craft some stuff and fight in a very familiar yet very unique combat system. Combat can be very difficult and it’s better to play on easy to maintain the chill atmosphere.