Atelier Mysterious Trilogy Deluxe Pack

Genre: Compilation / Turn-Based JRPG

Players: 1

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Review:

Atelier Mysterious Trilogy Deluxe Pack is a Compilation of JRPGs that includes the original “trilogy” of games in the Atelier Mysterious sub-series of the overarching Atelier franchise of crafting-focused JRPGs, with the Mysterious series being the seventh series in the franchise (check out this helpful guide on BarrelWisdom.com if you’d like a good overview of the Atelier franchise). However, here’s the short version:

The Mysterious series is mostly devoid of the overarching time limits the Atelier games are known for, with only Atelier Firis having any sort of in-game deadline players need to work toward, and even this is fairly manageable. The main gameplay elements that tie these games together are that each of these games have Tetris-style Puzzle game elements added to their alchemy item creation systems, and these games have characters learning new recipes by getting “inspiration” from completing tasks rather than acquiring new recipe books.

This Compilation includes Atelier Sophie: The Alchemist of the Mysterious Book DX, Atelier Firis: The Alchemist of the Mysterious Journey DX, and Atelier Lydie & Suelle: The Alchemists & The Mysterious Paintings DX, the updated and modernized versions of the three games in this series, originally released on various platforms in 2016 through 2018. It should be noted that this collection does not include Atelier Sophie 2, which as of this writing has not yet been released.

Here is what I thought of each of the games in this collection:

Game	Genre	# of Players	Grade
Atelier Sophie: The Alchemist of the Mysterious Book DX	Turn-Based JRPG	1	C+
tl;dr Atelier Sophie is the first game in the seventh series of Atelier games (the Mysterious series), a franchise of JRPGs with a focus on crafting. Sophie is at least on paper an improvement on the prior games in multiple respects, adding a few nice gameplay mechanics to the series like a day/night system and a Puzzle-style crafting system. Unfortunately, so much of this game is bland and unambitious, from its stale gameplay to its snooze-fest of a story. This is by no means a bad game, but it doesn’t even seem to want to attempt to be a great one, either.
Atelier Firis: The Alchemist and the Mysterious Journey DX	Turn-Based JRPG	1	B
tl;dr Atelier Firis is the second game in the seventh series of Atelier games (the Mysterious series), a franchise of JRPGs with a focus on crafting. Firis is a game of extremes, with really high highs, and really low lows. The opening few hours of the game are particularly bad, the writing and voice acting are both some of the worst in the series, and the game has some pretty terrible pop-in. However, the introduction of massive, open-ended areas is a huge addition to this franchise, and the gameplay is overall quite good here. If you’re a fan of this franchise who has the patience to push through this game’s frustrations, you’ll find it worth your while to give this game a try.
Atelier Lydie & Suelle: The Alchemists and the Mysterious Paintings DX	Turn-Based JRPG	1	B+
tl;dr Atelier Lydie & Suelle is the third game in the seventh series of Atelier games (the Mysterious series), a franchise of JRPGs with a focus on crafting. Lydie & Suelle is essentially a refinement of everything that came before it, with excellent crafting-focused gameplay, good graphics (albeit with a few performance issues), and a decent story. Having said that, this game is a fairly safe entry in the franchise, and nowhere near as ambitious as Atelier Firis was, even if it’s ultimately a better game. Players new to the Atelier franchise will find this a solid entry point for the series, but fans hoping for a true follow-up to Atelier Firis that builds on that game’s potential will be disappointed.

So to summarize, all of the games in this set are at least decent, and while I would say that this series improves in quality over each release much in the same way the Dusk trilogy did, the truth is that it’s not so clear-cut. Atelier Sophie is a solid entry in the franchise in most respects, and it’s better than many of the earlier entries in the series, but it’s also arguably the most bland and forgettable game in the franchise. Firis, on the other hand, is easily the most ambitious game in the franchise so far, but that ambition is balanced out with some really nasty problems that weigh it down. And Lydie & Suelle is probably the best game in the franchise so far, but after seeing where this series could go in Firis, it’s hard not to find it a bit disappointing how much Lydie & Suelle plays things safe. However, out of the Compilation packages released so far, I would argue that this one is the best overall, edging out the Dusk Trilogy Bundle.

So then, the question regarding this Compilation becomes one of value, and in that regard the Atelier Compilations generally tend to make a strong case for buying these games as a group. Each of the individual games in this collection sells individually for $40, while the Deluxe Pack sells for $90, saving you $30 on this trio of games (and even more if you can manage to find these games on sale, something that only happens rarely). However, I’m not sure how much it’s worth getting all three games unless you want to collect the entire series, as I would argue that Atelier Lydie & Suelle does pretty much everything Atelier Sophie does, but better. You may want to consider just getting that game and perhaps Atelier Firis, though I admit that getting the whole trio for only $10 more than those two titles cost separately is tempting.

In short, if you want to get a bundle of some of the better games in the Atelier franchise, Atelier Mysterious Trilogy Deluxe Pack is a solid trio of games that offers the one game that’s arguably the best in the series up until this point, one game that is unquestionably the most ambitious game in the series up until this point, and one game that’s… eh, fine, I guess. Overall, it’s a solid package at a decent price, especially for newcomers to the Atelier franchise looking to get multiple good, if a bit uneven, crafting-focused Turn-Based JRPGs.

tl;dr – Atelier Mysterious Trilogy Deluxe Pack is a Compilation of upgraded versions of the three games in the Dusk series, the seventh series in the Atelier franchise of crafting-focused JRPGs. This package includes Atelier Sophie DX, Atelier Firis DX, and Atelier Lydie & Suelle DX. Lydie & Suelle is probably the best game in this series so far, and Firis is unquestionably the most ambitious entry in the series so far. Sophie is also decent, but extremely bland compared to the others. These games are a bit uneven, but overall still some of the stronger games in the franchise, and this Compilation is a decent value. If you’re a fan of Turn-Based JRPGs, this package is well worth getting.

Grade: B

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