Atelier Shallie: Alchemists of the Dusk Sea 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: 7 minutes
Alright, everyone! This is the last game in the trilogy. Whatcha' gunna throw at me that could possibly make this third entry better then the other two?
{Sees NO Calendar system}
Ahh… That could work.
Atelier Shallie: Alchemists of the Dusk Sea was released back in 2014 for the PS3. Now with the Nintendo Switch released this year, it is the third part to the Dusk trilogy and the 16th instalment of the Atelier series. This is also the first time I have come across an Atelier game with NO time management to push you along. I'm raring to see how things turn out!
The Story
Atelier Shallie takes place 10 years since the start of Ayesha and 6 years since Escha & Logy. Once again another part of the land has dried up. With little to no water left in her village, Shallistera Argo travels with her childhood friend, to another city, in hopes to find a way to replenish the town water with the only talent she has, Alchemy.
Across the ocean another young alchemist-in-training tries to improve her skills with daily routines. Unfortunately her routine is interrupted when an unknown vessel crashes into the city port. Turning her skill into a necessity. Together with her friends, Shallotte Elminus helps the foreign Shallistera with their problems. Two Shallie's with one goal in mind to help each other, will they prevail?
World Map And Travelling
I am happy to announce that you can use up as much time as you want to go to and from different places. Hurray, for no more travelling costing you days off of your calendar. A huge improvement in my opinion.
I've noticed that the game follows almost the same concept of branching out to new places as Ayesha did. When you arrive at a location you'll be able to see all the ingredients and monsters in the vicinity, which is helpful when looking for certain materials and enemies. You'll be able to progress into a new area if you gather and defeat all of the monsters on site. Be warned though, that if you leave the area before completing it all the items and monsters will re-spawn.
The map also helps you in finding your 'Request' marks. Say you take on a monster slaying job? Once you leave the city a 'Request' icon will flash on top of the area where you can slay the enemies. Helpful, if you aren't good at remembering specific locations.
You might notice some dungeons or fields light up with a strange colour underneath them. This indicates different bonuses for a limited amount of time if you visit those areas. These can include higher quality ingredients, stronger enemies, bigger loot drops or better relics to discover. Best grab them before they swap locations.
Request Missions
Can't buy new recipe books or materials without cold hard cash. And what's the best way you could earn it you may ask? Well it's helping out the people in town, of course. Other than your workshop, you will always have to report to the Union Headquarters in town if you wish to pick up any type of monster slaying, gathering, or synthesizing quest.
These 'Requests' are divided into different categories and also display the reward for each one you choose to complete. The best part about all of these requests is that you have all the time in the world to finish them. I find the fastest way to earn money in this game is to take on any monster hunting job and, if you're lucky, you'll notice that you may be able to hand in some jobs that are ready to report into. Kaching! Kaching!
Gathering and Field Events
Gather as much as your little heart wants, because you have all the time in the world to do so. Material continues to be found either through buying it or the majority is through harvesting them on the world map. Any time you wander into an area you'll notice these sparkly spots shining on the ground. These are your gathering points and are always random. Anytime you inspect these points you will always pick up 1 new item, but there are other ways to collect things on the field.
Like in Escha & Logy, Field Events have returned. These events will only trigger when you fill up the small gauge by gathering or fighting enemies, which is shown under your character's sprite, in the top left corner of the screen. Once the gauge is full a smaller list will appear just underneath. It is always random, but these events allow you to gather materials instantly, raise the rarity of an item, find hidden relics, bring in strong monsters or change the environment. It was a neat little trinket in Escha & Logy and is still nifty in Shallie.
Synthesizing
Another recipe, another cauldron. The Atelier series has always been faithful with its Alchemy. And with another title comes new and old tricks. Surprisingly Shallie combines the gimmicks of Ayesha and Escha/Logy and blends both synthesizing techniques together.
Let's dive into the crafting of Uni, a classic Atelier item. You'll notice that all your current recipes will showcase in one section, but if you find that you need a specific item for either combat or healing you can switch between the other categories to simplify your search. As you slide over the item in question you'll be given a nice display of the required materials, level of the item and Effects it may produce. Hop on over to the material screen and you'll be given the opportunity to choose which Metal, Gunpowder and Supplement you'd like to use.
Now comes the exciting part of mixing everything together. The top of the screen will display your ingredients while you play around below with the possible elemental skills you can set into each material. You'll have your choice of Fire, Water, Earth or Wind based skills. You don't necessarily have to match up any of the same symbol elements, but there are those that are specific to that elemental card so make sure to pay close attention. These skills are NOT required to make any of the items, but will increase the items value and effectiveness if you equip them. Be careful though, if Shallie seems to think your skills aren't a good match she'll give you a warning, otherwise you'll fail the synthesis.
Once you're pleased with everything go ahead and combine everything together. Hurray! We've made a functional Uni. Now, before you throw that Uni into your Container you'll be given the chance to add properties to your new item. These are handy little bonuses you get at the end of each synthesis. No more then 3, per item.
Lastly, with each item you create you'll be rewarded with some Experience Points (EXP) that'll go towards your Alchemy Level. The more levels you gain the more skills you may unlock. So don't forget to mix, mix, mix!
Combat
Better throw yourself together a nice party, because Shallie gives you a handful of useful party members to use in battle. For starters you'll encounter the enemies on the field. You'll either have the option to run up and engage a preemptive strike by swinging at the monster or wait for it to attack you first. Once you've triggered the fight you'll be thrown into battle.
On screen you'll see your turn-based meter, character stats, standby's and your action wheel of options. Like with most Atelier games before this one, Shallie, along with the other Alchemist, are the only ones to uses battle or healing items from the basket. If you tend to make really strong items having a party with 3 or more Alchemists is a death sentence to most creatures. Other options your party can choose from are Attack, Defend, Skills, Swap and Run.
You can only have a total of three characters at a time on the battle field, but you're given an additional 3 on standby. These standby characters can jump in at anytime you might need a body shield or an extra attack. If you notice one of your characters looking a little tired from fighting, Swap them out with a fully healed character. This is quite handy since anytime a character is on standby their depleted Magic Points (MP) will slowly replenish.
At the top of the screen you'll notice a small gauge, that will grow with each attack you unleash. If you fill this gauge up you'll enter into a Burst Mode. This mode doubles everyone's attack power along with a few fancy attack combos you can preform. If all your standby members are ready to go you'll be able to unleash a flurry of attacks and for those who are a higher level will be granted the use of Ultimate Finishers, that deal a heavy amount of damage. So don't be shy, fight and earn that EXP. The higher the level the stronger the skills.
Life Tasks
The Menu system in this game actually follows the same as Escha & Logy game, with the exception of Life Tasks. In Shallie your main objective is to follow the story-line, however there is a moment of discovery/exploration that the game will make you complete before you can progress onto the next chapter. During this time you must complete a set of 'Life Tasks', that you can access at anytime during your play through. These tasks are divided into 5 categories. Main, Mind, Body, Person and Skill.
Skill are based on what you synthesize, while Person are personal tasks that Shallie must accomplish for her own self. Body focuses on what types of monsters you fight and Mind are life's little itches like how many chest you open or how many barrels were broken. Main is pretty straight forward with having you do basically all of the above and then some. Clearing map areas, finishing a number of request, etc.
For each tasks you finish Shallie will receive Progression Points. Which you can keep track of on the top left of the screen as watch your protags head fill with red fruit punch. Once you earn enough PP you'll be able to move onto the next chapter at your leisurely.
Music and Visuals
Surprisingly I found that Shallie seems to have downgraded in its visual department. What I mean by that is that the game environments come off as dull. Now, I understand that the land is dying and is supposed to look miserable. However, Escha & Logy had the same thing going for it, but it still found a way to bring in a bit more colour to its surroundings.
The character design is splendid, with Shallotte sporting one of my favourite looks in the series. But not just her, many other characters seem to shine with bright colour schemes. In fact, they stand out so much in the grey scale environment that it kinda seems out of place. WillBell makes a fantastic return and graces us with her witch presence, along side with past protagonist Ayesha, Escha & Logy. Nothing makes me happier then a party full of alchemist.
The music continues to do a good job in pulling you into the right moments of emotion. Some of my favourite pieces are actually the battle music in this game. Coming off with a more rock n' roll vibe that reminds me of the good old Mana Khemia soundtrack.
Pros and Cons
Like with Escha & Logy I love having a large party to swap and switch around, giving me tons of combinations to play with. As well as dual protagonists. Having the option to play through the game again through another perspective makes New Game+ far more exciting.
The biggest bonus was not having a time limit on playing through the story. I felt I was able to take more time to enjoy and shape my characters into stronger individuals.
If I have to say anything negative about the game itself it would have to be its bland colour scheme and sometimes I felt a little held back with the 'Free Time' progression. I found that some of those Life Tasks tend to get extremely difficult or prolonged. Meaning I had to do a lot of running around before I could return to the main story.
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 Shallie: Alchemist of the Dusk Sea was a nice combination of both Ayesha and Escha/Logy. Having larger parties, dual main characters and infinite amount of time to play was a nice change to the series. The story-line and visuals were a little tasteless compare to Escha and Logy, but overall the game was fantastic. I'm giving this game a 8 out of 10.
Score: 8 / 10
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