Atelier Ryza: Ever Darkness & the Secret Hideout Reviews

While Sophie remains undefeated as my favorite alchemist, Ryza was blessed with incredibly fun JRPG combat and gorgeous visuals. No, I didn't mean it like that you pervs...

Wonderfully comfy classical JRPG. Start is extremely slow and generic, but it starts gradually pickup up pace and quality as you leave the starting areas. Story is nothing earthshaking quality but the characters and their interactions, their own personal stories and goals are written really well, and it pretty much carries the whole game. The synthesis gameplay is grindy but addictive, the combat is suprisingly well made and actually hard when you get to the endgame bosses. Graphics and character animations clearly show some budget issues, but it's absolutely servicable. Also have to make a note of the OST, the entire soundtrack will be probably stuck in my head for the next few years, very catchy. 100%'d the game and I don't regret a second of it (although make sure you actually get to post-game if you want to finish some stuff because the Red Stone makes it a million times easier) Overall a very solid 8/10 JRPG, would recommend.

really laid back, chill game. fun and nice as well, im enjoying this

only played a few hours and just unlocked making alchemy and oh man this goes way more in depth then i was expecting 10/10 so far. pretty laid back game and i enjoy the many possibilities of alchemy that ill be beating this and playing the rest of series whenever we get another sale

Recommend: Yes and as I got it at a sale even more recommended ;) Just finished the game and feel bit empty now. Kinda sad ending, reminds me to much to real life... Now the game is like 60% crafting, 25% fight + stuff. I was probably bit slow as this took me almost 100 hours but I was not in hurry. I had to use google as not all was always clear. The fighting is not great with the semi turn based I dont like a lot. Graphics, sound, music as to be expected. Not a single crash. Story = good (above most games these days) I was wondering going for another Ryza but I went Sophie 2 instead (after reading comments)

Very cozy game, the story and characters are lovely too. I recommend it if you want to relax and you enjoy Japanese anime.

First, I like to state that I "got help" about half way while playing this game and thats why I dont have many hours. Second the beginning: I tried more then once to play the game but couldnt get really into it. At the third try I finally push myself trough the game. Third the story: For me the story is the most important in a JRPG. Sadly I most say, that Ryza, which is older then other MC in other Atelier-games, is way to childish. The cliche of a childish, inoccent and (little) dump character got fulfilled whit her. But whit 16 years she shouldnt. Then the "go to your atelier and wait for x days" thing was really getting on my nerves. Yes, I could syntecise - but whit no clock in sight if syntecising it was really hard so most of the time I was sleeping trough the days. I think this "waiting time" could be handled better. The story in itself is a so-so and was going way to fast forward. I wished there was more details. Third the gameplay: I´m sorry to say but I had often to look up via the internet to find some things. I got really frustrated. more then once a place was stated in the game, but I did need to go to another place. The syntecising was alright. Playing whit mouse and keyboard is horrible - whit controller it was only a little better. And please let us talk about the syncronisation... Why in japanese? I´m neither a native japanese nor english speaker - but I would like to have them at least in english. At story games I always have the sound on. But the japanese was way to high for me and I couldnt really concetrate on what I did read. Fourth the graphic. As someone who plays whit 3440x1440 alle the things were to big. Sadly you cant change the the UI size. As someone, who loved the Atelier Iris-series whit the deep stories and gameplay, could only love in all these years Atelier Sophie. In the future I will stay away from the Atelier series - at least till they have english syncronication again and the stories are better.

This was my first adventure into an Atelier world and it was quite enjoyable. The characters are funny. The story is sweet. The world is adorable. It can be quite a slog through the crafting. You will spend hours of gameplay just crafting things, improving them, destroying them for gems. It's Fun. But it can be a bit much as it detracts from what I'd prefer to be doing which is exploring, battling, and advancing the story. If you like a grind outside the battle field, this is the perfect game for you. More relaxing than action packed, though the action does not disappoint. There's plenty to do post-game as well which I appreciate if you want to gain all the achievements. But again, it's a lot of grinding the alchemy, and I'm not sure if I want to put in the extra hours yet having seen the story come to its conclusion. If the armors and accessories that you crafted were actually visible on the characters, I feel it would be more worth it to grind it all out. You create all these really cool looking wearable outfits, armors, jewelry, weapons, etc... but they all look the same in practice. True of a lot of JRPGs. The only custom looks come from a few DLC. And even if you have all the DLC (I did) that really only adds a few looks to choose from.

Great cozy experience! This was my first time playing an Atelier game, and I'm literally about to launch the 2nd of the Ryza series. The endgame bonuses made me smile so big! My friends think I'm a degenerate

great start to an rpg. really enjoying the crafting so far and the combat seems like its going to get me invested.