Atelier Sophie 2: The Alchemist of the Mysterious Dream Review

Over the last twenty-five years, the Atelier series has had a long and storied history for KoeiTecmo (Gust for the first few entries), from Atelier Marie: The Alchemist of Salburg back in 1997 to Atelier Sophie 2 in 2022. There’s a lot of history there, both in gaming and in the games themselves. All the games center around a young woman (occasionally two, and in one case, a man and a woman) and the challenges they face in learning Alchemy as it is presented in the games (none of that lead to gold thing here), and moving on to make their own mark on the world.

These games center first and foremost on their crafting systems: Everything you’ll wind up using beyond your starting gear you will make yourself. Only the most basic of materials are available in the world as it is. While you’ll get some stuff as part of quest rewards and the like, be prepared to hike it into the field to get most of what you need, and then spend days slaving away over a hot cauldron to make the stuff you need to make the things you need or were asked for, usually with draconian deadlines. More recent games have been nicer with the deadlines, but the passage of time is still a factor.

Atelier Sophie 2 is a direct sequel to Atelier Sophie (Was it the “2” on the end that gave it away?) occurring sometime between the first Sophie game and Atelier Firis. It is the fourth “Mysterious” game by release, the second chronologically. We open with Sophie and Plachta in the forest staring at the big tree, followed immediately by the Big Bad Plot Event, and Sophie waking up in the World of Dreams by herself. There begins an eighty-plus hour adventure to save the world from a completely different Bad Thing that threatens to destroy it. We meet (and worry about) a diverse cast of characters taken from across the world and a thousand years of in-game history. Each person you meet has a dream that they want to achieve— that’s why they’re here as to how; I leave that as an exercise for the curious.

With the stage set, let’s get a good look at the proverbial brass tacks: Visually, Atelier Sophie 2 stands with the rest of the recent Atelier games— pretty environments, nicely laid out, with critters and harvest points scattered around the landscape in ways that make sense. Even bits of the ground cover can be harvested for a few things. Day and night cycles can change things up (as they have in past games), but where this game really shines is the weather. Each zone has a basic weather pattern with appropriate effects. If it’s snowing, you find frozen bodies of water (no fishing!). In the rain, thinner outfits get visibly wet (predominantly white bits), and so on. Alongside a refined anime art style, it’s easy to get lost in the visuals, hunting around for that one last uni you need to make an explosive treat for the mobs on your next trip out.

Let’s talk sound. The general soundscape is much what you’d expect from a game like this—birds chirp on the breeze, footsteps on hard surfaces, and so forth give the game a sense of place and space that is sometimes lacking in other games both in and out of the genre. As for the music, I found myself stopping from time to time to listen to it. If you want to see what you’re in for later on, after things settle down from Sophie’s unusual arrival, you can run through the entire soundtrack (and other bits with the appropriate DLC) at your desk in the Atelier. Right along with the save, load, and changing room options. The game is voiced in Japanese, the same as Lulula and Ryza, which for those people with some understanding of Japanese, will result in ‘That is NOT what she said’ syndrome from time to time. The perils of localization, that. Most of the voice work is excellent, and the localization is good enough that you won’t get lost.

Atelier Sophie 2 is a Japanese Role-Playing game that will wind up costing you a good sixty to a hundred hours to see everything, pick through all the maps cutscenes, and make the best possible versions of every recipe. You’re going to spend most of your time split between exploring the various environments, gathering materials, and making all the things. Those of you that have seen Atelier Lulula, Ryza, and Ryza 2 will find some things they’re familiar with and a few new bits (as they’re all using modified versions of Lulula’s engine). The Alchemy system has been partially reworked, as you do, and the MP bars are back. There are several combat modifications for dual-attack and swap mechanics, including a TP bar (that doesn’t need to be filled entirely). Later on, a combo attack bar for Showtime-style events, some of which are cool and others hilarious. Stuffing a dragon in a barrel is hilarious in so many ways. The look on its face when it gets launched into the air is comedy gold. At least the first few times. Those scenes aren’t skippable, so you’ll be seeing them over and over again. The former is short and has considerable impact, but while they carry the weight, the latter is longer. Not long enough to get up and get coffee, but long enough to break up the pacing a bit. Fortunately, you can’t use them all that often, so maybe it comes out in the wash. They spent a lot of time and love on those animations, so they might as well get the best out of them. A few of the skills (especially those of a certain Knight that I won’t name) do this too, and he spent a lot of time in the back row as a result.

On to the story: From a thin premise, we dive into a deep story full of all sorts of interesting strangeness. In the early going, Sophie has to find out what happened to Plachta… Starting with a young lady named Plachta. Yes, you read that right. There are two of them. It will lead to some awkwardness later on, but not nearly as awkward as the other pair with a similar issue. Remember earlier, when I mentioned that these people are all taken from various points over the last thousand years from all over the world? It is where it comes into play. We even get to see Sophie climb the walls over the course of her character arc. Each major character has its own story, including an array of the NPCs (including Sophie’s Plachta) that I found rather enjoyable, even if some could have used a bit more meat. The active character saw a lot more love, getting their histories and getting to the root of their problems so they can achieve their own dreams. Either way, it caught my attention quickly and kept me wanting to know more.

The more technical aspects haven’t been ignored either. The controls, regardless of preference, are solid, and if you forget where something is, look to your lower right—it’s all right there. When working in the Atelier (now on its third owner), the Alchemy minigame has some new bits of glitter to make things ever so slightly easier to deal with (that, and you don’t need to put everything on the grid to make it work). Additionally, they give you the option to let the computer take over. If you’re making lots of things for requests, I recommend it. It saves time for people who don’t care how good the product is. If you’re making things you’re going to use yourself, or the request calls for a minimum quality (or needs a specific effect), it’s a quick way to waste materials better used with a bit of care. Later on, when you get Catalysts (and restricted grids), there’s an added layer of complexity and possible rewards as a consequence. Creating a Baked Waffle with the Fluffy effect was an exercise in frustration, especially for a few hundred Cole. If I ever have a gripe about the game, it’s that some materials are nowhere to be found (or are very rare) until long after you need them. We don’t talk about Gold Rocks. Just… No. Then there’s the weather system. Every zone has a certain basic weather state that it’s always in (that’ll make sense if you think about it where we are), and as you progress through the game, you get the ability to change it, with a consummate change in the maps and environments, allowing you access to places you couldn’t get to before—which also means that you need to explore carefully, lest you spend hours thinking you’re stuck. You aren’t, but the solutions to the environment puzzles aren’t immediately obvious all the time. It also means that there will be places you can’t go immediately, and you’ll want to come back later and see if anything’s changed.

Atelier Sophie 2 stands up well against its predecessors, although some might prefer things in the same vein as Atelier Sophie mechanically. This second entry into Sophie’s personal story is approachable and engaging, with lots of laughs, drama, and more. Especially the drama. As you may have guessed by now, I’m no stranger to the Atelier games. My collection consists of the majority of the western-released games, and I’ve at least liked them all. As a longtime fan, I was thrilled to see the last few turn up on Steam (and consoles) simultaneously with their Japanese counterparts. I’d like to see the earliest games localized, so a whole new generation of gamers can see where it all began. Twenty-ish games in the main series and several spinoffs, including the doomed Mana Khemia series, are a testament to the power this group of loosely-connected games has to fire the imagination and eat away one’s time. It’s been a favorite of mine since I picked up my first one, and I’m looking forward to seeing what’s next. If I had to guess, it’d be another of Firis’ adventures, followed by Lydie and Suelle. After that, who knows?

Pros

• Gameplay is rock-solid
• Well-done environments, with the ability to change them as needed.
• Impressive soundtrack you can wander through at your leisure.
• Well-done story with interesting characters, every one distinct.
• Alchemy works well and can be skipped if the player so desires.

Cons

• Skip buttons for the longer combat animations would be nice.

Lord Crocosquirrel gives Atelier Sophie 2: The Alchemist of the Mysterious Dream a Drastik Measure of 9.6 out of a possible 10