Comparison to Witch Spring R?

[End]

I’m quite enjoying the gameplay loop of Witch Spring R where I go fight monsters to get materials, synthesize them into potions, and level my stats. In particular I’m enjoying the “growth path” where I can customized what the character is good at by choosing to focus on different materials and training.

So… is this a similar gameplay? I played one Atelier game a long time ago and got turned off by it seeming to be mostly about just finding different things laying around in different parts of the world… there wasn’t a huge sense of character progression or customization. But this was more recommended…

Thoughts on the comparison if anyone has played both?

[Fel]

There is none of the "training" and customization of the character in the atelier series.
Each character has its strengths, they gain stats by levelling up and from the equipment but that's about it.

You gather materials around the map and from fights then craft them into items and equipment.
A lot of the progression in terms of combat capabilities (beyond the equipment) comes from the items you use, most of them being offensive (bombs and such).

The combat in the three Ryza games is more active but that also means you have a lot less strategy to do and it ends up being more about button mashing.
Sadly the difficulty in those three games is also not hard enough, never really forcing you to delve deep into the crafting, and the crafting itself makes it too easy to make powerful items.

In other games of the series there is a lot more focus on the crafting and you can really make a difference by having a better version (same base recipe but better result) of the same equipment or consumables, especially on hard difficulty.

But if you are looking for customisation in the vein of the witch spring games you won't find it here.

[Tsukihi]

Pieberry supremacy