Switch owners have been treated well when it comes to Koei Tecmo's Atelier 'Mysterious' series, with multiple entries and bundles arriving on the system. One of the most tempting is Atelier Mysterious Trilogy Deluxe Pack, which we covered in a review and includes Atelier Sophie: The Alchemist of the Mysterious Book DX; in just a month there'll be a whole new entry to jump into. On 25th February we get Atelier Sophie 2: The Alchemist of the Mysterious Dream on Switch, which it's also coming to PC and PlayStation 4.
Koei Tecmo has released a new story trailer that you can see at the top of the page, which sure goes on about pursuing dreams a fair amount. It looks like a step up for the series in any case, and it will also have a new battle system to modernise play; some details of that are below.
Atelier Sophie 2: The Alchemist of the Mysterious Dream features a battle system that begins instantly without any load times or separate screens, allowing gameplay to flow seamlessly between exploration and combat. In this new battle system, up to six party members can join forces for “multi-linked turn-based battles”. These party members will be split into two teams; the “assault team” which consists of the 3 members in the front, and the “back-up team” which features the 3 members at the back.
One of the abilities that this new combat system introduces is Twin Actions. Here, the front and back rows can choose to attack together, or have the front row make their move first while the back row recovers and charges up. This ability uses less MP than performing the attacks separately, offering the chance for players to inflict more damage to their foes in battle. Alternatively, players can use the Support Guard action that allows a member of the back row to protect a member in the front row when they are being attacked. Since the members in the front and back rows can be freely switched, it’s important to keep track of each member’s HP and to use these abilities at the right time. In order to use the Twin Actions and Support Guard abilities, Technical Points (TP) are required. When the Dual Gauge reaches 100%, Dual Triggers — a special move where two party members launch a powerful ability together — can be triggered to get an upper-hand in battle.
Some of the enemies that Sophie and her companions encounter will be covered in an aura, and these monsters will be more difficult to inflict damage upon, dealing large amounts of damage to the party. By attacking the monster’s aura with an element it is weak against, the aura will be reduced and stun the monster, allowing Sophie and friends to perform more actions in a row than usual. In some battles, Weather Control can also be used during battle to create favourable situations that weaken the monster’s aura.
It looks like it could be an interesting new entry for the franchise - are you planning to pick it up?
Comments 11
Sophie is my favourite Alchemist in the series, so yeah, I'm definitely picking this up.
I'm on the fence with this one. I really enjoyed Ryza and this one looks great, but I don't know if I'll be missing out having not played the first Sophie instalment.
As with each game in the series - I cant wait
@shinynewbicycles - hmm, i've played Lulua which was 4th game in the Arlandseries, and enjoyed it enough to try the rest of the Arland atelier's. Now, Sophie 2 is chronologically 2nd game in Mysterious series. So my best judgement is that you can jump into it and are likely to enjoy it. You'll get much more references if you try Sophie, though, but Firis and Lydie&Suelle (sequels) are not necessary at all
I want a darker more hype music for these games. Elavator music doesn't do shet for me.
I want to jump to the Atelier series, but there are so many games, which one would you recommend me to start with?
I was very close to buying Ryza or Ryza 2 as my first Atelier, but now that this is close to release, I'm not sure which one I should get! I feel like Ryza 2's mechanics interest me a lot, but I sort of like Sophie 2's characters better.
@Travisemo007 Definitely your own opinion. I'm very drawn to Atelier's lighter tone, and the music to me does not at all sound like elevator music. We have enough grisly Monark/SMT/Elden Ring/Bloodborne/etc franchises as it is. Atelier sets itself apart by its lighter tone.
I see no need to change Atelier into something else entirely. Just like Pokemon should never become full-on grisly. Thankfully you have a majority of grisly/gritty games on PS5/Xbox if that's your jam, and you have many many other IP's to look to for that sort of tone.
I am soooo excited for this! I love these games and this one looks awesome! Kinda wished we got Ryza 3 but Sophie is a super likable character too so I'll be happy either way.
@Travisemo007 You can set the music you like in all of the modern games, from music from past Atelier and other Gust games. Might I suggest songs like Astarte, Liela Xea, Nefertiti, or Namenloses Licht if you want the music to be a bit heavier?
This is one of the games I'm most looking forward to. I tried Lydie and Suelle but wasn't super into it, but the Ryza games have been great. The changes they're making here sound interesting, I don't know if this better than Ryza's combat system (which is great) but I'm excited to find out.
@Troll_Decimator do you have to play the first Sophie game or no?
@anoyonmus I never played the Atelier games for the story, it's usually quite light hearted and nothing to write home about. I would say no need to play the first game.
Tap here to load 11 comments
Leave A Comment
Hold on there, you need to login to post a comment...