Atelier Sophie: The Alchemist of the Mysterious Book is coming

It hasn’t been all that long that I discovered the Atelier series, when I played Atelier Rorona on my Vita and loved it. I even went as far as to play the game twice, no problem to do so with the various endings. So even though I still have a nice stock of Atelier games to buy, I was happy with the news that another Atelier game is in the works that will be released on the Vita too. It’s called “Atelier Sophie: The Alchemist of the Mysterious Book” and it will be released on September 25th in Japan. No news yet about it coming West, but with the track record of the Atelier games I’m pretty sure it will in future. Sophie, Atelier, Gust, alchemy

The game will feature heroine Sophie Neuenmuller and her companion Plachta, who is a book turned into a human (what will they think of next?) Sophie runs an alchemy business and lives on the outskirts of the town Kirhen Bell. Sophie is a cheerful girl that loves helping people, but doesn’t like doing housework (I can relate to that!) She lives in Kirhen Bell, where there is a café run by an old gentlemen named Horst, and at the cafe you can take on requests, hear the latest rumors, or gather information related to Sophie’s life. Requests are mainly about subduing monsters or collecting items. As for rumors, you can collect useful information like, “There are supposed to be a lot of materials at this place.” They cost money to hear, but can prove beneficial in discovering new areas for collecting materials.

Sophie, Atelier, Gust, Crafting RPG, PlachtyThe game has turn based battles ( my favorite kind!) and that works about the same as in Atelier Rorona, where you decide the actions for every party member at the start of each turn, and then watch it play out. Of course you can use items in battle, and every companion you fight alongside with has special skills that cost MP. The World is ever changing as time passes; the townspeople will change in their daily doings, there are various events in town and you can collect different materials in the same place depending on the time and weather. Weather has more influence too, for instance when there’s a thunderstorm at night, more monsters come out, as well as more powerful ones.

Sophie, Atelier, Oskar, Kirhen BellAs I mentioned, Sophie’s companion Plachta is a book turned human. The book was given to Sophie by her grandmother and was put away on the atelier bookshelf. Sophie awakens the book through the recipes she writes in it. Plachta takes on the role of Sophie’s teacher and advisor, first in book form and later as a human. Sophie uses alchemy, crafting things, for which she writes the new recipes in the book. Before long, Plachta understands why she was once human and is able to give Sophie a sign. This is the event “returning Plachta to her human form.” Aside from crafting items to use in and outside of battle, you’ll be able able to customize Plachta using items you’ve synthesized through Doll Make.

It all sounds very good to me, and the visuals I’ve seen so far are wonderful. I’m pretty sure this will be another great addition to the Atelier series!Sophie, Neuenmuller, Vita, Atelier, Gust, RPG

6 comments

  1. I’ve always been curious about the Atelier series, but never tried any. I do like turn-based battles.

    1. They are quite costly full price, but from time to time there a sale where they half the download price. So if you wanna give it a try, that would be the time!

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