Done with Atelier Firis (a review of sorts)

Atelier Firis logoI meant to come back to Atelier Firis after I’d played some other things, but I fired it up again last night and realized I’d done everything I wanted to do. The areas I haven’t explored and the bosses I haven’t beaten all require more grinding and synthesis than I’m prepared to do, and more than anything I’m just mentally done. I had a lot of fun, and now it’s over.

Story

Barely there, just the way I like it. Atelier games are like dungeon crawlers: they don’t need stories. Especially since the “story-heavy” Dusk trilogy wasn’t that heavy on the story and left me cold in the end. Atelier Firis is nice and simple: “Here’s this objective. Once you fulfill it, you can have the fun you always dreamed of.” Then you complete the objective and then you have fun. Sweet.

Characters

Nobody was too annoying, but no one was interesting either. TBH I didn’t spend much time on their character quests because I was too busy exploring and stuff. Someone was looking for her origin, someone was going around recording stuff, someone liked dolls and kept getting lost. It felt like Gust was throwing rejected character ideas into a game where no one would notice how shallow and forgettable they were. I’ve already forgotten most of them, and nothing of any value was lost.

Gameplay

Atelier Xenoblade! All the Atelier games are set in very interesting worlds you only get to explore a fraction of, so it’s great to have a game that sets you free to see the sights. You’re still limited to a single continent, but it’s a biiiig place. They even included a variety of locales, including a floating island and an icy tundra smooshed right next to a parched waste. I hear there are underwater locales as well, though I quit before I got there.

I really enjoyed Atelier Firis as a one-off, but I wouldn’t want more games in the series to be like it. The confined nature of the series isn’t that bad (plenty of other games let you roam the world), and the focus on exploration relegated alchemy to second fiddle. And while I’m being nitpicky, I’ll also say that while the variety of outdoor locations was good, there wasn’t enough exploration in towns, with places like Riesenburg and Flussheim having almost no houses to enter and little activity at any time of the day. Even the towns in the Dusk trilogy were livelier, and that world was supposed to be dying! I’m not usually one for immersion, but dead empty cities are just depressing.

Alchemy in Atelier Firis left almost no impression on me. Except it was annoying how you had to make the same item or a similar one repeatedly to unlock traits and ingredient rotation. I never got the hang of the percentage boosts for successive elements blah blah, who knows what was going on there. That aside, being able to buy recipes with Idea Points was a good addition, and finding the ingredients to make any recipe was usually quite easy. The number of recipes wasn’t high, and the number of useful ones… hmm, not that many. It wasn’t a frustrating system, but it wasn’t fun either.

Combat is the same. Not frustrating, not fun, but actually not that bad now I think of it. Making new weapons and equipment would have been nice if you didn’t have to farm high-quality ingredients and grind recipes to unlock trait slots before getting anything good. If you enjoy that aspect of the game, or you like challenging combat in general, then you’ll get a kick out of the unique bosses and more difficult areas.

Soundtrack and Graphics

Bright happy colors! You’ll have to look a long time to find a post on this blog where I say anything constructive about game graphics besides “bright happy colors.” It’s not something I really care about. Same goes for music and voice acting, where I only notice if something is really good or really bad. I don’t remember a single tune from this game, but I can picture most of the locations. That’s it. Everything was passable.

Overall impression

I had great times in Atelier Firis exploring various nooks and crannies, taking on all kinds of quests and going at my own pace. It’s good for the freedom-focused player, and the open world format is a breath of fresh air in the series. The time limit only lasts a year before you are set free, so it’s good if you’re worried about time management as well.

However the lack of focus on alchemy makes Firis a standard I do not want other games in the series to emulate. This, added to the lack of a story, means that once the novelty of exploration wears off, there’s little prompting you to keep playing. That said, the 40+ hours I got out of Firis is equal to or higher than my play time in other Atelier games so I got some good bang for my buck. Give it a try if you enjoy combat and exploration, think twice if you’re more into story, character interaction or alchemy.

La Corda d’Oro replay + thoughts on restarting a musical instrument

I’m suffering from “choice paralysis” right now. I have so many games I’d like to play that I’m running away and not playing any of them. Instead I’m retreading old ground with La Corda d’Oro, a musical otome game I first played in 2014. You can read my initial thoughts on the gameplay and all that, no need to talk about all that again.

In the years since I played the original, I’ve also played La Corda d’oro 2, 3 and 4, so going back to the first game after all that time was a slight shock to the system. Many of the things I took for granted in the later games like blatant route clearing hints, the ability to forward text you’ve already read and being able to exit maps easily are not present here. The game also doesn’t save information you earned on previous playthroughs, so if for example you learn Hihara’s favorite interpretation on one route, you’ll have to jot it down somewhere or else.

The romantic routes are also more barebones than in the later games, which makes sense because there’s much less time for romancing in OG La Corda d’Oro. You’ll be lucky to get a single date with your guy of choice, and that’s if you’re really lucky. Of the four routes I did this time, only Tsukimori took me out anywhere, and only once at that. The amount of character development is also fairly low, which is why they haven’t changed much by the time you meet them again in the second game. Tsukimori is a cold jerk, then he’s less of a cold jerk. Tsuchiura pretends he doesn’t like music, then he realizes he does, Hihara is just Hihara all the way through, etc.

I cheated a little by checking a FAQ for their favorite presents and stuff, but I didn’t use one to try and get all their events. I find playing by the book a little too tedious, even for a game I’ve played countless times already. Let me share the info I gathered.

La Corda d’Oro characters, rivalry, presents, favorite songs (source)

Tsukimori Len
How to raise his rivalry: Skill, all expressions, total BP received must all be high.
Presents: メモスタンド (memo stand) (BP80) ハンカチ (handkerchief) (BP80) 靴磨きセット (shoe polishing set) (BP120) フォトスタンド (photo stand) (BP240)
Favorite pieces: 感傷的なワルツB, カンタービレB
Thoughts after redoing his route: I still failed to get his true ending, but I got a few more events with him melting down little by little. For example, he shares an event from his childhood when some envious older kids tried to break his fingers to stop him from playing the violin. That’s dark, man. But it shows his closeness with Kahoko at that point since he is willing to share that story with her.

When I first did his route, I was baffled because the issue of the magical violin was seemingly glossed over completely. With more detail, it’s still a matter of the game writers making Tsukimori have no problem with it any more. But they do show him realizing that she’s working hard and practising a lot. Hard enough to deserve a handicap like a magical violin, more or less.

Besides, there’s a clear sense of smugness in his behavior after he finds out about the cheat violin. Like “Heh, I’m still better~.” So maybe that’s how he makes his peace with the whole issue. In the end his conclusion is the same: the end justifies the means. As long as you make others love violin music, that’s good enough His true ending may have a different conclusion, but he’s such a prima donna I don’t want to deal with his route again.

Tsuchiura Ryotaro
How to raise his rivalry: Melancholy (愁情) expression must be high
Presents: お守り (talisman) (BP80) シェークスピアの本 (Shakespeare book) (BP80) パズルの本 (puzzle book) (BP120) 卓上カレンダー(desktop calendar) (BP240)
Favorite pieces: 感傷的なワルツA, ハンガリー舞曲集第2番C
Thoughts after redoing his route: Totally failed to get any meaningful events with him because his route was the first one I replayed and I was busy trying to get the hang of the mechanics again. To get the most events without slavishly following a FAQ, you should aim to raise affection by around 200 points between concerts. Meanwhile I barely had 400 heading into the final concert and very low rivalry, so yeah, I didn’t get much. I might re-redo his route later.

Still you do see clear hints of him rediscovering his love of music, which eventually leads him to join the music department (Corda 2) and eventually become a famous conductor (Corda 4). Ahh, I want a new game!

Shimizu Kenichi
How to raise his rivalry: High level of skill
Presents: アイピロー(eye pillow) (BP80) 金属製のしおり (metal bookmark) (BP80) パスケース (pass case) (BP120) 目覚まし時計 (alarm clock) (BP240)
Favorite pieces: G線上のアリアC, ラ･カンパネッラC

Hihara Kazuki
How to raise his rivalry: High level of vividness (彩華)
Presents: ラッパのキーホルダー (trumpet-shaped key holder) (BP80) ファータストラップ (Fata strap) (BP80) お手ごろポーチ (handy pouch) (BP120) フォトアルバム (photo album) (BP240)
Favorite pieces: ロマンス　ト長調A, 3つのロマンス第2曲C
Thoughts after redoing his route: I managed to get his true ending! It made me realise I barely saw anything of his route when I did first it, because this is all unfamiliar territory. Just like in La Corda 2, sunny Hihara has his “emo moment” when he goes into a brief funk because he feels like Kahoko is working so hard while he’s always being scatter-brained and getting in her way. He sulks about it for a couple of days then decides, eh, not gonna worry about it. Hihara gonna Hihara and all that. He even explicitly refuses your help and comfort, so what am I gonna do?

After that he fumbles around trying to confess but not really confessing. You know, the usual “What do you think about me? Wait, don’t answer!” kind of thing. In the process, I realized… I don’t like Hihara’s voice. And I don’t like his blushing face. And I’m okay with being friends, but I don’t really see him as romantic material, at least not in this game.

Yunoki Azuma
How to raise his rivalry: Total BP accumulated must be high
Presents: 花ばさみ (flower shears) (BP80) 炭苔 (moss planting charcoal) (BP80) 銀のスプーン (silver spoon) (BP120) 茶香炉 (tea ceremony incense burner) (BP240)
Favorite pieces: ロマンス ト長調C・夢のあとにC
Thoughts after redoing his route: I really don’t like Yunoki, but he’s better in this game than in La Corda 2. In my first round of playthroughs, I always raised his affection and rivalry a bit, so I always got to see the “true” Yunoki, who is a snide bully. That was all there was to him IMO, just part of the game.

That’s why in this set of playthroughs, I was astonished to find out that he maintains the facade till the end if you don’t go near him. In other words, it’s perfectly possible to play La Corda d’Oro several times and even complete all the other routes and still never see Yunoki as anything other than a kindly and friendly senpai. Just imagine the shock when you finally do his route!

I got his date ending again this time. It’s the easiest to get because raising his rivalry requires getting BP, and if you’re playing the game correctly you’ll be getting a ton of it. The route is mostly event after event of Yunoki saying something mean and then going “Haha, nobody will believe you even if you tell them” over and over again. Eventually he tells you that you brightened the final year of my high school life and I’m like “Gee your highness, I’m so honored.” Jerk.

Fuyuumi
How to raise her rivalry: High level of elegance (清麗)
Presents: ファータクッション (Fata cushion) (BP80) クラリネットのピンズ (clarinet-shaped pin) (BP80) ハーブ栽培セット (herb-growing set) (BP120) クリスタル一輪挿し (crystal single-flower vase) (BP240)

Favorite pieces: G線上のアリアA, ロマンス第1番A

Ousaki
Presents: 革製ブックカバー (leather book cover) (BP80) スケジュール帳 (schedule planner) (BP80) 手品グッズ (conjuring kit) (BP120) 折りたたみ傘 (folding umbrella) (BP240)
Favorite piece: シチリアーノB

Thoughts after redoing his route: [Placeholder for when I eventually do it. First time round I thought he was a bore, but after playing La Corda 2, he’s a nice guy with prospects, catch my drift? ;-]

Amou
Presents: 市内詳細地図 (detailed city map) (BP80) カメラのお手入れセット (camera cleaning kit) (BP80) 中国茶 (Chinese tea) (BP120) 手のひらテディベア (miniature teddy bear) (BP240)
Favorite piece: 金色のコルダA

Kanazawa
Presents: マゴノテくん (backscratcher) (BP80) 携帯用吸殻入れ (portable ashtray) (BP80) 携帯ラジオ (portable radio) (BP120) ミルクパン (milk bread) (BP240)
Favorite piece: ユーモレスクB

It sure would be nice if Koei-Tecmo would release the game officially in English sometime… More and more otome visual novels are getting localizations lately, but very few of them have the level of gameplay and quality that Koei’s Ruby Party games offer.

I earnestly advise fans to start learning Japanese so they can’t be held hostage to the whims and caprices of publishers and localizers. Learning a language has never been easier than right now, with tons of online books, resources and communities to help you on your way. And plenty of time off for most people due to a certain virus wreaking havoc across the world. Give it some serious thought.

Progress after taking up the piano once again

I want one!!!

Speaking of learning stuff, I mentioned some time ago that I had taken up the piano again after about 10 years of not touching the thing. And it was largely due to the game reminding me how much I loved playing music once upon a time. I’ve been learning a lot of pieces in the years since then. Slowly approaching the limits of how much I can achieve by myself, but there’s still more I can do to improve so it’s a fun process.

My actual level of piano now is hard to measure because I’m not working with any teachers, but I’d estimate I’m around level 5 of the ABRSM piano grading scale. I say that because the piano pieces all look like very doable for me, but I would need help with the aural test and much more practice with sight reading. That’s all theoretical, because I’m not going to take any more exams for the rest of my life, unless they will add an extra digit to my paycheck.

For any adult in my situation thinking of picking up an instrument they’ve dropped, just do it. Don’t think too hard, just start again, even if it’s just 5 minutes a day or you just play one song ad nauseam. Even if you practise for a while, and drop for a while, and come back later, just start again. Three pieces of advice based on my experience:

1. Use all the resources at your disposal

Being an adult has a ton of advantages. Don’t focus on the downsides like less free time and less flexible minds/bodies. Think about the greater independence and greater financial freedom. If you want a new Yamaha upright, you can buy one. If you want pricey lessons from a tutor, you can get them. If you change your mind, you can fire them. If you want to take up a new instrument, or two, or three, you can totally do it. So many online resources, books, groups, tools, all yours for the taking. It’s pretty sweet.

2. Forget what lies behind

You can’t change what’s in the past, so there’s no use fretting about it. “Oh, I used to be so good.” Oh, if I hadn’t stopped, I could have been X.” All those wouldas and couldas are in the past, just focus on what you can do as you are right now. Like, even if someone invents a time machine you know you’re just going to go back and buy Apple and Amazon stock, not play the piano.

Any house I buy must be big enough to accommodate one of these. Maybe that’s why I don’t have a house yet ^^;;

That said, if you’ve been away long enough for your skills to decline, don’t assume you can automatically pick up where you left off. You still have to build up the foundations again, go through the basics, practice a ton, get good teaching, and so on and so forth.

Ever replayed a video game and had a harder time on the second playthrough? In your first playthrough you probably spent a lot of time getting lost and inadvertently grinding, but this time you’re zooming from point A to B to C. Then you get splatted by a boss you steamrolled last time and you’re like “What gives?”

(And you might read that and think, hey she’s right, it’s totally like that with a musical instrument, but actually I’m just making stuff up as I go along, so don’t take me seriously :-p)

3. Grinding and levelling up is totally a thing!

Since I’ve jumped on the video game metaphor, I might as well ride that tiger all the way to the end. YES, you can totally grind and level your way through music! They call it “practice” and “improvement” but we all know grinding when we see it. Just like in games, there are more efficient and less efficent ways to practice and better and worse equipment. And when you encounter a boss (piece, technique) you can’t handle, it’s okay to shelve it and improve your skills by playing easier things. Or you can treat it as a compartment boss and break it down bar by bar. Or you can look up a FAQ or walkthrough (Youtube. Just watch Youtube videos).

In a way, it reminds me of 7th Dragon 2020. Totally random example, but hear me out (translation: I’m gonna force this metaphor until it works). The way 7th Dragon 2020 and 2020-II worked , you would usually encounter a new type of dragon whenever you entered a new dungeon. And in the beginning they would be quite challenging, but as you worked your way through the dungeon, leveiling up, upgrading your skills, buying new equipment, they would get easier and easier until eventually they became glorified mobs. Most RPGs work that way, but the neatly compartmentalized dungeons and dragon counter of 2020 stick in my mind the most.

In fact, writing about it makes me want to play a dungeon crawler. I wanted to play Yomi wo Saku Hana, but it’s not out yet and I don’t have a Switch yet. Failing that, I think I’ll play The Lost Child on the VITA. But first I need to clean up Atelier Firis and maybe write a final post. Eh, I’m so done with that game, I haven’t missed it at all. Anyway, that’s what’s on my agenda for the next couple of days. See ya.

Granblue Fantasy – Sparking Anila just because I can.

Seeing as:

1. I have enough crystals to spark two characters in Granblue Fantasy

2. But there is no character I want to spark,

3. And there is no grid I want to build either,

4. And thus I have nothing better to do with the crystals,

5. I have decided to waste these crystals on collecting all the Zodiac characters, starting with Anila.

Why? Because they’re there, that’s why. It’s not even much of an expenditure because I get a 100-draw discount thanks to the Granblue Fantasy 6th Anniversary Roulette. Moreover, I have so many single-draw tickets that I’m not actually going to use any crystals, psych! Plus as a bonus I will pick up even more gold moons that I can exchange for goodness knows what in future.

Right-ho, this isn’t my first or second or even third spark so there’s no need to talk too much. I will only mention the SSRs and new SRs I get. Come to mama, Anila!

1st 10-roll

Nothing~

2nd 10-roll

SR Krugne get! I’m running out of characters to level, so new SRs are always welcome.

3rd 10-roll

Not a thing.

4th 10-roll

Zippo.

5th 10-roll

Zilch. Is this really a premium gala event? I should check the banner on the front page again.

6th 10-roll

Zeus dupe. One more and I can give some thought to building a Zeus grid.

7th 10-roll

Nothing, of course.

8th 10-roll

Nada.

9th 10-roll

Zippo. They’re even being stingy with the plus marks.

10th 10-roll

They’ve been giving me nothing so far, why would they give me anything now?

That’s the end of the free 100 draws. Oh wait, there’s free Mukku Frenzy? Yaaaaay! Granblue Fantasy is the best~!

At first I used to think Gachapin and Mukku were weird-looking and would have frightened the piss out of me as a kid. Now that I’m used to them, they’re not so bad. In fact they’re kind of cute. And no, I’m not just saying that because of the free draws. 😉

Anyway, Super Mukku Frenzy gave me a Levin Sisters gold moon, De la Fille gold moon and Magus Triad of Wisdom summon, which is new.

Chances of it making it into my summon lineup are next to zero unless the call is super-awesome, but I’ll check it out in a bit and see. Super Mukku Frenzy also gave me a Yodarha gold moon and SR Friday.

As far as dumb SR ideas go, she’s pretty up there.

As well as my first new SSR character, Anne.

Too bad for her, breaking into the frontline of my Water party is harder than finding the cure to a certain popular virus. But at least I’ll have fun leveling her up in the back row.

On with the spark! Thanks to Super Mukku Frenzy, I got 30 more sparks as well as a bonus 50 crystals for having 450 characters now.

Any SSRs from 170 single-draw tickets?

Mercifully enough, and after 6 long years, Granblue Fantasy has finally made it so you can pull up to 10 single tickets at once. Thanks to that, this didn’t take as long as it normally would have. Notable results from 170 pulls:

SSR Sara. This must be the Earth version because I recently pulled Light Sara.

I remember wanting her when I first started because I heard she would help my junk Earth party survive Leviathan Omega. Of course now my Earth party is still junk and absolutely can’t survive Leviathan HL and Europa when they come out with the big guns, so maybe there’s still a place for Sara.

SSR Tsubasa

I love his Two-by-Four weapon, can’t wait to use it as a skin for one of my mainhand weapons. The character himself, I haven’t heard much about. I’ll google around, but I doubt he’s top-tier or anything. Cool design though. Very retro delinquent chic.

SSR Mahira GET!

Two Zodiacs for the price of half of one. Now that’s what I call a bargain! Also I’ve been looking for a good buffer for my useless Earth party for a long time. Arulumaya does her best but she’s a bit random so I’m willing to try Mahira out. But actually I just want her for the sake of completion. And the sake of cuteness. Now I just need to pull SSR Vajra and get Kumbhira next year to get the full set.

SSR Danua… Summer? I didn’t even know this character existed. Wait, are there summer characters in the pool? I had no idea.

Happy though. SR Danua was one of the first characters I got, and she held the fort in my beginner Dark party for a long time, so it’s good to see her again. I’ll even put her on the front lines a bit just for giggles.

SSR Vajra GET! I was not expecting this! What will I spark for now? (Granblue first-world problems XD)

I really like her goofy smile.

To balance this luck out, I got two rare-only draws immediately afterwards.

Hehe, whatevs, I’m still laughing all the way to the bank.

SR Owen get as well. I hear he has a thing for Anne in-story. Do you think he came because she was called? That would be kind of sweet.

And in my final 10-pull, Light Charlotta!

I hear she’s super-tanky, so I look forward to trying her out against Avatar soon. I also pulled SSR Nezha who I thought was a dupe, but turns out he’s new. Eh.

SSR Dupes: Vortex Dragon dupe, Grand Order dupe, Halluel and Malluel dupe, Magus, Triad of Wisdom dupe, Odin dupe (? not sure if I already had him), Light Sarunan dupe.

That’s it for the pulling and drawing. Time for my great objective, Anila-chan! …Or I could get a grand weapon instead… but that would make too much sense. Free Japanese lesson: 初志貫徹 (shoshi kantetsu). It means “finish what you set out to do and save Grand Ferry for another day.”

Anila successfully sparked! All Zodiacs except Kumbhira successfully obtained! And that’s the end of a very fun and fruitful and largely meaningless spark. Y’know, like anyone ever plays a gacha game for the meaning.

Summary of spark results

New SSRs: Magus Triad of Wisdom, Anne, Sara (Earth), Tsubasa, Mahira, Danua, Vajra, Charlotta (light), Nezha, Anila (spark)
New SRs: Krugne, Friday, Owen
Dupes: Zeus, Levin Sisters, De La Fille, Yodarha, Vortex Dragon, Grand Order, Halluel and Malluel, Magus Triad of Wisdom, Odin, Sarunan (light)

That’s enough Granblue Fantasy for one day. I’m about a third of the way to level 180 so I’ll update with the state of my grids and parties and stuff when/if I get there. Next spark will probably be summer? Or if I decide to build a grid that requires sparking. See you guys then!

Ring ☆ Dream is shutting down

A couple of years ago, I posted about Ring ☆ Dream (リング☆ドリーム 女子プロレス大戦), a rather mindless browser game from Success Corp that I was playing at the time. I used to play it avidly every day, but dropped it and switched to very intermittent play after they disappointed me. I’ll explain more about that incident later, but first let’s talk about the game shutting down. Apparently the announcement was made on December 19, 2019, almost 7 years to the date Ring ☆ Dream launched (Dec 20, 2012).

I won’t get to stare at this boring screen any more…

I completely missed the announcement, firstly because I’m not the kind of person who reads announcements and secondly because I wasn’t playing at the time. I only dropped in on Jan 1st to see what free New Years’ goodies I could score, then I felt nostalgic so I stuck around for a while. It was only after the New Years’ event was over that I sensed something was wrong.

Ring ☆ Dream made its money by releasing new character cards almost every week so that players could gacha or grind to gain an advantage in the latest event. But no new cards came out after the usual New Year trio, not even on Valentine’s Day. Once I realized that, I was just waiting for the end to be announced, not knowing it had already been announced without my knowledge.

I might still be waiting even now if I hadn’t glanced down and noticed this message that went out on March 12th:

It’s the usual “Thank you for playing, best of luck” message, saying service will end for good on the 26th of March. The final event has also been giving out regular and premium gacha tickets like crazy, and the long lead time to shutdown is more than enough to time for fans to take screenshots and try to pull the characters they’ve always wanted.

As for why Ring ☆ Dream is going down, nobody is saying anything officially. 4gamer speculates that it might be due to Adobe ending support for Flash, and by extension Flash games, by the end of 2020. The timing right before the end of the Japanese fiscal year might also be Success Corp cleaning up unprofitable loose ends so it can start the next quarter on a fresh note. The game was so generous with the free gacha tickets that I don’t think it made a lot of money.

I don’t really mind whatever the reason is. It’s not a game I was playing all that regularly, and I never spent any money on it. Plus 7 years is a really good run for such a simple game, especially when you consider that some mobile games barely last a year before folding. If there’s anything I will miss, it will be the simplicity of the experience and a few of the characters like Mary Norton, Kobayakawa Pohi, Hoshizora Kogane, Spider Kikuchi and my very favorite, Takizawa Izumi.

Mai Takizawaifu

In a game filled with ridiculous gimmicks and outrageous outfits, a serious character who was like, “Look, I just want to wrestle and wrestle well,” really endeared herself to me.

Apart from that, normally I would have missed the story-telling, but that’s what disappointed me and made me drop out of being a regular player, so I won’t miss it. The gimmick of Ring ☆ Dream was that the story would develop on the fly according to fan reaction. The outcome of championship and other matches all depended on fan votes. You picked which character to support and the character with the greater number of battle points (earned by supporting players) won the battle and changed the outcome of the story. It’s like if Wrestlemania operated purely on fan votes instead backstage decisions.

Unfortunately, something happened to change my faith in the legitimacy of this process. I don’t remember the year (2016? 17?) but Spider Kikuchi had a year-end title defence. After steam-rolling all her enemies for months, suddenly all the writing started to hint heavily that she was going to lose. And lose she did, and by a landslide too. After handily beating all her competition that year, suddenly the fans didn’t like her any more? IIRC her enemy was Yuki-onna who is really popular, but even so she shouldn’t have lost so badly. And what was with all the foreshadowing? Hmmmmmmm… 🤨

Farewell my lovely

Once that seed of doubt took root, it rapidly sapped my motivation to follow the story and support the characters. What’s the point of getting so heavily invested if the writers are just going to push who they want anyway? Of course I have zero proof that any shenanigans went on. Maybe the fans were tired of Kikuchi, maybe Yuki is just that popular. But the timing, the mood, the result, it was really fishy… and once trust is lost, it’s next to impossible to get it back. It’s not like the game had much else to offer anyway, so that was effectively the end for me and Ring ☆ Dream.

Having said all that, I am a little bit sorry to see the game go. Like the late Paradise Bay, it was a very simple, relaxing, no pressure game that you could check into every once in a while. And that same laid back nature probably led to its demise. Welp, it had a good run, and it was fun while it lasted. Farewell, Ring ☆ Dream! On to new experiences!

Atelier Firis – Okay, that’s enough!

As I mentioned in the previous post on Atelier Firis, I’ve been having a good time with the game, but at the same time I’m eager to try other games. Atelier Firis is a super open and open-ended game with no clear storyline besides your initial objective of getting Firis to become an alchemist in one year. After that, it’s up to you how much finding, fighting, foraging and fusion you want to do before you’re completely sick of it.

Firis is actually the kind of liberating, free-exploring game I was hoping Atelier Shallie would be, so it has been a largely satisfactory experience and I have only minor complaints and pet peeves about the game. Which I will explain if I ever get around to doing a proper round-u. Which will not be today. For now, I plan to shelve this game briefly for three main reasons.

  1. I already said it in the first paragraph, but I wanna play other stuff! I’ve had enough of crafting and of turn-based battle for a while, so next up will either be something non-combative like an otome game (actually I’m going to play La Corda d’Oro next, but I mean after that) or something with more intense combat like an action RPG. I want new sights, new music, new colours and new characters!
  2. The supply of new alchemy recipes has dried up so I haven’t made anything new in a long time. Atelier Xenoblade is all good and nice, but in the end when I play a game about alchemy, I want to do a lot of… alchemy! Especially since the story of the game is about helping a girl become an… alchemist! I’ve mentioned before how different Atelier games have varying ratios of combat to synthesis to interaction, etc. This one is heavy on the exploring and collection side with a lot of items to pick up, so if that’s your thing, definitely give it a try.
  3. Navigation got tiresome after a while. The way travel is set up, you can warp around within a map from landmarks and campfires, but there’s still plenty of running in-between. You also can’t warp from map to map, which is incredibly tedious when you have to go see Sophie at Reisenberg or Norbert at Grau-Tal or whoever, and they’re on the opposite side of the map. This takes out a lot of the fun of questing and exploring. I can understand them wanting you to suffer a bit early on, but the flying ship recipe should have been auto-unlocked after the alchemist exam, regardless of how little sense it makes story-wise.

I wanted to do a little more of this stuff

Free tip from me (minor spoiler): Try to get the flying ship as soon as possible after the exam. When you land back in Ertona after the exam, go to the place where the light shines and fish up two Worm fish. When Meklet and Atomina give you the quest to make the Elixir of Laawe, make it and hand it in ASAP. Check out the island at Moon Catcher Pass when they tell you to, then make your way to Flussheim to do the rest of the ship quest. Phew!

TL;DR: I’m tired of going to the same places, collecting the same items, fighting the same enemies and fusing the same items. And I’m actually tired of writing about it, TBH. Not so tired I don’t want to play any more forever, but so tired I don’t want to play any more for now. When I come back to Atelier Firis in a couple of weeks/months, I’ll need to:

-Turn down the difficulty and fuse better armor so I can beat the dragon on Liane’s storyline
-Finish exploring the Floating Island to complete Meklet and Atomina’s storyline
-Explore the extra maps: Riesentrain and Holy Vestier Land
-Fulfill any easily fulfillable requirements to unlock new recipes

That’s all and then I’ll call it a day. See you when I get round to doing all that!