Atelier for new players? (I played the demo today...) Are all the games like this?

[Entropydemic]

I never played any of these Atelier games. I've always loved the aesthetic and character design with the steam punk and fantasy smashed together, but I've always found myself frustrated with games that give you five trillion ingredients. I actually quit Warframe and Guild Wars 2 for that reason. I suddenly need ingredients LIKE CRAZY and I have to fight for inventory space, always wondering what items I might need and then doing research and going through guides... it gets to be too much. (waframe lets you have infinite items, so actually the problem simply becomes how often additional items get added to their game)

This demo game kind of felt relaxing. I know these demo's never have all the content or items, but despite the large volume of items, and on top of that their tier quality, it didn't feel stressed or important. As with most things, the new games are WAY too much, and then you generally can't return them by the time you realize you don't like the stress then you've paid for the game. This demo additionally allowed me to adjust to _G_I_A_N_T_ text so I can read it across the room and relax.

Anyway, my real question is, are all the games like this? I actually have the opportunity to get some (like three ps4 Atelier games) from this guy who's selling all his old RPG's and these games were in his stockpile. I can't remember the names. I saw the covers and I was like NAH but after playing the demo I kinda want to call him up and get them. The combat from the demo is sorta simple and straightforward. Can anyone give me some insight? The reviews for this game all seem to be people upset that their franchise was tainted but I have no prior knowledge so I don't have anything to compare the simplicity of the demo against.

[Visi]

This game is a pretty big departure from the rest of the series, honestly. Ryza might be up your alley, but even that is a bit different. The games before Ryza probably wouldnt' appeal to you at all based on what you said about getting frustrated with ingredients.

[Yukito For Ever]

TL:DR I suggest you to get into Ryza series. Alchemy is a bit simplified but still important part of the core mechanics. Previous games maybe are not for you, but Yumia is an absolute waste of time and money that I don't recommend you. Maybe the alchemy is a no brainer but the game is also a disappointment and no fun.

Honest opinion: IMO this Atelier game is by far the worst in the franchise. Good ideas and innovation on paper but execution is poorly implemented. Synthesis (alchemy I mean) is a no brainer, combat is a no brainer, boss fights are no brainer, unorganic open world (and open world nobody asked for), just a vast territory with landmarks scattered all over the place. Ok, I can understand the innovation and the open world sounds good, but it's super unpolished for the price tag. If they are gonna implement an open world, at least this world have to be organic, reacting to events, a live world. If not, then small areas and a world map like always Atelier have been is perfect, otherwise the open world like in this game is absolute boring, not to mention the lack of tools to explore the world.

The mechanics have a terrible design, so far I hadn't synthetize a single alchemy recipe nor used a single item except by the required ones to advance in the story. Previous Atelier games encouraged to create powerful items because some bosses were powerful enough to give you a hard time, but in this game combat is a no brainer, even bosses are super easy. Also, I didn't unlocked any skill on the skill tree because is no needed. Leveling up is a no brainer too.

There are many inconsistencies in the quest system and side stories that reflect the devs lazyness, for example when arriving to the exploration site camp and suddenly starts a cutscene where Rutger goes alone to kill some monsters, but when the cutscene ends, he appears on the camp site again to continue with the main story. That kind of inconsistencies breaks the immersion and works terrible in an open world and reveals how unpolished the game is.

And last but not least the technical issues. Bad performance even in high end PCs and artifacts and super annoying glitches make me think twice if I'm gonna support buying Atelier games in the future.

Seems like Gust wasted all the budget on the open world. I'm not asking for a GTA-like open world, but if they are gonna do it, do it well and don't neglect key and distinctive points of Atelier games: the alchemy and synthesis because left too much to be desired.

[iliveinabag]

Yumia is not an Atelier game. Ryza is a generic JRPG that barely qualifies as an Atelier game too.
I'd probably just start with Ayesha, Meruru or Escha instead

[Yukito For Ever]

Originally posted by iliveinabag:

Yumia is not an Atelier game. Ryza is a generic JRPG that barely qualifies as an Atelier game too.
I'd probably just start with Ayesha, Meruru or Escha instead

The buddy is asking for the contrary: simpler Atelier games (even if they barely qualifies as a true Atelier) because he struggles with gathering ingredients and synthesis mechanics.

Dusk or Arland series may be too much for him.
Mysterious arc too.
Ryza could be for him, although yes, the game stands out because the voluptous waifu rather than alchemy itself (not that I complain lol).
Yumia is another story: Not only is the worst Atelier of the franchise but also is a bad videogame, no brainer, no fun and poorly implemented. Only has the "Atelier" in the game name.

[Entropydemic]

Very cool, thank you for your input. I shouldn't be buying new games anyway, but I did have fun at the very least trying it in the demo.

[Unrealtairo]

Ryza 2 and Sophie 2 are the top Atelier games out there.
If you want simplier, then any Ryza.

The rest are fairly decent.

Yumia is a joke. Do not attach the name "Atelier" to it.

"NOT" one of us.

[spike86]

people here are so butthurt that can't even realise what OP is asking just because THEY didn't like yumia so it's bashing time at any chance.

OP liked yumia and was already overwhelmed by its very streamlined alchemy system.

so no, mysterious is exactly what he doesn't want!

secret serie, maybe, but it require much more synthesis than yumia and for longer chains in order to open up recipes or rebuild.
I'm not 100% sure he will like it either.

so YES DAMN IT, if you like yumia and want to buy it go for it and don't listen to a bunch of bashing neckbeards 😁

two caveats:
yumia gets progressively easier the more you move on if you delve even a little bit in alchemy, so don't go in thinking challenge.
yumia is the black sheep of the lot, so if you like yumia for what separate it from the rest, chance is that until yumia 2 you won't find another atelier game that you like.
but it may be the opposite, and at the end of the game you may want more alchemy or more characters arcs, in that case you'll be OK with previous (less jrpgs, more slice of life) titles.

ryza changed a lot during the 3 games.
ryza 3 is closer to yumia than ryza 1 was.
but ryza 1 was more different than previous entries than 2, which tried to appeal a bit more to 'slice of life fans'.

so the order of difference from less like past titles to more like them is

yumia>ryza 3>firis>>ryza 1>lulua>ryza 2>ayesha>totori>rest of mysterious>rest of dusk>rest of arland

consider that QoL varies wildly from arland titles all the way to yumia, so usually older doesn't necessarily means better for everyone.

[tnsi]

> Anyway, my real question is, are all the games like this? I actually have the opportunity to get some (like three ps4 Atelier games) from this guy who's selling all his old RPG's and these games were in his stockpile. I can't remember the names. I saw the covers and I was like NAH but after playing the demo I kinda want to call him up and get them. The combat from the demo is sorta simple and straightforward. Can anyone give me some insight? The reviews for this game all seem to be people upset that their franchise was tainted but I have no prior knowledge so I don't have anything to compare the simplicity of the demo against.

Ryza is a similar structure in that it's a JRPG with atelier themes around it

When you into the older games, the "management" aspect of it gets more complex with time of day and request deadlines coming into play, and a less straight forward combat system

[Entropydemic]

I played the PS4 demo for 12 hours and the Steam demo for six. I think I'll get this game if I can ever afford it one day. lol

[spike86]

Originally posted by Entropydemic:

I played the PS4 demo for 12 hours and the Steam demo for six. I think I'll get this game if I can ever afford it one day. lol :outgold: :picklockmoney:

Currently is 59€ on both gameplanetuk and indiegala.

you're bound to find it at at least 20% off during summer sales