What I’m playing lately (April 2025)

Xenoblade Chronicles X – Like I said I would. Barely made any progress because sitting in front of the TV feels like a chore, but playing it in handheld mode just doesn’t feel right. Also I spent two weeks agonizing about having to fight a Tyrant to become a BLADE (I was traumatized by my experiences with named mobs in previous Xenoblade games) but then I just went for it and the Tyrant turned out to be level 5, lololol. Or not so lololol, since I wasted so much time worrying first.

Now I’m a BLADE, yay. I chose to become a Pathfinder, and they gave me lots of missions, which I absolutely love, and a story mission, which I am super not interested in. Open world games don’t need stories. Especially since it turns out there are other intelligent lifeforms on the planet that I was supposed to colonise. Me, me, me! Mira was supposed to be my sandbox. Mine, mine, mine! Anyone have any smallpox-infested blankets I could borrow?

Another Eden – I want to drop it, because I was enjoying the Wanderer in the Vortex side story but then right before the final stage they dropped some weird game mode on me and my motivation sank like a rock. Why do they keep doing such things to me?! Unfortunately the anniversary giveway is going on right now, so I ain’t gonna leave until I get my pound of flesh. If I feel like playing again after that, then I’ll continue. Otherwise, eh, I’ll just make sure I’m properly backed up and take a break.

Wanted to like this event, but the tower defense mechanic was 💩 I’ve never met a tower defense mechanic that wasn’t 💩

Epic Seven – I dropped it for a while, but just las week Smilegate released the Origin update where they upgraded and streamlined a ton of things… that I didn’t particularly care about, but the new update came with a lot of rewards that I do care about, so back to the mines I go. They also added a prologue showing the world before the current one, and they’re bringing characters from the artifact art (like Hilag Lance, Rhianna and Luciella, Wind Rider, Shimadra’s Staff, etc.) to life, which is pretty interesting.

Of course the core grind for gear hasn’t changed, but thanks to the giveaways, returner bonuses and refreshed new player guides, I got some good Speed set and Destruction set gear that may or may not roll absolutely horribly, IDK. I’m thinking of using all the gear and other stuff to finally build full-auto teams for Pain Pursuer Moroi and Blooming Lich and other expedition bosses before I drop the game again. It’s about time I put all the Expeditions in their place like I finally did with Nightmare Raid.

Love Nikki – New Hell event, new story chapter, nothing else to report. I considered dropping it briefly when I was having some login problems, but it barely takes any time to play and I still enjoy collecting the purty clothes, so on on we go.

New gacha games I tried

Hope spring eternal in the human heart. Every once in a while I get curious about gacha games and download a batch to try. But none of the quality ones like the Hoyoverse types, because that’s too much work. No, I want the casual stuff, the casual-er the better. So I tried a couple recently and ended up dropping all of them quite quickly. It was a fun week while it lasted though.

Hunt Cook: Catch and Serve – An idle game about cooking various forms of wildlife (ravens, rabbits, etc.) in a restauant in the middle of nowhere. Cute art, charming concept, absolutely nothing to do after a few minutes. They took the “idle” part way too seriously. Most idle games let you play for a while and unlock a bunch of options and activities before slowly lengthening the time you need to wait, but here the limitations appear almost immediately.

Meals take a really long time to cook, hunts take a long time to refill, and there are no activities outside cooking and hunting, so I dropped it after two days. I thought it would be more like that Adventure Bar Story I played aeons ago, or like the Recettear-inspired restaurant game that came out recently, I forget the title. Instead it was a whole bunch of nothing and a sad waste of a brilliant idea.

Backpack Hero: Merge Weapon and Backpack Brawl – Hero Battles – Very intriguing concept. You merge weapons and items together to create stronger weapons/items so you can fight wave after wave of enemies. I like roguelikes, to an extent. Backpack Brawl seemed complicated (with the stars especially) and the art was ugly, so I deleted it right away. Backpack Hero was more cutesy and seemed interesting, but very ad-heavy and/or pay-to-win. Like they obviously wanted me to watch ads to be able to pass the second stage (already?!) and I wasn’t about to do that. Deleted after three days of wrangling with stage two. There’s another game with a similar title but a different style on the Switch which I’ve got on my wishlist for the next sale, though.

Isekai Slow Life and Blue Odyssey: Survival – Identical gameplay in two very different skins. Isekai: Slow Life has an anime aesthetic, anime waifus, and lots of collabs with popular isekai anime like That Time I was Reincarnated as a Slime. Blue Odyssey: Survival has a more 3D look and a futuristic post-apocalyptic setting and doesn’t seem to be very popular. It has some crazy character designs though:

So cute! Unfortunately she never does anything.

Both games have ridiculous amounts of female fanservice, clearly knowing which audience they are catering to. They have the opposite problem to Hunt Cook above, in that they are surprisingly time-consuming for idle games. Isekai: Slow Life in particular requires you to join a guild, cooperate with others, and check back in frequently or at specific times of the day before you can receive some daily rewards or make any progress in increasingly competitive events. And forget about placing well in anything if you’re not prepared to spend money, at least until the whales on your server get bored and leave.

I liked the look and feel of the game as well as the various events (except Sandtopia) and , but it got very frustrating very quickly, so when I dropped it and started Blue Odyssey, I barely gave it a chance and dropped it as soon as I saw the same patterns emerging. Both games are cautiously recommended for people who like idle waifu games with lots of stuff to do and lots of fanservice. They’re not bad at all; they just require more commitment than I’m prepared to give them at this point.

And that’s it for what I’m working on these days. Only Epic Seven takes up any amount of time, so in theory I have a lot of time to devote to Xenoblade Chronicles X and Atelier Lydie & Scumbag. We’ll see what I can get done after the Easter break.

Atelier Lydie & Scumbag – Better than I’d expected but not exactly great

I’ve been looking for games to pass the time with while waiting for Xenoblade Chronicles X to come out. I tried Triangle Strategy (more on that another time, it’s not dropped), Shepherd’s Crossing (realized I don’t want to replay the original because it was a very annoying game) and… something else I can’t quite recall, but in the end I turned to Atelier Lydie & Scumbag because I was really not satisfied after finishing Atelier Ryza. Gust made me feel this way, and therefore Gust must take responsibility by pacifying me with another Atelier game.

As for why I call it Atelier Lydie & Scumbag, you’ll have to refer to the first post I made about this game. I got a kick out of seeing that old save file there, so I’ve left it alone, but I did restart the game because I’d forgotten how the alchemy system worked. It’s very basic. On replaying it, I can understand Scumbag’s frustration a little more. If you’d worked your **** off for several days and someone stole your last $40 when you were starving, then yeah, maaaybe you’d feel a little kick-y yourself. Unless the person who took it was your FATHER and you had a few ounces of common human decency, then maaaybe you wouldn’t do that. Hmm, Scumbag? Luckily she hasn’t done anything similarly heinous ever since, but I’m watching you, girl.

I’m about 9 hours in, and I’m enjoying the Atelier-ness of it, and all. The story is that Lydie and her sister are trying to rise through the ranks as alchemists (just because) by fulfilling some quests set by the kingdom. It’s a bit similar to Atelier Rorona in concept except there’s no time limit so you can take your sweet time and forage and explore as much as you want. It carries over the system from Sophie where you need to “spark” new recipes by fulfilling requirements, but it’s much better because the requirements are much clearer and easier to fulfill. Sometimes they even give you the recipe straight up, like with the Dream Paintbrushes, so I haven’t been prevented from continuing the story because I lack a recipe. It’s early days yet, but I like that.

Thank goodness they didn’t drag this “secretly a princess” thing out at all.

I complained about limits on using synthesized items in Atelier Ryza, so I’m very happy that I can toss bombs around anyhow I like in Lydie & Scumbag. That’s the whole point of using alchemists in battle. And I can also forage for items just by having the required tools in my bag, without having to switch to them. I.e. Lydie will automatically use the bug net if she has it, or the flask if she has it. Ryza was a huge step back in that regard, so I hope its sequels don’t maintain that dumb mechanic.

So system-wise I’m not dissatisfied with Atelier Lydie & Scoundrel. I tend to prefer games with a bigger overworld like Atelier Firis, but the addition of the painting worlds to explore gives me enough to do, and even more of them will open up later. Running speed could be faster, and my basket definitely needs way more space, but all those fixes will come with time. While those problems persist, though, they are keeping me from enjoying the game as much as I normally would. Whenever I think about booting it up, sometimes it’s like urghhh… I dunno…

Still, if anything will keep me from finishing this game, it will most likely be the story. The whole setup is a bit childish to begin with. They went with younger/more childish heroines this time, and that doesn’t really jive with an old biddy like me. I get the general idea of wanting to be the best alchemist ever, but the day-to-day events and interactions leave me cold. Okay, lukewarm.

Also Lydie and Scallywag lying to their dad about the purpose of the paint they’re making, and not telling him about their exploration of the painting world makes me uncomfortable. Because of the kiddie protagonists, I’d like to let my nieces play it, but I really don’t like the disrespectful and frankly dangerous messaging. Roger should communicate better, yes, but sneaking around behind your parents’ backs doesn’t often lead to wonderful adventures like the media would have you believe. ⚰️💀

Additionally, the girls’ little rivalry with Lucia is frustrating. I like the character, actually (I like all of the characters except Roger and Liane TBH) but all the “comic” skits with her are amusing for like 5 seconds then it’s like “Get on with it!” Hopefully they’ll move past that when the world-destroying threat inevitably appears. Mathias’s ‘failed playboy’ gimmick is very stupid as well. One of the downsides of playing so many JRPGs and watching so many animes is getting a bit sick and tired of their “humor.” But I still like everything else about them, so I press on. Time to finish the ice painting in Atelier Lydie & Scumbag and finally get promoted to Rank E.

Next post will probably be first impressions of Xenoblade Chronicles X, which I’ve already preordered, naturally. See you then, God willing!

Last thoughts on Atelier Ryza: Ever Darkness & the Secret Hideout after finishing it

Random singing scene was random. “What are you doing?” indeed

I actually finished Atelier Ryza: Ever Darkness & the Secret Hideout over three weeks ago, but kinda just brushed it under the carpet and moved on. The ending was a bit anti-climatic, so it made me feel lazy and blah. Basically the party discovered a problem, solved the problem without letting most people know, and rejoiced quietly in their own way. It’s because gamers call that kind of ending “anti-climatic” that you get Necrons and Giant Space Fleas coming out of nowhere right after the final battle, but a simple small-scale game like this actually isn’t bad once in a while.

…Or so I say, trying to convince myself. Because Ryza and her team solved everything quietly behind the scenes, I feel a little bit like the game went nowhere, even though it obviously did and there was a lot of character development as well. The story tells us that the island and indeed the whole world are in danger, but nobody ever gets threatened by anything, so we only have their word for it. They talk about a coming drought, but the reservoirs in town remain full until the end of the game. They mention earthquakes, but we never experience one. Moreover, the allegedly dangerous Philusca were never much of a challenge to fight, and the super bosses on the map were harder to beat than the final boss, so it’s like… yeah? The Ryza team remind me of toddlers who feel very brave because they killed an ant, or survived a visit to the dentist. Well done, kids!

Yet somehow we’re friends with this fudge nugget by the end of the game. The game even tries to play it like we were friends all along but hell no I don’t buy it.

While we’re on the topic of “well done,” it’s good that Ryza happened to be talented at alchemist and could fix everything, but didn’t things come a little too easily to her? It made all the tricky situations in the game much less tense, because Ryza would always magic up something in a few minutes to solve the problem. Giant esoteric power generator? Prosthetic arm indistinguishable from the real deal? A whole doggone house? Nothing’s too difficult for Wonder Girl! Empel and Lila should have just told her everything in the first hour of the game and she would have wrapped it all up in 15 more minutes.

JRPGs and the power of friendship. You know the drill.

Knowing now that Gust/Koei Tecmo went on to create two more Ryza games, I can see that the spirit of “That’s it?” you’re left with was deliberate. I’ve played lots of Atelier games, and the older ones in particular have very small scales and goals which is not a problem. Marie just wants to pass her exams, Viorate just wants to run a store and eat carrots, Annie just wants to marry a rich man, and so on. And on the other hand you have the Dusk games where there’s a larger (invisible, alleged) problem that somehow can’t be solved unless you buy and play the sequels. Ryza is kind of in the middle there: the first game is quite self-contained, but you can still imagine a larger world and more adventures out there. I’ll definitely play the sequels, interspersed with the other Atelier games I haven’t played yet (Lulua, Lydie & Scumbag, maybe Nelke, replay of Marie, definitely not gonna play Sophie 2, etc.)

When I do play the others, I want them to fix four things for me: first, make it easier to switch tools in the field. The idea of gathering different items with different tools is a good one. And I’ve played games like Rune Factory where you switch tools on the fly, so it’s not an alien concept to me either. But the controls here were very clunky and took all the fun out of trying to gather stuff in the field. There should be one button press to switch tools, like for example they could map each tool to a button. My preference would be one upgradable tool instead. Either way they need to do something about that, because it’s annoying.

Second thing: make using items in battle more fun. I.e., scrap the useless core charges, I hate them. In fact, overhaul the whole battle system. I see what they were trying to do in letting you use, refine and re-use your favorite items instead of making new ones from scratch all the time. And I suppose they were trying to add an element of strategy so you don’t spam overpowered items constantly like you do in other Atelier games. But the number of charges were too limited, and you could only take a few items into battle with you. That, coupled with the AP and Tactics system, made combat as a whole very restricted because it stopped you from using the items and skills that you want to use. What’s the point of even being an alchemist, then? You bust your @$$ to make the perfect bomb and then you can barely use it unless you take junk items along with you to sacrifice for more core charges. PITA.

The Tactics level up system was also largely wasted on me because it took so long to get higher levels. It might as well not have existed for all I used it. At least there should have been ways to refill core charges (or increase the limit with equipment/levels) and vastly speed up AP generation so you’re not just sitting around waiting to use one skill. I didn’t like the combat in this game one bit.

Puh-lease, I wiped the floor with them.

Third thing: Make the character development more humane. Yes, more humane. Get better writers who don’t think it’s the bullied or abused person’s fault for what they’re going through. I’ll illustrate my point with two screenshots. This first one has Lent stating that it’s his fault that his alcoholic dad physically abused him for years while everyone around him turned a blind eye. The implication is that weak people deserve to be abused. It’s not strange that as a young character Lent would internalize the abuse and find a way to absolve his father of the blame, but the writers and editors who wrote that scene in without correction and thought, “Yup, that’s the way it is,” need counselling urgently.

This second one is a conversation between Bos (bully) and Tao (bullied) that implies that Bos’s bullying would have been justified if Tao’s research hadn’t turned out to be useful. In other words, nerds and smart kids deserve to be bullied because they’re “show offs.” These writers have issues.

Number four: Relatively minor, but although I loved the alchemy in this game, I felt like it could have been easier to use in some ways. Sorting the recipes and finding the one you wanted to use was a pain. There should have been more sorting options, obviously alphabetical order, but also filter out ones you can’t make right now, or show ones you’ve never made, that kind of thing. The extra things you could do like the forge and the lamp thing that gave you gathering grounds and the duplicator all felt unnecessary as well, so it would be nice to have more reasons to use those thing, like maybe make gems not so crazy expensive and the worlds not so boring and the weapon bonuses not so minor.

Fifth thing… Yeah I said four, but I felt like giving them a bonus because I really want Atelier Ryza 2 to be much better. I want them to improve navigation because I had a really hard time making my way around and figuring out the town and other maps when I first started. Navigation remained a pain in the **** ****** all the way to the end, because you couldn’t warp straight to a lot of useful places like the Valentz manor but rather had to go to the Old Town signboard, then to another signboard and finally run to the manor. Massive waste of time. And speaking of wastes of time, next time there should be fewer “Go to your room and think about what to do next” scenes, because I never get the point of such scenes.

You never did anything about it, though?

So that’s my opinion about Atelier Ryza. In a nutshell, I loved the alchemy system, it’s a nice short game, I didn’t mind the characters or the story, and I liked the sidequest series. However the game needed better combat and some serious quality of life adjustments (and sensible writers) to make it more enjoyable. Also it ends just when things are about to get interesting, to get you to buy the sequels. You didn’t have to, Gust. I would have played them anyway.

BTW, I also finished the Atelier Ryza collab in Another Eden that I mentioned last time. It was great, honestly. Nobody really did anything except Ryza, but it was very well put together with a bittersweet ending (unnecessarily so IMO: they didn’t even try to save the people in the past). I wouldn’t start Another Eden just for this collab, but if you’re already playing it, do the collab right now, it’s good stuff. And Ryza’s really strong in battle too!

And with that, it’s time to move on to the next game! Which is not Triangle Strategy, because Triangle Strategy is a movie disguised as a game. I’m really enjoying it, but with a bag of popcorn in my hand instead of a controller. More on that next time, or the time after that. I tried to get back into Tokimeki Memorial GS4, but I’m just not feeling it, so I’ll save it for when I want an otome game and have time to spare. I still have a month to kill before Xenoblade Chronicles X comes out, so I’ll give Monster Hunter Rise a try like I said I would. Welp, until next time!

Happy New Year 2025! With gaming resolutions I actually mean to achieve this time!

Festive happy new year 2025 with golden confetti, new year 2025Happy New Year, everyone! I can’t get over how quickly the years are moving these days. At this rate I’ll be retiring next month! I’ve gotta work even harder and save even more. This is what I get for spending my twenties and thirties gaming…

This year, for the first time in like 5 years, I feel like I can actually achieve the gaming targets I’m about to set. First off, I’m wiping out my entire backlog. Gone, finished. It doesn’t exist any more. If there’s anything I haven’t played so far, that means I wasn’t that interested to begin with, so I’m not going to worry about it, even if I’ve bought it already.

Secondly, I’ve realized from this year’s experiences that I still have it in me to play non-gacha, non-mobile games to completion (okay the only traditional JRPG I finished this year was Persona 5 Royal, but it was a doozy). On the other hand, none of the mobile games released or scheduled for release recently piqued my interest except Infinity Nikki, which my potato PC can’t even play.

What that tells me is that I need to dial back on the mobile games and focus more on the offline games – which means I probably won’t be re-installing Genshin Impact in 2025 like I said I would. Actually I felt an indescribable sense of relief and joy once that thing was off my computer and I have no desire to go back to it, but maaaybe if they ever add a text skip option, I’ll consider it. I’ll also be taking yet another break from Epic Seven at the end of January, leaving only Another Eden and Love Nikki as my mobile games. Those two don’t demand a lot of time on a daily basis, so I can fit other games in pretty easily.

And for the games I actually mean to play, I’ve realized that it’s easiest for me to play things on my Switch these days. My eyesight isn’t great and my back hurts when I sit up too long, so gaming is most comfortable when it’s on my bed with the screen a few inches from my face. This is not advisable, btw, please don’t copy me. I’ll be seeking proper medical advice in a bit, and definitely ramping up exercises to strengthen my core. Still, at present, I gotta be realistic about what I will actually do: play more Switch games. Here’s what I seriously mean to try this year:

1. Triangle Strategy: I’ve been discouraged from starting it because I heard it has over an hour of cutscenes before you even get to play anything. But it comes really strongly recommended, AND I made it through the Xenosaga trilogy, so I’ll give it a shot. Get some popcorn and coke for that first hour and take it from there. And if I can’t stand it, I’ll drop it. “It is enough to play just an hour of Triangle Strategy.”

2. Atelier Ryza 2: Lost Legends & The Secret Fairy: While the first Atelier Ryza game wasn’t perfect, I had a good time with it and rediscovered my love for the Atelier series through it. I haven’t finished Ryza 1 yet, but if it ends well, I’ll let some time pass and then give the sequel a try. I paid $17.99 for the first game, so I’ll be watching and waiting for the second one to sink to that price as well. If I could wait five years to play Ryza, I don’t mind waiting a while for Ryza 2.

3. Persona 5 Strikers: The post-game experience kinda soured me on Persona 5 Royal or I would have played Strikers already. I’m not as gung-ho about the Persona 5 world as I was before the sucky post-game, but I still have fond memories of it, and I listen to the soundtrack all the time. I figure Strikers can’t be that bad, and it should tide me over while I wait for Persona 6 in 2030 or whenever. I wouldn’t mind replaying Persona 3 FES at some point either, assuming my PS2 still works.

4. Xenoblade Chronicles X: Day one buy, of course. What took Nintendo so long?! Although my playthrough of Xenoblade Chronicles 3 fizzled to a halt after a while, I still got over 100 hours of fun exploration along the way. As long as the story of XCX is not too cringey and there’s plenty to explore, I think it’ll be great.

5. Ring Fit Adventure: I played it for a while but stopped because of unexplained ankle pain. I need to review my running form and get proper shoes for it, but after that I’ll be back in the saddle. I probably tried to move through the stages too fast as well, so I’ll be going a lot slower and focusing on getting comfortable at each level before pushing further. More on that once I get everything in a row and restart, God willing before the end of January.

6. Monster Hunter Rise: An unexpected addition, eh? I decided to step outside my comfort zone just a tiny bit this year, though to be honest I don’t know how far I can get in this. My nephew is very eager to teach me how to play it, so it’ll be useful for bonding with the niblings, if nothing else. TBH I don’t usually let them touch my gaming stuff because I’m not an idiot they’re not always careful, and their parents are broke. But I’ve occasionally had good experiences by trying things I don’t normally play – like Phantasy Star Portable – so I’m going to give MH Rise an honest try. I might try The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild as well, for the same reason, but let’s see how this goes first.

And there you have it. Six resolutions aren’t too many IMO, especially interspersed with my usual Picross sprees and other miscellaneous games. In a gone-by era, I could have finished them all in three months and come back for more, but that’s life for you. For personal resolutions, I wasn’t as careful with my health as I should have been last year, so I’ll try to work on that more in 2025. I’ll also try to read at least one full book a month in a vain effort to reclaim my lost attention span. And I might try to pick up a new language to keep the ol’ grey matter sharp. I’ve dabbled in several over the years, but it’s about time I got serious with one.

That’s it for the new year’s greetings and resolutions. I hope everyone reading this has a “happy” new year as well! All the best with your own resolutions!

Merry Christmas! And Atelier Ryza late game impressions

Merry Christmas, everyone!

It’s a bit belated, but I guess I was waiting to feel the Christmas spirit first. I don’t think it’s coming this time, so I might as well post. December 2024 is probably the blandest Christmas I’ve experienced in living memory, largely by choice. IIRC I came back from church and zonked out till like 6pm then ate breakfast for dinner and slept again a few hours later. I may or may not have done my gacha dailies, but that’s about it. Five days later and my holiday still looks largely like that because I don’t have the energy for much more. I’ve been working like a maniac since January on both personal and professional projects, so it’s nice to relax a bit to prevent burnout. I hope you guys are having a more exciting Christmas with all the snowball fights and eggnog and whatever else you young people like to do. 👍

I feared the worst when the game started out like this, but it’s not a fanservicey game, really.

Now, on to Atelier Ryza: Ever Darkness and the Secret Hideout. I’ve been playing it for about a month, currently about 30 hours of game time, everyone’s level 45 and the game is muttering something about the final battle. Already?! The game flew by in a flash. I usually post updates on my progress in a game every ten hours or so, but in the case of Atelier Ryza I was having so much fun with the alchemy that I never got round to it, and now the game is almost over. In fact, the only reason I’m taking a break now is that I finally synthesized shoes that let me fly, so I’m going around the maps grabbing the chests I had missed last time, and that has slowed my momentum a bit.

Still, it’s a good thing I didn’t make an early post, because a lot of the things I would have complained about were fixed sooner or later, usually sooner. Early on, traveling was a pain because you had to take a boat every time, but very quickly a warp option was unlocked that lets you return to places you have been to before. The maps are also quite small once you get used to them, so navigation quickly stopped being a pain. The tiny size of my inventory was irritating, but then I got a knapsack recipe that fixed my inventory issues. The secret hideout was super ugly, but later you get upgrades to make it less hideous. Ryza’s running speed was sluggish, but now with the Wind Shoes, she zooms everywhere. Wish I had gotten those sooner.

And so on, and so forth. The ability to fix things that are bothering you with alchemy is a big plus in the game, though IMO it would be better if those issues weren’t there in the first place. Fixing issues also applies to the sidequests, which were tedious to do (and I say this as someone who likes sidequests) but which had permanent consequences by the end of the game. Too bad Ryza didn’t use her alchemy skills to help her parents on their farm, eh?

My favorite part of the game, and the reason why I’ve been playing it so avidly, is the alchemy system. Unlike previous games like Atelier Sophie and Atelier Shallie, it didn’t take me long to get the hang of the alchemy system. The system is super flexible so you can use a lot of different items to achieve the same result, and you can keep improving an item even further until it’s super top quality, as long as you have the gems. And then you can even duplicate that item if you want more copies, though this can be super expensive and IMO not really worth it. It’s nice to play an Atelier game where I can get the effects and traits I want on an item without struggling too much, and even if I can’t, the number of quests that require a particular trait is vanishingly small, so there’s no pressure there. For the alchemy alone, I give Ryza top marks.

That doesn’t mean I’m going to finish the game, though.😅 The alchemy may be nice, and I’d be lying if I said I didn’t have fun, but after 32 hours, the shine has worn off while the annoying parts are even more annoying than ever. Firstly, the story is like, “That’s it?!” Maybe there’s more after what I think is the final dungeon, and that would be okay. Otherwise it’s reminding me a lot of Genso Suikoden: Tsumugareshi Hyakunen no Toki where the whole game was spent talking up this massive threat that was going to overrun the world, but then in the end… It made sense in the end but… I was very fond of the story in that game because the stakes appeared to be so high, but that end was a bit…

Back on topic. Another reason I doubt I’ll finish Atelier Ryza is the last (?) dungeon. Sure, the dungeons were never exciting to begin with, but the violent fuschia last dungeon is both hideous and hard to navigate. Plus it’s packed with annoying enemies to fight. And speaking of fights, I never really liked the battle system or the limits on item use. Huh, it just occurred to me that I could switch to Easy mode and finish this quickly, and then I can write a proper review with both the good (plenty of that) and the bad about Atelier Ryza. Okay, that’s what I’ll do. See you guys next year, then!