CORRECTION: There is actually an in-game item compendium, it's just a little convoluted to get to/find. There must be a quicker way but this was where I found it. >Open Menu >Select Guide >Select Items >Chose Craftable Item from list > View Items Log page >Open Ingredient Types list >Open Materials list by selecting an ingredient type. >Select the specific Material you need. On the final Material screen you'll find locations and gathering tools required. This game and it's menus man... It's actually faster to just look online. Hopefully there's just a list somewhere else of every item just in alphabetical order you can open up in 2 clicks and scroll through, but if there is, I'll have to find it another time. *Original Post* Just for the record, when I say they should focus more on telling a compelling story I don't mean I need some grand, epic adventure. They can keep the more laid back, slice-of-life style, but do something to make it feel more genuine and interesting. The first worked because the younger cast was so ignorant and curious you could easily get swept up in their innocence. Kind of like a Goonies thing. This one just feels a bit forced into action. Could use a little more "Showing" and a little less "Telling" about her feeling stuck in life and such. Would love to have spent an hour-ish in Her home-town again. Otherwise, *OK Sign Hand Emoji*
You can view the item compendium while synthesizing by pressing the "Table of Contents" button (it's the (-) button on the switch) There it lists all the related materials, categories, and traits and you can select from them to view their entry in the compendium. It's handy and I used a lot since Ryza 1. However, the locations they give on the compendium itself is still very confusing. They list multiple gathering locations but sometimes when I go to that location, I can't find it there. I agree that it needs to be improved.
Hey, just FYI w/r/t 9:35, there actually is a compendium for materials that tells you where you can find materials that you've already collected at least once. It's not super easy to find tucked away in the guide section of the menu, but it's very helpful for tracking down stuff. Great review though!
Just started playing Ryza 2. Thanks for the tip about the difficulty. I was destroying everything within 10 seconds of a battle starting. At least on hard I can actually get some semblance of enjoyment out of the fights. Also, wow the skill tree actually makes me want to spend time synthesizing things more. So far I am having a pretty good time with it. Great review!
I've read so far that everyone is enjoying Ryza 2. Infact, yours was a slightly more critical review. Though most of the people are so neck deep in mechanics and progression (and "THICC THIGHS!!!") that they didn't focus that much on the stories.
For what it's worth, Story was never quite the focus of the games anyway. People tend to like how slice of life they are, and for the most part, that worked in Ryza 1, it just didn't work as well at the start of Ryza 2. I am some-what scratching my head over the 8's and 9's I seen it get, but I guess if we're just looking at it in terms of how it advanced the series compared to earlier games, and not in terms of how much further it can/should go, it makes sense.
I believe that was can agree the lighthearted story works for these games. Anything larger would certainly not make sense with the direction they went in. Overall great review as always Tarks
Definitely. Doesn't need to be larger or more dramatic. It just needs to spring into action a little more legitimately and a little less by convenience.
@@calebb7012 now that I’ve played the game for 60 hours I can see the appeal, but I can also see how rushed and basic it is. The ps5 version is a joke, it could probably run on a ps2. Crafting is the big feature (and the reason I kept playing for 60 hours) but that’s it. Ugly to watch at, repetitive, bad graphics and animations, terrible system in terms of quality of life, uninteresting dialogues and story, uninteresting dungeons, dumb combat system (literally oneshotted every boss at the hardest difficulty). This would’ve worked better as a crafting simulator period. Maybe a fantasy shop tycoon. Everything else is boring, can’t recommend.
I feel like this mostly just comes from the series not having "That much" of a focus on its stories to begin with. So for most returning fans this is nothing note-worthy, though I do feel the characters feel less motivated than in the first game, even if the adventure otherwise is considerably more fleshed out than the first.
Also go watch cublikefoot's review of the game - if anything, he's even more critical of the story than Tarks was. I agree with Tarks that the series doesn't tend to have a huge focus on over-arching story, which is probably why most reviewers kinda put that to the side... or just considered it "good" by Atelier standards. I have rose-tinted glasses for any Gust game because I KNOW the kind of storytelling they're capable of, but actually *THIS* series has really always been pretty mediocre in terms of story, lol.
Great review man, and Jesus! I got the only physical copy of the first game in St.Louis in one GameStop. I had no idea that their are still North American short supplies.
I was wondering why I hadn't watched your review on this yet... and then I realised you only uploaded it 2 days ago... Makes sense! Surprisingly enough (even as a diehard Gust/Atelier fan) I hadn't gotten around to playing Ryza 2 yet. I definitely need to, and I have no good excuse, other than a crazy backlog. Overall, from your vid and several others, I'm getting the feeling the story in particular is very hit-and-miss... and centres a lot around the mascot character. Honestly, all other aspects seem amazing and a major improvement, so I'm still gonna play it, but it seems a shame that Gust just can't seem to nail the story element in these games (or possibly doesn't try to). To be totally honest I miss Ar Tonelico/Ar nosurge and every new Atelier game only makes me crave another one of those, lol.. P.S. GREAT REVIEW, as always! But that goes without saying.
I once asked on Twitter if anyone could describe to me why this game was good without using the word "thighs" because that was basically all I was ever hearing about this game. Apparently I should have just watched this :P
You know, I do love me my thicc thighs but like... the meme just feels so dead to me. For once I didn't want to grab the low-hanging fruit. Thanks for kind words dude. Glad you enjoyed the vid.
I pray that one day Neptunia also gets and upgrade in gameplay like Atelier did. I played some of the games back on PS Vita but had a very hard time getting into the game for a good part of it.
tarks is one of my fave channels and this is a good review. that being said this game is a 9.5 out of 10. ryza must be protected at all costs! now excuse me while me and my bf clifford are off to search for secret treasures. out.
You and Clifford can go off spelunking (is that what the kids call it these days?) As long as you let me hang back and enjoy a nice day in the sun with Cassandra.
That was a fun review, man. I like how you put the soundtrack and graphics talk with the performance section. I'm dying to play some Atelier Ryza but I GOT to finish this extremely long FF7R script before I play any other games. I played Rorona back in the day and thought it was awesome because of the deep item crafting system.
Now if Amazon would stop holding Ryza 1 at 60 to 80$ many more of us could get into this series :). Thanks as always @Tarks for the usual in depth insightful review.
One of my most wanted games of this year... but I haven't played the original yet. I want a physical copy, but jeez Louise the prices are out of control
I don't think Atelier Ryza had a sequel just because it was popular. If anything it seemed that it was planned to have a sequel from the start, since it only had one ending, compared to other Atelier games that had multiple endings. Also something I noticed is the character endings change a bit depending on if you completed the events for each character or not.
You'd think if they planned it from the start the story wouldn't be so phoned in at the start. Like.. the adventure would feel like a more cohesive continuation of the first. The way it is, that intro is just sad. If this was planned from the start it was a bad plan.
@@TarksGauntlet I think maybe you are putting too much weight on the wrong things. I can understand why you feel the beginning of the game is shaky, because the egg is a central part of a story that wouldn't have happened if it wasn't there, still, I think you are mistaken about character motivations. Ryza had found a sense of purpose in her home in the first game, but she was always a little bit directionless because the path of an alchemist is vague. There was always a contrast between her and other characters in regards to goal and lifestyle and the way this is set up in Ryza 1 gives room for a sequel. Its also important to note that just because they hinted at a sequel that does not mean they had something concrete in mind, specially given that their development cycle is so short. I think they knew the direction they wanted to take Ryza and the other characters, but didn't knew what scenario or narrative they would use to make them get where they wanted. So I really think Ryza would just be on the lookout for a new adventure, for an opportunity to get out of the island for a little while. I don't think it would even feel out of character if the only reason Ryza had to go to the capital was Tao's letter and invitation. That being said, I think the egg could have been better introduced and I also wish we had some time on the island, it would be a great prologue to a new adventure and closure to the first and it would also feel less rushed.
It's really hard not to put weight on it for me to be honest, since the entire plot is built upon that 1 extremely contrived moment. Now, I give full credit to the game outside of that and what I think it does right, but I can't help but feel it's a massive step down from the first, where the character motivations were literally just "Lets go explore," but were executed much, much better. This just feels horribly slapped together. It is, of course possible, that Gust fully intended from the start for this to be a trilogy following the same cast, but I really feel if Ryza 1 performed on the same level as the other games they would have kept the formula the same, and had a small recurring role for Ryza, maybe where we play as a new MC being taught by Ryza and still see some of her frustrations with feeling plateaued/stagnant through their intermittent interactions. As it is, it kind of feels like they had a sub-plot planned for her that they tried to twist into the main plot which, granted, aside from the intro actually works.
@@TarksGauntlet I can understand feeling weirded out by the beginning, I just don't agree that this weak plot setup damages characters motivations because I don't see how characters would react another way and I feel it is perfectly justified. The problem I have with it is that it feels somewhat rushed and too convenient from a narrative standpoint. I respect your opinion, though, you have your reasons to feel the way you do and prolonging this discussion will just make us repeat the same points. About the way it was written, I decided to research a little bit and found an interview where it was indeed confirmed that a sequel with Ryza as a protagonist was planned since the beginning, you can see it here: nintendosoup.com/atelier-ryza-2-producer-reveals-that-ryzas-return-was-already-planned-early-on/ I do hope we get another protagonist for "Ryza 3", though. I don't think Ryza needs a third game on the spotlight. If a "student" of hers was the protagonist of the next game it would be a good end to the cycle.
@@Azrael_Terminus "Keeping Ryza as the protagonist for a sequel was something we thought about since the beginning of the first game’s planning. However, everyone has been asking me “Did you keep Ryza because the first game’s sales were really good?”, and there’s also some truth to that. Because even if we wanted to do something, we couldn’t do it if not for the players’ support.” Alright. Apparently this is a case of "A little of Column A, A little of Column B" sort of thing. The idea was always there but sales gave them confidence and backing enough to pursue the direction. Good to know at the very least. Speculation seems to believe Ryza will complete the trilogy, which I guess makes sense, it might be a little strange to swap out the MC for just the last game but we'll see. If they do use her again I just hope they get her ball rolling a little better. Something thats established with more than just a bit of narrative exposition and a matter of convenience. That all said, I don't think the "Matter of convenience" hurt their character development. I might not be speaking the most clearly here, this stuff can get confusing over text, and it can get rather jargon-heavy. I just think the intro didn't establish them as effectively as they should have. Would be nice to spend more time there. See things rather than be told, and really build empathy for her prologue plight in real time before we set out. As characters their development fits the game just fine. The time-gap stuff is handled especially well.
After 77 hours and finally beating it, I felt the main story didn't hold as well as the first game and somehow felt rushed in the final moments of the game. I enjoyed the changes to the combat the most and I also enjoy those character events. I nearly completed them all, I think I miss a couple of the non party member ones. But overall I feel kind of the same. I think after the success of the first they should've taken just a bit longer to flesh the game out even. I'm still happy with what I got but I felt like they only slightly built upon the first game instead of trying to surpass it.
@@TarksGauntlet I dont remember exactly. I'll have to check when I get home, but they had it in the first game too, and its somewhere in the basic start menu. It lists every material you've already gathered with a picture of the material then by clicking on an item in the list, it brings up a screen showing where you can gather it or what monsters it comes from.
Ah, yes got the game booted up. I found the spot it's just kind of convoluted and tough to navigate. Menu->Guide->Items Open craftable items to see needed ingredients. Triangle to see list of ingredient categories. X to open specific ingredient from category. Then you're taken to another menu that shows locations and tools required. So I guess technically it is here, it's just a 7 step process to find what you need. I'll make the correction in the morning but damn... At this rate looking the answer up online is way more efficient. Goes back to this games issues with its cumbersome menus.
@@TarksGauntlet Huh, I guess it never really bothered me in either of the games, so I never actually thought about it, though I suppose they coulda made it faster by using one page with a scroll bar rather than requiring you to press triangle or navigate through a dozen or so pages of items. They could also have divided up the three sections of the guide using L2/R2 thus removing an extra button press.
2:20 - 2:25 ? The series is mostly made up of trilogies, with about the same continuity of Ryza 1 to 2. Only difference is Ryza 2 is from Ryza's perspective again, instead of some new character who learns alchemy from Ryza.
Yeah, I'm specifically talking about direct sequels. I know the games are in trilogies but they're more spiritual sequels or shared universe sequels than direct ones like this.
my only complaint about this game is Ryza's new running animation, they somehow managed to make her look more stiff, in 1 her jog was so nice, her booty would bounce and it looked so life-like. they shouldnt have changed something that didn't need to be changed
great review but I highly disagree with the need of the series to have a "grandiose" moment, even more so when compared to FFVII or P5 because, I have to say it, I'll take any atelier game before any of those two. Heck Totori is outright one of the best JRPGs I've ever played and FFVII and P5 wished it had the soul and characters Totori has. I'm all in for the series to become more widespread but not at the cost of its heart, not every game needs to be an epic power fantasy for male audiences
When I was talking about the series having its "FFVII or Persona 5 moment," I was strictly talking about their series sales and notoriety. Those are the two games that broke their respective series into the mainstream. The two games that put their series name on everybodies tongue. I think Atelier is getting closer and closer to the level of quality it needs to to get mass notoriety. I'm not talking about in-game events or anything or anything grandiose. It's already most of the way there.
@@TarksGauntlet yeah, I'm talking about notoriety too, my problem comes from the thinking that those games are "quality" while atelier is not, because no, I do think Atelier FAR EXCEEDS those games in a lot of ways. Atelier has its own qualities, I don't think changing those qualities for a more generic "quality" concept for the masses is worth the loss of a really unique series.
@@heribertoesquivel7500 Fair enough. We all have our opinions. There's a number of ways I'll even agree the atelier series exceeds them in quality, but I don't feel that way holistically. And I don't think improving the quality would mean losing its heart or identity either. Making menus more readable wouldn't hurt anything and showing more of Ryzas struggles up front rather than just telling us and immediately forcing the adventure into action could go a long ways too.
@@TarksGauntlet oh improving those very same qualities the series has is certainly not a bad thing, neither qol enhancements. However some of those qualities are also the main reason why the series isn't as big and is seen as lesser, like not having high stakes makes it in the eyes of many "games about nothing" or the more feminine motifs make them "too girly" or "moetrash" for most gamers. I don't like FFVII and P5 as examples of "reaching mainstream" because those games themselves loss something in the process, I can make entire essays of why FFVII is more of a party game with boring filler or how P5 abandoned the interesting ideas from the megaten franchise to make a basic power fantasy and its certainly not worth the loss of all the different games atlus no longer makes because of it. Not to mention, for those games to had that level of notoriety it also took millions upon millions of marketing, FVII marketing alone cost more than the game itself, sony had a big impact in both
CORRECTION: There is actually an in-game item compendium, it's just a little convoluted to get to/find. There must be a quicker way but this was where I found it.
>Open Menu
>Select Guide
>Select Items
>Chose Craftable Item from list
> View Items Log page
>Open Ingredient Types list
>Open Materials list by selecting an ingredient type.
>Select the specific Material you need.
On the final Material screen you'll find locations and gathering tools required.
This game and it's menus man... It's actually faster to just look online. Hopefully there's just a list somewhere else of every item just in alphabetical order you can open up in 2 clicks and scroll through, but if there is, I'll have to find it another time.
*Original Post*
Just for the record, when I say they should focus more on telling a compelling story I don't mean I need some grand, epic adventure. They can keep the more laid back, slice-of-life style, but do something to make it feel more genuine and interesting. The first worked because the younger cast was so ignorant and curious you could easily get swept up in their innocence. Kind of like a Goonies thing. This one just feels a bit forced into action. Could use a little more "Showing" and a little less "Telling" about her feeling stuck in life and such. Would love to have spent an hour-ish in Her home-town again. Otherwise, *OK Sign Hand Emoji*
You can view the item compendium while synthesizing by pressing the "Table of Contents" button (it's the (-) button on the switch) There it lists all the related materials, categories, and traits and you can select from them to view their entry in the compendium. It's handy and I used a lot since Ryza 1. However, the locations they give on the compendium itself is still very confusing. They list multiple gathering locations but sometimes when I go to that location, I can't find it there. I agree that it needs to be improved.
They somehow managed to make Ryza more THICC. GOOD!!!
Definitely won't complain about that.
Ryza is such a thunderdome of thigh. Great review!
Hey, just FYI w/r/t 9:35, there actually is a compendium for materials that tells you where you can find materials that you've already collected at least once. It's not super easy to find tucked away in the guide section of the menu, but it's very helpful for tracking down stuff.
Great review though!
Yup. I added a correction for that to the pinned comment a couple days ago. Thanks.
Just started playing Ryza 2. Thanks for the tip about the difficulty. I was destroying everything within 10 seconds of a battle starting. At least on hard I can actually get some semblance of enjoyment out of the fights. Also, wow the skill tree actually makes me want to spend time synthesizing things more. So far I am having a pretty good time with it. Great review!
I've read so far that everyone is enjoying Ryza 2. Infact, yours was a slightly more critical review. Though most of the people are so neck deep in mechanics and progression (and "THICC THIGHS!!!") that they didn't focus that much on the stories.
For what it's worth, Story was never quite the focus of the games anyway. People tend to like how slice of life they are, and for the most part, that worked in Ryza 1, it just didn't work as well at the start of Ryza 2.
I am some-what scratching my head over the 8's and 9's I seen it get, but I guess if we're just looking at it in terms of how it advanced the series compared to earlier games, and not in terms of how much further it can/should go, it makes sense.
I believe that was can agree the lighthearted story works for these games. Anything larger would certainly not make sense with the direction they went in. Overall great review as always Tarks
Definitely. Doesn't need to be larger or more dramatic. It just needs to spring into action a little more legitimately and a little less by convenience.
Ryza thights 2
Finally a honest review despite being kind-of-sponsored.
Gonna get this on ps5 as soon as I clear (part of) my backlog! Thanks dude!
Kind of sponsored? The dude straight up received the game for free...He never gives it any kind of hard cons.
@@calebb7012 now that I’ve played the game for 60 hours I can see the appeal, but I can also see how rushed and basic it is. The ps5 version is a joke, it could probably run on a ps2. Crafting is the big feature (and the reason I kept playing for 60 hours) but that’s it. Ugly to watch at, repetitive, bad graphics and animations, terrible system in terms of quality of life, uninteresting dialogues and story, uninteresting dungeons, dumb combat system (literally oneshotted every boss at the hardest difficulty).
This would’ve worked better as a crafting simulator period. Maybe a fantasy shop tycoon. Everything else is boring, can’t recommend.
Thanks for the detailed review as always!
I may skip out the first and jump straight on this one.
Always love your reviews!! I'll get this eventually.
This review ....is the full package! Welcome back Ryza
Great review.. great humor 😂.. thanks so much 👍
This is the only review I've seen on TH-cam that's critical of the story. I've seen nothing but praise up until now.
I feel like this mostly just comes from the series not having "That much" of a focus on its stories to begin with. So for most returning fans this is nothing note-worthy, though I do feel the characters feel less motivated than in the first game, even if the adventure otherwise is considerably more fleshed out than the first.
Also go watch cublikefoot's review of the game - if anything, he's even more critical of the story than Tarks was. I agree with Tarks that the series doesn't tend to have a huge focus on over-arching story, which is probably why most reviewers kinda put that to the side... or just considered it "good" by Atelier standards. I have rose-tinted glasses for any Gust game because I KNOW the kind of storytelling they're capable of, but actually *THIS* series has really always been pretty mediocre in terms of story, lol.
Entertaining Review:) hope the Ost has some Tracks as memorable as the Blue Reflection Ost. Very nice of you to mention Chris Gildart
Great review man, and Jesus! I got the only physical copy of the first game in St.Louis in one GameStop. I had no idea that their are still North American short supplies.
I was wondering why I hadn't watched your review on this yet... and then I realised you only uploaded it 2 days ago... Makes sense! Surprisingly enough (even as a diehard Gust/Atelier fan) I hadn't gotten around to playing Ryza 2 yet. I definitely need to, and I have no good excuse, other than a crazy backlog. Overall, from your vid and several others, I'm getting the feeling the story in particular is very hit-and-miss... and centres a lot around the mascot character. Honestly, all other aspects seem amazing and a major improvement, so I'm still gonna play it, but it seems a shame that Gust just can't seem to nail the story element in these games (or possibly doesn't try to). To be totally honest I miss Ar Tonelico/Ar nosurge and every new Atelier game only makes me crave another one of those, lol..
P.S. GREAT REVIEW, as always! But that goes without saying.
Yeah. I'm even more late to this video than I intended. Didn't really want to put this out there without playing the first first.
@@TarksGauntlet Fair enough! Btw just ordered this game so can't wait to eventually play it!
Topics and Memories.... reminds me a lot of the first Dark Cloud, reconstructing pieces of memory in the final dungeon
Maybe Ryza 3 could tweak 2s short coming a really be a strong contender... With even thicc'er thighs!!! 😂 Great review mate🙏
I once asked on Twitter if anyone could describe to me why this game was good without using the word "thighs" because that was basically all I was ever hearing about this game.
Apparently I should have just watched this :P
You know, I do love me my thicc thighs but like... the meme just feels so dead to me. For once I didn't want to grab the low-hanging fruit.
Thanks for kind words dude. Glad you enjoyed the vid.
Finally... The only Anime games reviewer that matters
Solid review and the alchemy bit was gold.
I pray that one day Neptunia also gets and upgrade in gameplay like Atelier did. I played some of the games back on PS Vita but had a very hard time getting into the game for a good part of it.
tarks is one of my fave channels and this is a good review. that being said this game is a 9.5 out of 10. ryza must be protected at all costs! now excuse me while me and my bf clifford are off to search for secret treasures. out.
You and Clifford can go off spelunking (is that what the kids call it these days?) As long as you let me hang back and enjoy a nice day in the sun with Cassandra.
its 9,5 out of ten only if you played on mobile so far.
if you played any good game,ryza is is trash... 4/10 if you are HUGE FAN of jrpg.
That was a fun review, man. I like how you put the soundtrack and graphics talk with the performance section. I'm dying to play some Atelier Ryza but I GOT to finish this extremely long FF7R script before I play any other games.
I played Rorona back in the day and thought it was awesome because of the deep item crafting system.
Now if Amazon would stop holding Ryza 1 at 60 to 80$ many more of us could get into this series :). Thanks as always @Tarks for the usual in depth insightful review.
I've just finished it myself. Very fun from start to end and a really nice length. It's also a pretty fair and easy platnium.
OMG, the beginning of this video.... I could not stop laughing for minutes straight. Thank you for that laugh.
One of my most wanted games of this year... but I haven't played the original yet. I want a physical copy, but jeez Louise the prices are out of control
First Ryza was recently reprinted maybe around August/September of 2020, which dropped the prices to around $60-70, but now out of print once again.
If I ever visit the mystical land of Canananananananananada, I want Tarks to alchemy me a cuba libre.
I can make wine-bottles with erasers on top, and wine-bottles with erasers on top only.
It's what we serve in my bar.
I don't think Atelier Ryza had a sequel just because it was popular. If anything it seemed that it was planned to have a sequel from the start, since it only had one ending, compared to other Atelier games that had multiple endings. Also something I noticed is the character endings change a bit depending on if you completed the events for each character or not.
You'd think if they planned it from the start the story wouldn't be so phoned in at the start. Like.. the adventure would feel like a more cohesive continuation of the first. The way it is, that intro is just sad. If this was planned from the start it was a bad plan.
@@TarksGauntlet I think maybe you are putting too much weight on the wrong things. I can understand why you feel the beginning of the game is shaky, because the egg is a central part of a story that wouldn't have happened if it wasn't there, still, I think you are mistaken about character motivations. Ryza had found a sense of purpose in her home in the first game, but she was always a little bit directionless because the path of an alchemist is vague. There was always a contrast between her and other characters in regards to goal and lifestyle and the way this is set up in Ryza 1 gives room for a sequel. Its also important to note that just because they hinted at a sequel that does not mean they had something concrete in mind, specially given that their development cycle is so short. I think they knew the direction they wanted to take Ryza and the other characters, but didn't knew what scenario or narrative they would use to make them get where they wanted. So I really think Ryza would just be on the lookout for a new adventure, for an opportunity to get out of the island for a little while. I don't think it would even feel out of character if the only reason Ryza had to go to the capital was Tao's letter and invitation. That being said, I think the egg could have been better introduced and I also wish we had some time on the island, it would be a great prologue to a new adventure and closure to the first and it would also feel less rushed.
It's really hard not to put weight on it for me to be honest, since the entire plot is built upon that 1 extremely contrived moment.
Now, I give full credit to the game outside of that and what I think it does right, but I can't help but feel it's a massive step down from the first, where the character motivations were literally just "Lets go explore," but were executed much, much better. This just feels horribly slapped together.
It is, of course possible, that Gust fully intended from the start for this to be a trilogy following the same cast, but I really feel if Ryza 1 performed on the same level as the other games they would have kept the formula the same, and had a small recurring role for Ryza, maybe where we play as a new MC being taught by Ryza and still see some of her frustrations with feeling plateaued/stagnant through their intermittent interactions. As it is, it kind of feels like they had a sub-plot planned for her that they tried to twist into the main plot which, granted, aside from the intro actually works.
@@TarksGauntlet I can understand feeling weirded out by the beginning, I just don't agree that this weak plot setup damages characters motivations because I don't see how characters would react another way and I feel it is perfectly justified. The problem I have with it is that it feels somewhat rushed and too convenient from a narrative standpoint. I respect your opinion, though, you have your reasons to feel the way you do and prolonging this discussion will just make us repeat the same points. About the way it was written, I decided to research a little bit and found an interview where it was indeed confirmed that a sequel with Ryza as a protagonist was planned since the beginning, you can see it here:
nintendosoup.com/atelier-ryza-2-producer-reveals-that-ryzas-return-was-already-planned-early-on/
I do hope we get another protagonist for "Ryza 3", though. I don't think Ryza needs a third game on the spotlight. If a "student" of hers was the protagonist of the next game it would be a good end to the cycle.
@@Azrael_Terminus "Keeping Ryza as the protagonist for a sequel was something we thought about since the beginning of the first game’s planning. However, everyone has been asking me “Did you keep Ryza because the first game’s sales were really good?”, and there’s also some truth to that. Because even if we wanted to do something, we couldn’t do it if not for the players’ support.”
Alright. Apparently this is a case of "A little of Column A, A little of Column B" sort of thing. The idea was always there but sales gave them confidence and backing enough to pursue the direction. Good to know at the very least. Speculation seems to believe Ryza will complete the trilogy, which I guess makes sense, it might be a little strange to swap out the MC for just the last game but we'll see. If they do use her again I just hope they get her ball rolling a little better. Something thats established with more than just a bit of narrative exposition and a matter of convenience.
That all said, I don't think the "Matter of convenience" hurt their character development. I might not be speaking the most clearly here, this stuff can get confusing over text, and it can get rather jargon-heavy. I just think the intro didn't establish them as effectively as they should have. Would be nice to spend more time there. See things rather than be told, and really build empathy for her prologue plight in real time before we set out. As characters their development fits the game just fine. The time-gap stuff is handled especially well.
I really need to get around to playing the first game.
Nice vid!
How could you shoot me Tark! I trusted you!
After 77 hours and finally beating it, I felt the main story didn't hold as well as the first game and somehow felt rushed in the final moments of the game. I enjoyed the changes to the combat the most and I also enjoy those character events. I nearly completed them all, I think I miss a couple of the non party member ones. But overall I feel kind of the same. I think after the success of the first they should've taken just a bit longer to flesh the game out even. I'm still happy with what I got but I felt like they only slightly built upon the first game instead of trying to surpass it.
This game look damn perfect
ryza is life! don't chu dare dissin mah gurl just cuz she ain't got the lewds in spades! :D i'm kidding. yunie luvs you
Oh.. She's plenty lewd enough. The camera angles they use when crawling through small spaces are entirely intentional, and quite appreciated haha.
There IS an in game compendium that lists all gathered materials and where to find them though...
I'm just completely blind I guess. Where exactly is this? I'd like to pin a correction to the comment section if this is actually the case.
@@TarksGauntlet I dont remember exactly. I'll have to check when I get home, but they had it in the first game too, and its somewhere in the basic start menu.
It lists every material you've already gathered with a picture of the material then by clicking on an item in the list, it brings up a screen showing where you can gather it or what monsters it comes from.
Ah, yes got the game booted up. I found the spot it's just kind of convoluted and tough to navigate.
Menu->Guide->Items
Open craftable items to see needed ingredients.
Triangle to see list of ingredient categories.
X to open specific ingredient from category.
Then you're taken to another menu that shows locations and tools required.
So I guess technically it is here, it's just a 7 step process to find what you need. I'll make the correction in the morning but damn... At this rate looking the answer up online is way more efficient. Goes back to this games issues with its cumbersome menus.
@@TarksGauntlet Huh, I guess it never really bothered me in either of the games, so I never actually thought about it, though I suppose they coulda made it faster by using one page with a scroll bar rather than requiring you to press triangle or navigate through a dozen or so pages of items. They could also have divided up the three sections of the guide using L2/R2 thus removing an extra button press.
THIIGGGHHHHHSSSSSSS
i got an aD for this ohmygod
Missed opportunity to make an alcoholic drink to explain what alchemy was.
The only thing that kept me from getting it is the lack of dub.
I'm getting sick of your shit Koei, I know you make enough to be able to afford them.
Great review but... I dodged!
how much worse are the graphics on the switch?
Not that much, it runs pretty well on Switch.
I would watch you play Minecraft.
2:20 - 2:25 ? The series is mostly made up of trilogies, with about the same continuity of Ryza 1 to 2. Only difference is Ryza 2 is from Ryza's perspective again, instead of some new character who learns alchemy from Ryza.
Yeah, I'm specifically talking about direct sequels. I know the games are in trilogies but they're more spiritual sequels or shared universe sequels than direct ones like this.
🥕
I'd still clap ryza
Down bad today?
@@dekugotnext3506 Down horrendous.
my only complaint about this game is Ryza's new running animation, they somehow managed to make her look more stiff, in 1 her jog was so nice, her booty would bounce and it looked so life-like. they shouldnt have changed something that didn't need to be changed
great review but I highly disagree with the need of the series to have a "grandiose" moment, even more so when compared to FFVII or P5 because, I have to say it, I'll take any atelier game before any of those two. Heck Totori is outright one of the best JRPGs I've ever played and FFVII and P5 wished it had the soul and characters Totori has. I'm all in for the series to become more widespread but not at the cost of its heart, not every game needs to be an epic power fantasy for male audiences
When I was talking about the series having its "FFVII or Persona 5 moment," I was strictly talking about their series sales and notoriety. Those are the two games that broke their respective series into the mainstream. The two games that put their series name on everybodies tongue. I think Atelier is getting closer and closer to the level of quality it needs to to get mass notoriety. I'm not talking about in-game events or anything or anything grandiose. It's already most of the way there.
@@TarksGauntlet yeah, I'm talking about notoriety too, my problem comes from the thinking that those games are "quality" while atelier is not, because no, I do think Atelier FAR EXCEEDS those games in a lot of ways.
Atelier has its own qualities, I don't think changing those qualities for a more generic "quality" concept for the masses is worth the loss of a really unique series.
@@heribertoesquivel7500 Fair enough. We all have our opinions. There's a number of ways I'll even agree the atelier series exceeds them in quality, but I don't feel that way holistically.
And I don't think improving the quality would mean losing its heart or identity either.
Making menus more readable wouldn't hurt anything and showing more of Ryzas struggles up front rather than just telling us and immediately forcing the adventure into action could go a long ways too.
@@TarksGauntlet oh improving those very same qualities the series has is certainly not a bad thing, neither qol enhancements. However some of those qualities are also the main reason why the series isn't as big and is seen as lesser, like not having high stakes makes it in the eyes of many "games about nothing" or the more feminine motifs make them "too girly" or "moetrash" for most gamers.
I don't like FFVII and P5 as examples of "reaching mainstream" because those games themselves loss something in the process, I can make entire essays of why FFVII is more of a party game with boring filler or how P5 abandoned the interesting ideas from the megaten franchise to make a basic power fantasy and its certainly not worth the loss of all the different games atlus no longer makes because of it. Not to mention, for those games to had that level of notoriety it also took millions upon millions of marketing, FVII marketing alone cost more than the game itself, sony had a big impact in both
What a boring review.
Okay.
Out of curiosity, what would you prefer a review to have that I didn't do?
13:13 yeah right!!!!
Alright, alright.
There's a certain pair of red shorts that caught my eye too.