Atelier Firis: The Alchemist and the Mysterious Journey DX Reviews

good

Are you going to be the one who tell's Firis you don't want to play her game? She will make you regret that... with a smile on her face.

Firis is a bit different from other Atelier games in both good and bad ways. The main story, which is passing an alchemist exam within 360 days, can end quickly if a player desires. There is no more story quest after that. Given the fact that you cannot fully explore the whole world map and pass the exam, it means the game expects you to play on after passing the exam. And that creates a new problem: The lack of goals. In other words, after the main quest, this game becomes a sandbox JRPG game. Do you know how rare a sandbox JRPG is? It's so rare that I can count them with my five fingers and Atelier Firis is one of those. The bad news is that a sandbox game is not for everyone. Most JRPG gamers expect the game to set you goals. It's hard to blame them because that's how a JRPG works 99% of time. You have to set your own goals, like farming for specific components to create specific gears in order to defeat a field boss for example. However, there is a problem with that. If you are able to defeat a hidden boss during the exam, you are very much strongest in the game, meaning there isn't really a real goal after the exam. Anyway, moving on, Firis is probably the furtherest you should go. This game was released in 2016 and for PS4 and above. Any PS3 and below Atelier games display a bit too outdated graphics. There are a few remakes of earlier games, though. In the end, I'd give a thumb up only because they implemented the daring feature of a sandbox world.

Although the first part of the game has a time limit it is quite relaxed and with a proper guide you can avoid the stress almost completely and just enjoy another beautifully crafted entry in the Atelier series.