I’ve already said my piece on Atelier Sophie last time, i.e. it’s unenjoyable trash. Nevertheless, being the closet masochist that I am, I decided to soldier on for another 20 hours or so in case the game suddenly got more fun. There were moments when it seemed like it could possibly get interesting, but it never made that grand breakthrough.

Eventually I was able to turn Plachta human, and my characters had long since hit the level cap and my alchemy level was at level 47. I figured I had seen enough so I headed to the “Gates of Wisdom” at Enlightened Mountain like the game had been nagging me to for a while. I thought the last boss would be there, and then I would beat them and finish the game. Turns out, I’m not just a masochist, I am also extremely naive. As if Gust would free me from this torment that easily.

So the last boss showed up (spoiler: it’s the true form of Meklet and Atomina, those totally not suspicious twins) and I was fixing to go beat him up but NOOOO, Plachta’s convenient amnesia conveniently acts up so she can’t remember where the last boss is holing up. “Maybe if you raise your alchemy level, I’ll remember.” Oh Plachta, Plachta. I would Love to raise my alchemy level. Love with a capital L. It’s the stupid developer of the game that won’t let me do so.

I have about 20 unlocked recipes on the list that I can’t make until I fiddle with alchemy traits and make Item X with Trait A, carry it over to Substance Y, fuse that into Liquid Z before making the final item, etc etc. Or there’s one that says “Go talk to someone who might know.” EHHH? What kind of hint is that? “Talk to someone who talks to the dead.” HUH? Maybe Pamela? Grandma’s grave? Who? How the hell am I supposed to know?!

TL;DR I can’t be bothered to Google the answers. It’s ridiculous to have a game about alchemy and lock every recipe behind a cryptic hint or tedious puzzle. I’ve played along with this stupidity long enough. Counting spin-offs and side games, there must be over 30 games in the Atelier series, so it’s not that strange for there to be one or two duds among them. I didn’t like Atelier Sophie, and I hear Atelier Firis is worse, but I won’t let that turn me against the series just yet. That said, I think I should take a break from Atelier games for the rest of the year. Playing them in such quick succession can’t be helping.

What I’m playing now: There’s a “half AP for side stories” promotion currently running in Granblue Fantasy so I’m farming up Premium tickets for my next spark. Actually I already have enough crystals for a spark, but there’s no harm stockpilling tickets while I try to figure out what to spark.

For actual games, I just started Kiniro no Corda/ La Corda d’Oro 4. They’ve made a number of changes to the gameplay that IMO aren’t necessary, and the number of events is uncomfortably high, but once I clear the first playthrough I’ll be able to fast-forward through a lot of stuff so things will get more enjoyable. Now, which bishie to conquer first…