‘Atelier Sophie: The Alchemist of the Mysterious Book’ Review: A Drab Magical Journey

Game: Atelier Sophie: The Alchemist of the Mysterious Book
Consoles: PS4 (reviewed), PS3, PS Vita
Publisher: Koei Tecmo
Developer: Gust Co. Ltd.

The JRPG genre may not be as strong of a presence as it once was, but its dedicated fanbase has still been given reason enough to care. In particular, Koei Tecmo’s continued line of Atelier games have managed to offer everyone a lighter take on adventuring. Now that Atelier Sophie: The Alchemist of the Mysterious Book has arrived, several elements of past entries have either been retooled or removed entirely to give this entry a better chance at succeeding. There’s a vast array of standout mechanics that make this entry an improvement over Atelier Escha & Logy Plus: Alchemists of the Dusk Sky. But this latest entry still suffers from a few issues that keep it from attracting a wider audience.

There’s no need to worry about saving the world and fending off some supreme evil threat this time around. You step into the magical shoes of a girl named Sophie, an atelier in training who’s studying the fine art of alchemy. She becomes acquainted with a talking book, whom Sophie must help by restoring its memories and bringing it back to its human form. This more carefree tale isn’t the most gripping storyline this series has ever presented, but it has a few moments that are more than delightful.

Sophie is a happy, go lucky individual that’s fun to follow along her journey. As for the rest of the cast, they fall into the typical JRPG archetypes. You’ll run into a traveling soldier, a bumbling fool who avoid work, a strong willed rapier user etc. who won’t pull you in too much with their generic personalities. The town of Kirchen Bel is a quaint little town that’s full of townspeople who tend to involve you in more important cutscenes and side quests. After a while though, the dull conversations between Sophie and her friends may cause you to stop caring about the plot altogether.

What makes this latest alchemy filled adventure a lot more relaxing is the removal of time limits that were tied to reaching quest milestones. You can now take as long as you like during your treks outside town that involve battling cute adversaries and collecting items. The more carefree themes present in this entry are represented by the lack of darker story elements and pulse pounding music. When it’s time to get serious and head into battle, the engaging Offense/Defense system will consume you. The option to go on a powerful offensive rush and dish out team attacks or go on the defensive and block powerful attacks are both available. As you gather more party members, half the fun of battle will come from finding new double team special attacks. The battle system is one of the brighter spots of your journey.

The main draw of the game rests in its alchemy system. Now you’ll combine all sorts of items by sorting through them and placing them in your preferred spots on a grid. Some items have a layout that’s color-coded, which can also be fitted into certain holes. Locating new items, creating new goods, fitting new ingredients into the right slots for bonus stats and jotting down new recipes is a riveting endeavor. Over time, you’ll create even more beneficial items, aid the townspeople through numerous requests and fill up the memory of your talking book. The alchemy aspects of the game provide another element that’s fun to get even better at.

The art style behind this JRPG may be graceful, but the same can’t be said about the in-game visuals. As you move around each environment, it’s easy to notice just how stiff the character movements are. It’s even more of an eyesore during the many cutscenes you’ll sit through. When compared to JRPG rivals such as the Tales of… series, this series installment doesn’t feature the fluid animations it truly deserves on a current-gen console. What’s even more disappointing are the paltry points on the map you’ll frequently visit. These enclosed locales are pretty bare and overflowing with nothing but monsters to fight and ingredients to gather. There’s nothing particularly exciting to do within each region, plus they all start to look more drab as you discover new places on the map.

Bottom Line

Atelier Sophie: The Alchemist of the Mysterious Book will be a delight for those who’ve stayed loyal to the series. But some fans may find themselves a bit let down in what this entry offers. The light hearted nature of the game, the absorbing battle system mechanics and gripping alchemy system are the best elements here. However, the mundane storyline, bare locations and uneven character animations knock this JRPG down a peg when compared to its competitors. While this entry has some good points worth getting into, its worst traits keep it from being more of a heavy hitter in the JRPG genre.

Score: 6.5/10

Pros:

• The whimsical nature of the game is charming and relaxing
• The Offense/Defense battle system aspects provide some nice strategy tactics
• The alchemy grid system provides a fun element towards item crafting

Cons:

• The plot (which revolves around finding the lost memories of a magic book) is far from enthralling
• The maps you explore feel much too small and unexciting
• The in-game character animations look a bit too stiff

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