Atelier Ryza: Ever Darkness & the Secret Hideout |OT| Adventure, Alchemy, and Summer Memories
Atelier Ryza (Project A21) is the 21st entry in the long-running Atelier series. Ryza is a completely new entry, not tied to any of the previous sub-series such as Iris, Mana, Arland, Dusk, and Mysterious. Having started development around the same time as the previous entry, Atelier Lulua, Gust has used the extra development time to create grand areas, a brand-new combat system, evolved synthesis system, expanded toolsets for gathering, and myriad quality of life updates that long-time fans will appreciate. This entry is a great place to start for newcomers to the Atelier series, as it requires no previous knowledge of the series, characters, or prior entries.
Atelier Ryza follows the story of Reisalin "Ryza" Stout and her friends as they seek adventure beyond their humble island. A fateful encounter changes their lives as the secrets of the islands past come unraveled. What once seemed a quiet, peaceful, and isolated home soon reveals ancient technology, buried knowledge, and a threat lurking idly within the ruins scattered across the land. The theme of the game is creating memories and experiences as one enters adulthood, leaving their adolescence behind. Over the seasons to come, they'll grow as people and learn more about one another while facing endeavors they'd not thought possible. Atelier Ryza is written by Yashichiro Takahashi, best known for his work on Shakugan no Shana.
Players can unlock adjacent cells on a synthesis via strategic item placement. Each new cell adds a different effect that will alter the outcome of your completed item. Items are also able to be rebuilt to make them stronger, ensuring they can be used in future synths repeatedly. However, rebuilding items can put restrictions on who can use them. It will be important to decide how your items will be balanced. Should it be stronger but only usable by a single person or would it suffice to be weaker but widely available to everyone? Another layer of strategy comes from balancing what items you'll create, what effects they'll have, and just how they should be used.
Materials can be found all throughout the world. They can come from chests left by other adventurers, trees, rocks, fields, or even fallen enemies. Ryza will be able to gather materials through her travels by accessing gathering points found throughout the maps or even creating her own to share with other players. Using different tools on the same gathering spot will grant you different materials, so experimentation is encouraged. At the atelier, you'll be able to plant crops and tend to fields, ensuring you'll always have the items you need on hand for that next big synthesis. Additionally, you can send your characters to locations around the island to gather, train, and just create memories and take notes on the area. This will allow you to get a better understanding of the location and may even uncover some secrets.
Atelier Ryza features a completely new battle system built from the ground up. With this new Real-Time / ATB hybrid, battles are far more frantic and fast paced than ever before. Characters move along the timeline until their turn, which allows them to act - however, enemies also operate on the timeline and will act accordingly whether you're ready or not. The AI will handle characters you're not actively controlling, but a simple tap of the shoulder buttons will swap over to them with ease. Players will be able to set up on-the-fly combos, issue orders to exploit enemy weaknesses, and level up their tactics gauge to boost skills and unlock additional effects to their current abilities. Build AP with combos and use those points to issue devastating blows and combination attacks against your foes.
Cooperation and teamwork is key in Ryza. Allies will trigger states where they issue commands for you to fulfill, such as using certain elements or types of damage or healing yourself. The character who gives the order will unleash a powerful attack, spell, or buff once the conditions are fulfilled. Swapping from Attack to Defense is easier than ever, ensuring your characters tank hits when your enemies charge up and swap to do high burst damage once they're left wide open. Tearing enemies apart will be much more active and involved than previous entries, yet players will still be encouraged to craft tools of destruction that only a mad alchemist would dare concoct.
Reisalin "Ryza" Stout
Ryza is a headstrong tomboy who finds herself bored to death of her ordinary life. With a rule in place stating none can leave the island, Ryza had dreams and aspirations of exploring the world and breaking her shackles that bind her to her dull days. Contrary to many prior Atelier protagonists, she's more aggressive and wild while having a good head on her shoulders and a strong sense of justice. At the beginning of the game, she's not even an alchemist. Thus, she'll be learning along with the player just what the power of alchemy can do.
Lent Marslink
Lent's one of Ryza's two childhood friends. In Ryza's village, he's a bit of an outcast and looked down upon by other villagers. He has a strong heart and wants to prove he's worthy of the villagers trust, despite whatever happened in the past. He always fights for whats right and acts as an anchor to Ryza when things get out of hand.
Tao Mongarten
Ryza's other childhood friend - Tao - spends his days shunning social events. Instead, he prefers to be left to his own devices so that he may decipher an ancient book he found long ago. He's considered a bookworm who constantly thirsts for knowledge, but he never forgets his friends Ryza and Lent. While he can be a bit socially awkward, he's a fount of knowledge that often helps his friends when they're stumped. Despite his timid and small frame, he can hold his own in a fight.
Klaudia Valentz
Klaudia is the daughter of a merchant who always travels around. Due to this, she's never really had time to make friends. She stands opposite of Ryza in personality traits, being a more quiet, gentle, and calm girl who can make snap decisions when needed. She's known to be courageous, though her soft personality can often be disarming.
Empel Vollmer
Empel is an alchemist who wanders the world. Upon his body and soul, he's myriad scars from his experiments. He travels the world, searching for dilapidated ruins with an extremely curious eye. Research is his life, thus he spends much of his time experimenting and buried in books and formulas. After an accident with alchemy in the past, he finds himself unable to perform high level experiments any longer. While he may look young, he's rather mature - however, he has a bit of a sweet tooth.
Lila Decyrus
Lila is a half-beast warrior woman of an unknown group. She travels with Empel, acting as his bodyguard. She often seems terse and cold, but that's likely due to her lack of understanding of human emotions. She excels in combat and eventually teaches Ryza and friends how to defend themselves. She's short and to the point on all matters and her own emotions rarely ever bubble up. As she continues to explore the island, it's clear she has a deep interest in the ruins that dot the landscape.
Game Systems Highlight Trailer
Battle System Highlight Trailer
Q. I've never played these games. What are they like?
A. Atelier games are typically slice-of-life crafting sims with very heavy RPG elements. Some entries lean more into the RPG side than others. Ryza breaks the traditional mold a bit with a stronger focus on adventure.
Q. Didn't one of these just come out?
A. Lulua came out in May. Gust has multiple teams that work on the series. Ryza started development around the same time as the previous game, Lulua. You do not need to play Lulua as its unrelated.
Q. Can I start with this one?
A. Absolutely, this is the start of a new sub-series with no particular ties to any previous entry. There is no giant overarching story between sub-series.
Q. Is there English VA?
A. Unfortunately not. We are unlikely to get dubbed games in the future unless Ryza sells incredibly well in the west. The upside to the lack of dubbing however is that the west gets localized versions faster than before. Lulua saw only a three month delay while Ryza say only a month between Japanese and English versions.
Q. Does this game have a time limit?
There is no time limit, but there is a day/night cycle with particular enemies, items, and gathering points appearing depending on the time. Events may happen in particular months or seasons, so keep an eye on the calendar.
Q. Is there DLC or MTX?
A. There is DLC which can also be purchased in a Season Pass. These have new events/stories for your characters as well as many new costumes. The price is high, so unless you're a super fan you might want to hold off or just buy pieces separately.
Atelier Community Thread
Koei Tecmo Community Thread
RPG Community Thread
Review Thread
Atelier Ryza (Project A21) is the 21st entry in the long-running Atelier series. Ryza is a completely new entry, not tied to any of the previous sub-series such as Iris, Mana, Arland, Dusk, and Mysterious. Having started development around the same time as the previous entry, Atelier Lulua, Gust has used the extra development time to create grand areas, a brand-new combat system, evolved synthesis system, expanded toolsets for gathering, and myriad quality of life updates that long-time fans will appreciate. This entry is a great place to start for newcomers to the Atelier series, as it requires no previous knowledge of the series, characters, or prior entries.
Atelier Ryza follows the story of Reisalin "Ryza" Stout and her friends as they seek adventure beyond their humble island. A fateful encounter changes their lives as the secrets of the islands past come unraveled. What once seemed a quiet, peaceful, and isolated home soon reveals ancient technology, buried knowledge, and a threat lurking idly within the ruins scattered across the land. The theme of the game is creating memories and experiences as one enters adulthood, leaving their adolescence behind. Over the seasons to come, they'll grow as people and learn more about one another while facing endeavors they'd not thought possible. Atelier Ryza is written by Yashichiro Takahashi, best known for his work on Shakugan no Shana.
Players can unlock adjacent cells on a synthesis via strategic item placement. Each new cell adds a different effect that will alter the outcome of your completed item. Items are also able to be rebuilt to make them stronger, ensuring they can be used in future synths repeatedly. However, rebuilding items can put restrictions on who can use them. It will be important to decide how your items will be balanced. Should it be stronger but only usable by a single person or would it suffice to be weaker but widely available to everyone? Another layer of strategy comes from balancing what items you'll create, what effects they'll have, and just how they should be used.
Materials can be found all throughout the world. They can come from chests left by other adventurers, trees, rocks, fields, or even fallen enemies. Ryza will be able to gather materials through her travels by accessing gathering points found throughout the maps or even creating her own to share with other players. Using different tools on the same gathering spot will grant you different materials, so experimentation is encouraged. At the atelier, you'll be able to plant crops and tend to fields, ensuring you'll always have the items you need on hand for that next big synthesis. Additionally, you can send your characters to locations around the island to gather, train, and just create memories and take notes on the area. This will allow you to get a better understanding of the location and may even uncover some secrets.
Atelier Ryza features a completely new battle system built from the ground up. With this new Real-Time / ATB hybrid, battles are far more frantic and fast paced than ever before. Characters move along the timeline until their turn, which allows them to act - however, enemies also operate on the timeline and will act accordingly whether you're ready or not. The AI will handle characters you're not actively controlling, but a simple tap of the shoulder buttons will swap over to them with ease. Players will be able to set up on-the-fly combos, issue orders to exploit enemy weaknesses, and level up their tactics gauge to boost skills and unlock additional effects to their current abilities. Build AP with combos and use those points to issue devastating blows and combination attacks against your foes.
Cooperation and teamwork is key in Ryza. Allies will trigger states where they issue commands for you to fulfill, such as using certain elements or types of damage or healing yourself. The character who gives the order will unleash a powerful attack, spell, or buff once the conditions are fulfilled. Swapping from Attack to Defense is easier than ever, ensuring your characters tank hits when your enemies charge up and swap to do high burst damage once they're left wide open. Tearing enemies apart will be much more active and involved than previous entries, yet players will still be encouraged to craft tools of destruction that only a mad alchemist would dare concoct.
Reisalin "Ryza" Stout
Ryza is a headstrong tomboy who finds herself bored to death of her ordinary life. With a rule in place stating none can leave the island, Ryza had dreams and aspirations of exploring the world and breaking her shackles that bind her to her dull days. Contrary to many prior Atelier protagonists, she's more aggressive and wild while having a good head on her shoulders and a strong sense of justice. At the beginning of the game, she's not even an alchemist. Thus, she'll be learning along with the player just what the power of alchemy can do.
Lent Marslink
Lent's one of Ryza's two childhood friends. In Ryza's village, he's a bit of an outcast and looked down upon by other villagers. He has a strong heart and wants to prove he's worthy of the villagers trust, despite whatever happened in the past. He always fights for whats right and acts as an anchor to Ryza when things get out of hand.
Tao Mongarten
Ryza's other childhood friend - Tao - spends his days shunning social events. Instead, he prefers to be left to his own devices so that he may decipher an ancient book he found long ago. He's considered a bookworm who constantly thirsts for knowledge, but he never forgets his friends Ryza and Lent. While he can be a bit socially awkward, he's a fount of knowledge that often helps his friends when they're stumped. Despite his timid and small frame, he can hold his own in a fight.
Klaudia Valentz
Klaudia is the daughter of a merchant who always travels around. Due to this, she's never really had time to make friends. She stands opposite of Ryza in personality traits, being a more quiet, gentle, and calm girl who can make snap decisions when needed. She's known to be courageous, though her soft personality can often be disarming.
Empel Vollmer
Empel is an alchemist who wanders the world. Upon his body and soul, he's myriad scars from his experiments. He travels the world, searching for dilapidated ruins with an extremely curious eye. Research is his life, thus he spends much of his time experimenting and buried in books and formulas. After an accident with alchemy in the past, he finds himself unable to perform high level experiments any longer. While he may look young, he's rather mature - however, he has a bit of a sweet tooth.
Lila Decyrus
Lila is a half-beast warrior woman of an unknown group. She travels with Empel, acting as his bodyguard. She often seems terse and cold, but that's likely due to her lack of understanding of human emotions. She excels in combat and eventually teaches Ryza and friends how to defend themselves. She's short and to the point on all matters and her own emotions rarely ever bubble up. As she continues to explore the island, it's clear she has a deep interest in the ruins that dot the landscape.
Game Systems Highlight Trailer
Battle System Highlight Trailer
Q. I've never played these games. What are they like?
A. Atelier games are typically slice-of-life crafting sims with very heavy RPG elements. Some entries lean more into the RPG side than others. Ryza breaks the traditional mold a bit with a stronger focus on adventure.
Q. Didn't one of these just come out?
A. Lulua came out in May. Gust has multiple teams that work on the series. Ryza started development around the same time as the previous game, Lulua. You do not need to play Lulua as its unrelated.
Q. Can I start with this one?
A. Absolutely, this is the start of a new sub-series with no particular ties to any previous entry. There is no giant overarching story between sub-series.
Q. Is there English VA?
A. Unfortunately not. We are unlikely to get dubbed games in the future unless Ryza sells incredibly well in the west. The upside to the lack of dubbing however is that the west gets localized versions faster than before. Lulua saw only a three month delay while Ryza say only a month between Japanese and English versions.
Q. Does this game have a time limit?
There is no time limit, but there is a day/night cycle with particular enemies, items, and gathering points appearing depending on the time. Events may happen in particular months or seasons, so keep an eye on the calendar.
Q. Is there DLC or MTX?
A. There is DLC which can also be purchased in a Season Pass. These have new events/stories for your characters as well as many new costumes. The price is high, so unless you're a super fan you might want to hold off or just buy pieces separately.
Atelier Community Thread
Koei Tecmo Community Thread
RPG Community Thread
Review Thread
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