Is Sophie the most popular protagonist?

[Yui Yuigahama]

I started with Ryza on the consoles and I heard the fanbase consider Sophie is the face of the series. Is that true? Just curious haha

[Monterossa]

She was, and probably still is, at least for the Japanese fans.

Not sure if they ever made a newer poll after Ryza, but I don't think the Japanese would love Ryza over Sophie.

If I have to guess, if they make another poll now, the Japanese will even rank Rorona, Meruru, Totori, Escha, Ayesha, and Willbell over Ryza.

[Tiasmoon]

Sophie is the ''safe'' pick, since she's more generic but still has a good head on her shoulders and is very affilable and cheerful without being too genki.

The other Alchemists require you to appreciate their individual quirks or personality traits.
Or gender in case of Logy, ahaha. Which can be hit or miss.

Sophie is hard to dislike, even if you might not love her.

[D's Journal]

In the west, it's Ryza but in Japan it'll be a toss up between Ryza and Sophie probably.

[Jeffer'son Airship]

Originally posted by Monterossa:

She was, and probably still is, at least for the Japanese fans.

Not sure if they ever made a newer poll after Ryza, but I don't think the Japanese would love Ryza over Sophie.

If I have to guess, if they make another poll now, the Japanese will even rank Rorona, Meruru, Totori, Escha, Ayesha, and Willbell over Ryza.

https://www.siliconera.com/here-are-the-top-40-atelier-characters-as-voted-by-fans-for-series-20th-anniversary-poll/

Considering most of the characters you listed are in the top ten, probably.

However in a recent poll Ryza was third most popular game in Japan and as the characters are so core to the fanbase it's hard to say for sure
https://www.reddit.com/r/Atelier/comments/ofqr7v/favorite_atelier_game_poll_results_conducted_by/

[Izunyami]

Originally posted by Mokinopomu:

Originally posted by Monterossa:

She was, and probably still is, at least for the Japanese fans.

Not sure if they ever made a newer poll after Ryza, but I don't think the Japanese would love Ryza over Sophie.

If I have to guess, if they make another poll now, the Japanese will even rank Rorona, Meruru, Totori, Escha, Ayesha, and Willbell over Ryza.

https://www.siliconera.com/here-are-the-top-40-atelier-characters-as-voted-by-fans-for-series-20th-anniversary-poll/

Considering most of the characters you listed are in the top ten, probably.

However in a recent poll Ryza was third most popular game in Japan and as the characters are so core to the fanbase it's hard to say for sure
https://www.reddit.com/r/Atelier/comments/ofqr7v/favorite_atelier_game_poll_results_conducted_by/

Sophie was still top result on the JP poll. I think it's safe to assume that Sophie is Japanese fan's favorite since she consistently hits number 1 in these polls and has had more cameos in other series.

[Ellye]

The thing about Sophie is that even when she's not someone's favorite, she's probably up there in their "second favorite" or "third favorite" spots.

She's just generally very likable.

The reason I think for that is that her personality is very "safe", she doesn't any characteristic that is too excessive. She's selfless, but not to the point of being passive; she's skeptical, but not to the point of being disrespectful about it; she's determined, but not to the point of being pushy; etc, etc.

Some other atelier protags have some characteristics that are a bit more dialed up to 11, and that makes them slightly more divisive. Take Ryza for example - she's extremely energetic and determined, to the point that she becomes pushy and bossy with her friends (poor Tao on the first game that keeps getting dragged along by her).

Or how multiple other alchemists are dumb/slow, which is often funny but can be a bit divisive too.

[D's Journal]

Originally posted by Ellye:

The thing about Sophie is that even when she's not someone's favorite, she's probably up there in their "second favorite" or "third favorite" spots.

She's just generally very likable.

The reason I think for that is that her personality is very "safe", she doesn't any characteristic that is too excessive. She's selfless, but not to the point of being passive; she's skeptical, but not to the point of being disrespectful about it; she's determined, but not to the point of being pushy; etc, etc.

Some other atelier protags have some characteristics that are a bit more dialed up to 11, and that makes them slightly more divisive. Take Ryza for example - she's extremely energetic and determined, to the point that she becomes pushy and bossy with her friends (poor Tao on the first game that keeps getting dragged along by her).

Or how multiple other alchemists are dumb/slow, which is often funny but can be a bit divisive too.

I agree. Atelier is very "cute girls doing cute things but holy ♥♥♥♥ are they dumb", yeah.
The only characters that is actually mature is Totori, Shallistera and a littttlle bit of Ayesha.

I'ma just say Totori is the most mature since the Arland series to now. I guess there's a reason why she's ranked 2nd, but then again Rorona is ranked 3rd so who knows.

I do wish they make more mellow out characters. Wouldn't mind a quiet/shy alchemist tbh, you'd think there would be more of those types instead with how much focusing is involved with something complex like alchemy...then again Ryza mastered Alchemy in literally a summers time but I digress lol.

[Izunyami]

Originally posted by D's Journal:

Originally posted by Ellye:

The thing about Sophie is that even when she's not someone's favorite, she's probably up there in their "second favorite" or "third favorite" spots.

She's just generally very likable.

The reason I think for that is that her personality is very "safe", she doesn't any characteristic that is too excessive. She's selfless, but not to the point of being passive; she's skeptical, but not to the point of being disrespectful about it; she's determined, but not to the point of being pushy; etc, etc.

Some other atelier protags have some characteristics that are a bit more dialed up to 11, and that makes them slightly more divisive. Take Ryza for example - she's extremely energetic and determined, to the point that she becomes pushy and bossy with her friends (poor Tao on the first game that keeps getting dragged along by her).

Or how multiple other alchemists are dumb/slow, which is often funny but can be a bit divisive too.

I agree. Atelier is very "cute girls doing cute things but holy ♥♥♥♥ are they dumb", yeah.
The only characters that is actually mature is Totori, Shallistera and a littttlle bit of Ayesha.

I'ma just say Totori is the most mature since the Arland series to now. I guess there's a reason why she's ranked 2nd, but then again Rorona is ranked 3rd so who knows.

I do wish they make more mellow out characters. Wouldn't mind a quiet/shy alchemist tbh, you'd think there would be more of those types instead with how much focusing is involved with something complex like alchemy...then again Ryza mastered Alchemy in literally a summers time but I digress lol.

I'd say Sophie fits into the mature category. Even in her debut game, she was very mature, trying to take over the alchemist profession her grandmother left her. And how she acts from the start, with Plachta and others, was more of an adult's. Let alone how much more mature she got in Firis/Lydie+Suelle

[Fel]

I much prefer Ayesha personally, but maybe it is also because she is one of the rare protagonists of the series to fit in their world.
And she has a goal that stays for the whole game (kind of like sophie in this game I guess but sophie just gets side-tracked all the time).

[Zane19]

My top reason why I love Sophie is from her English VA.

[jclosed]

Originally posted by Fel:

I much prefer Ayesha personally, but maybe it is also because she is one of the rare protagonists of the series to fit in their world.
And she has a goal that stays for the whole game (kind of like sophie in this game I guess but sophie just gets side-tracked all the time).

Hmm.. I somehow want to play Ayesha, but I really hate time limits that prevent you from exploring and taking things the easy way. It makes me nervous, and makes things less enjoyable (or completely not enjoyable) for me. That's the sole reason I don't consider to buy the Arland series. I really hesitate to punish myself with that.
I am somewhat considering buying the Dusk series (If you buy all three games it's less expensive), but I could also only buy Escha & Logi + Shallie only. Tough one this...

[Meganesuki]

If you know what to do, the time limit in the series is quite generous.
The problem is if you don't know then trial and error without a walkthrough can exceed the time limit.
The trend I notice is the female of the first in the trilogy often becomes more popular than the 2nd and the 3rd. Totori is exceptional because the Atelier Totori is great in both gameplay and her design, imo.
The last of the trilogy is often the least popular because the trilogy never tries hard enough to tie the loose end or bring the closure to the trilogy. There is no mindset "I must play the third to see through the end no matter the last is good or bad" like Legend of Heroes Saga. As such, female lead of the last in trilogy often suffer the least popularity

[Tiasmoon]

The time limit is rarely ''generous''.

Originally posted by jclosed:

Originally posted by Fel:

I much prefer Ayesha personally, but maybe it is also because she is one of the rare protagonists of the series to fit in their world.
And she has a goal that stays for the whole game (kind of like sophie in this game I guess but sophie just gets side-tracked all the time).

Hmm.. I somehow want to play Ayesha, but I really hate time limits that prevent you from exploring and taking things the easy way. It makes me nervous, and makes things less enjoyable (or completely not enjoyable) for me. That's the sole reason I don't consider to buy the Arland series. I really hesitate to punish myself with that.
I am somewhat considering buying the Dusk series (If you buy all three games it's less expensive), but I could also only buy Escha & Logi + Shallie only. Tough one this...

Rorona has its time limit in iirc 3 monthly segments or something like that. And it makes your goals for each portion for clear from the start of each. So if you want to try one with a time limit, Rorona is probably best. You wont be able to do everything on first playthrough (unless you use a guide) but you will feel satisfied at the end of the game regardless.

Totori's timelimit is brutal. Its highly unlikely you'll get anything but the ''consolidation'' aka ''normal'' ending on first playthrough. Its still a great game, but id avoid this untill you get used to time limits.

Meruru is kind of like a mix of Rorona and Totori. It has more clear objectives and more of them so its easier to keep on track but not as easy as with Rorona.

Ayesha is my favorite Atelier game. Its time limit isnt the most generous (I would say its less generous then Rorona or Escha to Logy for just completing the game), but as long as you keep progressing the main story its very easy to meet. You only run into problems if you ignore the main story for too long. (Ayesha does not end after completing main objective, so you always want to aim for that first)

This game is one I would advise playing even if you dont like time limits. You'll probably regret if you play the other dusk but not this one.

Escha to Logy has a time limit too, and its very similar to Rorona. You get periodic deadlines and complete objectives. Time is generous for main objectives, but you might have to put extra work in for the secondary/optional bonus objectives. If you do the story stuff well enough you get a lot of extra time at the end to complete any past objectives you didnt get around to.

Shallie doesnt have a timelimit at all.

In short my recommendations for you: Play Ayesha for sure, and after you played Escha to Logy if you enjoyed it, play Rorona too.