Atelier Firis: The Alchemist and the Mysterious Journey

 PlayStation 4
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Mixed or average reviews - based on 31 Critic Reviews What's this?

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7.1

Mixed or average reviews- based on 52 Ratings

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  • Summary: The second entry in the Mysterious saga follows the adventures of the enthusiastic Firis Mistlud and her loving older sister Liane Mistlud. The sisters have lived their entire lives in the isolated town of Ertona, where Firis uses her unique ability to see where crystals are buried. By wayThe second entry in the Mysterious saga follows the adventures of the enthusiastic Firis Mistlud and her loving older sister Liane Mistlud. The sisters have lived their entire lives in the isolated town of Ertona, where Firis uses her unique ability to see where crystals are buried. By way of a fateful encounter, Firis learns of the Alchemy Exam and decides to take her first step into the outside world, setting off on a grand journey to become a certified alchemist and discover the mysteries that life has to offer. [Playstation.com]… Expand
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Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 16 out of 31
  2. Mixed: 15 out of 31
  3. Negative: 0 out of 31
  1. Digitally Downloaded
    Mar 7, 2017
    100
    These are really minor complaints, though, when stacked against the fact that Atelier Firis took me back to the innocence and joy in those Arland games that got me interested in the series in the first place. Most importantly, given that this is the first time that he’s helmed the creative side of an Atelier title, Shinichi Yoshiike has proven himself to be a confident and safe pair of hands to shape the series into the future. As such, I expect that this series will continue to remain my favourite among the more traditional JRPG franchises out there.
  2. Video Chums
    Mar 8, 2017
    85
    Atelier Firis tells a heartwarming story of a girl determined to forge her own path in life with the help of her sister and a few friends. Its open world is full of rewarding tasks to master and the battle system will put your alchemy abilities to the test. In the end, it may not be the best game in the series but it's definitely a wonderful start to take Atelier in an entirely new direction.
  3. SpazioGames
    Mar 17, 2017
    80
    The developers of Atelier Firis tried to create a product that could satisfy both purists and new players. And they succeeded: even if it is a niche title, it's worth a look by the fans of the genre.
  4. DualShockers
    Mar 7, 2017
    75
    I admire Gust for delivering a product outside of their comfort zone. However, even though the open world is the most exciting new addition, it also tends to bring the most problems with it. Atelier Firis will surly impress fans of the franchise, but could feel dated to modern RPG fans.
  5. Push Square
    Mar 17, 2017
    70
    Atelier Firis makes huge strides forward with its lively open world, but it also takes several steps backwards in other areas. Reintroducing the time limit forces you to play the game at breakneck speed, which means that much of the world is ignored until over 20 hours into the game. Once you break away from the time limit, however, you'll discover a brilliantly diverse world that you can get lost in for countless hours, where you'll be free to properly enjoy what is ultimately a solid, but neglected battle system.
  6. TrueGaming
    Mar 7, 2017
    70
    A new enjoyable installment in the Atelier series that sometimes makes you feel lost due to the sheer amount of new ideas you have to digest at once.
  7. RPGamer
    Mar 14, 2017
    50
    I had high hopes for a lot of the new ideas being introduced, but sadly Atelier Firis breaks my heart in a lot of ways. As someone who loves to get lost in big open worlds, I struggled to enjoy this installment with the same intensity that I've had for the Atelier series over the years. Firis feels like a larger step backwards than Sophie did, and I can only hope that the third game in the Mysterious subseries will fix the blemishes, because there are some great ideas here that just needed smarter execution and more polish.

See all 31 Critic Reviews

User Reviews

Write a Review
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 4 out of 6
  2. Mixed: 2 out of 6
  3. Negative: 0 out of 6
  1. GigaChadDMC2
    Jun 17, 2022
    10
    OPEN WORLD.MOE.KINO
    >Best main character
    >best exploration >best yuri >best level design >best graphics >best music >best combat Cope    OPEN WORLD.MOE.KINO
    >Best main character
    >best exploration
    >best yuri
    >best level design
    >best graphics
    >best music
    >best combat
    Cope Ryza and Sophie chuds    … Expand
  2. 17_jrpg
    Aug 18, 2017
    9
    Like predecessor, this game also has a wonderful design of the whole game, an interesting and funny story, as well still feels likeLike predecessor, this game also has a wonderful design of the whole game, an interesting and funny story, as well still feels like tradicional JRPG. There is little progress from the predecessor. The alchemy system is the same, but the battle system is new. They returned the battle system they used in Arland series, but I was hoping that they will return the battle system from Mana Khemia series. A gameplay is good, new time management is interesting.

    Conclusion: It's a little advance from the predecessor, but still a good Atelier game and a good JRPG. I hope they will make the new sequel of Mysterious series even better and that they will return the battle system from Mana Khemia series.    … Expand
  4. Misheki
    Oct 7, 2017
    9
    Its my first Atelier game but i'm absolutely loving it, the graphics while not the best in the world are still quite appealing to my eyes andIts my first Atelier game but i'm absolutely loving it, the graphics while not the best in the world are still quite appealing to my eyes and the game play is enjoyable. All though the Combat system is a bit Robust its still very enjoyable to fight monsters and gather the resources for what I feel is the main thing of this game Alchemy. Its very well done and the way you make new items through Alchemy is well worked out and fits with the theme of the game.

    The time limit is a bit annoying in the beginning as you feel like you have to rush to the end but later on after your first recommendation you get the feeling you can take it a lot slower and in my case I started to enjoy the game a lot more. I haven't completed it yet but I'm about 10-20 hours in and I'm having a lot of fun!

    Pros:
    - Alchemy is well worked out
    - The open World setting is a plus to me
    - The Characters are quite funny
    - The story is a change of pace from the 'Oh god the world is going to explode!' kind of theme

    Cons:
    - The characters can be quite flat at times
    - The Time Limit system is a bit of a hassle
    - It takes a bit to get out of the tutorial area and could have be done quicker in my opinion.    … Expand
  5. tomvs123
    Jan 5, 2018
    8
    This is another great Atelier game and fans of the previous games should definitely pick it up.

    For a quick introduction, the Atelier games    This is another great Atelier game and fans of the previous games should definitely pick it up.

    For a quick introduction, the Atelier games are about daily alchemist life. The best parts of these games are the alchemy (crafting system) and character interactions while going about your daily work. Atelier games have no definite end, no ultimate bad guy, and no epic story line, so these games aren't for everyone.

    Each new game gets a new set of characters and minor changes to the gameplay and crafting. Although Firis gives a surprise with a huge change to gameplay: it has turned into a semi open-world game. This game gives you an entire world map to explore (with loading screens between zones) with random NPCs peppered throughout.

    The primary goal for Firis is to go on a journey to take and pass an alchemy exam. It is a little more involved than it sounds, but is definitely not enough to fill out the whole game. You'll spend the rest of your time doing odd jobs (quests) for people you meet on your way and completing the storylines of the other characters who can join your party.

    There is a time limit (deadline) for reaching your destination and passing the exam, but it is easily attainable within the time limit. It's a good idea to spend time exploring and meeting new people on your way. If you don't complete their quests and storylines before you take your exam, that's no problem. You can continue them afterwards when there's no time limit.

    In my case, I spent most of my time with the game after I passed the exam. There's no time counter, but I estimate I spent 20 hours before passing the exam and 40 hours completing events and crafting after the exam.

    The game premise reminded me of Atelier Ayesha in that you had one main quest (of saving Ayesha's sister), and then the rest of the game sort of fell flat with uninteresting side quests. Firis doesn't have this problem and all events and quests outside of your exam are interesting enough to keep the game going. Although like all Atelier games, things sort of fizzle out when you run out of quests and events to partake in.

    All of the characters are well acted (Japanese voices) and well written when compared to other JRPGs and are entirely believable within their world. Although, being about the daily lives of these characters (and nothing epic) helps everything be more grounded and believable.

    There's a few reappearing characters from Atelier Sophie (the previous game), and I recommend that you play it first, although it's not required.

    As for the crafting (alchemy), it's still the best crafting system I've used in any game, but it's very similar to the previous games (with So if you got your fill of it already in one of the other PS3 or PS4 installments, you won't find much new here.

    And like Atelier Sophie, obtaining most everything and seeing most events is relatively easy and doesn't require a guide like some of the older games in the series or other low-budget JRPGs.

    When you complete the game, you get a music player, picture viewer, and audio comments from the Japanese cast. It's a shame that there's no subtitles for these. A model viewer would have been nice, too.

    I did encounter a few minor bugs, which is rare for an Atelier game. Some gathering spots are inaccessible or accessible only when your character is at a certain angle. There's a few issues with flashing/missing textures and clipping of NPC objects. Fishing sometimes results in a victory animation, but no fish. And in some cases, you can alter the landscape, but if you go into a cutscene, it shows the old landscape. None of these caused any major issues, though they did break my immersion slightly.    … Expand
  6. OneManCast
    Apr 30, 2021
    6
    The biggest disappointment of the Mysterious Trilogy. It has lovable characters, but their setpieces aren't on the same levels as Sophie orThe biggest disappointment of the Mysterious Trilogy. It has lovable characters, but their setpieces aren't on the same levels as Sophie or Lydie/Sue. A poor implementation of the time limit (so easy that I had over 50 days left) and its battle mechanics are poor.… Expand
  7. Dubeau
    Aug 9, 2017
    6
    About 20 hours into the game. I really love the alchemy part. Making things is really fun and exploring too. Combat has a turn base mechanicAbout 20 hours into the game. I really love the alchemy part. Making things is really fun and exploring too. Combat has a turn base mechanic and is well done. I don't dislike it but it could have been a bit more strategic. The levelling doesn't offer any choices. The story seems conventional but not too bad. The music is ok but the voice overs for the main characters are absolutely atrocious. As far as female voices go, they couldn't choose a more hysterical manner to do it. This game isn't that bad and quite addictive once you get pass the underground area. I give it a 75% and hopefully they could do better in some aspect of the next game.

    Update: After you get pass the lake sequence the game becomes much more harder, and require dull grinding. Missions, synthesis and combat becomes really boring. And there is so much backtracking in certain areas. The humour is getting a bit better but otherwise I totally lost interest in the repetitive aspects of the game. I am downgrading this to 60%. Game uninstall before the ending.    … Expand

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