Atelier Sophie 2: The Alchemist of the Mysterious Dream review

Atelier Sophie 2: The Alchemist of the Mysterious Dream doesn’t offer controller-hurling difficulty nor another dreary trip through dystopia. Instead, this journey through a dreamworld is delightfully vibrant, refreshingly carefree, and filled with enough eye candy to give your pupils a sugar rush.  

Across its twenty-five year history, the Atelier franchise has provided some truly salient moments. While the hero’s journey is universal in gaming, few series have delivered a more gratifying depiction of the advancement toward self-actualization. Seeing heroes such as Rorona, Totori, Meruru, Ayesha, Shallie, Firis, Lydie and Suelle grow from ambitious novices into talented, often philanthropic-minded alchemists has been persistently satisfying. Then, there are the merits of gameplay. Despite some strict time limits in early outings, the Atelier games have been tranquil experiences, largely eschewing the frustrations associated with many role-playing games.

With each new entry, I worry about Gust messing things up. Even habitually solid properties like Disgaea have experienced an embarrassing misstep. While Atelier Sophie 2: The Alchemist of the Mysterious Dream doesn’t offer any drastic charges to basic formula, it improves on so many of the franchise’s strong foundations, that it easily ranks as one of the series’ best efforts. Apparently, evolution is just as potent as alchemy.

Retina-Rewarding Visuals

Admiring a game for its visuals can often seem as vapid as liking a song for its beat. However, it’s difficult to not be impressed by Sophie 2’s graphical accomplishments. Illustrators Yuugen and NOCO have collaborated again, retaining the splendor of 2015’s Atelier Sophie: The Alchemist of the Mysterious Book (reported NOCO toyed with the idea of the dressing Sophie in male attire). Once again, there’s a timeless elegance to the costumes. Although the attire doesn’t directly reference an era or style, it’s thoroughly enchanting. Drop into photo mode, pose members of the cast, and you can rival the beauty brandished by any 3D influencer. And often, Sophie 2’s cast shows off just as much skin.

But Gust doesn’t have to lure us in with fan service when they exhibit so many other instances of graphical grace. Study the eyes of each character and they’ll dart about, as if they are admiring the dream world of Erde Wiege just as much as we are. When rain falls, you can see a drop roll down the forehead and cheek of each character, realistically tracing the contour of their face. While some of the game’s pastoral environments recycle assets, many of the interior spaces in the hub-town of Roytale are rich with detailed, making them feel lived in. But more impressive are the extreme close ups that highlight a facial expression or a communicative stance. Occasionally, the framing of scenes feels cinematic, with the occasional lofty perspective offering context for the scene below.

A Storyline that Rekindles Atelier’s Characteristic Sweetness

Mercifully, Mysterious Dream’s virtues aren’t just visual. As a sequel, there’s the difficulty of telling a tale that pleases those who played through Sophie’s last game while remaining accessible to newcomers. Available from the main menu, “Story So Far” offers a succinct encapsulation of the 2015 game.  It also functions as a worthwhile refresher for those who haven’t replayed Mysterious Book recently. Here, you’ll revisit Sophie’s efforts to return a talking book back into human form, helping her to regain her memories. Not only did the game center on the altruistic qualities of the main character, but it was also a story of fulfillment, as Sophie and Plachta strove to become accomplished alchemists.

Mysterious Dream opens with the pair pursuing that ambition. But, when walking near a tall tree, a strange fissure materializes in the air, pulling in the couple. Sophie awakens in Erde Wiege, finding herself in a realm formed by the collective sub-consciousness, with dreams seemingly shaping the world. There’s an alchemist in the town of Roytale named Plachta, who seems a lot like Sophie’s lost acquaintance. But this Plachta doesn’t know who Sophie is. Another peculiarity is a women named Ramizel. Although she shares the name of Sophie’s grandmother, she also doesn’t recognize the protagonist.

Gust soon reveals some of the media that inspired them. Sophie’s quest will have her controlling weather, not unlike Hina in Makoto Shinkai’s Weathering with You. Totems will permit you to switch climate conditions, as you harness the ability to summon rain, snow, sunshine, and even thunder.

The change doesn’t just provide access to new areas, but also alters the type of enemies you’ll encounter and the materials that these adversaries carry. Studio Ghibli’s 2014 film, When Marnie Was There undoubtedly had an impact too, with the game touching on intergenerational kinship.

If there’s an issue with Mysterious Dream’s plotline, it’s that the writers don’t fully seize all of the emotional opportunities.  Reuniting with an old acquittance should be an affecting moment for our easily excited protagonist. But too often, Sophie reacts to meeting beloved reacquaintances impassively. There’s potential for poignant tears, but too often the script settles for mild sentiments. That issue aside, there’s a wealth of infectious cuteness throughout Mysterious Dream’s trek, which can last upwards of sixty hours.

Allies That Truly Have Your Back

The study of alchemy and your limited carrying capacity means frequent trips outside of the city. Here, you’ll wander or fast travel through open fields that rival the expanses of Atelier Firis’ sprawling spaces. These regions are covered with opportunities for material collection (occasionally involving a mini-game for fishing, mining, or cutting) as well as contenting foes. Pleasingly, enemies won’t make a bee-line when they spot you. Instead, they will often wander about just like real creatures, submissively doing their thing until you confront them. But that’s not to say that Mysterious Dream is completely pacifistic. Occasionally, you’ll need to fight bosses to push the plot along. And often, you’ll want to grind to ensure you aren’t outmatched when tackling these battles.

Eschewing the mix of real-time and turn-based combat in the last two Atelier Ryza titles, Sophie’s battles return to the more methodical mechanics of the Mysterious arc. Enjoyably, there are a few additions, which favor players capitalizing on team collaboration and defensive approaches. Attacks reward players with a resource known as tactical points (or TP). This can be used to speedily swap in characters, who are already in a guarding stance, reducing the injury associated with an enemy strike. Alternatively, you can use TP to trigger a powerful combo assault when you need an offensive boost.

In keeping with Atelier tradition, synthesized items can be lifesavers when deployed in battle, building on the devastating skills that are unique for each character. Additionally, players can create talismans, that offer additional protection, even reflecting hard back at your opponent. To add extra nuance, some enemies have elemental-based auras that need to be broken before you can start dishing out the damage. Collectively, the number of possibilities in battle helps offset battle fatigue; I was still looking forward to encounters forty hours in.

Puzzle-like Alchemy

Mysterious Dream’s alchemical pursuits bring back the Tetris-piece placement of foraged materials. Each time you approach the cauldron and select a recipe, you’ll be tasked with the arrangement of fragments to match the elemental engravings on the five-by-five board. As such, if you’re hoping for standard quality synthesis, you can quickly drop pieces down without much worry. But if you’re craving higher quality items, you’ll want to use premium ingredients and ponder over piece placement, rotating materials to maximize efficiency.

As with previous outings, you’ll gradually grow your repertoire of alchemical recipes. The game offers tech trees of Sophie, Plachta, as well as communal formulas. By finding new materials, synthesizing certain items, or even performing certain tasks a specific number of times, you’ll unlock new recipes. Sure, it’s a rather simple system but it provides additional incentives to chase after, making your journey through Mysterious Dream feel a bit less linear. While the game is better than previous installments at signaling where ingredients can be found, there are still a few instances where the game might confound.

Conclusion

With a pandemic still sweeping through society and world that’s on the brink of confrontation, a game like Atelier Sophie 2: The Alchemist of the Mysterious Dream could have arrived with better timing. As with previous entries, this is escapism, able to transport players to a world where ambitions are always accessible and there’s friendliness with almost every interaction. Delve into Gust’s latest and you might wonder why our world can be as cheerful and charming.

Atelier Sophie 2: The Alchemist of the Mysterious Dream
was played on PC with review code provided by the publisher.