With the release of Atelier Ryza 2, it proved to Gust that fans really didn’t mind that they’d feature the same protagonist for a sequel.
And with Atelier Sophie 2, Gust tests this concept once again by revisiting one of the most beloved characters in the series’ history.
The result is an Atelier game that not only borrows the best elements of the series’ past and the present, but also takes us on an incredible adventure with some truly memorable moments.
Atelier Sophie 2 The Alchemist of the Mysterious Dream is the sequel to 2015’s Atelier Sophie, which is set in a medieval fantasy world and features a heavy emphasis on crafting.
This story takes place in-between Atelier Sophie and Atelier Firis, where we find Sophie continuing her journey on becoming a licensed alchemist, all the while hoping to restore Plachta, her mentor, to human form.
Days after leaving Kirchen Bell, Sophie and Plachta are separated after being absorbed into the world of Erde Wiege, a land populated by its inhabitants’ dreams.
With the help of her newfound friends, Sophie sets forth on an adventure that’ll take her through dreamlike locales, in the hopes of reuniting with her mentor and finding a way back home.
Atelier Sophie 2 features seamless transitions from exploration to battle, letting you jump right into the offense without any pauses or loads into a different battlefield.
This makes the act of battling monsters in Sophie 2 feel faster than any Atelier game before it, making you want to hop in from one battle to the next because of how fluid this makes it.
But that’s not all. Atelier Sophie 2 also brings back some of my favorite battle mechanics from games prior to Ryza.
Not only do turn-based battles make a triumphant return, attacks that specifically target groups of enemies are present again, as well as the ability for your supporting cast to block an attack and replace a party member in the front line.
New to Sophie 2 is the ability to invoke Twin Actions, which help maximize your turns by letting you attack twice in one turn. But in order to do so, you’ll have to build up a resource meter that increases each time you attack your opponents.
Monsters, on the other hand, can now create an Aura around them that can shield them from damage, much like the enemies found in Ryza.
While some may be disappointed to learn that Sophie 2 does away with many of the previous game’s battle mechanics, what is left is essentially a finessed battle system that combines the best elements of previous games that is very easy to learn and create strategies with.
While I loved Ryza’s battle system, this return to the tried and true demonstrates Gust’s willingness to experiment with both old and new ideas, creating a battle system that is, essentially, a blend of great mechanics perfected across the entire Atelier series.
This makes battling just as fun as its crafting mechanics, and it helps that this too was polished to a mirror shine. Crafting, or in Atelier parlance, synthesis, all happens on a grid, retaining the basic mechanics of the previous game.
You’ll have to place shapes representing elements on the grid in such a way that unlocks the fullest potential of the item, giving access to various effects and higher quality that’ll give you an edge while exploring the world.
Though materials in Sophie 2 may have multiple elemental affinities, you’ll only need to put in one element per material to initiate synthesis, though you can try and fit everything on there.
Doing so will help you form vertical or horizontal lines; no diagonals, that’ll increase the item’s Super Success Rate. The higher the rate, the more likely your finished item will receive 50% more quality.
One of my favorite parts of Sophie 2’s synthesis is the ability to have your party help out, activating bonuses and perks that can help you unlock even more effects or, even, improve your Super Success Rate.
For anyone new coming from Ryza, Sophie 2 features an item replenishment mechanic called “duplication”; that lets you recharge any spent items you’ve synthesized, though you’ll have to pay money to do so.
Earning money in the Atelier series has never been a problem to me, so paying for it wasn’t really that big of a deal.
While there’s plenty more in store for you to discover, I found that I vastly prefer Atelier Sophie 2’s synthesis when compared to other games in the series. In fact, I’ll even say that it’s my absolute favorite now.
The way you incorporate your materials into your item feels very much like a puzzle, more so than Sophie before it, and the kinds of fun options you get to play around with always had me wanting to make the best items possible.
It is true that aiming for the best item can be a bit time consuming, and I can’t really tell you how much time I’ve spent at the cauldron improving the quality of my items.
But I can say that I had a ton of fun doing so, constantly tinkering and tweaking to get the most optimized material placements.
All that said, if you don’t like the idea of having your story progression stopped because you’re being asked to craft an item to continue, I need to point out that these type of checkpoints do exist in Sophie 2.
That being said, if you’re willing to put in the minimum effort to gather said materials and not worry about min-maxing your work, you can utilize the Auto Add Materials function to have the game make the item you need.
As with my time with Ryza 2, I played around with the Auto Add Materials function for much of my playthrough.
And while its implementation isn’t perfect given its automated nature, I feel confident in recommending new players who don’t want to learn the ins and outs of synthesis to take advantage of this as much or as little as they want.
For anyone curious about wanting to start with Atelier Sophie 2 as their first Atelier game, you’ll be glad to know that the game provides a brief summary that’ll tell the tale of what’s happened.
This also comes with a helpful warning that lets you know that you’ll be spoiled by some of the events in the previous game, in case that wasn’t made clear.
This summary also serves as a great way for players who did beat Atelier Sophie years ago to quickly catch up and be reminded of what happened.
So in case you had any doubts, yes, you can play this as your first Atelier game, and it might even be a really good one to start with, despite the “two” in the name.
I say this with absolute confidence because Atelier Sophie 2 is a grand adventure filled with memorable characters and moments that’ll tug at your heart strings.
It still has the overarching narrative of an alchemist wanting to be the very best she could ever be, but this is wrapped in a story that’ll warm even the most cynical of hearts.
Early on, your time with Sophie 2 will be filled with wonderful characters who feel welcoming every time you encounter them.
And their desire to help Sophie find her dear mentor and friend makes you feel a kinship that’s quick to establish.
To Sophie, her friend is more than that - they’re family - and this idea permeates not only across the immediate party, but to everyone around her.
This is all to say that Sophie 2 retains much of the charm and care that’s been a staple of the series for a long time, preferring to focus on individual growths and smaller, more meaningful moments, rather than focusing on an apocalyptic event that has you felling gods of eld.
And while this might be off-putting to some, to the rest of us who feel like they need a break from the doom and gloom, Sophie 2 is a shining light in the darkness.
Speaking of, Sophie 2’s characters and environments look gorgeous, rendering each scene with bright, saturated colors that also lets it showcase massive areas that reinforce the developers’ strong art direction.
Each area showcases just how much Gust’s in-house engine has matured since Sophie’s last appearance in 2017’s Lydie and Suelle, making her latest outing feel grander and more epic than ever before.
You won’t be finding high resolution 4K textures here, of course. Rather, you’ll find a careful consideration of its art direction and design that collectively lifts everything up in such a way, that you just might be wondering how they’re able to pull this off consistently by releasing two RPGs a year.
Perhaps even more impressive is your ability to control the weather in Atelier Sophie 2.
Sophie can change the weather at specific points of the map, altering the look and layout of the area considerably, thereby opening and closing new pathways.
This happens with very little delay, and it’s quite impressive how they’re able to incorporate this as part of the game’s level design.
As long time Atelier fans might expect, Sophie 2 only features Japanese voice acting, so you won’t be hearing Christine Marie Cabanos reprise her role as Sophie in this one.
Atelier games haven’t been voiced in English since Atelier Firis in 2016 and, sadly, there isn’t any reason to believe that this will be changing any time soon.
That being said, the rest of Sophie 2’s sound design is quite strong and consistent with the quality of the rest of the series.
In addition to a memorable soundtrack that’ll have you humming along with it, Atelier Sophie 2 employs some satisfying sound effects that’ll have you wanting to hear more of it.
From activating an item’s Super Success to turning in Requests, the sounds that play feel punchy and satisfying, but not in a way that feels out of place in the series for me.
When I heard that Gust was making Atelier Sophie 2, I was both surprised and elated.
Having played so many of their games over the years, I knew that the decisions that drove them to make Sophie 2 were a direct result of their insistence of delivering so many RPGs in such a short time.
And yet, while many other developers struggle creating one good game when employing this type of rigorous schedule, Gust stands tall above the rest by delivering a game that is easily their marquee game of the year.
Atelier Sophie 2 will have you laughing, smiling, and maybe even crying while journeying through Erde Wiege with Sophie and friends.
And with the rest of the game firing on all cylinders like this one, Atelier Sophie 2 The Alchemist of the Mysterious Dream becomes an easy recommendation for any long time Atelier fan or any newcomer wanting a different take on JRPGs.
