Atelier Escha & Logy: Alchemist of the Dusk Sky DX by developer Gust and publisher Koei Tecmo America—Nintendo Switch review written by Natasha with a copy provided by the publisher.
Estimated reading time: 17 minutes
Another day, another Atelier game... Tell me, what makes this Atelier game any different from all the other Atelier, so far ---
{Shows concept art of BOTH protagonist}
Wait...
*Runs forward at full speed*
ARE YOU TELLING ME I CAN FINALLY PLAY AS A GUY!?
*Looks towards the direction of the Gust Company*
Thank you, Gust!
Atelier Escha & Logy: The Alchemist of the Dusk Sky was originally released back in June 27, 2013, the same year as Atelier Ayesha, and is the 15th instalment of the series. It is the second game to the Dusk trilogy and the first one to introduce duo protagonists. It is also the only game had never played in the series, so I was excited to jump into this new world.
The Story
This game takes place 4 years after Atelier Ayesha, far west in the Land of Twilight. Our story begins in the remote town of Colseit, a small community suffering from dying crops and polluted waters. The mayor sends out a job tabloid requesting the help of outside alchemists. To the mayors surprise not one, but two, alchemists come to his aid. Young country-girl Escha Mailer and city-boy Logix Fiscario. Together they must use their alchemic studies to help bring life and growth back to the land surrounding the town. Along the way they will receive help from their new comrades and some old faces you might be familiar with.
World Map and Travelling
Unlike in Ayesha, where travelling was a pretty major part of the game. Escha & Logy start off in the hub town and work out towards the other locations, but mainly return to Colseit. Going to and from new places still takes up days on your calendar, but once you've enter a field or dungeon you open up a separate map. While in the mini map you can explore the different location within the area. The great thing about travelling in the mini map is that you don't waste days as you jump back and forth between the areas in the field/dungeon. Bonus!
Other things that have changed and added on the mini map is that certain areas could be blocked by either boulders or enemies, which will show up on the map as an exclamation mark or a weapon icon. The boulders are pretty easy to deal with as long as you have a couple of bombs in your back pocket. The enemies are usually pretty strong, but the game does a good job in letting you go back to town, heal, re-supply and then return to battle this beefy boss monster. Sure you have to waste a few days, but I find that the calendar system in this game is a lot more forgiving than in Ayesha.
The Calendar
Time management is back and... finally gives me some breathing room. Just like in all Atelier games Travelling, Gathering, Fighting and Synthesizing takes up time. The main goal in Escha & Logy is that they are giving a main task with roughly 4 months to complete before the deadline. I found that if you get the main missions out of the way as quickly as possible it leaves us tons of time to run around and do as we please. I had enough time to craft items and weapons, travel to old and new locations and enjoy the games bonus story content between the characters. It's a nice change from Ayesha’s confusing gameplay.
Missions, Ranking, Research and Allowance
Remember the “Missions” I mentioned earlier? Well, this game does a good job in making sure you know what your main objective is. Again, you'll be given a main task to accomplish. A large square will be displayed when you open up your Assignment menu. You'll notice your main mission directly in the centre, where it will branch out into other important task that are within the YELLOW squares. Completing these tasks will allow you to advance the story into the next part of the game. There will also be GREEN squares on the exterior of the YELLOW squares. These are minor tasks and aren't needed to be completed, but will help raise your Atelier ranking if you have time to get around to them.
Since no one in Colseit appreciates what the Alchemy division does for the town. It's your job to raise “Awareness”. Completing Assignments and Requests will raise your Atelier rank. The higher your rank the bigger and better your rewards will be. This can also help you get better access to Research.
Marion, our lovely little office manager, is who we return to report our finished assignment, too. Later on, however, she comes in and explains that she can request some researchers to preform Experiments. Experimenting is a glorious little tool that allows you to cut time requirements or gain certain bonuses in the game. It can help cut travelling, synthesizing or gathering time in half. It can also improve certain attack items or give healing item a nice boost in power. Making this game play a little more smoothly. It does require you to spend your “Allowance” in order to research these bonuses, but it's worth it.
I know what you’re thinking... allowance? Don't you get money from doing certain things in the game? Answer is Yes... and No. In Atelier Escha & Logy you can still acquire money by fighting or selling things, but it's not what's going to support you. Unlike in Ayesha, where I made millions doing people favours, Escha & Logy are given on Allowance based on their monthly performance. This equals to Battling, Gathering, Supplying, Synthesizing, Success, Artifacts, the amount of items you craft, plus bonuses in your current Ranking, overall Review in the company and Activities. Total all these things up at the end of the month and voila! Some nice hard earned moo-la! You can also gain extra money by completing your main assignments.
Gathering and Field Events
Ahh... Gathering. A free, but huge waste of time. Considering that picking up random materials on the field will somehow waste a half days time, I better be picking up something rare. Like most Atelier Gathering points are scattered throughout the dungeons that sparkle in the background. Examining these spots will allow you to gather up the randomly generated item, but only just ONE. Although Escha & Logy has a fancy mechanic that helps out on the field, known as a Field Event.
Field Events are activated by either gathering material or battling. On the centre left side of the screen is a small gauge that will fill every time you collect or fight something on the field. After you've reach 100% or more of the gauge a small window of icon will appear under your Calendar. The icons are different depending on the area you are in, but they all do something different. One will focus on the gathering aspect, by giving you a higher chance at finding rarer materials or give you the opportunity to pick all material up at once.
Another event will give you a chance to fight stronger enemies that carry high grade material. It'll will give you a choice to choose either Hard, Very Hard or Ungodly. Some events will allow you to pick up documents, while another will give you a chance to pick up a relic, which is a powerful synthesis item. And lastly, the last event will allow you to CHANGE certain things on the field like material, monsters or relic. It's a nice little gimmick that lends you a helping hand while exploring.
Synthesizing and Dismantling
I hope you like crafting and creating as much as I do because all that bumming around for material is finally going into the crock pot... or cauldron in this case. Never synthesize anything before? Don't worry Escha & Logy will be there to whisper every detail into your ears.
When you approach the cauldron in the workshop you'll be able to select which recipe you'd like to craft. Everything will categorize for you under Attack, Heal, Accessory, Ingredients and Alchemy. Let's do something simple like a classic bomb. Depending on the item you will immediately be given the items info, along with its effect, properties and what category it falls under. It's a bomb... pretty straight forward. You'll also be able to see how many days it will take to craft.
Selecting the recipe will turn you over to another screen where you'll be able to select your required material. A bomb requires Fuel, Gunpowder and Paper. Each material is different in the sense that it'll have an Alchemy level and the type of Traits, Effects and Properties it'll carry over once you've combine everything together.
There is another window that'll show what type of Element each item carries, as well. If you notice that there are lines across these elements it's indicating that if you reach that level by combining the proper material you'll unlock an extra bonus to the item you're crafting. So try and mix and match to get the best possible results.
Once you have all the ingredients you'll be able to stir them into the cauldron. While mixing, you as an Alchemist can use a Skill that you can unlock through levelling your Alchemy. These skills can really help you give your item that last possible push it needs to be exactly how you want it.
One, two, stir and presto! You've crafted yourself a deadly weapon. Hurray! Here’s some EXP for your hard work. But, wait! Act now and you'll also be able to choose which Properties you'd like your Bomb to have. Choose wisely though, you only get three. The game will focus on Escha using the cauldron, while Logy is better at using the Forge. The Forge works similar as the cauldron. The only difference is that the forge will create weapons and armour for your party members.
Hold your horses though because this game is giving these two young alchemists one last little device to help them create new things... or should I say dismantle? About a third of the way into the game your lovely little manager will give your workshop a futuristic machine that'll be about to take apart certain items. However, the items in question are the relics you pick up on the field. Once you return to your workshop after a long tiring journey you'll be given the choice to dismantle the relic you've found. This mechanic is a little random and tends to change your relic into a less impressive item, but it could also lead to a new discovery of something you've never seen or crafted before. So don't be afraid to get your hands dirty.
Combat and Characters
The amount of characters you receive in your party is pretty impressive considering the lack of characters you got in Ayesha. You get 11 characters to choose from. 11! That's crazy! And yet, I love the ability to swap out each and everyone of them so I can customize the best team. Other than your main character who'll stick with you from start to finish, each other playable member is unique. At least we get 4 male characters instead of 2 this time around.
With a huge team to play with it makes fighting a lot more entertaining. The battle system is pretty easy to understand. Running up or attacking an enemy on sight will trigger the fight. Once the battle begins you'll be able to control your 3 man party through a turn-base system. Your characters stats are shown at the bottom of the screen along with their standby party members. Upon your turn your characters option will appear as Attack, Skill, Move, Wait, Change or Run.
Attack is the simplest of command which allows your character to attack an enemy with a melee attack and deal some moderate damage. Skill is a unique attacks that each member can perform. They will consume MP (Magic Points) so make sure to use them wisely. Move gives you the chance to re-position your party member somewhere else on the battle field, which can come in handy when an enemy tries to throw a wide attack that may catch more than one of your friends. Wait... lets you skip your turn.
Change is used when you have to swap out your current party member with the one on standby. Anytime this switch is made your swapped partner can gain back some lost MP if they used any during the fight. Run is useful when you know you’re not going to win this fight and need to make a hasty retreat or if you're like me and you just want to get to that chest you saw hiding in the corner, but the big neanderthal was in the way and you “NOPED” his fat bottom.
There is one more command that is only given to Escha and Logy and that is Item. This allows them to go through their basket and pull out items they have crafted to help them in battle. Having two alchemist on the battlefield is a lot nicer when you’re trying to heal your party members and you ain't gotta wait a full round to do so.
You'll notice a gauge building up in the bottom left corner of the screen. This gauge is your Support gauge that you can use during the fight to help throw in a couple of extra hits on a turn or help protect your other party members on the field. Note that you can only fill the gauge by attacking the enemy. Using it to attack or defend will drain it pretty quickly so it’s a smart idea to not use it too carelessly or else you might find your part K.O.d.
If you’re lucky and can get your gauge up to at least 5 you can throw out a flurry of attacks with your entire team. And if you reach 200% or more of your damage combo before the last member hit you'll be able to unleash a Special Attack. These attacks are nasty and do a butt load of damage so if you’re lucky to fill the gauge high enough to use it, it can take down the big boys fast.
Menu
Nothing keeps you more organized then a good menu system. Atelier Escha & Logy do a good job at keeping everything simple and easy to understand. When you hop on over to the menu screen you'll be greeted with your party members and all available content such as Basket/Container (changes depend on whether your on the field or in town), Adventure Equip, Battle Equip, Formation, Status, Assignments, Request and Journal.
The Basket and Container are a staple to the Atelier series and helps keep all your material in check. Your Equipment is split up into two different categories this time around. Adventure Equipment are the bombs, band-aid and support type items your younger alchemists take into battle. This feature is only available between Escha & Logy. While Battle Equipment is your standard window to attach your strongest weapons, armour and accessories.
Formation allows you to switch out different party member into the line of battle. This can only be done when your group isn't in the midst of a fight. Status can give you an insight to all your characters equipment, level, attack, speed, defence and skill power.
Assignment and Request keep all your current missions listed. Showing you what needs to be done and what has been completed. And your Journal is your log book that records ALL the data you come across in the game. Where certain material can be found, to your monster glossary. I find it very helpful when I can’t seem to remember where certain items hide in which dungeon and vice versa for the enemies.
Music and Visuals
A reminder that this game originally came out for the PS3 and to my surprise still looks incredible. Unlike in Ayesha, Escha & Logy had some great character design. WillBell, one of my favourites from Ayesha, makes a stunning return. If you think she was cute in the first game, they somehow made her even cuter. Though I still question the gender of Micie, who walks in looking like a girl, but I'm pretty sure is a dude. *Looks at profile* Says here he's a guy.
Artistically the games environments are breathtaking, even for a wasteland. There still seems to be some source of life teeming within this dying country. The soundtrack is a lot more inspiring this time around. I found myself being pulled into nostalgia, reminding me of other games such as Nier, the Mana series, Persona and Final Fantasy. It doesn't seem to follow one tone in the game. For a game that tells a story of a dying land it does a good job at sounding more like theirs hope in bringing life back to the environment.
Pros and Cons
Boy, this game has given me a 180 turn around from Ayesha. I was afraid that with Ayesha's slow and boring story line, Escha & Logy was going to be roughly the same. I was surprisingly wrong. I am happy to finally see a male Alchemist brought back to this long lived series, as well, as dual protagonist. Having the option to choose to be either male or female gives the players a newer point of view. The large number of cast members is also a nice touch. It's nice to have a variety of personalities to play around with and customize for the best battling experience. Not having to wait til the end of the game to have every character is also a bonus.
The gameplay, story-line, music and visuals are a great blend of entertainment. Everything seems to run more smoothly this time around and that feeling of having enough time to complete things in the game is a sigh of relief. If there was anything I would negatively throw at this game it would have to be the dopey way the character models jump to and from high places. I always felt like they were never going to reach and miraculously they manage to pull themselves up. Haha!
The Deluxe Experience
As this is an updated version of the game since its PS3 release, there are some added upgrades to this experience. Everything is brought up to PS4 high definition graphics, making everything pop with colour. You are given the “Run” option to allow your character to move faster on the map. Along with chat speed and battle speed increases. And finally we are gifted with a large amount of new DLC to explore until our hearts content.
To conclude, Atelier Escha & Logy: Alchemist of the Dusk Sky is a fantastic addition to, not only the Dusk trilogy, but to the entirety of the Atelier line-up. Bringing in a dual point of view makes things more interesting. Plus, the though of a second play-through with a completely different person the second time around makes it more exciting.
A great place to start for any newcomers to the series of alchemy. I'm giving this game a 8.5 out of 10.
Score: 8.5 / 10
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