Atelier Lydie & Suelle Review: Paint by Numbers

Aspiring alchemists Lydie and Suelle chance upon several mysterious paintings while honing their abysmal alchemy skills. The duo finds they can enter the worlds painted on the canvas, which are full of rare ingredients sure to bring customers into the atelier.

 

 The town of Merveille has an atelier ranking system that provides access to new paintings and financial aid to local ateliers depending on their rank. To move up a rank the girls need to pass an exam, usually something along the lines of killing a boss monster or synthesizing a tricky item. But before they can take the exam they need to improve their reputation with the townsfolk through alchemy or conversation.

 

Before you can synthesize anything, you'll need items gathered from the mysterious paintings or surrounding wilderness. Most items can be picked up off the ground, gathered with tools, or acquired from battle. The maps are made up of several interconnected areas, and while the real world locations were pretty mundane, the painted worlds explode with character.

 

While exploring you'll have to fend off wandering monsters. The battle system is pretty intuitive, if not a little basic. Six party members can be used at once, 3 in front (offensive) and 3 in back (support). The combat is turn based, with the three front characters selecting from a list of skills or items to use on their turn. Meeting certain conditions will trigger an action from the support character.

 

The alchemy system uses a simple grid-like puzzle system. Each recipe uses a different number of items from specific categories (liquid, metal, etc). Every item has a quality (number), trait, and component size & color. During synthesis there will be up to four "effects", listed in different colors to the far right, that can be activated by meeting or exceeding their bar threshold. The size of a material determines the number of blocks and shape the material will occupy on the grid. The color determines how much it adds to the "effect" of the same color.

Left: Selecting a recipe. Right: A catalyst is an optional item that will change the starting grid size and color boosts.

 

 

Left: Each recipes uses different ingredients and ingredient quantities. Right: Ingredients have different tile sizes and colors when placed on the grid.

Maybe I've just become jaded with the series, but the Atelier games seem to have stagnated. Aside from a new story and locations, each new entry is more-or-less a carbon copy of the last. They slap on a new coat of paint, but under the shiny new exterior is essentially the same key elements and mechanics from the previous titles. There is so much room for creativity and improvement, and the series is sorely in need of something fresh.

First posted to videogamegeek.com on September 10, 2020.

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