Atelier Sophie: The Alchemist of the Mysterious Book DX – Review

Our Rating: 7/10

The Atelier trilogy offers a wide range of strange RPGs. Most of which revolves around the synthesis of items via alchemy. Many of which have daily stories, with yearly launches.

The company decided to reboot the Mysterious trilogy after Arland and Dusk. The bundle is a bit of a different option, with titles that were launched in the West between 2016 – 2018. Simply put, all of the titles in discussion (Sophie, Firis, and Lydie & Suelle) were previously released on PC and PS4.

It is a JRPG that features numerous characters and has spawned a slew of games in recent years for anyone unfamiliar with the series. Sophie, Firis, Lydie, and Suelle are the main characters in this story.

Story Overview

Sophie discovers a strange book among her grandmother’s possessions. The alleged item says to be Plachta and has significant memories associated with alchemy and talking and flying. On the other hand, her memories are faulty, and she requires Sophie’s assistance in retrieving them.

Sophie will come across a mysterious book known as Plachta when she tries to incorporate alchemy with a granny’s recipe. This is simply the slogan for a journey in which we collect objects, combine them, and fight while on our missions.

Gameplay

This is the easiest of the three titles in terms of aspirations. It follows the series’ simple principle without a time constraint. The player will have to find things, battle creatures, and complete missions for the residents of Kirchen Bell, while actively looking for Plachta’s memories.

However, it also sets up a fairly complicated alchemical system. Each object is formed as a Tetris-style puzzle piece that must be fitted onto a platform. They vary throughout the game as Sophie buys and synthesizes new cauldrons. The item’s quality is heavily influenced by the part placement decisions.

If the gamer understands how to utilize this structure wisely, he or she can trigger specific bonuses! Some of which are the enhanced bomb damage or the potential to lower enemies’ defense. When two pieces take up the same square, however, the last to be positioned overlaps the first. This removes it and leaves an unused space on the board.

Requests / Rumours

The cafe has re-established itself as the town’s center. Mr. Horst has Requests and also lets you buy Rumours. They could be whatever! At first, it’s mostly basic information. Thankfully, it’s a less expensive rumor, as cole (in-game currency) is scarce. You can afterward purchase quite pricey rumors about key items to collect, special creatures to fight, and so on.

Friendship Levels

A relationship tier is assigned to each of the game’s major characters. If you want to raise this tier, either make that persona a member of the effective group in battle or give them gifts if you notice them across the area.

Every persona will have their own preferences for the objects they acquire. This affects not just the percentage at which they gain experience, but also the goodies they give to you. It all adds to Sophie’s identity growth and causes her friends to seem more real.

The Good, the Bad, and Overall Experience

In general, Sophie’s alchemy process is overly complicated. The creation of items into a puzzle takes a long time to complete. In comparison to the other games in the series, mastering its components takes more time. Sadly, this gameplay seems to offer no real value.

Combat System

Atelier Sophie’s combat system is also unsatisfactory. It requires the player to choose all of the characters’ actions for the turn, with the ability to plan the plays as per their temporal positioning. Furthermore, all characters can adopt active or passive positions, which are linked to the activation of special team abilities.

The defense, on the other hand, operates at random. That is, any character in defensive mode has the ability to trigger the guard for other allies. This asserts that on rare times, a low-HP character may end up dying to protect a character with enough HP to withstand the hit.

New Photo Mode and Visuals

Photo mode is a significant addition. It fully embraces the saga’s adorable appeal by allowing you to pose in several forms.  It also lets you to stance any from your group members anyway you want. Even if their placement makes absolutely no significance.

It’s a shame you can’t snap photographs in-battle. Many of the graphics are quite stylish and additional angles would be cool too!

Visuals

As far as visuals go, Atelier Sophie is more visually appealing than the other three films in the trilogy. We can even agree that we’re looking at a new game in the series. Well, at least in terms of visuals, with lots of colors and well-defined textures.

Final Thoughts

Generally speaking, Atelier Sophie: The Alchemist of the Mysterious Book DX is a strong addition to the set. This is the game in which the episode takes a new direction. Time, climate, individuals to socialize with, and a large number of shops and workshops all play a role.

Despite its rather wonky combat system, the story has a nice plotline that covers up this hole in the game. Atelier Sophie: The Alchemist of the Mysterious Book DX kicks off the trilogy with a nice narrative. There are no battles or tragedies in this story. It simply follows a woman who wishes to study on how to be an excellent alchemist.