Nice to meet a fellow Firis enjoyer. :) I was a bit worried going into Firis. Not only is it my first time-limit game, but I've also seen it get heavy criticism for its numerous quality-of-life issues. And yet when I played it myself, it quickly became my favorite. The graphics are a huge step up from everything before it. I like the wide variety of maps with different climates. I like the fact that there's multiple cities, as well as smaller villages that are part of the map. I like the cast. (Ilmeria is super adorable.) I like the multiple gathering tools and transportation devices. But my favorite part is the quests. Even though they're mostly the same generic "fetch" or "defeat monster" quests, I much prefer taking them in person rather than from a pub or bulletin board. It makes the world feel so much more lively and real. As a result of all that, I felt far more immersed in the world of Firis than any other Atelier game. The gameplay is great too. I like that you're given an overarching task, but the game is open-ended about how to achieve it. For the most part, you could go wherever you want, do whatever you want, in whatever order you like. A welcome change of pace from all the linear stories. The tetris alchemy of the Mysterious series is great for adding so much strategy and depth. And IMO, Firis has the best version. Crafting every item felt like solving a puzzle, and I always feel a sense of accomplishment and excitement when I finally figure out the right materials, and put them in the right order, to get the effects I want. Unlike you, I really enjoyed the combat. I found it far more balanced and strategic, compared to every other Atelier game I've played. It's quite telling that in many Atelier games, I can break the game so hard that even the hardest difficulty is trivialized, whereas in Firis, I just played on normal the whole time, and enjoyed a fair and consistent difficulty from start to finish. So what about all the quality-of-life issues? Surprisingly, I never had a problem with any of that. On the contrary, I actually found the systems in Firis to be more intuitive and less tedious than the analogous systems in Sophie and Lydie&Suelle. No complaints from me- I just had a blast from start to finish. :D
YES, FIRIS LOVE! I cannot believe that game sold as poorly as it did, because like you said, it's the best game in this trilogy by far imo. It really paved the way for the Ryza games. I really love the passion you put in these videos. You can clearly hear that you're a fan of the series, but you're not afraid to be critical either, without hanging too much on the negatives. As you know, I wasn't the biggest fan of Sophie. It took way too long to get going and by the time we did learn more about Plachta, I just wasn't that invested anymore. I also kept getting lost and there were multiple times I didn't know what to do, because of some very vague hints in the alchemy book thing lol. I do agree about the characters though. They for sure are the best ones in the trilogy and I was delighted to see some of these characters again in Atelier Firis. Firis. Oh Firis. Such a good game. Like you said, it really improved on everything Sophie did and the exploration is addictive as heck! And QUEST MARKERS ON THE MAP 💙 No more getting lost for my casual ass lmao 😂 Lydie and Suelle does look really fun and colorful, but for some reason I just can't get myself to play them. I'm fairly sure it's because of the main characters. I can't stand young girls with high pitched voices. But seeing the game in action, I will have to try them anyway. I like the painting world idea a lot too! Such a fantastic and passionate review. I just love hearing you talk about this series. The scenes matched what you were saying, the music selection was great, the fact that this video is 50% about Firis is also something I very much agree with, and aaaah you make me want to pick up these games again. Fantastic work man!
Firis was the worst in my opinion. Guts clearly doesn't have the Budget to create such a huge Open World. Its funny that you won't play Lydie because of "High Pitch Voices", despite Firis is the EXACT same thing.
This was a great review. I'm interested in the atelier mysterious trilogy games for the nintendo switch, all of them look really great and i really love the atelier games too.
Thank you! I’m so glad you liked it 😆 I feel like Atelier is a great entry-level series for people who don’t play many games. I hope you try more some day! Thanks again.
This is a really good review on the game. But it feels so weird knowing at one point you made English dubs for songs in vocaloid lmao. Still your content has gotten better over time and I still love it even after 5 years.
This is the one I'm starting with, and I'm almost done with Sophie (just gotta get strong enough for the final boss). It's a beautiful game, the characters are a lot of fun, the turn-based combat is just easy enough for me. The voice acting is very good. The voices are varied, and while Sophie has the typical anime voice, she's actually not annoying. Very good stuf, and I'm looking forward to the rest of the trilogy, as well as the earlier ones. It does seem odd in anime, though, that all the character names are Germanic. lol
I discovered this franchise on PS2 with the first of the “Iris” series and from there I played them all up to Ryza (if I still miss the Ryza 2 I'll play it soon). I have loved the Atelier series for a long time!
That’s great to hear!! I hope you keep playing and loving the series. I thought I wouldn’t like Ryza 2, but it turned out to be one of my all-time favourites!! Thanks for watching ☺️
@@zoozbuh if you can recover one of the best in 2d I strongly recommend "Mana Khemia 2: Fall of Alchemy" it’s one with the most beautiful music and story structure released on PS2 !! if you like the Atelier series you absolutely have to play it!
@@SonikosTV Actually that’s one of the very few games I haven’t played! It never came out in Europe so I had to find it through other means. I’ll definitely go back to it soon 😅
I really loved this mysterious arc, especially Firis. I've following the series since Mana khemia were ported to psp, and now im playing Ryza. but i really hoping that they (gust) will make another Atelier like Firis... Man i loved her journey, and then fall in love with her sister 🤣🤣
A little hint, there IS a missable Trophy in Atelier Sophie, its the Plachta Challenge one. If you don't Synthesize a Philosopher Stone before a certain Event happens, its too late. About Firis, i have to disagree. I liked Firis the least, i mostly didn't like that there is no real Story this time. I get it, i get it. The Journey IS the Story, but that wasn't enough for me. The Open World wasn't appealing enough for me, most likely because Guts doesn't have the Ressources to pull it off better, but i have to admit that it made alot of sense for Firis' Character. That said, there are of course things i still like about it. I like the idea that Sophie is Firis' Teacher. I like that even Side Characters from Sophie appear again. I love the Soundtrack. And i like the End Game Character Story Quests. Side Note, Firis floped actually really hard in Japan, because the Audience didn't like the Concept haha. But for me, Lydie was the best Game in the Trilogy. Why? Because it took the best Elements from Sophie and made it even better. And thank GOD they didn't try to make it Open World again. The Soundtrack is once again Mindblowingly good, but the thing what makes Lydie the best out of the Trilogy, is the Story. This Game has the most Satisfying conclusion to a Trilogy that i ever expirienced. Every open Storyline since Sophie 1, like Cornerias Parents, Fritz' Family, Plachtas Journey to be Human again gets solved and of course, Sophies Journey to be a great Alchemist. The Story about Lydie and Suelle also merges perfectly into this and i loved both of them. I personally think, the best way to expirience this Trilogy is to play it in Order, starting with Sophie, then Firis and finally Lydie. At the End of the last Game, i actually shared some tears. A perfect Ending to a great Trilogy. Glad that they made Sophie 2 instead of a new Ryza title.
Thanks for the information about the missable trophy! I don’t remember that at all, so I guess I must have made the item in time without realising. Good to know. I get what you mean about Lydie & Suelle concluding the trilogy well, but all three games are so “slice-of-life” and light on story in my opinion, that it comes down to which characters and gameplay you prefer most. Unfortunately I just didn’t connect with Lydie and Suelle themselves (the two main characters)- as the majority of the story revolved around them, it wasn’t really interesting/emotional for me. Honestly I found them quite boring and annoying lol. It’s just personal taste. With Firis, of course there wasn’t a lot of story, but it felt like a different type of experience to me. Discovering new things all the time, completing so many quests in different ways, travelling and getting new party members… I guess it felt like “Atelier but an adventure RPG”. My expectations for the story in the Mysterious trilogy were super low, even right until the end, so I just enjoyed Firis more as an overall experience. I realise it may be an unpopular opinion, ESPECIALLY compared to what the Japanese fanbase thinks. However I think Firis went on to influence a LOT of things in the Ryza games and Sophie 2. Firis “walked” so those games could “run”, imo. Totally respect your opinion too, and I love discussing these games. Hopefully you see where I’m coming from a bit more 🙂
@@zoozbuh It seems that you have the exact opposite opinion, because Firis was the only Character i didn't really care about, but as soon as i started Lydie, i loved the Twins. 🤣 I also get what you mean about the Story, but for me personally, i wanted to know so bad how Sophies Journey through these Games will continue and how the Characters will interact with each other and evolve. See, my problem with the Open World was, that Guts clearly is way too small to pull it off better. I also hated that i had to backtrack alot for certain Materials, at least in the Vanilla Game (not the DX) i played, you only get the Broom and the flying Ship at the End Game. I of course respect your opinion. ;) Its always interesting to know thst everyone sees a Game differently and prefers certain aspects more then others. For me, these Games are all about the Characters and how they evolve throughout the Games. Thats what i wanted, thats what i loved. And it ended perfectly for me. 😊
Hm??? If you get the physical version from play-asia, all 3 games are on the cartridge. If you download, all 3 games are a separate app on your home screen. You can buy separately or all together. It’s cheaper to buy them together. 👍🏽
Lol the exam can be slightly challenging if you don’t have lots of high-powered bombs. I could beat it easily but the “final boss” at the very end was very difficult (I won’t spoil, just in case you didn’t do it)
@@zoozbuh no i havent i bombed the writing and effed the practical exam so the game gave me instant game over i like following guide but i found 1 with not so neatly organised … i found out later that i need water with 999 quality i was so underprepared that i left the game for now and try from scratch or just do NG plus
Closed captions/subtitles added! I hope they're helpful for someone!
Nice to meet a fellow Firis enjoyer. :)
I was a bit worried going into Firis. Not only is it my first time-limit game, but I've also seen it get heavy criticism for its numerous quality-of-life issues. And yet when I played it myself, it quickly became my favorite.
The graphics are a huge step up from everything before it. I like the wide variety of maps with different climates. I like the fact that there's multiple cities, as well as smaller villages that are part of the map. I like the cast. (Ilmeria is super adorable.) I like the multiple gathering tools and transportation devices. But my favorite part is the quests. Even though they're mostly the same generic "fetch" or "defeat monster" quests, I much prefer taking them in person rather than from a pub or bulletin board. It makes the world feel so much more lively and real.
As a result of all that, I felt far more immersed in the world of Firis than any other Atelier game.
The gameplay is great too. I like that you're given an overarching task, but the game is open-ended about how to achieve it. For the most part, you could go wherever you want, do whatever you want, in whatever order you like. A welcome change of pace from all the linear stories.
The tetris alchemy of the Mysterious series is great for adding so much strategy and depth. And IMO, Firis has the best version. Crafting every item felt like solving a puzzle, and I always feel a sense of accomplishment and excitement when I finally figure out the right materials, and put them in the right order, to get the effects I want.
Unlike you, I really enjoyed the combat. I found it far more balanced and strategic, compared to every other Atelier game I've played. It's quite telling that in many Atelier games, I can break the game so hard that even the hardest difficulty is trivialized, whereas in Firis, I just played on normal the whole time, and enjoyed a fair and consistent difficulty from start to finish.
So what about all the quality-of-life issues? Surprisingly, I never had a problem with any of that. On the contrary, I actually found the systems in Firis to be more intuitive and less tedious than the analogous systems in Sophie and Lydie&Suelle. No complaints from me- I just had a blast from start to finish. :D
This was a perfect video, I can tell you put a lot of work into this! 👍✨❤
Wow Ircha, thanks so much!! That means a lot, coming from you 😊👍🏽❤️ Glad you enjoyed it.
@@zoozbuh subbed 😎👍
YES, FIRIS LOVE! I cannot believe that game sold as poorly as it did, because like you said, it's the best game in this trilogy by far imo. It really paved the way for the Ryza games.
I really love the passion you put in these videos. You can clearly hear that you're a fan of the series, but you're not afraid to be critical either, without hanging too much on the negatives.
As you know, I wasn't the biggest fan of Sophie. It took way too long to get going and by the time we did learn more about Plachta, I just wasn't that invested anymore. I also kept getting lost and there were multiple times I didn't know what to do, because of some very vague hints in the alchemy book thing lol. I do agree about the characters though. They for sure are the best ones in the trilogy and I was delighted to see some of these characters again in Atelier Firis.
Firis. Oh Firis. Such a good game. Like you said, it really improved on everything Sophie did and the exploration is addictive as heck! And QUEST MARKERS ON THE MAP 💙 No more getting lost for my casual ass lmao 😂
Lydie and Suelle does look really fun and colorful, but for some reason I just can't get myself to play them. I'm fairly sure it's because of the main characters. I can't stand young girls with high pitched voices. But seeing the game in action, I will have to try them anyway. I like the painting world idea a lot too!
Such a fantastic and passionate review. I just love hearing you talk about this series. The scenes matched what you were saying, the music selection was great, the fact that this video is 50% about Firis is also something I very much agree with, and aaaah you make me want to pick up these games again. Fantastic work man!
Thanks Mark! So glad you liked it, honestly. The appreciation means a lot ❤️
Firis was the worst in my opinion. Guts clearly doesn't have the Budget to create such a huge Open World. Its funny that you won't play Lydie because of "High Pitch Voices", despite Firis is the EXACT same thing.
This was a great review. I'm interested in the atelier mysterious trilogy games for the nintendo switch, all of them look really great and i really love the atelier games too.
A good listen!
I feel like I know more about the series than I ever have XD
Haha, glad you enjoyed it!
I absolutely love your review videos!! I'm not the biggest gamer but the ones you've reviewed that I've tried have been a lot of fun.
Thank you! I’m so glad you liked it 😆 I feel like Atelier is a great entry-level series for people who don’t play many games. I hope you try more some day! Thanks again.
Loved this review 💕
Thanks! So glad you liked it!
You really do need to do more game reviews! you are so good at it.
Thanks Kenta! 💕
This is a really good review on the game. But it feels so weird knowing at one point you made English dubs for songs in vocaloid lmao. Still your content has gotten better over time and I still love it even after 5 years.
This is the one I'm starting with, and I'm almost done with Sophie (just gotta get strong enough for the final boss). It's a beautiful game, the characters are a lot of fun, the turn-based combat is just easy enough for me. The voice acting is very good. The voices are varied, and while Sophie has the typical anime voice, she's actually not annoying. Very good stuf, and I'm looking forward to the rest of the trilogy, as well as the earlier ones. It does seem odd in anime, though, that all the character names are Germanic. lol
I discovered this franchise on PS2 with the first of the “Iris” series and from there I played them all up to Ryza (if I still miss the Ryza 2 I'll play it soon). I have loved the Atelier series for a long time!
That’s great to hear!! I hope you keep playing and loving the series. I thought I wouldn’t like Ryza 2, but it turned out to be one of my all-time favourites!! Thanks for watching ☺️
@@zoozbuh if you can recover one of the best in 2d I strongly recommend "Mana Khemia 2: Fall of Alchemy" it’s one with the most beautiful music and story structure released on PS2 !! if you like the Atelier series you absolutely have to play it!
@@SonikosTV Actually that’s one of the very few games I haven’t played! It never came out in Europe so I had to find it through other means. I’ll definitely go back to it soon 😅
@@zoozbuh I know ! I played it in emulation on PC
I really loved this mysterious arc, especially Firis. I've following the series since Mana khemia were ported to psp, and now im playing Ryza. but i really hoping that they (gust) will make another Atelier like Firis... Man i loved her journey, and then fall in love with her sister 🤣🤣
A little hint, there IS a missable Trophy in Atelier Sophie, its the Plachta Challenge one. If you don't Synthesize a Philosopher Stone before a certain Event happens, its too late.
About Firis, i have to disagree. I liked Firis the least, i mostly didn't like that there is no real Story this time. I get it, i get it. The Journey IS the Story, but that wasn't enough for me. The Open World wasn't appealing enough for me, most likely because Guts doesn't have the Ressources to pull it off better, but i have to admit that it made alot of sense for Firis' Character. That said, there are of course things i still like about it. I like the idea that Sophie is Firis' Teacher. I like that even Side Characters from Sophie appear again. I love the Soundtrack. And i like the End Game Character Story Quests. Side Note, Firis floped actually really hard in Japan, because the Audience didn't like the Concept haha.
But for me, Lydie was the best Game in the Trilogy. Why? Because it took the best Elements from Sophie and made it even better. And thank GOD they didn't try to make it Open World again. The Soundtrack is once again Mindblowingly good, but the thing what makes Lydie the best out of the Trilogy, is the Story. This Game has the most Satisfying conclusion to a Trilogy that i ever expirienced. Every open Storyline since Sophie 1, like Cornerias Parents, Fritz' Family, Plachtas Journey to be Human again gets solved and of course, Sophies Journey to be a great Alchemist. The Story about Lydie and Suelle also merges perfectly into this and i loved both of them.
I personally think, the best way to expirience this Trilogy is to play it in Order, starting with Sophie, then Firis and finally Lydie. At the End of the last Game, i actually shared some tears. A perfect Ending to a great Trilogy. Glad that they made Sophie 2 instead of a new Ryza title.
Thanks for the information about the missable trophy! I don’t remember that at all, so I guess I must have made the item in time without realising. Good to know.
I get what you mean about Lydie & Suelle concluding the trilogy well, but all three games are so “slice-of-life” and light on story in my opinion, that it comes down to which characters and gameplay you prefer most. Unfortunately I just didn’t connect with Lydie and Suelle themselves (the two main characters)- as the majority of the story revolved around them, it wasn’t really interesting/emotional for me. Honestly I found them quite boring and annoying lol. It’s just personal taste.
With Firis, of course there wasn’t a lot of story, but it felt like a different type of experience to me. Discovering new things all the time, completing so many quests in different ways, travelling and getting new party members… I guess it felt like “Atelier but an adventure RPG”. My expectations for the story in the Mysterious trilogy were super low, even right until the end, so I just enjoyed Firis more as an overall experience.
I realise it may be an unpopular opinion, ESPECIALLY compared to what the Japanese fanbase thinks. However I think Firis went on to influence a LOT of things in the Ryza games and Sophie 2. Firis “walked” so those games could “run”, imo.
Totally respect your opinion too, and I love discussing these games. Hopefully you see where I’m coming from a bit more 🙂
@@zoozbuh It seems that you have the exact opposite opinion, because Firis was the only Character i didn't really care about, but as soon as i started Lydie, i loved the Twins. 🤣 I also get what you mean about the Story, but for me personally, i wanted to know so bad how Sophies Journey through these Games will continue and how the Characters will interact with each other and evolve. See, my problem with the Open World was, that Guts clearly is way too small to pull it off better. I also hated that i had to backtrack alot for certain Materials, at least in the Vanilla Game (not the DX) i played, you only get the Broom and the flying Ship at the End Game.
I of course respect your opinion. ;) Its always interesting to know thst everyone sees a Game differently and prefers certain aspects more then others.
For me, these Games are all about the Characters and how they evolve throughout the Games. Thats what i wanted, thats what i loved. And it ended perfectly for me. 😊
Did aye have 2 buy or download dis game (da updates)?
Hm??? If you get the physical version from play-asia, all 3 games are on the cartridge. If you download, all 3 games are a separate app on your home screen.
You can buy separately or all together. It’s cheaper to buy them together. 👍🏽
as i finished sophie , rayza 1 and 2 ... therefore i went to firis time management is a stress even failed the exam 2 times xD
Lol the exam can be slightly challenging if you don’t have lots of high-powered bombs. I could beat it easily but the “final boss” at the very end was very difficult (I won’t spoil, just in case you didn’t do it)
@@zoozbuh no i havent i bombed the writing and effed the practical exam so the game gave me instant game over i like following guide but i found 1 with not so neatly organised … i found out later that i need water with 999 quality i was so underprepared that i left the game for now and try from scratch or just do NG plus