Atelier Escha & Logy – Alchemists of the Dusk Sky Review

If you’& rsquo; re a follower of RPG & rsquo; s then March has been a wonderful month for you, especially if you & rsquo; re a PS3 owner. We started the month with the release of the exceptional South Park: The Stick of Truth, and also on March 11th both Dark Souls II as well as Atelier Escha & & Logy: Alchemists of the Sundown Skies released. For me, the most recent Atelier game came at simply the correct time as the South Park game had gotten me in the mood for some traditional turn based JRPG fights as well as I’& rsquo; m not truly the greatest fan of turn based fight.

I wear’& rsquo; t have a lengthy history with the long-running Atelier collection, however I’& rsquo; m not an overall novice to the series either. Back in 2012 I played and also examined Atelier Meruru: The Apprentice of Arland and also greatly appreciated it. However I never ever navigated to getting last year’& rsquo; s Atelier Ayesha: The Sorcerer of Dusk, so I missed out on the start of the Sundown video games. The good news is, you don’& rsquo; t need to have actually played Ayesha to enter into Escha & Logy. However, a few of the characters in this game were likewise in Ayesha’including Ayesha & rsquo; s sister Nio that references her sis as well as previous occasions. So there’& rsquo; s certainly some callbacks that players who played the previous game will obtain.

For the very first time in the Atelier series, players have the chance to play as one of 2 characters: Escha or Logy. The tale is going to be largely the exact same, you’& rsquo; re just experiencing it from a different sight. Escha is the traditional sorcerer utilizing the cauldron to manufacture products, and is a bit more easy going while Logy is extra focused on expedition and also making use of a blacksmith like trainer to craft tools and also armor, and he is a bit much more series. Personality events transform based upon which tale you play, so completionist will certainly need to play via two times, but generally both tales are primarily the exact same as well as if you’& rsquo; re having fun as Logy after that Escha is your companion and helper, and also if you’& rsquo; re having fun as Escha then Logy is your friend and also helper. Having the alternative to play as a man or women personality with various strong suits creates a far better game experience.

As with any Atelier video game, Esha & & Logy is truly everything about time administration. Series veterans could be a little bit turned off by just how the video games maintain streamlining it and also obtaining easier/more lax, but newbies will certainly value the less difficult system. Your goal is to finish a mission for the R&D department that you work for in four months and also attempt as well as finish as many side goals as you can. For the major pursuit, you’& rsquo; re going to need to venture out of the city as well as right into the several monster loaded places. Taking a trip on the world map to these destinations runs day of rests the schedule, as does celebration items out in the area as well as synthesizing things. In the beginning, you’& rsquo; ll likely discover that you & rsquo; re finishing every single mission in a term without trouble and with numerous days to save where you can take pleasure in downtime. Yet wear’& rsquo; t get as well made use of to that occurring. At some point, if you put on’& rsquo; t plan as well as prepare you are mosting likely to really start to load the problem as the days tick down.

For the first while you’& rsquo; re mosting likely to think whatever is way simple as you breeze through the very first three terms. If you’& rsquo; re like me, you & rsquo; re mosting likely to be extra concerned with gathering products and manufactures points so you can increase your alchemy level. But allow me warn you & hellip; don’& rsquo; t make that mistake. Participate in battle as much as you can throughout the very first 3 terms as well as level up your event. If you wear’& rsquo; t, you & rsquo; re mosting likely to be in for a horrible surprise that & rsquo; s going to entirely kill your fourth term. I’& rsquo; m referring to an employer character that you’& rsquo; ll need to defeat to be able to reach your 4th term pursuit destination. This “& ldquo; Rampage Beast & rdquo; is about Level 27 and entirely decimated my level 15-17 characters. I wasn’& rsquo; t expecting it as well as by no means was I got ready for such a trouble spike after finishing every little thing formerly. That left me with needing to enter as numerous battles as I might where I could acquire purposeful XP, ultimately go back to the city to empty my basket and also renew everybody’& rsquo; s wellness and also products, and after that head back out. At the same time, the days poured off the schedule (7 days to the fourth term pursuit area plus 7 days back to the city, numerous times before I finally invested the money to bring that down to only five days) and also yet the Rampage Monster still decimated my low-level 20’& rsquo; s event in spite of my virtually beating him.

Mentioning battle, the change in the battle system between Meruru as well as this is a terrific one. The turn based fight is much faster and also deeper thanks to the new system. You can have 3 primary party members in battle and also 3 added celebration participants on the back line as support.

As far as turns go, only the front line characters can attack with an arranged turn, nevertheless as you battle you’& rsquo; re filling up a support meter. The assistance meter enables an another character to comply with up a strike or defend against an attack. As you advance, you’& rsquo; ll also unlock effective super/special support strikes. If you fill out your support meter much sufficient, which is rather simple, after that you can assault with all six personalities together during one rely on deal substantial damage.

Making use of the assistance meter to secure characters with reduced HP can likewise assist in saving a fight as well as you’& rsquo; ll wish to regularly be keeping a check on points as well as turning in characters to try and also maintain a strong front-line going. Characters on the back line extremely gradually replenish some wellness. You’& rsquo; ll additionally wish to do your ideal to keep both Escha as well as Logy alive as well as in the fight or able to come right into the fight as they are the only 2 event members that can utilize items (such as a recovery thing or something like a bomb to harm the enemy).

As with any kind of Atelier video game, a large chunk of your time is going to be invested in your atelier crafting products. Now I assumed the alchemy stuff was instinctive as well as simple to learn in Meruru, however below it’& rsquo; s even better without compromising any one of the depth. There is just so much things in this video game that you can develop through alchemy. For newcomers who maybe wouldn’& rsquo; t care for the alchemy element, playing as Logy enables you to allow Escha do every one of the production of items; you simply pick the components and also the impacts at the end and she does all the job. Or you can do all of it yourself. The game is very fitting to beginners that perhaps just wish to make a product that they have to have and put on’& rsquo; t much care about anything else, while additionally permitting collection professionals to craft effective versions of items by finding and making use of the most effective top quality ingredients and in the very best mix feasible. It’& rsquo; s simply a truly deep system that is fun and simple to

comprehend. Currently when you’& rsquo; re not in battle as well as’you & rsquo; re not creating things making use of alchemy, you are greater than likely mosting likely to be participated in personality events. These occasions are as easy as ever to watch and also check out (as well as in some cases pay attention) to because a red exclamation factor will appear on your rapid traveling food selection and also you can fast travel to any kind of place in the city. It makes it a wind and you put on’& rsquo; t need to stress over missing something because you didn’& rsquo; t roam into a location on a certain day or talk to a specific character at a specific time.

Similarly, they’& rsquo; ve included area occasions for when you & rsquo; re out in the monster-filled locations. These can be easy points like locating rare items, permitting you to acquire more fight experience, revealing a relic or file, and also summoning in strong monsters to check on your own in fight against (which if you beat it, can nab you some wonderful XP as well as uncommon products). The meter for the area occasions fills out a little each time you gather an item as well as it happens pretty quickly; it’& rsquo; s a cool little attribute to include some interesting things while out gathering and also entering combat.

All of this comes together actually well to develop a game that is deep and also both very easy to find out and also harder to grasp. Just like the previous entrances in the collection, Atelier Escha & & Logy sports a cel-shaded graphic design that is absolutely stunning and also most likely the best the collection has actually looked. The discussion truly collaborates even more thanks to some capitivating voice performing (your pick between English and the initial Japanese) and also an incredible soundtrack.

Unfortunately, the framework price can be not so smooth sometimes (though it is primarily stable as well as never an issue) as well as there was once where I got stuck in a limitless loading screen and also to leave the video game. That issue caused me to shed a fair bit of fight experience, dropping me down about four or five degrees because I last saved. It has actually taken place because, so I’& rsquo; m not mosting likely to state that it’& rsquo; s a trouble, however it is something to be fatigued of as well as you ought to conserve as often as you can just to be on the secure side.

For those of you who appreciate the story however, you’& rsquo; re going to have to look elsewhere. Similar to with Meruru, I found myself not caring whatsoever about the tale and the why I was doing the main jobs. I’& rsquo; m not an anime fan as well as a lot of the story simply doesn’& rsquo; t passion me and isn’& rsquo; t why I play the game. There are some video games I play because I truly like the story, some that I like the story and also the gameplay, and those that I couldn’& rsquo; t possibly care much less concerning the story for and just play due to the fact that I enjoy the gameplay & hellip; this is among those video games. I discover myself typically spamming the ‘& lsquo; X & rsquo; switch just to make it through the dialogue as rapid as feasible to return to in fact playing. As well as let it be known that there is A LOT of discussion in this video game and also a great deal of it isn’& rsquo; t articulated. For those who do respect the story though, this is the idea of the plot as created on Wikipedia:

The video game’& rsquo; s tale happens about 4 years after the start of Atelier Ayesha: The Sorcerer of Sundown in a far area to the west of the Golden Land where the regional management works with two new alchemists, Escha and Logy as members of their R&D division. While learning the ropes of their brand-new occupation, Escha as well as Logy gather buddies and also buddies as they unlock the secrets of the neighboring ruins and help the people in a world that is still recouping from a devastating occasion known as “& ldquo; The Dusk & rdquo;. There & rsquo; s not’mosting likely to be much to it; this isn & rsquo; t a game that is mosting likely to have an outstanding story that will leave an effect or anything. To me, it was as basic as representing a new participant of the R&D department and also doing that job by completing my assignments within the four months you need to do them each. Did not care about the why.

I actually appreciate being able to play as well as run around as Logy. Escha is cool too, but just having Logy there is a bit much more inviting to some players. While I was a big fan of the Meruru game, one of the things that I didn’& rsquo; t necessarily like concerning it was how excessively cute it was and a few of the more suspicious aspects of it. Provided I didn’& rsquo; t reviewed a great deal of the discussion in this one, however I didn’& rsquo; t encountered any one of the strange and questionable sexual overtones like there remained in Meruru and that’& rsquo; s an advantage regarding I & rsquo; m concerned.

If you have never ever played an Atelier video game before, then this is as good of an entering point as you’& rsquo; re going to find. Gameplay and presentation is definitely excellent; programmers Gust have really surpassed themselves in that respect. The fight is fast paced, very easy to comply with, and offers up plenty of chance to be calculated. It’& rsquo; s turn based combat at its most interesting and most fluid. The alchemy stuff is once again incredible and also a happiness to trying out and something that you can consume a great deal of your time doing if you put on’& rsquo; t look out. There & rsquo; s endgame bosses and also New Game+, so there’& rsquo; s a lots of stuff to do for individuals who really get into as well as a great deal of replay worth. It’& rsquo; s simply a fun laid-back game that is an absolutely need to play for any JRPG followers.

Atelier Escha & & Logy: Sorcerers of the Sundown Sky obtains a four out of 5: FANTASTIC.

* A digital duplicate of this game was given by the publisher for review.