Thank you to Koei Tecmo for providing me a code for one of my most anticipated titles of 2022 - absolutely loved it as I have with many Atelier games, and can't wait to see what they have coming up this year!
@@yqisq6966 I like the art but actually like the crafting the most. Collect a lot to craft a lot is a cool mechanic and coupled with a calm story makes for a good relaxing game.
Sophie 2 is my most favourite Game from the whole Series. Especially the Ending left me with many tears. Didn't expect that. Gust truly put all their sweat and love into this Game and i thought they couldn't possibly top Lydie & Suelle. But they did it. Kinda surprised that you didn't mention the huge Visual Upgrade, especially the Characters look more alive then ever before. They have so many different facial expressions and Animations this time (in previous Games you can count them on one hand), especially Details like that they finally moving their eyes help alot to make the Characters look "real". I kinde have to disagree on the Soundtrack regard, it is still a very memorable composition and there are yet again so maby Tracks that i will remember forever. 😊 Sophie is a perfect Sequel in every regard. I truly hope that we will get one last Mysterious Game someday, as i am not a big Ryza fan.
After playing Blue reflection 2nd light, I was convince that Gust know how to do voice acting. They are indeed great. And I think its not an overstatement to say they are the better studio behind Koei Tecmo right now.
3:33 *The Kiseki Nut* has joined your party! Btw nice review, I’ve always wanted to try out the Atelier games but never knew which one to go with first, you sold me on this video 🔥
The system is great, but I think it's also important to freshen it up between instalments. You're looking at over 100 hours for all of the games, and the same system could get tiresome. I'm glad they do minor changes in each of the Mysterious games to keep them distinct from each other but still maintain the foundation of the grid based layout.
Indeed, but I'd still take that. Even with those flaws, you can still easily identify it as 'Firis' rather than 'a game in the Mysterious Series'. I prefer that distinction personally.
@@TheKisekiNut each game are so long it makes sense to always change it a bit. because even if its a bit worse than before, it may still be fun because its different. Anyway, i trust gust on this... they have been making 1 atelier game each year since 2015 and they were never boring... thats a long stretch of success.
I only played Escha & Logy years ago (I swear there's a new Atelier every 6 months or so, can't play them all), but I'm really looking forward to play Sophie 2 🙏
At the moment it's one new game a year not including ports as well. I imagine they'll be doing something else for 2022 as well since it's an anniversary year (25th I think).
Great review! Been waiting to watch this til after I got mine finished. I agree with you on pretty much everything. This is a really great entry that should be getting more buzz. Thanks for the vid!
Honestly, one small detail that I love about Sophie 2 is that your starting level is the max level from the first game. Also, slight correction at 7:10 a question mark means that you have the needed gathering level for the item, but have yet to obtain it, if it has a lock symbol, then it means you don't have the required tool/gathering level for the item.
I'm with you in that the first normal battle OST is likely the best one out of the four they progress through as I distinctively can remember going "wait where was my good battle theme" when it went to the second one. Though the other OSTs (elite battle, boss battle, the town and the gathering maps) are so much more memorable than the other Mysterious series. Also in terms of story, this game is probably the saddest/most serious story out of the 4 Mysterious games, the ending is very bittersweet and pretty cruel in a way. They managed to finally create a relatable sad story (unlike the diarrhea that is Atelier Lulua, still cant believe how forced that game's story is)
I can't wait to play this and spend billions of hours remaking my item to god like power ... My copy is in the mail and will arrive Monday. After my Jrpg burn This will be the perfect game to make me wait for September and the grand reveal of X3... and let's not forget Kuro 2 ( side note) : The facial expressions of the characters were really pumped up!
Greart video. I've loved the Atelier series ever since playing Atelier Ayesha on ps3. So happy to hear this newest installment is great. Even though Firis is my personal favorite of the Mysterious trilogy, i like Sophie as well.
Finally, a return to a more traditional turn-based combat system. I tried REALLY hard to get into Atelier Ryza but the real-time combat mechanics just ain't doing it for me. I hope they don't adapt that combat system in future Atelier titles outside of Ryza.
I'm an avid Kiseki fan and ordered this game based on your review... It's my first Atelier game and needless to say, I am ADDICTED 😅 Do you recommend going back and playing through the other titles in the trilogy?
if you like Sophie 2, then I think you'll enjoy the main trilogy. They're not at the level of polish of this one, but they're still fun games, especially Lydie and Suelle which I think has the best crafting system.
The Atelier games are my most expensive addiction. I just repurchased all the ultimate editio Ryza games on PlayStation because I already had them all on Switch. But they’re correctly on a really great sale so I kind of had to right? Sophie 2 is one of my all time favorites. The synthesis system was easy to use and I only ever did auto fill because I just wasn’t really into the synthesis part of Sophie 2, but loved it in Ryza. But I LOVE the rest of the game. It’s a great entry way to Sophie and the Atelier series as a whole.
They're excellent games, at least the ones without the time limit are (I'm not too big on those and never have been). They're sort of a comfort food in between more heavy hitting JRPGs.
@@TheKisekiNut I can understand. I like taking my time with games, and the time limit is one reason I had initially avoided this series. At first I didn't realize it actually had non-timed entries as well.
It's been a while but I finally started Sophie 2 Been fun so far (In the mean time I also bought Ryza 1 and 2 off an eShop sale and of course never played those either. Maybe once this gets me a bit used to Atelier I can tackle those as well) EDIT: Finally finished the main story. That was a very fun ride with a rather well executed emotional ending Time to go back and play Sophie 1
I have the game at home and looking forward to it but i just got a platinum in Lulua few days ago and now with Horizon Forbidden West and Elden Ring being out, i will take a short Atelier break But, you hyped me up a lot, especially since i haven't played an Atelier game with this alchemy system yet and it looks so different from Ryza and Lulua which both had a unique style as well Can't wait to eventually get to it and enjoy another relaxing story with a good cast of characters in a beatiful world 🙂
You're gonna need it! Relaxation is something Atelier will never lose out on - I've done the complete opposite, finished Sophie and moved straight to Elden Ring, the contrast in mood couldn't be more evident.
Now we just have to wait for ryza 3 and then they will be able to work on the next main atelier series or maybe another sophie sequel to finish up sophies trilogy
Apparently this came about because of a popularity poll, Sophie was voted the most popular character which is one big reason why they've made this sequel. I'm fully expecting the third Ryza eventually, just not sure when.
@@TheKisekiNut I am hoping for "Atelier Plachta & Luard" to close the loop on her story. (Just read today that "Atelier Plachta" is coming soon, but it's just a DLC scenario for Sophie 2. :)
already tried it for 2 hours straight after download it from steam. all i can said is woah. i am fans of atelier. still waiting dusk series in pc. after this finish will start arland series.
3:23: »Hmmm ... well ... I could do that!« Hahahaha ... very good ... thumbs up! 😄👍 Actually I discovered your channel some days ago ... and I really like EVERY video you create. Very good. Helps me to get into JRPGs (again) AND through the day. 🙂
If anything that would be the best order to do so - Sophie 2 takes place before Firis, so for all intents you're playing in order chronologically. The only reason I'd say to play Firis and L/S first is that the gameplay is at its best in this one.
So I bought a couple of Atelier games, including the Mysterious series, but haven't had the chance to play them yet. For these 4 games, which order would you suggest I play them? Release order or chronological? Thanks for your help!
Release order I'd say. Sophie is a bit dated, and Firis had some odd design choices. Lydie and Suelle is excellent all round and Sophie 2 pretty much follows on from that. So you're getting better the more you play.
@@TheKisekiNut Thanks for the response, I appreciate it. Great videos by the way, I've really been enjoying them since someone mentioned you over on the Falcom reddit and I've even picked up a few games based off of your reviews. And thanks for suggesting AmiAmi for the Altina statue, came in quickly and she looks great, now to get the Rean one.
@@TheKisekiNut Thanks! I’ll stick to normal… still working through SMT V and that’s enough challenge for me at the moment. Loved your review man, this is my first Atelier game and I enjoy it a lot so far
I'm 29 hours in, and no catalysts in sight lmao. I just spent too long getting my ass handed to me by you know which boss. Speaking of which, it is worth mentioning that the difficulties are a lot better balanced this time around, so it no longer feels like a requirement to download a save file to start on Charismatic for this one
I do agree there, the difficulty spike didn't seem as prominent but to be honest that hasn't been an issue for me since the first Ryza, I've kind of got used to just giving myself the best equipment at regular intervals.
Always keep it safe. Godfather II, The Empire Strikes Back, Terminator II...would add Aliens personally to that but many people prefer the original as it's more a monster movie in space and the second an action flick with monsters.
aww, was kinda intrested in the game until i heard that there was only japanese va. i for whatever reason cant stand japanese as a language. got no clue as to why
I'm surprised there's viewer like yourself among subscribers considering how niche and Japanese focused this channel is. It's literally called "Kiseki Nut" after all. I guess it's a sign the Trails franchise is doing very well.
@@nelsonw9483 yea i found this channel somewhat recently, ive been a trails fan since 2015 when i bought and played sky fc. only been subbed for a year or 2, but i enjoy this channel. even if i dont like a game or whatever hes commentary is intresting. and ive gotten more games to play because of hes monthly recap of the jrpg/rpg world
While I personally enjoy the Japanese language and have studied it for ages now, I found that voices for younger women in games/anime etc. can *sometimes* be uncomfortably high pitched and whiny...which is a pity, considering that Japanese voice acting is generally pretty good
@@kafeinfaita6715 Meh it ain't that complicated. It's equivalent to being a Call of Duty fan in Asia who hates USA and the English language. As strange as that may sound, they do exist. Some Asian COD fans likely never heard word of English in the game thanks to dubs and localization. As far as they're concerned, the soldiers who charged the Normandy beach in the campaign aren't even American but Chinese. It's the same thing with OP and JRPGs.
@@TheKisekiNut good writing in JRPG ? you must surely be kidding buddy. its a story about DREAM world made by GODDESS which have iq about 50 and behaves like 13 years old. every character is such walking clishe and 90% dialogue is complete garbage (like every jrpg basicly) rest are just random screem/laugh/noises. do you remember that memorable quest where side character was sleepy? or hungry? or had some retarded idea? like 99% quests which you consider as SOLID WRITING? 🤣
