Combat?

[Syrin]

My problem with the Atelier games is the combat is geared for 5 year olds. Is this one any different?

[Sephilar]

I found the combat system of Ayesha to be among the best in the series actually, the only thing that is a pity is that you can only use 3 characters (2 actually if you don't count Ayesha since she's mandatory).

In Ayesha, while still a turn based RPG of course, the strategy here consists in knowing how to move your characters effectively to avoid getting all your party destroyed by certain boss moves, while at the same time making use of the fact that you can hit your opponents from behind to cause more damage (normally you'll want Ayesha to be the one doing that once you're able to create the most powerful attack items in the game), or bringing together all the party in the same area if you're use things such as Odelia's Slag Signal, plus every character has their own support skills that is essential for you to know how to use them correctly especially against the most difficult optional bosses that were added in the Plus version to avoid your party being wiped out.

Also, unlike other Atelier games since Ayesha is the only character that can use items, part of the strategy also consists in not allowing Ayesha to like die at all, because items as long as they are created correctly that's always the most broken thing you can do, and you're expected to have done that already if you do the challenge, and it might seem bothersome to have a character you must protect no matter what to win, but actually many Atelier games have always been like that, being the MC the character that does the synthesis but being weak in combat although being the only one that can use items, which is (or it was at this point) part of the charm in the series when it comes to the gameplay.

So uh... tl;dr, the combat system of Ayesha is indeed unique compared to others in the series so I think you can enjoy it.

[Kiru]

If you want a fun by itself battle system, don't play Atelier. They are about alchemy. Those systems are the complexity about the game, the rest is just executing that. Some are "better" with the battle system, some are "worse", but their goal is always the same. Checking if you did your alchemy.

You will never win a hard battle just by grinding battles. You will never win a hard battle just by "using the right stuff". You will win if you make good things and use them well enough. And, depending on the game, it can easily take you 30-60 minutes. PER ITEM. Tinkering. Thinking, what works best how. Which ingredient to use how and when. Which trait? Effect? How does everything even work and synergize in the first place?
Not for everyone. You have to have fun with building your characters and items. Using them and things working out is the satisfaction afterwards. But until then it can be a long road.

Note that you should play on a higher difficulty than normal, if available. Outside of maybe totori and meruru on Steam, the games are fairly easy on normal. For those who don't want to bother that much with alchemy. Obviously, not a whole lot remains after that, but hey. It's anyone's choice what they want to do. Most of the challenges are also completely optional, with the same kinda idea behind it. Luckily the biggest challenges aren't gated behind payed DLC with these re-releases.


If you don't want to bother with any of that, you only have Escha & Logy. At least on ps3 this ended up pretty horribly, as the dev was bought during its dev-time and TK wanted to get different people into the series. (from Warriors, their other franchise, which doesn't make much sense given "mindless masher" fans and "mindful tinkering" fans aren't going to overlap too much... and if they do, they probably know already)
So the balance is basically "don't do alchemy and it's fine", you have a "more fun" battle-system and a time limit which is so generous, that any seasoned Atelier player gets a headache because there isn't enough to do to fill the time. Can't guarantee that the steam version is the same though. It's based on the Vita Version, and maybe they fixed some of the glaring shortcomings. TK went away from doing what they did pretty damn fast, so the results must have been dreadful, as anyone could've foretold. Thus Shallie was born, basically what Escha & Logy should've been.
[Atelier history end]

[D-Black Catto]

For a turn based jrpg, these games are some of the most decent and tactical ones, especially considering that you can't win end game bosses without min maxing your equipment, stats and items

Originally posted by Kiru:

If you don't want to bother with any of that, you only have Escha & Logy. At least on ps3 this ended up pretty horribly, as the dev was bought during its dev-time and TK wanted to get different people into the series. (from Warriors, their other franchise, which doesn't make much sense given "mindless masher" fans and "mindful tinkering" fans aren't going to overlap too much... and if they do, they probably know already)

im one of these