Game – Atelier Ryza: Ever Darkness & the Secret Hideout [V1.05]

Games Jun 14, 2020

Completion Time:

Base Game 65:30

100% - 72:10

The Main Game:

Main game starts out with the idea of a grand adventure spanning an entire world… but quickly brisks it away with `in a minute` moments. Not that it’s a bad thing but was misleading. Turns out the world of discovery and adventure was found right where the journey began. Doing it this way the game was able to craft and show a better connection between the cast of characters throughout. Felt more personal which is nice. Atelier Ryza captures a good balance of this is a nice experience and refined gameplay without things being too complex or complicated. Its more of a fun sit down and enjoy game that doesn’t require too much thought if the person doesn’t want to but at the same time is an enjoyable experience that youll want to come back to, to see its story through to the end.

There are a couple plot twists throughout that were sort of expected but not too expected… at least for a first timer to the series. It is a nice change of pace, nothing too shocking or awe dropping moments, but they didn’t need to be. They were nice to see and added to the enjoyability of the game as a whole.

As the game neared the end, the feelings and tone shifted to a sadder tone. It was indicating that the adventure shown was nearing its closing and everything was coming to an end. There is a message they convey throughout but that’s a secret for those that want to see it through to the end. It’s a nice lil thing that they pushed and conveyed across that is more of a topping than anything. Just as the plot twists were, the message isn’t anything grand but nice to see, as such it also furthered the enjoyability of the experience.

Side Quests:

Side quests are split into 2 different categories, one for personal party that will grant bonuses to said character upon completion and the other being random npc quests that award at times recipes and various items that at times are not useful, but others offer a decent reward.

Party quests require completing specific actions in battle or doing certain things outside of battle, such as crafting X amount of an item or even selling a certain number of items to make X amount of gold to complete the quest. Each character will have 17 individual quests available throughout the game that can be completed on the current version of the game.

Regular side quests from npc’s worked as any other game of `make this` or `grab that there and hand it to me while I do this and well you watch` type of thing :D . There were some that are more demanding than others, but just as there are more demanding side quests there are also ones where you interact and talk to the people… then its done just like that, they just wanted a lil buddy for a moment. Still get a reward either way to make it even better lol.

One of the annoying parts about both types of quests is that a few of them are granted and accepted early in the game but cant be completed till around the 2/3 mark or very later. They should have been available when capable of completion or close to being able to imo. Saves the time of frivolously rummaging through random places for resources in hopes to find a specific one to craft the required item to complete the quest only to realize… nope not able to do that. In all honesty its not a huge deal though, more of a annoyance thing to those wanting to complete everything as they go in fear of missables… which this game doesn’t have come to figure out lol. So, could have ran through real quick then went back to complete all this stuff without worry but didn’t know at the time for certain that was the case. Better safe than sorry type of thing since I like to 100% a games content.

The quests do a good job at showing and building the world and the characters, adding more context to things and peoples personalities throughout making it a more immersive and enjoyable experience.

Sounds and OST’s:

The sounds for navigation and general UI elements isn’t obtrusive as some games can be. Fits well enough and doesn’t feel out of place. Sound effects for weapons, items ect is in the same category where it is good enough and fits in well with what one would expect.

OST’s I think were done well. They have a softer type of feel with a lighter tone and it matches well with the game itself and the type of atmosphere it was trying to set. Was placed accordingly and was not overpowering at all… although at least with games can manually tone and adjust things to where they should be with ease lol. Usually had it turned to low or own music so cant really go too in depth about it but from what I heard, played through with it on and heard through my own music it was a nice soundtrack they had. Nothing special but wasn’t aiming or trying to be.

Overall and Final Thoughts:

Overall the game is fun and enjoyable. Its not a terribly long game, especially when only going for story completion. There is a bit of a learning curve and a dif spike near the end with the final boss that is more of a `do you know the battle system and crafting well enough [?]` moment. For those that understand and can figure out the combat, takes moderate tier weapons and equipment to beat. Levels mean less of a deciding factor than most other games, they are there and unlock some abilities but even the abilities unlocked are not a necessity. Things are more dependent on how well your grasp of the game mechanics itself is.

Atelier is a huge franchise with well a mass amount of games, have not played any others yet but based on this experience I would think it safe to say other titles in this series would be worth checking out as I will be checking them out and playing through them when able. It is a solid game and well worth the time spent.

Most importantly though… since you got to leave the best for last heh, Ryza and dat body :blush: damn, the creators knew what they were doing lol. One of my favorite character designs in quite a while. ~even had a slight jiggle physics going on :mrclean:~~ .Ryza has easily made it to the tops list, the way she acts is great, how she interacts with others and well looks more of the topping at this point. Would say a bit of a guilty pleasure but no guilt about it :D . *sigh* and yes Klaudia was also good… especially the devious duo she had going with Ryza lol. Both them were real fun to watch interreact and play out as events went on.

Characters (main) – 3/5
Characters (sub) – 3/5
Enjoyment - 4/5
Gameplay – 3/5
Visuals – 4/5
Music – 3/5
Story – 4/5