Post by Morgesm on Mar 18, 2013 20:35:08 GMT -5
Atelier Ayesha ~Alchemist of Dusk~
An Innovation to the Classic JRPG Genre!
[/b][/u]An Innovation to the Classic JRPG Genre!
When I picked up this title, I asked myself, "Oh no what did I get myself into?" The game seemed very basic to me at first, last gen. graphics and annoying voice actors. This was of course just my initial opinion of the title. After a few more hours in the game, I found that I was actually starting to get hooked to some of the unique features that the title had to offer, which I will go into in the gameplay part of this review.
Story :7.5 out of 10[/u]
The story follows a young apothecary, whose medicines are fairly popular all over the realm. She comes off as an airhead at first, but after giving it a bit more time I came to realize that she was meant to be received as innocent to the way of the world, after viewing her in that light I instantly fell in love with her. Once the plot picks up she goes out on a journey where she makes plenty of "unique" friends who all have their own part of the storyline to unfold if the player sees it fit. On your quest to find her sister who was "spirited away", she has the opportunity to create items for the people of the towns she goes. Trust me, anyone who likes side quests, this is the title for you.
Although the story is somewhat linear, the time it takes to get to the next event in the story is entirely up to the player, for me it worked to my benefit , I found myself doing a lot if the side missions and when I got to the next part of the story I was pretty high level for the monsters that I was fighting.
Gameplay : 9 out of 10[/u]
What really made this title shine for me was its very unique gameplay,with a solid battle system, fantastic item creation feature, and unique party member relationship status this game had slot to offer.
The battle system is fairly simple to figure out, it is turn-based like most classic rps. Each character in the party have several choices that they can make, moving to a more advantageous position in the battle field, attack, skills' and the main character has the option to flee and use items. what makes this system unique is their "support system' there is a gauge that fills each turn allowing the player to achieve various levels that can be used. All characters have generic moves like back attack' pursuit, and protect. as the characters level up, character unique skills will unlock, for example, a heavy spell caster in the game has a skill that will refill her mp gauge. After spending some time with this battle engine I found myself feeling right at home in the battlefield.
What really added a lot of fun to this title, was the fantastic crafting feature. It follows a very unique path, each item you craft enhances your characters alchemy skill by giving you experience for your alchemy level. Every item in the game has a certain rank and item level, the higher quality items that you use for crafting, the higher quality end result you end up with. Alchemy is vital for every adventure that you go on in this game. Whether you are going to need medical equipment to heal the wound of your party, or make various bombs and items to lay waste to all the enemies you encounter you will find that you spend a lot of time with the alchemy.
Audio: 5.5 out of 10[/u]
From soundtrack, to voice overs this title has a pretty lame sound to it. Most of the songs are very similar, and the loops of the songs are very short. The voice acting is also very poorly done, I found myself annoyed by the characters voices, many times speed reading ahead so I wouldn't have to endure them. Battles have voice overs as well, the characters say the same thing every time, the worst part of it is, unlike in story scenes, you can not skip these. Sadly there was not a language option to switch the dialogue into Japanese, I believe this would have remedied the terrible English cast of voice actors they decided to go with .
Graphics: 5 out of 10[/u]
The games visuals were very remnant of an early PlayStation 2 titles instead of a PlayStation 3 game with a price tag of $50. The animations are very skippy, sometimes I was noticing brief moments of smooth visuals but they are far and few between. The art style of the characters weren't too bad, it appeared to be a cell shaded game, but some if the background levels really clashed with the theme. most new areas seemed to be a modified version if a previous area feeling like you have already been there. The use of lighting effects were no where to be found, whether you are in a pitch black forest or on a beach with the sun besting down in you, the main character in her bright green clothes looked the same.
Replay Value : Low[/u]
Although the game offers a lot of side quests, many items to craft and a pretty captivating battle system, most players will find that beating the game once is enough. The terrible Sound Effects, short loops in music, and buggy animations will be enough to drive anyone crazy.
TRG's Final Verdict :6 out of 10[/u]
This game has very few redeeming qualities to it, a solid battle system, a unique crafting systems and a sufficient amount of side quests to complete. Other than that, the visuals are horrible like a PlayStation 2 game. If that isn't enough to make you want to change the disc in your PS3 than the annoying voice acting and terrible dialogue will be enough to drive anyone away from this title.
This is the heavy spell caster character
A picture of the Crafting System
A picture of the Battle System menu