Atelier Ryza 2: Lost Legends & the Secret Fairy Review

Atelier Ryza ii: Lost Legends & the Undercover Fairy is the sequel to the original Atelier Ryza, which chronicled a hugger-mugger risk the titular alchemist embarked on with her friends on Kurken Island. Three years later on Ryza receives a letter from her friends, summoning her to the royal capital Ashra-am Baird in order to larn even more alchemic secrets. This marks the start of a grand new take a chance.

The call to action is simple and straightforward. However, the mysteries that unfold, namely ruins around the capital and a certain creature encountered later on, keep a salubrious interest in the story until the end. Not to mention, it's always a pleasance taking a suspension from heavily dramatic plots that make up a vast majority of JRPGs to piece of work through much lighter fare. Ryza 2 is driven near solely by its characters rather than the plot, meaning the focus always remains on their journeys and character arcs. Luckily for players, the chief cast is more strong enough to carry the game.

Y'all accept a salubrious mix of familiar faces and newcomers

Their personalities operate under well-worn JRPG tropes yet possess enough depth to justify the investment in their arcs. Information technology's a sequel, information technology doesn't spoon feed you any information. Rather, information technology assumes yous know the conclusion to their stories and goes from at that place. You accept a healthy mix of familiar faces and newcomers, a welcome adjustment to ensure the 2d game stands out.

Each party member has their own gainsay abilities and roles that players must explore and define themselves. Some are every bit yous expect (Ryza being an alchemist means she has a mix up of physicals and magic), while others are surprisingly unique (the heavy hitter of the team wielding a giant sword is a immature rich girl named Patty who wears a frilly dress to battle).

Atelier Ryza 2 is a hybrid of activeness and traditional JRPG with political party member turns denoted by a gauge that approaches a sword symbol in the center. Enemy turns are also shown this way, making information technology easy to plan ahead what moves and deportment yous need to take. You can also switch between party members, which can exist used to build up basic attack and Skill combos.

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Bones attacks and combos are executed with the attack push, and each successful attack nets Action Points (AP). Party members volition automatically utilize attacks on their plough which likewise builds AP. Blocking attacks to minimize damage is another AP gathering strategy. And, past executing a perfect guard (which nearly negates damage and staggers the enemy) you internet fifty-fifty more AP.

Once plenty AP is saved, you tin can unleash special Skills that bargain more damage or have other effects. Once enough Skills are used, your Tactics Level goes up. Tactics Levels grant special benefits such as raising the combo count for normal attacks, increases AP regain, and actress Skill effects. Skills can besides be chained after normal attacks, which bargain even greater harm to foes. You tin can even chain Skills into other Skills if y'all have the AP for it, and later on, tin can chain the aforementioned Skill multiple times.

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There are many other small mechanics that you uncover throughout the game, which add even more than depth to the experience. Some of these include positive and negative status furnishings and the Stun Gauge, with the latter denoting a counter on an enemy that decreases as you impairment it. If it reaches 0, they become stunned which delays their turn and makes them take extra damage. Continuing to impairment them in this country causes their Wait Time to freeze until the effects eventually disappear.

You as well have Action Orders given by other party members which, when responded to, results in them supporting yous with powerful Order Skills. And cheers to the fact that fifty-fifty weak monsters can power each other up when attacking in groups, even a low-level encounter can crave your total attending.

the trademark of Atelier Ryza, and of the series at large, is the alchemy arrangement.

The battle organisation is incredibly flexible and dynamic, in which precise timing and your own skill refinement is greatly rewarded. Players principal diverse mechanics to increase damage output, keep enemies from acting as much every bit possible, and command the overall flow of boxing. Because players demand to constantly maintain this menses in combat, battles rarely ever go dull.

Of course, the trademark of Atelier Ryza, and of the series at large, is the alchemy organisation. Ryza is a talented alchemist who tin collect ingredients from both the field and monsters to create items, equipment, and weapons. Once you've collected enough ingredients, you return to your Atelier (your base) and use the alchemy cauldron to synthesize items.

A detail I particularly enjoyed was that even a chore as mundane equally gathering materials is fabricated interesting due to the party's interactions with each other. They note facts, relay anecdotes, and reveal personal feelings with each other. In these moments, you lot glimpse into their earth in which they've known each other for years. It's fun to dig into the history that comes with that. It's a slap-up touch that humanizes the game fifty-fifty more and makes the experience that much more enjoyable.

Imperative to abracadabra is the Skill Tree, which gives you access to recipes Ryza learned in her hometown every bit well every bit other useful skills. SP is used to unlock said skills, gained past synthesizing items and exploring ruins. Once you lot learn a skill you need to as well learn a recipe to use that skill, and and then you add the necessary materials into Cloth Loops. If an ingredient has an additional trait, that trait will exist added to the concluding consequence equally long as the Loops are at the proper corresponding level.

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Material Loops used for the process likewise possess their own elemental property (burn, water ice, lightning, or wind). This is of import because ingredients with the same element as the Loop will increase the last production'due south power, otherwise known as its Elemental Value. This also can have many other positive benefits.

There's a lot to learn and apply with the alchemy organisation but it'south well counterbalanced with tons of flexibility and depth. Not to mention how it manages to capture the excitement of discovering new recipes and getting to use newly harvested materials for the first time. My only gripe is that I wish you could fuse without having to detect the recipes start. I would love the opportunity to just cut loose and experiment all twenty-four hours. But requiring one first does go along players from discovering powerful and potentially game-breaking fusions early on so it's an acceptable trade off.

In that location's a lot to learn and utilise with the alchemy system only it's well counterbalanced with tons of flexibility and depth.

I of the master boasts of the outset Atelier Ryza is that the graphics engine was rebuilt from scratch for what was then current-gen consoles. And it shows. The graphics are admittedly breathtaking — vibrant, colorful, and bright — thanks to the well-rendered sunlight that shines down on the world. Other than a few depression res textures scattered around, it's an incredible banquet for the optics. This graphical leap covers the well-detailed character models and smooth blitheness as well, and even NPCs benefit from the visual bump.

Complementing the graphics is the great art direction. Each grapheme looks very distinctive. While their outfits perchance a footling busy at times, it only adds to their charm. The graphical enhancements extend to battle effects also, with some flashy Skill animation (one of my favorites beingness when Patty activates her fire sword skill) on full display.

The soundtrack is first-class, with some seriously catchy tunes that make the gameplay experience fifty-fifty more enjoyable. Sound pattern, however, is a piddling hit or miss. Some sound effects on the field are either way too muted or seem nigh comical. Battles, however, are another story as the sound design here shines. The more subtle sounds such as blocking an set on or hitting with basic combos are satisfying enough, while Skills evangelize on the more bombastic sounds.

There are likewise some nice extras included in the game such as a photo mode, atelier decoration, and bonus costumes for the political party members. Fifty-fifty better is that photo mode is available right from the first, unlike in the previous championship. And on the field, Ryza herself tin can explore the environment in new ways such as scaling small cliffs, swimming, and even riding monsters.

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Atelier Ryza 2: Lost Legends & the Secret Fairy is a fantastic JRPG. Whether you're a returning fan or a beginning-time thespian, it'south an excellent jumping-off indicate into the franchise. As a first-fourth dimension serial player myself, Ryza two was quite a pleasant surprise and i that I find myself continuously drawn into.

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