(Vita) Atelier Ayesha Plus review

Start of a brand new Atelier trilogy that keeps the Arland template in place but evolves the narrative structure to make yet another compelling instalment.

Developer	Gust
Publisher	Koei-Tecmo
Franchise	Atelier
Genre	Role-playing
PSTV	Yes
Physical English	No

 

World-building & Story

Self-taught apothecary Ayesha lives alone in her run-down workshop at the start of Atelier Ayesha, due to her sister Nio disappearing while picking flowers in their nearby herb garden years prior. However, the appearance of a ghostly apparition resembling Nio sends Ayesha off on a quest to discover whether her sister is still alive.

Along the way, she is guided by a reluctant mentor named Keithgriff, who appears to know about the history of alchemy within this dying world and who encourages Ayesha to develop her skills in order to find out the history of the land of Dusk. The way the game integrates its central alchemy mechanic within the plot is one of the most interesting additions in Atelier Ayesha and the setting of a planet that is slowly being drained of usable resources is truly captivating, at least in the opening hours.

You see, the game does an excellent job of establishing a slightly darker tone than the Atelier games that have come before and there’s a theme about reflecting on loss here, whether it be Ayesha’s sister or the parts of the planet that have long since become uninhabitable. Yet this is juxtaposed with long sections in bustling towns where it rarely feels like you’re in a somewhat apocalyptic world anymore and is more light-hearted with jokes about cute outfits and falling over.

Of course there’s nothing wrong with mixing comedy in with more serious elements, but it felt to me that Atelier Ayesha doesn’t go in as strongly as it could have done on its central idea. Of course, these games always come in trilogies and I’m sure this is something addressed in the later entries, plus I do have to give the game credit for revealing plenty of information about the history of alchemy through Ayesha and Keithgriff’s exploration and Odelia’s library knowledge.

For all it doesn’t quite nail the main plot (the search for Ayesha’s sister doesn’t quite hit the emotional highs of Totori’s quest for her mother and its conclusion is slightly anti-climatic), the world of Dusk is still fantastically realised. There’s a wistful feel to so many of the locations, with more muted colours and hints of some hidden secrets behind nearly every ancient ruins or sun-filtered forest. Using a hot air balloon to explore some historic islands was another lovely touch that added to immersion.

An Atelier game is nothing without a zany cast of side characters to interact with and recruit as party members and I’m pleased to report that Ayesha is still on point with this. Among my favourites were Ernie, a travelling salesman who acts as somewhat of a father figure to Ayesha, Marion, a sarcastic bureaucrat from a far off land and Wilbell, a wannabe witch whose skills aren’t quite up to snuff yet. Watching them develop over each of their respective stories was always lovely and their endings very fitting.

There were a few characters who felt rather superfluous, such as wandering poet Ranun who seemed to exist only to direct Ayesha to an important item and Tanya, whose appearance comes far too late to really develop her. With that said, having options among the cast about who to take with you on your journey (I nearly always picked dragon hunter Juris and swordswoman Linca) is something I very much appreciated.

This is a cast that I’ll remember for a long time and I’m keen to see how they all progress in Escha & Logy.

 

Presentation & Sound

With a new artist at the helm and a brand new setting, Atelier Ayesha impresses with its presentation even if things do feel a little familiar to fans of the Arland games.

So Hidari, the artist from Toukiden has designed all the characters here and youll immediately recognise the influence here, with the clothing slightly more refined than previously yet the same big eyed anime influences present. I loved Marion’s Cape or Odelia’s flowing dress and little touches like mouth movements during cutscenes shows that despite this being low budget, care had been put in. Combat in particular can look a treat with animation work being notably improved which makes things feel more dynamic.

It’s just elsewhere that Ayesha stumbles. Some of the environments here are brilliant, like the flower garden with huge tree roots forming climbable platforms or the salt desert feeling like an endless white abyss. Yet overall, these areas which provide an incredible sense of scale are fewer and father between than Atelier Totori and there’s more generic forests or underground caverns here.

Perhaps that’s deliberate to give the feeling of a dying world and I do credit the game with sticking to this aesthetic. It’s a little jarring when you arrive in the main hub town that doesn’t give a feeling that the world is running out of resources, but other locations like a hot air balloon port or desolate mining village are well realised and the use of colour throughout – which is more muted and softer browns and greys – is consistent and works well.

Props to the team at Gust for continuing to implement flashy special attacks, such as Keithgriff summoning glyphs in thin air or Linca turning the screen into a black and white painting, which I always loved seeing (it’s a shame that there are audio issues with Linca and Wilbell’s specials – they play random clips from NPC’s in town). The alchemy screen is rather busy, but that’s a given for this series.

The soundtrack here is slightly lesser than some of the Arland games but the use of accordians, pan pipes and delicate melodies works well (plus it boasts one of the best battle themes I’ve ever heard as well as a fantastic boss battle theme), while voice acting is still sporadic and not for every scene but is of high quality when it’s included.

Soundtrack highlight – Guidance

 

Gameplay & Content

Keeping true to the time-management roots of the Atelier series, Ayesha does mix things up – sometimes for the better, sometimes for the worse – but overall this is still a great JRPG.

Reading any of my reviews of the Arland games would give you a good idea of what gameplay in Ayesha is like, but I’ll give you a short summary here. You go on a journey as a young alchemist to find your missing sister, in a world where every action you take moves time forward. That means fighting in turn-based combat, gathering materials in dungeons and outdoor locations, making items using alchemy or moving on the world map all takes up time and you’ll need to find Nio before time runs out, although you can still reach certain endings without achieving this.

In towns, talking to NPC’s is about the only thing that doesn’t take up time. You can fast travel or run between locations and talk to the various vendors who sell alchemy ingredients, recipes or usable items. While food exists, weapon crafting has been removed from the Arland games which is a shame – you get new weapons and items from monster drops, which gives you less opportunities to experiment with effects. You can still craft accessories using alchemy though, which is some compromise.

Alchemy itself is still very in depth, allowing you to combine ingredients in a cauldron to make new items. Things like the quality of the ingredients and the order you put then in will affect what you get out (you do follow recipes) and a recommended level will help you avoid any failures. It does feel simplified compared to previously, but that’s not a bad thing and this is actually the first Atelier game where I’ve basically managed to create every item I’ve leanred – from attack bombs and healing bandages to complex alchemetrical items.

The world map is linear, only allowing you to move in straight lines between locations like Legend of Dragoon, but along the way you might pop certain events with characters like in SaGa. This character building is a big part of the Atelier series and fully present here – you have party members you raise affection with by taking them into battle as well as NPC’s and all have events that require certain criteria to trigger, which allows you to get to know each of the cast in a little more detail (it’s basically Social Links).

Aside from affection building, you’ll also need to undertake quests for NPC’s to get money, with the requirements here being a lot less strict than previously (you’ll just get lesser rewards for doing it outside the allotted timeframe). This removal of time management aspects won’t be for everyone but I did like that you’ll still be doing your best to manage your main quest to rescue Nio with other tasks – although I do have to say that the main quest was easier than I imagined and I was done about 9 months before the deadline.

I also wasn’t a massive fan of the changes to gathering. In previous Atelier titles you could see the list of what to grab from a gather spot and could choose to harvest or not which would affect how much time passes, but here you just hold down cross to gather everything without seeing what you’re getting until after. It’s a strange change that removes some thought from the process and you’re going to need to  gather everywhere anyway, as you get certain tasks to do this which award memory points.

Memory points are a new addition for Ayesha that let you write down thoughts in a journal based on your journey which in turn increases your stats – I really liked this and it felt in keeping with the game’s theme. I also liked that enemies are still shown as models on screen that you can avoid or attack to get an advantage in battle and in general, exploration around dungeons and other areas still feels great with some fantastic spectacle in some of the larger zones.

Combat is where Ayesha improves most over previous titles. You can now move in four directions around enemies (who stand in the middle) and can use this to change their directions to get critical strikes from back attacks if timed correctly, which adds a lot of strategic options. You also have a meter that fills and can be spend on special abilities like defending an ally or launching a follow up again which, when combined with the turn bar showing who goes next, allows you to control the flow of combat.

Bosses are a real highlight once again, challenging you to think out your strategy while also testing whether you’ve crafted good enough attack and healing items (that Ayesha can use as a special ability) to help you win. There’s plenty of post-game dungeons and challenge monsters that’ll really test your abilities and some of the most fun I had with the game was trying to find a good party and equipment setup to be able to tackle these – as each party member has slightly different skills you’ll need to make use of.

Beyond this, there’s also events you can take part in tied to the calendar. Once a month there’s a bazaar at which you can buy special items, while twice a year there’s a contest where you can submit your best alchemy creations to get judged and win prizes (in a rather hilarious sequence). All of this does make the world here feel like a real, living place and the fact that other characters move around on schedules is a big component of this too.

It may sound that I’ve been pretty harsh on Atelier Ayesha and I’ve made a lot of comparisons to the Arland games which is perhaps fair criticism, but I am a huge fan of this series and I just find it a bit of a shame that some of the steps back here are completely avoidable and they take away from some of the improvements the title implements.

Make no mistake though – this is still a compelling title and one I would wholeheartedly recommend (it’s actually a lot more accessible than some of the earlier Atelier releases). There’s about 25 hours of content here and this Plus version has additional playable characters like Odelia as well as two new dungeons (one of which is supremely difficult and the other is filled with cows!), which were originally included as DLC for the PS3 version.

As the start of a new trilogy, Atelier Ayesha has an awful lot to do and set up for the future and I’m really pleased that Gust handled all of this so well and while improvements can be made, I’m very excited to go into the next entry.

 

Conclusion

An interesting new direction for the storied Atelier franchise, Ayesha sets up a compelling world and introduces an intriguing new adventure at the middle of it. Lots of its changes are positive from the gorgeous graphics to the improved battle system, but it does take a few steps back over Arland in a handful of ways – not least the dilution (but not removal) of its time management elements, which the game still feels somewhat built around. Still, this is a fantastic title and one that I thoroughly enjoyed my time with – onwards to Escha & Logy!

8.0/10