Atelier Ryza 3: Alchemist of the End & the Secret Key Review: Thigh High
Can you believe that the Atelier series is coming up on its 26th anniversary soon? The alchemy-focused role-playing games have been developer Gust’s flagship franchise since its first title Atelier Ayesha: The Alchemist of Dusk back in 1997. This series has always focused on female protagonists learning to become alchemists whilst making friends, battling baddies, and saving the world along the way. Reisalin “Ryza” Stout is arguably the most well-known heroine and fan favorite from the series who has brought the overall franchise into the limelight in recent years. Now, we get to embark on a final adventure with Ryza and her friends in Atelier Ryza 3: Alchemist of the End & the Secret Key. While it’s splendid that Ryza gets her own trilogy of games, it’s also quite heartbreaking for fans to see that this is the end of her story.
To no surprise, Alchemist of the End & the Secret Key takes place after the events of Atelier Ryza 2: Lost Legends & the Secret Fairy with Ryza and her group of friends back on Kurken Island, which was featured as the main setting of the first game. This choice of location in the third game serves as a nostalgic treat to see just how far Ryza has come, from being an inexperienced and immature alchemist to becoming a staple figure in her community. Strange islands start forming around the area, and Ryza herself keeps getting mysterious visions and voices in her head. It’s no problem because Ryza and her team of happy-go-lucky friends are ready to set sail for another adventure and get to the bottom of it.
Hitting the Ground Running
It’s hard to recommend Atelier Ryza 3 if you haven’t played either of the two previous titles because this game hits the ground running. It doesn’t help that some main quests that progress the narrative are also extremely vague and abstract. There is a recap video detailing the events of the first two games in the main menu, but it ultimately does very little for someone who is completely new to the series. Many returning characters, such as Tao and Bos, show immense amounts of character growth, but can only truly be appreciated and noticed if you have prior knowledge of their stories. Even the friendships between Ryza and her friends show varying degrees of complexity and depth, but you wouldn’t know that if this was your first game.
Aside from the narrative perspective, the core gameplay loop can also come off as daunting and confusing for newcomers. Atelier Ryza 3 is split between material gathering, monster fighting, and alchemy brewing (duh). The material gathering is pretty self-explanatory and simple for the most part, as you can gather various types of ingredients from the game world, including flowers, plants, ores, wood, etc. You get better tools as you progress that allow you to gather ingredients that you couldn’t previously. The world is huge here, with four distinct regions that you can travel to seamlessly or fast travel to any discovered landmark. As you push through the campaign, you will also snag yourself an adorable mount that makes traversal much more liberating.
Unique Turn-Based Combat, Alchemy Synthesis, and the Secret Keys!
Gust has employed a unique take on the traditional turn-based battle system by tying in real-time action events. Three front-row party members can fight simultaneously with the remaining characters in back rows that can be called upon through a switch action. An action points meter fills for each member on the battlefield that can then be chained to deal a devastating combo once a threshold is met. You can then choose to be in Supportive or Aggressive mode to decide whether your teammates spend action points or not. Spending the aforementioned filled meter on skills generates core crystals, which are needed to use items in combat. Overall, the system is well-designed and complex in the sense that it requires a balance of managing both mechanics in order to succeed. I haven’t even mentioned the action order and order drive segments yet, which I will let you discover on your own.
The synthesis system is where things can get a bit overwhelming. The fundamentals from previous games are still there, but I’ll do a brief recap. Synthesizing is the bread and butter of this game, and it makes sense, given that this is the Atelier series. Every character can be given items to use in battle, along with better weapons and armor, but they all must be crafted at your atelier. You’ll obviously need the raw materials as a starter, which then get inserted into different nodes that represent the specific recipe you are trying to follow. The complexity comes with the robustness of the system, which allows you to enhance or tweak your synthesis with a seemingly endless array of effects, traits, and qualities. Every single ingredient you gather features different elements and attributes, so grab everything you can! The learning curve is a bit high, given how complex it is, but it becomes extremely rewarding once you master it. A cute attention to detail is that petting the different animals in the game rewards you with raw materials as well! Time to pet all the cats, be right back!
It wouldn’t be Atelier Ryza 3: Alchemist of the End & the Secret Key if I didn’t mention the titular secret key in this review! Aside from serving a pivotal narrative purpose, the keys also play a role in each of the three main gameplay mechanics. They can modify synthesis outcomes in alchemy, even provide party-wide buffs in combat, or unlock secret areas to explore in the world. The keys act as a welcome addition that adds another layer of complexity into the already deep systems that the game offers.
Lack of Accessibility Options but Impressive Load Times
Atelier Ryza 3 is the second game in the series to receive a native PS5 port, following its prequel, that is. I’m happy to say that the game runs extremely smooth on the PlayStation 5, with stable frame rates and expressive character models. This is great news when looking back at Atelier Ryza 2’s jittery performance on the PS5 when it was first released back in 2021. The cherry on top is how fast the load times are, thanks to the PS5’s SSD working its magic. When I say that load times are fast, I mean that they are literally non-existent. Graphics, on the other hand, aren’t anything to write home about because the visuals can definitely still pass off as a last-gen game, with only slightly crisper animations and details compared to Atelier Ryza 2. I also want to point out how wonderful the soundtrack is, from the serene yet cozy themes of towns to intense battle songs.
With all that being said, there aren’t any graphical or performance options to toggle, and there is an extreme lack of accessibility options. The developers did take some time to add quality-of-life tweaks, such as Ryza’s ability to run extremely fast out in the world, and the super quick pick-up animations. All the Atelier games are only Japanese-voiced, so don’t expect an English dub here. Sometimes it’s difficult to read the subtitles on the screen, given how bright and colorful everything is. The camera can get glitchy and clunky at times, and I did encounter a few glitches where I fell under the map in certain environments. My biggest gripe with the game is probably the constant blur effect put into place on background assets when exploring the world. Ryza herself looks great, with the intricate details on her outfit and thick thighs, but the rest of the world simply looks out of focus and pixelated. Unfortunately, there isn’t an option to turn this off, so you’ll just have to get used to it.
Conclusion
Atelier Ryza 3: Alchemist of the End & the Secret Key is a well-earned conclusion to Reisalin “Ryza” Stout’s story, with its improvements upon the previous titles and systems that provide endless amounts of customization. It’s still a bit difficult to recommend this to newcomers, but this is a must-play for any fans of thighs, I mean this series. It’s a bittersweet farewell to Reisalin “Ryza” Stout and her eye-catching assets, and I look forward to Gust’s next entry in the Atelier series and whatever character design Toridamono comes up with next.
Final Verdict: 4/5
Available on: PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5 (reviewed), Nintendo Switch; Publisher: Koei Tecmo; Developer: Gust; Players: 1; Released: March 24, 2023; ESRB: T; MSRP: USD 59.99
Full disclosure: This review is based on a copy of Atelier Ryza 3 provided by the publisher.
