Atelier Ryza 3 Switch review – alchemy, keys, and summer memories

Each time I start a assessment for a recreation in a well-established sequence, I like to present my background data on the franchise so returning and new gamers alike can get a really feel for what they need to count on heading into the most recent entry. Properly, on the subject of Atelier titles, I believe I’d name myself an fanatic.

I’m but to play the unique Ryza, I performed Ryza 2 for about 100 hours – you possibly can learn all my ideas on that in my Atelier Ryza 2 Misplaced Legends and the Secret Fairy assessment, and sunk the same period of time into Sophie 2 – go forward and skim my full Atelier Sophie 2 assessment for extra on that one. I completely love each of these video games and, to not spoil the remainder of my assessment, however Ryza 3 hits all the identical great notes and is a pleasure to play.

Ryza 3 is an alright start line within the sequence, however I do suppose I’ve missed a couple of easter eggs as I by no means obtained round to enjoying the primary recreation. Nonetheless, this doesn’t hinder my enjoyment and the story is solely separate, solely that includes a couple of acquainted faces from the sport’s previous. So, what are you able to count on from this whimsical story? Properly, you’re taking the function of Reisalin ‘Ryza’ Stout, a longtime alchemist who could be very trusted by her fellow townsfolk.

In the future a brand new island pops up out of nowhere off the shore of her hometown, and the village elder duties her and her mates with understanding the place precisely this new space has come from, and hopefully discovering a solution to do away with it. From right here, you go on an epic journey with mates each new and previous, utilizing alchemy alongside the best way to craft new objects and weapons to defeat more and more tough foes.

I’m not going to delve a lot deeper into the story, as I believe the most effective a part of RPG is unravelling completely different story threads and feeling the real feelings every beat throws at you. However all of you returning gamers can positively count on a narrative as enjoyable and satisfying as others you’ve encountered within the sequence, and new gamers who recognize the standard JRPG fare are sure to take pleasure in it.

Exterior of the story, I believe enjoyable, polished fight is probably the second most vital facet. The fight appears like an improved model of Ryza 2 and is unquestionably fluid. You management one character whereas the remaining auto-attack beside you however can flick between your occasion with ease throughout a struggle in the event you’d favor to manage another person for a bit.

Initially of the sport, it feels slightly button-mashy as you possibly can faucet A to assault and kill most adversaries with out rather more effort, however as you proceed, it’s good to maintain down shoulder buttons to make use of abilities or toss objects at mates to assist them or foes to hinder them. Mere hours into the sport I used alchemy to craft bombs with all completely different components, and relished in tossing all of them at robust enemies each time doable. As you progress even additional and unlock extra abilities, objects, and characters. Every of those components makes finishing a profitable, easy combo very satisfying.

Now you understand that fight is nearly as good as ever, what in regards to the alchemy system? Properly, nicely, nicely, what a shock, it’s an ever-so-slightly improved model of the system present in Ryza 2. However let me begin firstly once more for all of the newbies. Earlier than you are able to do your alchemy, you have to first traverse by way of the world to gather completely different supplies that you simply then toss into an enormous ol’ pot to make bombs, weapons, and all method of different goodies.

In Ryza and Sophie 2 gathering feels slightly gradual and stuttered, as every time you decide up an merchandise Ryza or Sophie pauses to bend down and seize it, now in Ryza 3 you are able to do sprint-by pickups, and it makes gathering a breeze. Nonetheless, my concern with the basket merchandise restrict stays. This time spherical you possibly can carry 300 supplies, and in the event you’re deep right into a gathering session and hit the restrict it’s good to return to your hideout and drop every thing off. This may be tedious if you simply wish to discover and benefit from the world, however it could actually additionally often be a pleasant break that permits you to spend a while really performing alchemy.

I additionally have to level out a tedious concern present in a couple of Atelier video games: the screeches of the principle character whereas gathering. It’s clearly a really foolish little factor, however I truthfully want Ryza would shut up quite than shouting “HYAAH” each few swings of her instruments. I may also let this slide as now you can pet nearly all cats and canines you come throughout to obtain objects. I’m keen to forgive rather a lot for an animal-patting mechanic.

After you decide up all these goodies, you then get to begin crafting. This begins off easy, you simply put a couple of objects into every materials loop and voila, you obtain some form of fundamental merchandise on your troubles. Sounds straightforward and the tutorials are very thorough, however mastering the intricacies can take time as you learn to apply every component and monitor down higher-quality supplies. I’ve spent many sidetracked hours creating higher and higher weapons or highly effective plajigs.

Heading out into the world earlier than or after your alchemic endeavours is a pleasure. The large open areas to discover are filled with vibrant colors, an important combination of robust and cute enemies, and a great deal of sidequests that take you off the crushed monitor. I usually get distracted chasing down goodies for NPCs or simply ensuring each part of the map is made accessible for quick journey.

I performed Ryza 3 solely on an OLED Nintendo Change, however I believe this display screen is simply too small for the accessible subtitles and because the recreation is just in Japanese, they’re needed to grasp what’s occurring. I might love an accessibility possibility that permits me to extend the dimensions so I’m not squinting on the display screen. For me, this can be a small value to pay for portability, however I can think about it’s a dealbreaker for others.

One other concern that I’m undecided I can attribute to the Change model or the sport basically is brightness. Just a few areas throughout in-game daytime do get significantly dazzling, and never in a great way, however extra in a approach that makes textures laborious to make out and issues blur into one another. Reducing my system brightness helps a bit and I clearly continued to play for a lot of hours extra, however it’s one thing that would probably be solved with an in-game brightness slider that the majority different fashionable video games have.

Exterior of my subtitle and brightness points, I believe the Change model performs splendidly with fast load occasions, little to no stutters or framerate points, and the portability of the Change is completely excellent for if you wish to spend hours doing alchemy whereas watching a little bit of TV within the background.

I’m going to begin sounding like a damaged report, however Ryza 3 actually does really feel like an optimised model of two, I can extremely suggest it to each new and previous gamers, I like the gameplay loop, and suppose it’s a grand remaining foray for Ryza and her crew.