Atelier Ryza: Ever Darkness & the Secret Hideout Reviews
If you can look past its obvious pacing issues – and some of its more gratuitous character designs – Atelier Ryza is a solid slice of JRPG comfort food that goes down easy and might just leave you asking for more. If you’re part of that in-group – and you likely know if you are – you’re in for a thoroughly enjoyable experience.
Gust has done a brilliant job of taking this long-running franchise and making it appeal to the mainstream more than ever here and, if you’ve ever been tempted to give the world of Atelier a try, this is a perfect jumping-on point.
Atelier Ryza: Ever Darkness & the Secret Hideout is the best entry point for newcomers to the Atelier series.
It's a refreshing change of pace from moody protagonists saving the world from unambiguously evil villains. While I like to poke fun at fashion issues like Ryza's butt hungrily devouring her shorts, I had fun with Atelier Ryza. It's not quite enough to get me to run out and pick up the rest of the series, but if I'm ever in the mood for some more anime crafting hijinks, I'll probably give them a look.
Atelier Ryza: Ever Darkness & the Secret Hideout reinvents the wheel on a series that felt like it was beginning to grow stagnant. Fresh combat and an engaging new protagonist help this entry usher in a remarkable new era for the long-running Atelier series, and other improvements like great Switch performance and gorgeous music are just icing on the cake. I never thought that Atelier Sophie could be out-done, but Atelier Ryza has thoroughly made the case to be my new favorite game in the series.
Atelier Ruza: Ever Darkness & the Secret Hideout is a rather meditative story about friendship and mutual assistance, which abandoned timers, cruel search for rare components and a too complex system of alchemy. All errors can be corrected, death in battle returns you home with a slightly reduced number of components collected, and songs and dances on the background of the fire will fill you with the warmest feelings. Atelier Ryza is a great choice for beginners, but also potions veterans will not be disappointed for sure.
Review in Russian | Read full review
In a bid to move the series forward towards a new direction, Atelier Ryza presents a new exciting combat engine and one of the best takes on alchemy yet, but falters with its plodding pace and a cast of forgettable characters.
Atelier Ryza: Ever Darkness & the Secret Hideout makes some fundamental changes to the core mechanics that may get under the skin of long-time fans but are welcome for those looking to jump into the franchise for the first time.
Atelier Ryza: Ever Darkness and the Secret Hideout brings the Atelier series to a new trilogy and this time, the leap brings us towards a marvelous game that pushes the quality threshold to a higher level, thanks to its fantastic combat system, exquisite art style and soundtrack and an accessible gameplay that improves the experience for everyone.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
As an old-school gamer, there’s just something about Atelier Ryza: Ever Darkness & the Secret Hideout that checks a lot of boxes for me. Maybe it’s the game’s colorful visuals and fantasy setting. Perhaps it’s the ability to use alchemy to craft all sorts of gear and items from the materials that I gather from the field. Or it could be its likable cast of characters. Regardless, there isn’t quite anything out there like the Atelier series and Ryza builds on a lot of the things I like about the franchise. Give this game a shot and you just might find your own alchemical romance.
Atelier Ryza: Ever Darkness and the Secret Hideout feels like a massive step backward, both in terms of gameplay and story. Although GUST attempted to inject some real-world themes into this tale, it's unfortunately just more of the same.
The best thing that can be said of Atelier Ryza is that it is accessible. Down to its core it is meant to be enjoyed by new players or by series veterans who might be looking for a nice light addition to the franchise.
Atelier Ryza is a great game slightly marred by a poor port, lack of enemy variety, and hard-to-find ingredients. But anyone who likes crafting games absolutely owes it to themselves to play this, as it's a huge amount of fun.
It will keep you busy for hours trying to craft better gear and foraging throughout the map for that much-needed material. Atelier Ryza: Ever Darkness & the Secret Hideout is a cutesy, time-consuming monster for the Switch, and it's worth getting.
Atelier Ryza is a solid start to a new trilogy.
If you want a really well done, cozy game to kick back with at the end of a long day, Atelier Ryza is one of the best titles on the market to do it with.
In a lot of ways Atelier Ryza: Ever Darkness & the Secret Hideout is an improvement. Here we have someone who is getting into alchemy because they want to, plus a mysterious plot that is building in the background, making it one of the better stories to date.
Though it may require a bit of patience to get to the sweet stuff, Atelier Ryza is a wholesome and addicting experience that RPG fans will gleefully gulp down, even if they've never dabbled with the Atelier franchise before. Thanks to the strong visuals and countless gameplay features, now is the best time to jump in on this niche series, which may end up becoming much more recognizable thanks to this latest solid entry.
With Atelier Ryza, Gust took some risks, and it definitely paid off: this is, in our opinion, the best entry of the franchise so far, thanks to a quicker battle system and improved alchemy one. Don't miss it if you fancy the series.
Review in Italian | Read full review
Atelier Ryza: Ever Darkness & the Secret Hideout has been a fun addition to the Atelier series. As a game that focuses on crafting, it has a wonderful crafting system. At the same time, it does not skip on the RPG and elements and questing. This was my first real playthrough of an Atelier game. With a great story and a deep crafting system and casual playstyle, it has been a joy to play.