A perfect remake of the first Atelier entry, that managed to keep all the charm of the original while removing all the (very small) issues I had with the OG.
I loved the original, and I'm extremely glad this remake was made with love and care. I can only hope this does well so we get the rest of the old games as well.
If you've never played Atelier, it's a game about minding your business (and the atelier), and while there is a goal, it's not a typical JRPG's world-saving goal. It's a fun adventure with great characters that you get to know more as you go along.
You play as Marlone, who's failing her classes and given a special exam to use alchemy to make a good item within 5 years. The game is extremely hands-off, letting you do whatever you want for the entire duration of the game, and consists of the following tasks:
-Hiring adventurers to help you gather items
-Use alchemy to turn the items into other items
-Complete quests at the Tavern for money
-Make more items and learn more alchemy recipes
-Make and use more bombs than Ted K.
How one does that is entirely up to the player. You can even not make the item at all and just get one of the battle-centric endings instead. The adventurers all have Friendship levels that go up the more you go on quests with them, giving you access to their personal stories, sidequests, and item requests. There's an extensive Event list so you can keep track of the requirements for them, which is a massive improvement over the original (where I missed over half of them due to not knowing they even had events).
The game itself is on the short side for the genre, about 10-20h depending on how you play, and you can meet some of the ending conditions early and end up with 1-2 years of free time to max Friendship with other characters and see other events.
They toned down the initial difficulty a little bit compared to the original, which I'm honestly glad for. If you'd like the CBT experience you can set it to Hard or Very Hard, but honestly there isn't any reason to.
The soundtrack is fantastic and they did a great job with the remake, and if you disagree, you get the option to change it back to the original down to each individual track.
I don't know how to end this review. Ancient Footsteps (original) is the best track in the game.
I loved the original, and I'm extremely glad this remake was made with love and care. I can only hope this does well so we get the rest of the old games as well.
If you've never played Atelier, it's a game about minding your business (and the atelier), and while there is a goal, it's not a typical JRPG's world-saving goal. It's a fun adventure with great characters that you get to know more as you go along.
You play as Marlone, who's failing her classes and given a special exam to use alchemy to make a good item within 5 years. The game is extremely hands-off, letting you do whatever you want for the entire duration of the game, and consists of the following tasks:
-Hiring adventurers to help you gather items
-Use alchemy to turn the items into other items
-Complete quests at the Tavern for money
-Make more items and learn more alchemy recipes
-Make and use more bombs than Ted K.
How one does that is entirely up to the player. You can even not make the item at all and just get one of the battle-centric endings instead. The adventurers all have Friendship levels that go up the more you go on quests with them, giving you access to their personal stories, sidequests, and item requests. There's an extensive Event list so you can keep track of the requirements for them, which is a massive improvement over the original (where I missed over half of them due to not knowing they even had events).
The game itself is on the short side for the genre, about 10-20h depending on how you play, and you can meet some of the ending conditions early and end up with 1-2 years of free time to max Friendship with other characters and see other events.
They toned down the initial difficulty a little bit compared to the original, which I'm honestly glad for. If you'd like the CBT experience you can set it to Hard or Very Hard, but honestly there isn't any reason to.
The soundtrack is fantastic and they did a great job with the remake, and if you disagree, you get the option to change it back to the original down to each individual track.
I don't know how to end this review. Ancient Footsteps (original) is the best track in the game.