Atelier Firis DX: My life as an explorer

 

Or not so much, actually. After 15 hours of intense and satisfying play, I’m done with the grand alchemy test I was given as a goal at the beginning of the game; and incidentally, I’m done with the game as well, even though unroamed areas and unfulfilled side quests are still aplenty. I knew this would happen, mind you; and I started playing while anticipating that I would lose all will to play after I was done with the test. I did lose all will to play all right — with a bit of help from Gust, who decided to make the credits roll after the test. You know that ‘rolling credits’ means ‘next game please!’ to me; and that pavlovian conditioning didn’t fail to trigger this time around. 

 

  

I played Atelier Firis in a trance, over a grand tally of four days and as many playing sessions. I would be hard-pressed to chastise it after gorging on it so shamelessly — and yet, this is exactly what I’m gonna do. See, that game’s subtitle shouldn’t be “The Alchemist and the Mysterious Journey”; it should be “Cognitive Dissonance Much?”, or “Look at that Yummy Cake yet Don’t You Dare Taking a Bite!”. 

 

 

Here’s the problem in a nutshell: Atelier Firis gives you a whole world to explore, a wealth of material to forage, plenty of characters to get close to, a myriad of quests to fulfil… along with a super-stringent, non-negotiable deadline that forces you to keep an eye on the passing of days at all times and to run towards your objective at breakneck speed. Forget about losing yourself in alchemy, exploration and fighting; you can do that all right, but only after you pass that darn alchemy exam. 

 

 

I cannot help but question the logic of that whole design. What’s the point of having such a wide and enticing game world, only to curtail the player’s ability to explore it to their heart’s content? I know I would have played Atelier Firis very differently without a time limit — in fact, I would probably be playing it still, not writing about it. I would be exploring every nook and cranny of every single area, fighting like a beast, and synthesizing like the wind… (wistful sigh) 

 

 

Mind you, the alchemy test is not even that thrilling of a goal either. I went there to test the waters, and ended up passing without really trying. The first part of the test is a multiple-choice quiz about all things alchemy; my haphazard answers landed me a tally of 11/20. Then, I had to synthesize the best item I could; I went with a mere Bomb, because it was the only item I had crafted enough to get a Platinum Star synthesis level; my toiling at the cauldron produced a Bomb with a quality value of 53. Then, I had to damage a Puni with 9999 HP; I threw a Lightning Crystal at it, and did 149 damage. Then, I had to fight Ilmeria; and as I was a puny lv.15 against her lv.25, she thoroughly mopped the floor with me. 

 

 

I thought for sure I would fail miserably after such a lacklustre performance on all fronts; but colour me flabbergasted, I actually passed! Did Mom’s lovingly hand-sewn outfit boost my luck, or did the exam committee take pity on me? Or is that alchemy test just really easy, a mere formality to mark the end of the main game? I don’t know, and I don’t really care right now. 

 

  

Technically, Atelier Firis wouldn’t make the cut as a New Classic on its own. I had a blast playing it, that I cannot deny; but I had ten times more of a blast playing Sophie, which I deem better on all fronts bar the openness of the game world. But it so happens that I own Firis as part of the Atelier Mysterious Trilogy Deluxe Pack for the Switch; it’s on the cartridge anyway, which saves me the hassle of deciding whether I keep it or not. And I can always replay it later if my gaming instinct claims it — win-win! 

 

I cannot say for sure if I'll ever replay Atelier Firis; what I know for sure, on the other hand, is that I've written enough about it for now. I'll see you soon with more gaming goodness, dear fellow gamers; keep doing your thing, and take care!