New week, new thread! What are you playing?
I am flabbergasted because of Atelier Ryza: Ever Darkness & the Secret Hideout. During the last 5 years I have seen countless fan arts and discussions of this game's protagonist Ryza due to her "gifted" appearance, but being a cynical gamer I was indifferent towards her, or this game's, popularity. Then, here I am, bought the game on Jan 1st but already put 20 hours into it over the last few days. Atelier Ryza is a fun, chill and laid-back JRPG in the age where even Tales of game tries too hard to be "serious".
The game is beautiful to look at with a colorful artstyle and vivid cast of characters. I spent a lot of time in the photo mode, trying to capture some beautiful moments during the adventure.
In respect of story and writing, the writing is honestly mediocre at best, boring at worst during my limited time with the game, but it feels grounded, wholesome and totally in tone with the relaxing vibe of the game. The story is obviously no Xenoblade or Nier, yet there are still intriguing moments when the characters discussed about the lost kingdom and island traditions. I did research and was surprised to find out that this game was written by Yashichiro Takahashi, a lightnovel writer behind the series Shakugan no Shana. I regard the old-school era of lightnovel much higher than present times (before all the isekai garbage flooding the market) so I am looking forward to seeing how he developed the story of Ryza across the three games.
Regarding the gameplay, ATB is not my favorite combat system but I am enjoying the speed and real-time decision making. Boss battle (only fought one so far) and elite enemy battles are surprisingly challenging. I have already got the party wiped for a few times during the journey. On the other hand, due to a lack of time limit, the crafting feels too lenient at times, I am looking for a fun and relaxing time in this game so I don't mind it too much, but I am interested in checking out older Atelier entries where time limit was in place.
Overall I really like Atelier Ryza. It is not a groundbreaking JRPG masterpiece, but I enjoy every single second in the game. As a side note, it singlehandedly convinced me to not upgrade my PC for now because, damn, it looks gorgeous on screen and there are still so many Atelier games out there. A new one is also coming in March and I highly doubt that my PC cannot run it smoothly. I can't wait to dive in further into the series in 2025!
I am flabbergasted because of Atelier Ryza: Ever Darkness & the Secret Hideout. During the last 5 years I have seen countless fan arts and discussions of this game's protagonist Ryza due to her "gifted" appearance, but being a cynical gamer I was indifferent towards her, or this game's, popularity. Then, here I am, bought the game on Jan 1st but already put 20 hours into it over the last few days. Atelier Ryza is a fun, chill and laid-back JRPG in the age where even Tales of game tries too hard to be "serious".
The game is beautiful to look at with a colorful artstyle and vivid cast of characters. I spent a lot of time in the photo mode, trying to capture some beautiful moments during the adventure.
In respect of story and writing, the writing is honestly mediocre at best, boring at worst during my limited time with the game, but it feels grounded, wholesome and totally in tone with the relaxing vibe of the game. The story is obviously no Xenoblade or Nier, yet there are still intriguing moments when the characters discussed about the lost kingdom and island traditions. I did research and was surprised to find out that this game was written by Yashichiro Takahashi, a lightnovel writer behind the series Shakugan no Shana. I regard the old-school era of lightnovel much higher than present times (before all the isekai garbage flooding the market) so I am looking forward to seeing how he developed the story of Ryza across the three games.
Regarding the gameplay, ATB is not my favorite combat system but I am enjoying the speed and real-time decision making. Boss battle (only fought one so far) and elite enemy battles are surprisingly challenging. I have already got the party wiped for a few times during the journey. On the other hand, due to a lack of time limit, the crafting feels too lenient at times, I am looking for a fun and relaxing time in this game so I don't mind it too much, but I am interested in checking out older Atelier entries where time limit was in place.
Overall I really like Atelier Ryza. It is not a groundbreaking JRPG masterpiece, but I enjoy every single second in the game. As a side note, it singlehandedly convinced me to not upgrade my PC for now because, damn, it looks gorgeous on screen and there are still so many Atelier games out there. A new one is also coming in March and I highly doubt that my PC cannot run it smoothly. I can't wait to dive in further into the series in 2025!
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