This is the last entry in the saga Atelier and the Ryza trilogy, being the last chapter on the long journey of Reisalin ¨Ryza¨ Stout and friends, it’s expected to be a big, and memorable goodbye for them.
The sudden appearance of an archipelago near the artificial isle of Kurken, the townspeople start to worry about it, then Ryza calls her friends Klaudia, Lent, and Tao for another adventure.
A new feature has been added, “The Secret Key” which is useful for gathering, crafting, and battles. This feature allows Ryza to create new keys visiting new places while exploring the maps.
Graphics
The Atelier series has been acknowledged by its colorful worlds, and beautiful character design. This new release isn’t an exception; big maps and a lot to do into them.
There are some dark areas where you can easily get lost and will probably need to frequently check your map to keep track of your journey through the caves and volcanoes. As you can only see the above maps, you can’t be sure if your target is above or beneath your position.
Colors for maps and character’s outfits are very clear, however, the grass and temple walls are very simple and less detailed. This can be a tech choice if you considerate the objects on screen and desired fluency.
Sound FX
Sound is clean and accurate, and has adequate levels for conversations even if it doesn’t take the whole environment on the map. It’s immersive if you take your time to appreciate the beautiful landscapes that Atelier Ryza 3 offers.
The original soundtrack emphasizes the homesick feeling and end of summer, including the battle melody sad and nostalgic. at the same time, somewhat difficult to achieve but accurate for the last adventure.
Performance
After 70 hours of game time, I didn’t notice any loss in frames per second; there were two incidents in the beginning of a battle combo in a cramped area of the map. To avoid any spoilers’, the optimization on the Switch version feels well-polished. Also, I didn’t find any glitches in the whole game with stability; it was fluid even on cramped maps while exploring.
It’s worth mentioning that some objects on screen are transparent or appear only until you get close to them. Also, there are long loading times when you quick travel in the maps, but they last longer when you change between areas.
Highlights for Atelier Ryza 3
Gathering
As any other entry in the Atelier saga, gathering is one of the main topics to focus on; it doesn’t change too much from previous Ryza games. While keeping the quality and quantity for some objects that increase their numbers as long as you improve your survival tools and skills that come from the ¨skill tree¨, which allows you benefits exchanging (SP) skill points. These are rewards from side quests and crafting.
The gathering system includes most of the same items used in the first entries; meaning that you will find a way to get creaminea, goldterion, oren and other items letting you know that you need an update on your gear. Also, you can dig items while ride your mount like before.
There are new yellow sparkling icons on the maps; these represent a new feature. The super trait allows you to add nee effect to the synthesis.
Crafting
It maintains the base consisting of adding items from the recipe filling the loops for additional effects on the items, you can add effects and traits to the items but if you don’t unlock the effect, it will not be applied to the final item, same case with traits and super traits. The new addition of keys to synthesis allows better effects and/or bonus stats on gear.
The secret key system allows you to create infinite keys to use in battle or synthesis. There are two classes: the hollow key which is the basic version of it, and the pristine key that is needed to get stronger keys (obtainable only by crafting). There are several tutorials explaining each of these features.
Battle System
Something that has radically changed in comparison to the previous games, is the battle system. This system is more interactive and faster; in one word we can describe it as hectic, it’s less strategic and more mechanical at certain points. Sure, we can exploit the enemy’s vulnerabilities as always but as long as you learn the basic combo you can play it in autopilot mode.
Conclusions
- The game is enjoyable even without playing the previous entries, but at the end of a trilogy I highly recommend finishing the first games to feel a delightful experience.
- It’s well optimized, polished, and fluent for a handheld experience on Nintendo Switch; with a colorful world and lovable characters. The excellent soundtrack feels nostalgic for one last adventure.
- Adding the Secret key feature keeps the gathering and crafting systems fresh and interesting.
- This ambitious release from the Ryza sub saga, with double the length of its predecessors and bigger maps to explore. It’s different side quests, world, characters, and normal ones, giving conclusion to all character’s stories.
- Its friendly with new players, also contains numerous tutorials to check all the time.
Game highly recommended for any rpg player or Atelier saga fan.
Tested on Nintendo switch lite.
