Atelier Sophie: The Alchemist of the Mysterious Book

Seventeenth game in Gust’s Atelier series, and first of the Mysterious trilogy. Fledgling alchemist Sophie Neuenmuller stumbles across a talking book and sets out on a quest to help it recover its memories.


Developer: Gust
Publisher: Koei Tecmo
Available on: Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Windows PC


Cover Game features

Atelier Sophie: The Alchemist of the Mysterious Book – First Steps in a Mysterious New World - Atelier Sophie kicks off a whole new Atelier trilogy with new mechanics, a new setting, new characters -- and two new artists. Let's take a high-level look at the thinking behind this new series before we dive into more specific, detailed explorations.
Atelier Sophie: The Alchemist of the Mysterious Book – Getting Into Role - The Atelier series are regarded as "JRPGs", with all the baggage that term carries with it -- but Atelier Sophie is a great example of how certain installments in the series embrace a distinctly more freeform structure. Let's look at how this game lets you live the alchemist's life.
Atelier Sophie: The Alchemist of the Mysterious Book – Alchemist on the Road - An alchemist's life is split between slaving away in their atelier and wandering the world in search of life's mysteries... or just a bunch of shiny rocks to throw into their next recipe. Let's look at what happens when Sophie hits the road!
Atelier Sophie: The Alchemist of the Mysterious Book – Stirring the Pot - Another Atelier game, another alchemy system to learn. In Atelier Sophie: The Alchemist of the Mysterious Book, there's a bunch of interesting mechanics to get your teeth into -- I hope your spatial awareness is up to snuff!
Atelier Sophie: The Alchemist of the Mysterious Book – Classic-Style Combat - An interesting aspect of Atelier Sophie: The Alchemist of the Mysterious Book is how it pays homage to some real classics of the RPG genre while still feeling like a thoroughly modern game. A lot of this is down to the game's combat and progression systems.
Atelier Sophie: The Alchemist of the Mysterious Book – Have You Any Dreams You’d Like to Sell? - The narrative of Atelier Sophie: The Alchemist of the Mysterious Book is one of dreams, ambition and belief in oneself. The most important thing to remember about the dreams you have for the future is that they can -- and probably will -- change over time...
The Music of Atelier, Vol. 13: Atelier Sophie – The Alchemist of the Mysterious Book - As we wrap up our time with Atelier Sophie, it's time once again to celebrate a fine selection of tracks from Gust's incredible sound team -- and enjoy that unique sense of comfy adventure that only an Atelier score can provide.
Atelier Firis: The Alchemist and the Mysterious Journey – Atelier Hits the Open Road - Atelier Firis: The Alchemist and the Mysterious Journey marks another significant shakeup for the Atelier series. We're going open world, baby -- but don't spend too much time lollygagging, 'cause you've got important alchemy work to do!
Atelier Firis: The Alchemist and the Mysterious Journey – Your Friendly Neighbourhood Alchemist - Our heroine's adventures in Atelier Firis: The Alchemist and the Mysterious Journey see her learning how alchemy can be used to better the lives of those around her -- and how sometimes it's best to come back to a problem when you've learned a bit more!
Atelier Firis: The Alchemist and the Mysterious Journey – Taking a Trip - Atelier Firis: The Alchemist and the Mysterious Journey shows how well "open world Atelier" can work. And it achieves this by eschewing the usual "hoover up the icons" style of play in favour of something much more organic-feeling.
Atelier Firis: The Alchemist and the Mysterious Journey – Mix and Match - The alchemy system in Atelier Firis: The Alchemist and the Mysterious Journey builds on the foundation established by Atelier Sophie: The Alchemist of the Mysterious Book, and adds its own unique twists to the formula.
Atelier Firis: The Alchemist and the Mysterious Journey – Proving Your Worth - The first half of Atelier Firis: The Alchemist and the Mysterious Journey will see you attempting to prove yourself in a variety of different ways. And it manages to pull this off without feeling like a "20 hour tutorial". Let's explore!
Atelier Firis: The Alchemist and the Mysterious Journey – Dangerous Roads Ahead - As should be abundantly clear by this point in the Atelier MegaFeature, you can't truly call yourself a professional alchemist unless you know how to defend yourself. Let's take a look at how Firis handles things!
Atelier Firis: The Alchemist and the Mysterious Journey – The Second Quest - No sooner has Firis completed her quest to pass the alchemy license exam, she has a whole other task to take on. And this one's a big one: deciding exactly what she wants to do with her life now she has that shiny new qualification.
Atelier Firis: The Alchemist and the Mysterious Journey – What I Want to Do - The eventual conclusion of Atelier Firis comes when our heroine decides exactly what it is that she wants to do with her life. But she has a lot of options -- and most certainly doesn't have to make a decision right away. So explore those options to your heart's content!
The Music of Atelier, Vol. 14: Atelier Firis – The Alchemist and the Mysterious Journey - As we come to the end of our Mysterious Journey with Firis, it's time to reflect on the wonderful music that accompanied her many adventures. So let's dive in once again to the amazing work that Gust's sound team does for the company's games!
Atelier Lydie & Suelle: The Alchemists and the Mysterious Paintings – Time to Settle Down - After the sprawling open-world adventures of Atelier Firis: The Alchemist and the Mysterious Journey, the nineteenth mainline Atelier game keeps things a bit more local... at least to begin with, anyway!
Atelier Lydie & Suelle: The Alchemists and the Mysterious Paintings – Bringing Things Into Focus - The Atelier series as a whole has experimented quite a bit with structure over time. And Atelier Lydie & Suelle marks a return to a more constrained, focused experience after the open-world, freeform adventures of Firis.

Other articles about Atelier Sophie

Warriors Wednesday: Redhead Tactician – Warriors All-Stars #20 - Our second playthrough of Warriors All-Stars gets well and truly underway as we get to grips with Sophie’s moveset, and look at expanding Tamaki’s forces. On today’s agenda is Mitsunari Ishida, a vibrant-haired, brilliant tactical mind with his own strong opinions on how best to wage war. How will he get along with the rather … Continue reading Warriors Wednesday: Redhead Tactician – Warriors All-Stars #20
Warriors Wednesday: The Alchemist of Kick-Ass - Having beaten the game last week, today it’s time to start a whole new Warriors All-Stars adventure! This time around, we’re taking Sophie from Atelier Sophie as our leading lady, which puts us into Tamaki’s story route rather that Setsuna’s, which we explored last time around. This should mean we get the opportunity to encounter and recruit … Continue reading Warriors Wednesday: The Alchemist of Kick-Ass

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