The Atelier Mysterious Trilogy Deluxe Pack by KOEI TECMO America is the definitive edition of the original Mysterious trilogy titles featuring new content and a variety of previously released downloadable content for Nintendo Switch. It contains all three Mysterious series DX titles: Atelier Sophie: The Alchemist of the Mysterious Book DX, Atelier Firis: The Alchemist and the Mysterious Journey DX, Atelier Lydie & Suelle: The Alchemists and the Mysterious Paintings. Included with the games are also three digital artbooks for each of the respective games as well.
The Atelier Mysterious Series takes place during the Mysterious era, where it is a time full of discovery, magic, and happiness for humans. It is developed around four alchemists who live in a world that is full of mystery where each of the main characters from each of the games have experiences involving a “mysterious book”, a “mysterious journey”, and “mysterious paintings.” The Atelier Mysterious Series contains coming-of-age stories in which the player meets the protagonists of each game and how they must achieve their goals as alchemists with their friends alongside the weird experiences happening throughout their journey. Each of the games include an alchemy synthesis system that has puzzle-like elements, different areas the player can explore, and many quests to further throughout the story. All three games must be played in a specific order for the entire plot of the story to make sense. Atelier Sophie must be played first, Atelier Firis second, with Lydie & Suelle as the concluding game.
Atelier Sophie: The Alchemist of the Mysterious Book is about the protagonist, Sophie, who runs her late grandma’s atelier shop and meets a talking book named Plachta. As she learns more about her skills in synthesis and alchemy, she is also tasked to help return Plachta’s memories while acquiring new recipes for alchemy and writing them down in Plachta’s pages.
Atelier Firis: The Alchemist and the Mysterious Journey, is about how the protagonists Firis meets Sophie and Plachta, the main characters from the previous game, where Firis seeks to be an apprentice to Sophie, wanting to learn alchemy from her. Her goal is to take the official alchemy license exam and she must search for licensed alchemists to get recommendation letters and learn and grow her skills in order to take the exam later that year.
Atelier Lydie & Suelle: The Alchemists and the Mysterious Paintings, has two protagonists, twin sisters Lydie and Suelle who are novel alchemists. They encounter a mysterious painting one day, they are embarked on a journey to having their dream of running the best atelier in the country into reality. Both twins must improve their alchemy skills and explore the world inside these mysterious paintings to grow and rank high for Atelier Rank in their country.
As someone who is not originally familiar with any of the Atelier series, this was my first time playing this type of Japanese Role Playing Game (JRPG) and any Atelier series. These games are much more laid-back and less filled with action than typical JRPGS because instead of taking the time to go on an epic quest, the player’s time is spent learning alchemy, building bonds with friends, gathering specific ingredients, and fighting any monsters that come in your way. The first game, Atelier Sophie’s, story was mediocre to me, as the pacing and progression of the story itself felt really slow. Despite the slow pacing, the characters were interesting enough to keep me playing and the exploration part of the game kept me busy. With the second game, I could see how the story was more compelling as it contained a stronger narrative and there was a more even pacing. Atelier Firis does contain an open-world as well, and despite the time system, where everything may seem limited, there is enough time to explore everything and be able to pass the exam. The third game, Atelier Lydie & Sulie, has no time limit system and no open world to explore. I thought that this game had the most interesting story, as there is rivalry between all the alchemy workshops in the kingdom and the player must fight with the twins to see who will be the best one. Alongside the competition, you are able to go into these mysterious paintings the twins encounter and explore what’s held within them
The gameplay for all three games is very similar. For each game except the third one, there is a time limit system, where time moves forward when you perform alchemy, explore, and gather ingredients. The battle system is turn-based and seems overwhelming at first, but as you continue to play the games it becomes much easier to understand. The art and graphics of the game are nicer than I expected, especially for a remastered series, and I absolutely loved how it was voiced in Japanese.
I enjoyed playing this series, especially as it was my first time playing anything involving the Atelier series. The games have a lot of variety, and you’re able to see how each game connects with one another as you play through it, especially if you are a new fan just like me.
7.5/10
Check Out the Atelier Mysterious Trilogy Deluxe Pack Trailer:
For more information, please visit: https://www.koeitecmoamerica.com/mysteriousdx/
Related: Atelier Ryza 2: Lost Legends & the Secret Fairy Review for Nintendo Switch
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I really love playing video games! Growing up, my dad introduced me to video games, the first being Street Fighter. I have always been surrounded by them growing up and even now. They really impacted my life allowing me to share this commonality with my friends and new ones. I play a wide array of games, mostly PC, but sometimes PS4 and Nintendo Switch. Some of my favorite games are Final Fantasy VII, League of Legends, Persona 5, and Stardew Valley. As of recent, I've been playing Fall Guys and Among Us as well!
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