Atelier Shallie Plus: Alchemists of the Dusk Sea (Vita Edition) Reviews
Intrinsically addictive, relaxingly laid back and completely charming. The Atelier games are hard to sell to those who have never played them, but once you start, you'll be tearing through the back catalogue to experience them all. The removal of the time-based objectives does negatively impact the final product, but left in its wake is a game to put your feet up and unwind with.
Atelier Shallie Plus: Alchemists of the Dusk Sea is a satisfactory addition to the franchise. It smooths out a lot of Shallie's PS3 weaknesses and is a genuinely fun game, though it suffers from being the weakest in the Dusk trilogy. Anyone looking for a solid and enjoyable lighthearted JRPG will find a lot to like here, and almost every improvement is for the better. Some nagging performance issues prevent it from being better than the PS3 release in every way. Shallie Plus is a good buy for fans of the franchise, though newcomers may want to start with Ayesha or Escha & Logy instead.
Complaints aside, Atelier Shallie Plus: Alchemists of the Dusk Sea is a barrel of fun that any fan will love.
Atelier Shallie Plus: Alchemists of the Dusk Sea brings the Dusk Trilogy to a close and joins its predecessors on the PlayStation Vita. With the lack of a Time Limit system, Atelier has never suited the handheld device better than with this instalment. The pick-up and play nature of the device works brilliantly with this entry and I can’t help but love the game even more for that. While I may be new to the Atelier series I can’t wait for more and I’ll definitely be picking up some of the other titles available on the PlayStation Vita.
Overall Atelier Shallie Plus: Alchemists of the Dusk Sea was a great re-entry into the series for me. Not only is the story a good one, the dialog from both a written and verbal standpoint is highly enjoyable. Best of all, the gameplay is a return to a much more enjoyable and relaxing experience.
The amount of extra content and inclusion of DLC is reason enough to pick this up for sheer value alone.