Review: Atelier Ryza: Ever Darkness & The Secret Hideout - The Atelier Franchise Finally Goes Mainstream

Atelier Rising.

Atelier Ryza, the twenty-first entry in Gust’s long-running Atelier series, tells the story of Reisalin Stout, a young girl living on the quiet island of Kurken who desperately dreams of escaping on far-flung adventures alongside her childhood friends Tao and Lent. Ryza lives on a farm with her stern, overbearing parents who try at every opportunity to stymie her dreams, preferring that she stay at home and live a quiet, simple and safe life. The other members of the group have similarly troubled existences, bookworm Tao suffers constantly at the hands of relentless local bullies while Lent has all manner of problems dealing with his abusive alcoholic father. All three wish desperately to leave their worries behind and make something more of themselves and when they happen upon Empel and Lila, a pair of mysterious alchemists investigating some local ruins, they get the opportunity they’ve been waiting for.

Atelier Ryza’s setup is pretty standard fare for the series but Gust has executed it sublimely well here, infusing the intimate story and young cast with a strong narrative backbone, giving players a reason to really care about what happens with this trio of headstrong young adventurers. The glacially slow pace of the early hours of the game and the almost laborious way in which it goes about introducing its core alchemy gameplay – letting us experience every step in Ryza’s journey from clueless wannabe to master of her craft – really helps make a connection with the game’s central characters. It gives the interactions you have with the various islanders and, eventually, the protagonists of the piece, a sense of weight and meaning that's often lost in JRPGs that try to launch you quickly into all manner of epic drama.

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