Anyone who has followed Phenixx Gaming for a while probably has noticed that I’m fond of the Atelier series. The franchise consistently attempts to reinvent itself and evolve, and while I’ve been critical of the Atelier Ryza set of games so far, I consistently love the franchise. Atelier Ryza 3: Alchemist of the End & the Secret Key has some issues, but it concludes the Ryza trilogy well.

Atelier Ryza 3 puts you in the role of the titular heroine Ryza, as her home faces a strange new threat. Mysterious islands have popped up out of nowhere near Ryza’s home of Kurken Island. Ryza and her friends begin to investigate and in the process, Ryza begins to hear a mysterious voice. After using her alchemy to craft a mysterious key, a new journey begins. Can you help her solve the mystery of the islands, the mysterious key, and the voice she hears?

The biggest change in Atelier Ryza 3 comes in the exploration elements. The environments are much larger and Ryza can do things she couldn’t before like connecting Alchemic ziplines to cross large distances faster, cooking meals for buffs, and even creating Atelier bases for when you are far away from a city or town. The new environments are seamless, with multiple areas connected without loading screens.

Ryza can also do plenty of the things she could do before like Swimming/diving, fishing, catching bugs, chopping trees, breaking rocks, and a variety of other things to gather synthesis items. Another big change comes in the “Key” system. By using the mysterious key, Ryza can create keys for a variety of purposes. Some keys are useful for exploration, some are useful for synthesis, and some can even be used in combat.

The method of getting new keys can change depending on your situation. Sometimes you can craft keys in exploration zones. You can also utilize “key conversion” in battle to create a key from an enemy you are fighting. If you equip keys to various characters, they will provide special benefits in combat.

Before we get into combat though, let’s talk about Synthesis. If you’ve played either of the Atelier Ryza games before this, you’ll notice that the Synthesis feels familiar. It uses the same material loop system that previous games used to provide a variety of effects on her items. Now, with the key system in place, Ryza can also increase the level of the recipe, giving her a variety of bonuses (depending on the key) to make the item even stronger or more effective.

Through the new “Link Morph” ability, Ryza will be able to add effects to items that could not be added before. Additionally, you can now add (if you meet the requirements) a “super trait, ” a powerful trait on certain materials that can make an item even more useful. Of course, franchise mainstays like item duplication, gem reduction, and other useful mechanics are also still here.

I like the evolved alchemy system a lot. I’ve always resonated with the alchemy system in Atelier games because it makes crafting effective items, weapons, and armor feel engaging. There’s a certain excitement to making a better bomb than last time or making an overpowered weapon. As you craft items, you can use SP to unlock new recipes and abilities in Ryza’s skill tree. Because of this, you always feel like you are progressing and improving.

Additionally, since the Atelier Ryza games don’t have a time limit on how much time you have to complete the story, you can take your time and grow and explore at your own pace. This is what makes Atelier Ryza 3 even better. Being able to explore, craft, and slowly build yourself up at your own pace is a wonderful experience.

The weakest part of Atelier Ryza 3 for me was the combat though. Now just to clarify, I know a lot of people love Atelier Ryza and Atelier Ryza 2’s combat system, which largely carries over here. However, as a long-time Atelier fan, it always felt way too chaotic, and that has only gotten worse with Atelier Ryza 3.

Atelier Ryza 3’s combat utilizes the same “half real-time” combat as the previous games, with a few additions. Each character can only attack when they have AP, and can usually only perform a combo. As you fight, guard, and use skills, your “Tactics Level” will increase, giving you more AP to work with and also building up CC which can be used to use items or perform key conversion.

As previously mentioned, key conversion creates unique keys depending on what enemy you’re fighting. You can use a key on a character to buff them and remove their wait time on abilities and attacks. On top of that, you can combo with allies in your back row, utilizing skills with one character and then switching them out for a back-row ally so they can lengthen the skill chain.

Action orders also return where, by fulfilling certain requirements during a battle, you can unleash powerful abilities. I’m not particularly fond of the fact that your allies control themselves, though you can choose whether they will fight more aggressively or play a more conservative support role. Truthfully I felt like the combat stayed chaotic, and instead of feeling like it was exciting I often felt like I was just mashing buttons and hoping I did well.

There are a variety of quests and side quests out in the world. There are world quests that you stumble upon as you explore, which can give you items or money. Additionally, there are character quests that help you unlock new abilities and passives for your allies. On top of that, there are a few other types of quests that diversify your experience a bit. Unfortunately, some of them (like a few world quests) are timed, usually giving you only an in-game day to complete them.

This isn’t an issue if the character wants a specific item. However, for monster extermination quests sometimes it is difficult to figure out where the right enemy is, kill it, and return in time. Maybe I’m a purist, but I miss the central location where you can get side quests, see where you need to go, and then turn them in at a tavern, town hall, or office.

Atelier Ryza 3’s map doesn’t really help with this either. While quest markers come up on the map, sometimes it is hard to tell what region a quest wants you to be in. You can fast-travel to landmarks you’ve found, but that only gets you so far, especially if you haven’t gotten to explore an area well yet.

Overall, I find myself as conflicted with Atelier Ryza 3: Alchemist of the End & the Secret Key, as I was with the first two games. I love the wide open areas, exploration, refined synthesis system, and engaging story. On the other hand, the combat felt too chaotic for me, and there are a few issues here and there with navigating for timed quests. Also, the lack of English voice acting is sometimes frustrating.

If you like the previous Atelier Ryza games, then you are going to absolutely love Atelier Ryza 3. Even people who prefer the more turn-based Atelier games will probably like this if you can get past the battle system. A lot of love and care was put into Atelier Ryza 3, and I can’t wait to see what comes next.

A Nintendo Switch review copy of Atelier Ryza 3: Alchemist of the End & the Secret Key was provided by Koei Tecmo for this review.

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Atelier Ryza 3: Alchemist of the End & The Secret Key

$59.99 USD

8

Score

8.0/10

Pros

• Refined Alchemy System is a Blast
• Gorgeous, Huge Environments
• Key system is Interesting
• Lots of Customization

Cons

• Combat is Too Chaotic
• Side Quest Locations Can be Difficult to Track
• No English Voice Acting