Atelier Ryza 3 Doomsday Alchemist and the Secret Key was the most anticipated game this spring. Sure, Zelda was around the corner, but for Ryza and her growing friends, we knew this (probably) final adventure would effectively fill the time before Zelda’s release. And yes… mostly.
Ryza 3 is Atelier Ryza 2: Lost Legends & the Secret Fairy, set one year after the heroine leaves Kurken Island to experience the metropolitan lifestyle of Ashraam Baird. She’s now back in her hometown of Kirken, and her alchemical skills, which at one point confused and unsettled the townspeople, are in great demand. When an archipelago suddenly appears nearby, Ryza and her friends must investigate. Do these islands have anything to do with the events of Ryza’s previous adventures? enjoying.
As in previous games, your party starts small but grows quickly. Ryza begins with Lent, Tao, and Bos by her side, with the latter character being playable for the first time. Ultimately, players will be able to optimize and swap out nearly 10 new and old characters in combat for a hectic yet continually evolving experience.
It’s tough to manage, especially given all the crafting you have to do to keep the party sniffing. Crafting items is at the heart of the game, and Atelier Ryza 3 offers a myriad of ways to spend the right amount of time in the cauldron.
Everything starts with item collection. Atelier Ryza 3 offers the biggest world yet, full of items you pick up along the way or harvest using tools like hammers, butterfly nets, and axes. The tool you choose and its level determines what you get. To use them properly, they must be crafted and enhanced. The crafting system is basically the same as previous Atelier Ryza games, so fans will be familiar with the process (minus the keys, which we’ll explain later). However, the interface is not as visually clean as it used to be. I found it difficult to decide which element to move to next and see exactly what the item did when it was created. I don’t know how it got through quality control.)
Crafting is also somewhat muddled by the open-world approach to exploration. For example, unlike Ryza’s Atelier 2, the areas do not open linearly. There are no dungeons to explore and clear to progress to different areas (sadly no riddles to decipher). So you have a ton of craftable products that you won’t be able to craft at all at first and that you won’t be able to craft for quite some time. It was disappointing to settle for fewer products with the craft items I had.
And did this massive world influence the graphics too? The characters look great both during exploration and in dramatic Alex Raymond-esque combat poses and animations, but the world itself is rather flat. It’s colorful, but lacks detail.
The open world also causes more meandering. Games usually tell you where to go next, but Ryza never takes a direct route. Reaching certain areas will thankfully unlock warp points that allow you to quickly ride on the backs of various animals. often, but it really slows down the story, and at the cost of being in combat, you’re not ready to win. Do you really need to participate in that quest?
Are you ready to deal with monsters along the way? Certain enemy level indications are useful, but they’re usually not too hard to escape quickly. Now it will tell you if it can be harvested, but I would really like players to be able to see the current stock count for those items. It becomes difficult to remember which
Thankfully, the combat system is the best yet. The mods from Ryza’s Atelier 2 puzzled me at first, but once I understood the new flow and interface, I liked it more. But the focus on swapping out combatants and continuing to heal them can help you figure things out quickly. As long as you have to do them to get ahead. Chaining quick attacks can deal better damage. Accumulated AP can be used to launch targeted physical or magical attacks (watch out for vulnerability indicators). CC can be used to slow down healing and crafting item usage. It’s strange that you can’t use items to heal characters between battles, but you do have the option to heal those who aren’t in an active battle party during combat. , I think we swapped out more combatants than we did throughout the first two games. That’s good; it makes battle fatigue less likely to enter.
Then there is the title key. All aspects of Atelier Ryza 3 (crafting, exploration, combat) are affected by creating and using keys. Keys are retrieved at various locations in the game world and are available as needed. Use them while crafting to improve your results. Use them in combat to power up your buffs or extend your AP attack chain. Use them while exploring to open new areas or improve your harvest. These are useful tools to keep your game progress from becoming stale, but I wish I had mentioned them first. What does it mean that I only have 4 uses left and they don’t decrease when I use them? Why can’t I equip a key in my character’s key inventory slot? Use keys properly It took me dozens of hours into the game before I really felt like I had a grasp of how to do it, and that might be my fault. I remember what I did.
So Ryza’s Atelier calls it a positive aspect that it doesn’t require perfect execution for players to progress. It is very possible to progress and enjoy the adventure without mastering all aspects of gameplay. In the Atelier, you can let the game do the crafting for you (which is fine for quickly generating the items you need to craft something better, but at the risk of wasting valuable items in the process). And as long as you have a few characters with solid healing abilities, you can bully a fight without maxing out your high-damage moves.
But Ryza isn’t a bully and that’s not how this game is played. I read he could clear it in 40 hours. We recommend doubling it. Explore every nook and cranny of the map and constantly tinker with her crafting items for greater rewards. Fight if you want to play an action game. Craft if you want to play a puzzle game. The Atelier Ryza 3 is equipped to be what you want.
But that flexibility slows the story down, and it’s a very good story.As before, the stakes start small and don’t grow to the typical JRPG levels of God Slayer. Instead, the emotional impact comes from the characters and their relationships. That is, how they see each other and whether they are deeply attached to the world around them. And it conveys an air of optimism, even in particularly tense or wistful moments. You don’t hear a lot of anime-style screaming here.
Thus, Atelier Ryza 3: The End Alchemist and the Secret Key succeeds entirely at its own pace. For example, despite moving towards the open-world approach of Breath of the Wild and Xenoblade Chronicles, I’m not interested in competing with them. We want you to enjoy what it is, it’s that simple. I preferred Lost Legends & the Secret Fairy, but it came close. It’s a cozy and complex adventure that concludes the Atelier Ryza trilogy in a way that will please most fans. count me in it
