The long series of Atelier this year comes to churn out his eighteenth episode with Atelier Firis: The Alchemist and the Mysterious Journey, the second chapter of the trilogy that began with the excellent Atelier Sophie: The Alchemist of the Mysterious Book . A
vailable on both PlayStation Vita and PlayStation 4, the latest title of Gust Corporation and Koei Tecmo Games aims to improve again by going deeper into some important aspects of the gameplay, but without neglecting the history and characterization of its cute alchemist maidens, always addicted to the study of materials and formulas to combine them.
Atelier Firis: The Alchemist and the Mysterious Journey is a great alternative for JRPG lovers
A NEW WORLD
In this second chapter of the trilogy, the protagonist is the young Firis Mistlud, a young girl who lives in the small mining village of Ertona, a handful of houses built in the bowels of a mountain whose inhabitants are all dedicated to mining mines. Firis, however, is not just any girl but has a sort of sixth sense that allows her to identify where the minerals are located , thus revealing a fundamental resource for her fellow citizens.
Ertona, however, is a small village surrounded by a high wall that has the task of defending its inhabitants, but a girl so young and curious can not help but feel an immoderate impulse to leave the nest to take flight to the outside world and explore its wonders. T
he parents are obviously against this impulse, afraid of all the dangers that await her outside, but one day, the meeting with a new girl completely changes the prospects of the young Firis. In fact, not a lot of time has passed since the beginning of the game that our old acquaintance, Sophie Neuenmuller, protagonist of the previous chapter, breaks onto the scene, offering the girl a one-way ticket to the outside world: Alchemy.
However, the journey to alchemy is not a walk and Firis will have to succeed within a year to pass the alchemist exam to finally have his freedom ; if he does not succeed, his sister Liane, a skilled fighter with much experience of the world outside the village of Ertona, will bring her home at the end of the day, writing the word end to any dream of changing things.
RECIPES FOR ALL TASTES
Just the expiry of the exam is to justify the reintroduction of time limits, one of the most discussed game mechanics among fans of the series and abandoned in the last chapters.
In this sense Atelier Firis: The Alchemist and the Mysterious Journey goes against the trend, highlighting immediately the constant threat posed by a counter that flows inexorably towards zero to put an end to our adventure.
However it must be said that after having twisted the nose for a mechanically tedious mechanics, we had to change our mind after a few hours of play, noting that the countdown does not particularly affect the enjoyment of the story given the abundant time available.
It is a good compromise that has allowed us to play without rushing together a good team of alchemists, explore the different locations of the game world, fight the many enemies who are in front of us and learning new notions about the alchemy that we they have allowed us to improve our virtual alter ego.
Another change compared to the past is the possibility to mount Firis alchemic tent in the vicinity of the various foci scattered around the game world in which to rest and regain strength, reorganize the inventory and, obviously, practice alchemy without the need for return necessarily to the city of origin as it happened in Atelier Sophie.
This is an excellent introduction considering and considering that much of the gaming experience revolves around exploring and collecting as many materials as possible.
The collection, however, consumes stamina and then it is necessary to rest from time to time or near the practical outbreaks or in an inn to avoid losing all the accumulated booty.The various alchemical formulas are contained within the recipe book, a manual that, in fact, goes to scan our actions within the gaming world.
