Convince me to keep playing.

[Cryemore]

I want to love this game. I convinced myself to buy it yesterday despite the high price of entry, but I'm thinking of requesting a refund.

The combat is just weird. I'm not sure how to put it otherwise, the combat system is weird. It's kind of a mess and I don't see that changing. It's not tactical like a turn based system, yet it's not reactionary or proactive like an action combat system. It honestly reminds me of the combat from Lightning Returns for the most part.

Exploration, movement and resource collection is basically a worse version of what is common in open world gacha games. I don't think I need to go deep into this. It's fine, but it is about as far from being unique as you can get and isn't really a draw on it's own besides. I can't comment on the overall world design as a whole because I haven't seen enough of it to do so. What I can say is that so far it is pretty standard. It's fine.

Graphics are good, great even. I am very much a fan of anime art style in games. While i have seen complaints about optimization I have the power to brute force most anything so performance in this game is fine for me.

My one hope for this game and what may keep me playing is the story and characters. i love dark stories. The setup in the beginning about Alchemists being ostracized and feared for causing a great catastrophe could be great. If they leaned into this heavily they could have an intriguing narrative with mid game betrayals and truly dark moments stemming from the hatred and mistrust of alchemy.

Basically I put my controller down at 91 minutes and decided to take a step back. On the one hand I want this game to succeed based solely on what it is. On the other the $75 I spent on this is a lot of money that could otherwise be spent on games I will enjoy more. The story premise seems dark on the surface, but it seems like characters will become accepting of Yumia and Alchemy rather quickly. These are meant to be lighthearted games and I realize that, however the darker tone is kind of all this game has going for itself at this point. Everything else is just fine. Not great, not bad really, just fine.

If this were $40 I would not hesitate to keep it. But $75 is a lot of money for a game that's just fine.

If I keep playing will the story surprise me? As it stands it seems this will very quickly devolve into a friendship overcomes everything type of story. Which is fine.

Just fine.

EDIT:

Alright, I've decided to return the game.

Responses seem to mostly agree with what I said. It's an okay game, but $75 is a lot of money to spend on an okay game. I do think this is a perfectly fine $40 game and will buy it again when it goes on sale.

Thank you everyone for remaining positive and not turning this thread into a weird argument.

[v1ckxy]

Pricing is just nuts, considering that games like palworld move around 29€
Add an history, some VAs, ask 40 to 50 it's ok.

But 70 + a lot more for DLCs, in a game about CRAFT and ALCHEMY, not being able to make costumes (you can only buy them with a VISA) makes no sense beyond pure greed.

And btw... Congrats on your decision.

[v1ckxy]

Originally posted by 小龙马:

The graphic is Good, the main character i like, especially her mole beneath her eye and her sl*tty/foxy(a plus in my book but forgive me for such a crude language, no offense meant) demeanor makes her super sexy.

sl behaviour... what?
Or the history derails hard, or she seems even shy&insecure to me.

edit: LEL, saw that you're from PH
Considering how those are there -passive and shy-, now I'm not surprised that you said that after watching a woman character that has a little bit of attitude.

edit2: You're not confusing YUMIA with NINA, right? Right?

[Rizo the Hunter]

Can't ask others to "convince you" to play or keep playing something, that is just asking for torture. If the game is not for you, the game is not for you. Refund and move on, no need to feel bad about not liking something.

[Tasty]

Originally posted by v1ckxy:

Originally posted by 小龙马:

The graphic is Good, the main character i like, especially her mole beneath her eye and her sl*tty/foxy(a plus in my book but forgive me for such a crude language, no offense meant) demeanor makes her super sexy.

sl behaviour... what?
Or the history derails hard, or she seems even shy&insecure to me.

edit: LEL, saw that you're from PH
Considering how those are there -passive and shy-, now I'm not surprised that you said that after watching a woman character that has a little bit of attitude.

edit2: You're not confusing YUMIA with NINA, right? Right?

Id guess hes referring to the designs themselves thwt obv have been concieved to arouse players and market the games, the characters have no sexuality to them in game almost nor is there any fanservice

[oz Helix oz]

Originally posted by spike86:

48€ on instant gaming right now

Thank you!!! I was not willing to pay $70, but I’m more than willing to pay $50!!

[v1ckxy]

Originally posted by Tasty:

Originally posted by v1ckxy:

sl behaviour... what?
Or the history derails hard, or she seems even shy&insecure to me.

edit: LEL, saw that you're from PH
Considering how those are there -passive and shy-, now I'm not surprised that you said that after watching a woman character that has a little bit of attitude.

edit2: You're not confusing YUMIA with NINA, right? Right?

Id guess hes referring to the designs themselves thwt obv have been concieved to arouse players and market the games, the characters have no sexuality to them in game almost nor is there any fanservice

"the characters have no sexuality to them in game"
Have you ever seen NIna?

Or what do you expect, SEX in an Atelier game? (which would be nonsensical)
Right now the games (across all the series) are perfectly fine as they're, thanks.

[Tasty]

Originally posted by v1ckxy:

Originally posted by Tasty:

Id guess hes referring to the designs themselves thwt obv have been concieved to arouse players and market the games, the characters have no sexuality to them in game almost nor is there any fanservice

"the characters have no sexuality to them in game"
Have you ever seen NIna?

Or what do you expect, SEX in an Atelier game? (which would be nonsensical)
Right now the games (across all the series) are perfectly fine as they're, thanks.

it seems you didnt read what i posted correctly i said that the DESIGNS are sexualized as in the way the characters look, other than that theres no fanservice in the games
also across the series the older games had fanservice (pantyshots implied nudity hot springs scenes sexual jokes, sexual inuendos etc) the newer games starting with ryza have none of these only sexualized character designs

[Fals]

Originally posted by Tasty:

it seems you didnt read what i posted correctly i said that the DESIGNS are sexualized as in the way the characters look, other than that theres no fanservice in the games
also across the series the older games had fanservice (pantyshots implied nudity hot springs scenes sexual jokes, sexual inuendos etc) the newer games starting with ryza have none of these only sexualized character designs

I think you're using the wrong word. I'm sure you mean attractive, not sexualized.

[Tasty]

Originally posted by Fals:

Originally posted by Tasty:

it seems you didnt read what i posted correctly i said that the DESIGNS are sexualized as in the way the characters look, other than that theres no fanservice in the games
also across the series the older games had fanservice (pantyshots implied nudity hot springs scenes sexual jokes, sexual inuendos etc) the newer games starting with ryza have none of these only sexualized character designs

I think you're using the wrong word. I'm sure you mean attractive, not sexualized.

All female atelier characters are good looking/attractive, ryza and yumias designs however emphasize their sexual traits (thighs rear legs etc) to entice the player thays why i cll it sexualized, its a marketing strategy, not that im against that of course simply stating that the designs themselves are provocative, but in game no atelier game has had fanservice other thatn the designs of the characters themselves

[Magpie]

try the demo?

[Chiakimon]

72h in now, bto just give ir a chamce. For me personaly its a masterpiece <3