Atelier Ryza DX Trilogy Review [Nintendo Switch 2]
Koei Tecmo are sure having one hell of a year with some great titles. This year alone, we’ve got Atelier Yumia and Atelier Resleriana, so I was surprised when I heard the announcement that we would be getting an additional three Atelier games with the release of the Atelier Ryza DX Trilogy, enhanced ports of the arguably best games in the series.
For this review, I will be mainly focusing on what’s new and improved instead of an in-depth review of each game. I’ve already covered the Ryza series before, and my feelings haven’t changed; they are fantastic, cosy RPGs with loveable characters and great gameplay loops.
As a quick primer, I will give a very quick overview of each game, but if you are already familiar with the series, feel free to skip over this part: –
Atelier Ryza: Ever Darkness & The Secret Hideout is the first game in the trilogy and is a story about a young girl called Ryza and her friends, who all live on the small Kurken Island. Ryza longs for adventure, and she and her friends soon find themselves sneaking off to explore to mainland. Ryza soon meets Empel, an alchemist, and it soon becomes apparent that Ryza has her knack for Alchemy. I won’t get into any more details as I would have to include major spoilers, but let’s just say Ryza & Co. use their friendship and the power of alchemy to avert a disaster, and they all go their separate ways with Ryza deciding to stay on Kurken Island.
Atelier Ryza 2: Lost Legends & the Secret Fairy is set 3 years after the events of the original game, with Ryza now being a teacher and full full-fledged Alchemist. Invited by her friend Tao, Ryza sets out to investigate some ancient runes along with an ancient-looking stone she was given. It turns out the stone is, in fact, an egg and an adorable creature named ‘Fi’ hatches from it and immediately forms a bond with Ryza. Reunited with her old friends, along with a few new faces, Ryza and Co. continue to unravel the mystery of the ruins and also Fi’s origins.
Atelier Ryza 3: Alchemist of the End & the Secret Key is the 3rd and final part of the trilogy set just one year after Atelier Ryza 2. Kurken Island is suddenly experiencing a large number earth quakes as new and mysterious islands start to appear. These new islands are filled with monsters and are a threat to Kurken Island. Now a seasoned and respected alchemist and adventurer, Ryza is tasked with getting to the bottom of this mystery and saving Kurken Island. Ryza 3 is far bigger in scope than the original two entries, and it takes place across a vast open world. A mysterious voice guides Ryza to create a special type of Key that is crucial to uncovering the mystery of the new islands. This game acts as a great send-off to the trilogy, tying up a lot of loose ends and story threads.
What's new?
Each game comes bundled with all previously available DLC, including the swimsuits and an actual ton of different optional background music from previous entries to choose from, going all the way back to the original Atelier Marie. You’ll even find tracks from some of Gust’s other series, such as Blue Reflection.
Sadly, there’s no way to import your save data from the Switch version across, so be warned, you’ll have to start over from the beginning of each game, which does make sense due to the additional interwoven story elements that have been added. Also, as far as I know, there is no upgrade path from the Switch version to the Switch 2 version, so be sure to pick up the correct one to gain the added resolution bump from the Switch 2’s improved hardware.
Each game now has additional story content in the form of Episodes, which are accessed separately from the main story. Ryza DX has the most clocking in at a total of 6 episodes, many of which were previously DLC.
Each of the episodes takes place either during or after the events of the main game. For example, Ryza DX has a new episode called After That Summer that takes place after the events of the main story. In this episode, Ryza is acting as a substitute teacher and has to track down a couple of missing students with the help of Romy and Agatha. This episode is brand new to the DX version and bridges the gap between Ryza 1 & 2.
While these episodes do a great job of fleshing out some of the other characters from the main game, they are a little short, with many of them taking under an hour to beat. Another small gripe I have with them is that your characters tend to be quite a high level. In the After That Summer episode, you start with a playable Romy and Agatha at level 40, which means you are WAY over-levelled for the enemies to prove a real challenge, but it’s still nice to get some backstory between the games.
There’s also a new additional Story added to Ryza DX featuring Bos & Kilo, which fills in the blanks from when Bos enters the Underworld, where you take control of Kilo as a playable character.
Atelier Ryza 2 DX has a smaller story-based episode featuring Empel & Lila as they search for gates to the underworld. In this episode, you control Lila as you explore the new map called the Zelepsto Cave in an attempt to unravel its mysteries.
During the main story of Atelier Ryza 2 DX, Fi will now be present while you are exploring and supports Ryza and the team by healing them slightly, along with enhancing the area of the Sensor Map. It’s a small addition, but a nice one to see nonetheless
Ryza 3 DX’s new additions are a side story featuring Serri and Clifford, who only got a passing mention in the main story of Ryza 3. With Clifford in search of treasure and Serri searching for flower seeds, they head off to a new area called Craes Island.
This short but sweet story features some great character building between the two, but suffers a little from the same difficulty issues as the After That Summer episode from Ryza DX, being far too easy. Both Clifford and Serri start at level 50 this time around, and pretty much all enemies that see you will flee on sight. It will take you just a little over an hour to see the story through to the conclusion.
Along with the playable Clifford and Serri, you’ll eventually come across Kilo as a fully playable character, along with a few other additional inclusions like the new Wind Beasts that can help Ryza collect materials as she traverses the open map.
Additional quality-of-life features have been added to all three games, such as a decent graphical update that makes all three titles look more cohesive when played back to back. A photo mode has been added to all games in the collection, as it’s got a ton of features like character posing, being able to set the time of day, etc.
A small, yet welcome addition is an increase in size of both the storage and basket containers in all games, making collecting materials for alchemy so much easier and eliminating some of the need to constantly head back to your Atelier to deposit materials. This is further helped by the inclusion of a simple UI element showing how much space you have left in your basket at any time, so you no longer need to delve into the menus to figure this out and break the pace of your exploration.
In terms of performance on the Switch 2, I must say, all three games look fantastic. I played the originals on a mix of both the original Nintendo Switch and the PlayStation 5, and I would say the visuals on Switch 2 fall somewhere in between both of those.
Sadly, each game seems to be locked to 30fps, which is a shame as running at 1080p, I would have assumed a 60fps would have been achievable in both.
The anti-aliasing is a bit hit-or-miss with occasional jaggies being present in characters’ hair and sometimes in foliage, but overall, I would say all three games look great. Looking into the trilogy’s technology licenses, it shows the games make use of AMD’s FSR 1.0, which could explain the ‘fuzziness’ along hairlines, etc., but overall, I’d say all three games look stunning, looking very vibrant on the Switch 2’s screen.
Conclusion
The Atelier Ryza DX Trilogy is now the definitive way to experience Ryza’s journey from start to finish. The inclusion of all previously released DLC, the enhanced visuals, expanded story content, and all the little quality-of-life improvements make this collection the definitive way to experience Ryza’s adventures, offering hundreds of hours of relaxed, rewarding and cosy RPG gameplay.
While the new episodes are relatively short and the games still run at 30fps, these are minor issues in an otherwise outstanding collection. Gust and Koei Tecmo have done a great job tying together the trilogy into a seamless experience that plays great.
Whether you’re revisiting the world of Atelier Ryza or discovering it for the first time, the Atelier Ryza DX Trilogy is the perfect way to enjoy one of the best modern RPG series, and I would highly recommend adding these great games to your collection.
9
Nintendo Switch 2 review code for the Atelier Ryza Secret Trilogy Deluxe Pack was kindly provided by KOEI TECMO GAMES and GUST