Atelier Elie


Hopping onto this title similar to Atelier Marie which I went through prior, while not only exceeding my initial expectations, ended up being a more than worthwhile experience that scratched the same itch in a way that continues to set this series apart from many other games in the same genre. 

Mechanically it's largely the same as its predecessor, using the same general basis and layout the former title already established with its whole alchemy crafting system and style of a hybrid of RPG and slight touch of adventure game, yet within all of this it expands nicely on what the first title already established and feels overall much more fleshed out with a lot of fun stuff to be found. There are for instance several events with some fairly beautifully animated cutscenes that let you feel the production value and once more various endings to be unlocked that make the whole experience pretty engaging throughout with a lot of charm. 

From this on it's all the more cool to see where some of the characters are at after the time skip to the first game, there's a sense of progression that feels natural and makes it exciting to explore all the various areas and little mysteries that can be found. The cast in general stands out pretty nicely and I for one fairly enjoyed most of the characters while getting through the various events that can be found.

Elfir Traum on that note, besides her already adorable name (Traum translating to "dream"), also ended up being a lovely protagonist and I enjoyed her quite a bit. She's distinctive from Marie but still encompasses this same kind of charm that makes her feel rather relatable and fun to be around. She's really cute and I came to kind of adore her paired with her lovely voice lines that suit her personality nicely.

If only, and one thing I could point out, it would've been neat if there was even more to be found in regard to character events. To some extent I feel like the characters still had a bit of potential to be fleshed out even more. In any case though, what's there works well together within the rather lighthearted atmosphere and makes for a relaxing, all the more fun experience that has the right spark of captivation to it that makes it easy to go in and play it for a while.

Otherwise I get the feeling I already said most in the prior brief write-up about Atelier Marie and there's not necessarily a whole lot of new thoughts I had to talk about other than that I believe this title succeeds well in what it sets out to do, hence I'm slowly gonna cap it off here before only ending up repeating myself. A great game all around and one that furthermore goes to show the strengths of this series. Really love this shoujo esque style of RPG and wish there would be more stuff like it out there. 

Thus as one message of this title encompasses...

...Let hopes and dreams come true through the wonders of alchemy

Ghonf

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Atelier Ryza 2

Image
After having waited far too long since my initial playthrough of Atelier Ryza back in 2023 to dive into its sequel, I finally found myself going back at it and playing through the entire game. More than anticipated I realized I was falling more and more in love with it and truly enjoyed the experience a ton. Obviously its whole unique alchemy system on which the game is fundamentally based around, gathering, synthesizing items and finding out about all the wonders of alchemy continues to be a bunch of fun given to all the possibilities that open themselves up combined with how strong you can make yourself, which is something I always appreciate in RPGs like this since there's always something immensley satisfying about becoming pretty much overpowered through the right strategy and having this variety of options in the first place. All the more though I found myself captivated by the lighthearted tone with all the great character moments of which this game is filled with to the bri...
Read more

Xenoblade 2

Image
Let us find a way to save this world... Having gotten around to replaying this game in another NG+ run through the Nintendo Switch 2 Edition ended up being truly another magical experience that set my heart aflame once more. Not only reinforcing Xenoblade 2 as one of my all time favorites but also all the more reminding me of why I love this work so much in the first place thanks to all the things it does so well.  From start to finish among other things it could most notably be described as a sincere love letter. A declaration of love towards otaku media, Tetsuya Takahashi's and Soraya Saga's past works, as well as one towards the fans who have stayed up to this point and celebrating what this series encompassed up to the almost twenty years it existed at the point of its initial release. Taking heavy notes from Soma Bringer and perhaps feeling like the most deliberately Xeno made game since Xenosaga Episode III.  A celebreation towards it all packaged into something new alt...
Read more

Kamaitachi no Yoru

Image
Now, this is a fascinating game and one that stands strong continuing to this time. Being a fan of Japanese adventure games with all their different facets, it feels almost inevitable to eventually get around to some of the early Chunsoft titles given how significant they are to the genre and its further development into other subgenres as to how more command based text adventure games started to diverge into novel games that are primarily focused on text and their narrative coupled with tons of choices as compared to more heavily interacting with the world itself and items within it.  Therein Kamaitachi no Yoru as the second entry in Chunsoft's Sound Novel series remains an intriguing title that does a lot with its structure and within its set boundaries forms an experience that shines heavily with its murder mystery and the unique possibilities that open up in this medium of video games of which this game certainly takes advantage due to combining all of its elements neatly in on...
Read more