She’s a super cool explora-firis~♪

Small update to say I’m still exploring and exploring and exploring in Atelier Firis (in fact, I’ve taken to calling it “Atelier Xenoblade” in my head :-p). I’m slowly making my way over to Reisenberg to see Sophie and discover whether Atelier Firis actually has a story or not. Very slowly, though. For most of this week I was nowhere near my destination. Instead I was way off on the other side of the world map, getting closer and closer to the Floating Island only to finally discover that I need some kind of flying vehicle to actually make it there. Boooo.

I’ve forgotten all the places I went to before Flussheim, but once I got to the Claudel Prairie I went north and discovered Leafy Laforet. Didn’t even know that area was there. From there I explored Moon Catcher Pass and the whole area around the heavenly tree thingy… Ein-something. Once I’d 100% explored all those areas, I returned to Claudel Prairie, crossed the bridge which I had no part in repairing and then ended up in the Weist Plains. I would have finished that area by now, but the game froze on me the other day and I’m a bit annoyed about that so I’m taking a short break.

Saying “I explored” is really revisionist history though, because most of the time in Leafy Laforet and its environs, I was just running for my life. I don’t know if the enemies were scaled up to match me or if these areas were meant to be post-exam only. Either way, the mobs in those areas are pretty high leveled. Not only that, but my equipment and weapons have barely changed since the start of the game. If not for some lucky chest finds, Firis would still be carrying her starting staff, it’s that bad.

Thanks to Firis’s attack items, my party can do good damage given half the chance. Apart from a few overpowered bosses, most enemies don’t have that much HP either. It’s just that my party’s speed and defense are so low because of their shoddy gear that they don’t get the chance to show off that attack power. “If only I could attack a little faster!” “If only I could take more than one hit!” I walked away from countless battles with such regrets in mind.

That doesn’t mean I’m completely helpless or ready to give up, however. There’s plenty I can do. In the first place, I have quite a bit of money, so buying better equipment from various merchants is an option.

Secondly, I haven’t put much effort into optimizing my current equipment. The way the alchemy system in Atelier Firis works means that you can’t put traits on items right way. You either have to use catalysts or make the item over and over again until you master it. I haven’t tried doing either one for my weapons, armor and accessories yet. At the very least I should be able to raise my speed and defence with traits like Dragonscale Defense and Speed of Skanda. Forging lots of weapon and armor mats might also unlock new recipes and recipe hints.

Thirdly, there’s a greater than zero chance that actually heading to Reisenberg and progressing the story dutifully like I’ve been told to might open up new dungeon areas, quests, items, etc. that may make my party stronger overall. However I don’t think this is very likely given the unrestricted nature of the game so far. A game that has been letting you do whatever you want in whatever order you please so far isn’t suddenly going to lock key progress behind a story event… or is it?

Fourthly, there’s a Break feature in the combat system that I have been ignoring so far. I’ve also been triggering Chain Mode by accident and not really doing anything with it. It might be worth my while to spend time studying options like Chain Burst, Chain Finish, Combination Attack and whatnot. Learning how to take advantage of them might make it easier to beat strong enemies at a lower level – assuming I can stay alive long enough to trigger those things.

Aaaaanyway, all that is to say that I’m still playing Atelier Firis and still have a lot left undone. I think I’ve got most of the map explored by now, and despite all I just said above about fighting and getting stronger, that’s not the main attraction of the game for me. Depending on how things go once I hit Reisenberg and talk to Sophie again, this game might be over sooner than you think. See you guys in another week or two!