Atelier Ryza: Ever Darkness & the Secret Hideout DX

As my first exposure to the Atelier series, this game is a mixed bag, Story wise, the game is a lighthearted, easy to follow, fantasy adventure. The characters act their age, maturing as the game goes on and have the self awareness to understand their flaws. It's certainly refreshing to see. The world is beautiful and it's a pleasure to explore each location. Gameplay wise is where the issues really start. Using a keyboard and mouse has been a challenge, especially in combat when attempting to select items. Half the time when prompted to confirm any actions it doesn't work properly, and I haven't seen a single case where using space (like you're supposed to) when looking in your inventory, or pretty much any screen at all, outside of jumping, has actually worked. The game itself feels somewhat janky and it's frustrating trying to use items in combat when the enemy is about to use a charged move, because you have to spam click a dozen times on a item for the hope that it'll actually work. Overall, I'd recommend if you just want a lighthearted adventure and don't mind having to wrestle with the controls.

Alright, I need to start out by saying the way this game was when it first came out was pretty sad. Crashes and bugs left and right that made it really hard to play, It should not have been put on the store in that state without receiving a final check. That was irresponsible of the developers. Now that we got that out of the way, my actual thoughts on the game itself. Just like I said in my review of the original game, the combat system is built very much like any other JRPG, turn based. What makes this one different is that the turn order can change through stunning or slowing opponents down and you can even make quick decisions between turns that change the pace of battle. This has been done before, but its done so infrequently that it feels like a shake up to the usual JRPG combat formula. The crafting system is one of the most complex I've seen in years (and I mean that in a good way), you can spend hours crafting the perfect weapon to the highest quality standards you can make it. When it all comes together it feels satisfying, weather its a potion, medicine, or murder-stick; it just feels right when you get it the way you want. You can even rebuild your old works to make them better, so that it doesn't really feel like your wasting anything even when you make a crappy in-between piece. Finally the story, who doesn't love a coming of age with friends story. Its corny and cliche in the best possible ways. Even though its tropey, the voice actors really do seem to give the story moments of emotional weight that have you feel for the characters. Overall, I give this game my GG Seal of Approval, despite the disappointing first week launch, the developers cleaned it up, and made it work. On one final note, the way this game plays on my new PC is buttery smooth, and I was not expecting that at all. Gust, why couldn't you guys make Yumia play this smooth, I mean come on!?

If you like slice of life anime you might like this. Story is pretty basic if you have watched enough anime. Battle system isn't too complicated and you can pretty much breeze through most battles. It's mostly just the world and characters that do the heavy lifting. If you like slice of life anime and a cozy vibe this game will be enjoyable for you.