#and in this case that good trait winds up being wrong. he gets everyone captured by the enemy and thinks theyre all better off if he wasn’t

[leori-the-unlearned]

the way digimon does conflict/drama between two characters who should be or are close: chef’s kiss <3

the way sonic idw handles creating conflict/drama between two characters who should be or are close: *wilting flower*

[auncyen]

Eye of the Beholder

this has been in my drafts for over half a year, and it was supposed to be longer, but I just cannot so ONE-SHOT TIME. Ren snorts after discovering what the classically handsome, mostly naked shadow with a flower growing out of its blond head calls itself. Of course the conceptualization of Narcissus would be found on Shido's boat. It must have been drawn to the man's titanic ego, a case of like calling to like; the shadow is still oozing self-confidence as it acquiesces and becomes another of Ren's personas. I suppose I can help when you need me, it simpers, as if Ren would consider letting it take up space in his head just to lounge around and think it looks pretty. Just the idea makes him roll his eyes behind his mask. The personas of the Lovers arcana can certainly be confident in themselves, bolstering the flirtatiousness some of them show, but Narcissus takes it a few steps beyond to self-involved. Good thing he already has a strong bond with Ann that no longer needs help from personas, because he's really not sure how he could associate Narcissus with her, besides the fact that they're both blondes. He should see if fusing Narcissus will create anything interesting. After they're done here. The infiltration goes as normally as it can in a Palace full of statues that turn people into mice. It's aggravating and tiring, and they've only gotten up to letter number three by the time everyone is worn out, but that's--not good, but manageable. There's still about two weeks before the election, and Ren sets himself down to schedule those in coded shorthand in his probation diary (which means the code is "I'm a good boy, honest") while he and everyone else gets their breath back in the safe room. Then Ann catches his eye. Or rather, the compact mirror she's holding with one hand as the other brushes her wild hair back into order. "Ann. Can I borrow that?" "My brush?" Not like he'd need one when he's just going to pull a hood over his head as soon as he leaves the Palace. He shakes his head. "Mirror." "Oh! Here," she says, passing it over without a second of hesitation. Though she does add, "Don't worry, you look just fine," with a cheeky smile. He's surprised to find he agrees. There's a mark on his cheek from the interrogation still, mending but plain as day, plus the sweat from the day's work. It's obvious he's tired, his eyelids starting to droop. Yet he feels more awake as his eyes roam over points of his face. His fatigue, the sweat, the mark, those things are all temporary, and he can look past them to the shape of his face, the set of his cheekbones. The wild curls of his hair. The thought he had when he first caught sight of himself in the compact mirror comes back. Beautiful. It's not a thought he's had often before in regards to himself; he knows he can look good, but it takes a certain affectation, an effort to make it look effortless. This is spontaneous, natural. It probably ties back to Narcissus. 'I am thou, thou art damn fine' and all. So maybe that really makes it unnatural? Considering he found Narcissus inside the psyche of a man whose egotism could ruin the entire country in the near future. But there's nothing wrong about this feeling. It's good for him to appreciate himself. He should appreciate himself. He winds a curl of hair around one finger before letting it go and tracing his jawline instead. He's worked so hard, been through so much shit, and he still looks good. "--Joker?" Ah. The sound of his name startles him out of his fascination to realize that Ann and now Makoto are staring at him. Haru is preoccupied, talking with Ryuji, but she glances over with thinly veiled curiosity herself. Yusuke makes no disguise of his own interest, fingers framing Ren. Closing the compact and passing it back to Ann, he gives the artist a smug smirk, something he would do anyway in this situation, but surprises himself with: "I'd ask you to paint me, but I'm already a work of art." "Indeed," Yusuke agrees, disarming in his complete frankness. He drops his hands. "I have been wrestling for some time now with the question of how one would adequately capture your essence. You had an interesting expression just then. Might I ask what you were thinking of?" The honest answer is 'himself', which makes Ren's cheeks grow hot. Right. The myth of Narcissus is where the English term 'narcissist' comes from; he's starting to act self-absorbed, and he needs to toss this persona out soon, as he has with a few others. He knows that all of them simply reflect different aspects of his personality, that none of them are truly alien to his being, but over taking in dozens and dozens of personas, a small handful have managed to throw him off-kilter with just how much they exaggerate certain traits. There's a fine line between 'self-assured' and 'obnoxious', and Narcissus is going to make him cross it. "Lost track of my thoughts," he fibs. "It looked like you got lost in your own eyes," Ann teases. "They are pretty ones." "Just as lovely as yours." "Man, are you complimenting her or yourself there?" Ryuji's caught what distracted Haru and is now hooked on the conversation himself. On the other hand, Morgana looks uneasy now, so it's better if they cut this short. Besides, there's a persona to execute. Ren shoots Ryuji a grin and a little half-shrug, a non-verbal 'you decide', and then stands from the chair. "Everyone good to go? Let's start heading out. I'll be last. Need to sort my personas." He keeps the visit to the Velvet Room short. The others might worry if he doesn't follow them out into the real world quickly enough. Justine is always efficient at listing his options for fusion, so it's just a quick scan through the list to pick Scathach as Narcissus' unlucky partner, producing Norn, an overseer of fate. Her appearance as a woman atop an ornate clock is familiar: he fought her in Sae's Casino. Her temperament is level compared to Scathach's sharp wit and Narcissus' outsized ego, the two seemingly spliced to create a pride tempered by knowledge of things greater than man and perhaps even herself. Yes, Norn will keep him in line, and he leaves the Velvet Room satisfied. Morgana wriggles into his bag as soon as he's out in the real world, and they make their way through the cityscape of Tokyo, passing dozens and dozens of windows and reflective surfaces on their way back to Leblanc. And the first time Ren catches his image being mirrored back to himself, he kind of wants to laugh. Huddling under a hood with a big mark on his face, yeah, real pretty. He's got to grin at just how strange Narcissus' way of thinking was. He smiles a little again the second time he catches his mug in the glass, and the third, too. By the fourth time, though, it's not funny. His eyes flick away from the window, and he presses his fingers against the bruise on his face. Not too hard, because Takemi will be annoyed if he picks at injuries, but just hard enough to feel a throb of pain that reminds him how much of his face it covers. It's so ugly. Ann probably played along with his little burst of vanity to be kind. And Yusuke, well, his fascination with Mementos shows the artist can find inspiration even in the grotesque. Ren's a real work of art, sure, painted in black and blue and purple and yellow and white, too white, too pale. He keeps his eyes away from reflections after that. Ever since...that night, his face has been a mess, and looking at it just makes him feel the mess inside, anger and rage and fear and shame. Why should he feel ashamed? That's a mess in itself, and trying to pick it apart just makes the cage rattling in his chest feel tighter. Maybe...next time he comes across Narcissus, he'll keep him. If the options are being a little obnoxious or hating to look at himself, the others can cut him some slack.

[crystalelemental]

Atelier Ayesha Plus Opinions

Those who remember my rankings will probably have noticed that I am a Dusk Trilogy fanboy.  The Arland trilogy got me into the series, and I greatly enjoy all of those games to a high degree, but the Dusk games are just on an entirely different level for me.  Ayesha is our starting point, and in terms of the number of times I shouted something like "Oh my god, this is so much better," I don't think any game has outdone it ever.  The improvements are many and significant, and if it weren’t for a few areas that I think Escha & Logy really got right, Ayesha would be the uncontested favorite.

CHARACTERS Ayesha has, in my humble opinion, the greatest cast of characters in the series I have experienced thus far.  Out of the entire cast, it says a lot that the only one I can think of that I dislike is at least treated like a goon.  I have a flat 0 complaints about the cast of this game.  Also, I don’t think any cast of playable characters has ever felt so relatable to me...

Ayesha - Ayesha is the best alchemist.  She can be a little spacey, but is good at her craft, sometimes a bit overly humble, but feels very...real?  Something about her opening cinematic being trying to juggle three responsibilities and trying her hardest to eat while synthesizing and commenting in a calm tone that no, she's about to freak out and break down is just...super relatable. And that's retained the entire game. She presents as a fairly composed individual, and it makes the moments of her expressing strong emotions stand out.  She also is an atypical alchemist, in that she doesn’t really identify as one at all.  She’s an apothecary who creates medicines, and just happens to use alchemy techniques to do so.  Also, fun fact: it took me forever to realize the weird hair curl above her right eye wasn't her eyebrow, so for the longest time I thought she just had this kinda smug "everyone is an idiot" look going on in every cutscene.  I’m kinda disappointed that this wasn’t the case, honestly.

Regina - Regina is a good.  I don't have strong feelings about her character, but she's a good friend, and a little silly, which does well when she's interacting with Ayesha.  She also stands out as someone who wants to get things done in her personal questlines, and seems to take her job seriously.  Being a mix between "would kick your ass" and "highly maternal in her own way" is a nice trait combination, and it makes her character feel more developed.

Wilbell - This game's best (human) girl.  Wilbell is a witch, and in this universe, witches are akin to alchemists.  Wilbell insists that alchemists are just ripping off what witches do, but they're essentially the same.  Her occupation makes for some interesting worldbuilding, and the idea that there are related crafts to alchemy is neat. Wilbell herself is very high-energy and childish, but is very eager to prove herself to her grandmother that she's a full-fledged witch.  She's endearing and fun, and a great addition to the cast.

Linca - Oh man, Linca.  So close to taking over for Wilbell.  Linca is...hard to explain.  She's stoic and strong, but also a complete dork.  She has no idea what to do in social situations, and just wants to stick with Marion, despite being frustrated by the things Marion will constantly ask her to do (example: make 100 friends, please take a regular bath, etc).  Her character is delightfully quirky, and has some interesting history as...some kind of clone?  It's hard to tell.  All we know is there are several Lincas, and she's one that was rescued by Marion.

Marion - I want you all to take a moment and acknowledge how every character so far is listed in recruitment order, and they’re all excellent female characters.  You can only bring three in a party at a time.  Do you see my frustration?  They’re all so good, and Marion is another excellent addition to an already unbelievable playable cast.  Marion is Linca's supervisor, but also a close friend. Marion is a high-strung working woman who just wants to catch a break. I...definitely feel that one.  She has a lot of contempt for "Central," basically the command center of the organization she works for, and feels things would run more smoothly if the smaller groups were able to run themselves effectively.

Juris - Juris is a hunter-man I expected to not care much for, but he winds up being pretty endearing in his own way.  He's very serious and down to earth, but in that kind of relatable way where he's laid-back and easy to get along with.  I have no strong love of this guy either, but he'sgood .

Odelia - Actual best girl, no contest.  Odelia is an automaton who watches over the cradle of knowledge; a storehouse of books from throughout the centuries, stockpiled here to preserve in the event of catastrophe.  Despite being a robot, Odelia does that excellent thing where her mannerisms and quirks feel very human, and she presents as more emotional than you may expect.  I mentioned before that people not understanding their own emotions was a character trait I adored. Robots who understand and learn feelings are the only trait on par.  I love that, and that's Odelia, essentially.

Nio - Nio is Ayesha’s sister, and is kind of a quirky goon.  I love it.  She’s a great source of entertainment, and has an excellent dynamic going with Ayesha.

There are several of the side-characters who wind up being great.  Harry is a delight in his antics, Ernie is a kindly friend for Ayesha, and even Ranun, who I generally dislike, gets a pass because everyone tells him to stop being a bum and get a real job.  Everyone in this game is great, which leads into the final piece...

Keithgriff - the teacher.  Keithgriff comes across as highly abrasive, much like Astrid.  He can come across as a bit of a dick, and I strongly disagree with his notion that knowledge should always be self-made (educating others is a valuable method of keeping humans advancing), but his stance is based on the idea that knowledge in the wrong hands is dangerous, and direct experience from someone with a good mindset is more critical than ensuring knowledge is spread for free.  Again, I don’t entirely agree, but it’s a fair stance, he just comes across as a grumpy old man about it.  It feels very different from Astrid, who is an asshole for no reason all the time, and in a way that makes him more likeable.  He's also a hugely important character, in terms of developing the world around you.  More on that in a bit. STORY The surface story is that Ayesha’s sister, Nio, went missing a while back and is presumed dead.  When you visit her grave, Nio suddenly appears, and a man named Keithgriff appears to explain that Nio is still alive, but only has about three years before she will definitely die.  You, Ayesha, must learn the secrets of the flowers scattered throughout the world, and unlock the secrets of alchemy in order to save her.  Much like Totori, it’s a fairly strong motivator, but it’s more consistent throughout the story.  There’s a frequent reminder that Nio is out there and what your goal is supposed to be, with a lot more emphasis placed on both Ayesha’s desperation to save her sister, and the need for alchemy specifically to be what saves her.  But as I said, this is the surface story.  There’s a lot going on in the background that is just a delight.

SETTING The setting for Ayesha is, I would argue, its strongest point.  The background story of this game is about the world itself, and focuses heavily on the impacts that alchemy has had on the environment.  There are small scenes throughout, such as Keith explaining how alchemy once turned an ocean into the barren wastelands to the west.  Keith’s emphasis on alchemists needing to seek their own knowledge, and his belief that knowledge in improper hands will result in catastrophe, which is why he’s gone out of his way to destroy relics of the past to erase easy access to knowledge some people shouldn’t have.  As for the impact it had, that would be what they call the Dusk.

The Dusk, at this point, is ill-defined, but you can get an understanding of roughly how it works.  It’s an environmental problem on a global scale.  Because of misuse of alchemy in the past, the environment has suffered tremendously, and while it can heal, the cinematic in Vierzeburg upon arrival comments that the city has survived many Dusks, which means this is a recurring cycle.  The problems in the environment aren’t going away, and they’re a massive problem for humans.  Significant enough that a location like the Zweiteturm exists.

The Zweiteturm is, bar none, the coolest place in all of Atelier thus far.  It’s a giant library filled with the collected knowledge of all humanity.  Its existence is just a neat thing at first, but you later learn that its presence is entirely as a safeguard.  If the Dusk happens, and for some reason humans can’t weather the problem and are largely wiped out, their collected knowledge will at least remain, potentially to be used again one day.  The being that captured Nio is the guardian of the other cradle: the Cradle of Life, which is designed to house all forms of life within itself for the same purpose.  If the Dusk wipes things out, at least the cradle of life will have a backup to be used when a solution is found.  The impact and significance of the Dusk is portrayed wonderfully through the various settings in this world, and I absolutely adore how well you get a sense for the severity of this phenomenon.  Keith’s storyline also adequately demonstrates how these crises are human-made, and adds a level of significance to the act of performing alchemy that wasn’t present in previous games.  In particularly, it presents the things that alchemy has made, which in this game, includes Slags and Homunculi. 

Slags are your primary enemies in this game, and the implication is that they were created for manual labor to help humans.  They work in the Zweiteturm, and are generally helpful until a malfunction causes them all to go haywire and they attack people.  You also have the Slag Dragon thing in Keith’s quest, which suggests that some Slags were created more as weapons, and exist to destroy, with an almost escalation of arms by creating stronger and stronger Slags.  With the implication that the ancient civilizations were in conflict with one another, this well may be the case.

The other is Homunculi, and they are more ambiguous.  They’re these adorable, friendly creatures that absolutely love “Sparkles.”  Sparkles are candy.  They just love it.  They’re also effectively immortal.  They die periodically, but are instantly brought back to life somehow, creating a sort of automatic reincarnation cycle.  There’s a small village of these things off to the west, but ultimately they don’t seem to impact the plot much.  They’re just around, and implied to be a creation of alchemy rather than a natural species. And because of their seemingly eternal nature, it doesn’t seem like they reproduce, and the ones that exist may well have been made centuries ago.  It’s an interesting race to introduce, considering that these were created for a purpose, certainly, but with the loss of the ancient civilization, likely due to the Dusk, the Homunculi are roaming free and still built their own society.  It’s pretty interesting to see how these created races have developed throughout time and what they do without their creators.

ALCHEMY SYSTEM Ayesha’s system is very different from the Arland games.  You get a few alchemy skills, which can be interesting to use, but don’t add a ton.  One of your skills is being able to transfer properties, something you did for free in previous games, so I’m not as big a fan.  You can use each skill only once during alchemy, so use them wisely.  You also have another major change, in that ingredients have static properties.  Gone are the days of randomized properties on everything.  On the one hand, this is kinda nice.  If you need a property, you know exactly where to get it, and the rest is figuring out the synthesis chain that will get it where it needs to go.  On the other hand, it can make some things really difficult, as you’re no longer able to rely on having a billion items to work with all having different properties, so one of them must go right into the synthesis you want.  It requires a lot more synthesis chaining than previous games as a result, I feel.  This is far from a bad thing, but it is a significant change.

The exploration items are back, including the ability to travel faster, hold more items, etc.  I’m really glad to see these things make a return, because I love using these kinds of items.  Having them carried over in NG+ is also just a huge benefit.

BATTLE SYSTEM Now here we have a Totori-esque setup, in that enemies are tough, and you will be relying on items pretty much forever.  Ayesha is a healer by trade, which is a facet I adore.  I love playing as the healer, and having Ayesha’s main role being to use healing items for others is a blessing.  Equipment has significance, but again, it’s like Totori in that the significance is minor.  You can make equipment significant, in that you can boost skill damage to ludicrous amounts, but that’s about it.  The real interesting thing is the superbosses.  Skills do not damage them much, regardless of the power you pack, and they often have their own skills that can blast your party into powder.  So what’s the way to win?  Stall battle.  Honestly, it’s not a ton of fun, but conceptually, it’s beautiful.  Ayesha’s a healer, so the way to win against these impossible odds is to simply have the strongest healing potential you can.  Your skills will make shorter work of the fight, but each superboss takes 30 minutes to an hour to beat, because you deal so little and they have so much going on.  Unlimited healing is your only way to win, which is conceptually fantastic.  The problem is, these enemies tend to have methods that will still wipe your party if you’re not careful or are unlucky.  That’s what I take issue with more than anything.  If my answer is a stall battle that will take 45 minutes per boss, at least have the decency to make sure I will not lose if I’ve set everything up properly so this doesn’t get annoying.  Shortening the fights would also help...

Battle is also altered, in that there’s a circle formation around enemies now, instead of going face to face.  This allows for things like back attacks, and positioning your allies to either set up follow-up attacks, or spreading out so that enemies with smaller AoE attacks can’t hit everyone at once.  It’s a neat system, though I can’t say I used it all that often to its proper effect.

Now, the real big change is in how you make equipment.  Instead of forging them, you use whetstones for weapons you find, and dyes for armors.  That’s right, find.  Weapons and armors drop from enemies, with higher-level enemies dropping higher-level gear.  You can apply the whetstones or dyes to them in order to transfer properties, or to improve quality to the level of the item applied.  These items are also fabulously cheap by comparison, and you can synthesize several at once.  What this results in is a delightful shift away from picking two other characters and rocking that party all game to avoid bankruptcy, into being able to apply a cheap whetstone to everyone so the whole party is outfitted, and can be used in combat interchangeably.  This makes it a lot easier to test out party members to find out which ones you like best, and gives you the ability to build friendship ratings much more easily because everyone is combat viable now.  It’s a very welcome and wonderful change, with the only real issue being obtaining the items in the first place.  Thankfully, late game, a high-level enemy that’s easy to beat shows up as a group, and you can easily farm the best weapons and armor sets in about 20-30 minutes, no issue.

OTHER MECHANICS Ayesha has a memory system that allows you to spend accumulated points from major plot events, completed requests, and just talking to people, on gaining specific bonuses.  Some bonuses will be stats, others will be in getting additional synthesis items, etc.  There are a lot of great benefits, but you generally can’t afford much until later in the game, so you have to be rather selective at first.

The only other thing I can think to mention is requests.  Random people in different towns will ask you for things, and you get a time limit to complete them.  Completing them in that time nets you the rewards, but taking too long results in losing out on at least parts of rewards.  You can stall the timer, though, by not talking to people.  So it becomes this interesting game of whether or not you feel like you’re in a position to fill the next request these people might ask for.

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS I am in no position to really talk about art direction in an intelligent way, because I know virtually nothing of art theory, but the change in artistic style in the Dusk trilogy is fantastic and I adore it.

Also this may be something unique to me, but the Notes system outright lied to me.  I had to find one more flower to finish the hunt for Nio, and I could not for the life of my find it.  I checked notes, and all it said for flowers was to check the temples.  So that’s what I did.  It wasn’t there.  I later stumbled upon the correct path by accident, but how bad is it that your hints are lying to you?  For a while, this game ranked below a few Arland games because of this, as it has a very strong Totori-vibe in the negative sense.  Fortunately, I found it in my heart to forgive, in part because I would’ve found the flower easily if I hadn’t completely forgotten to explore a segment of the map.

CONCLUDING THOUGHTS Atelier Ayesha is amazing.  This game is such a drastic change from the Arland setup, and I feel like it’s improved in every way.  The biggest adjustment is, by far, an emphasis on the location you live in as well as the over-arching theme of seeking the truth and the inherent dangers of misusing the powers of alchemy.  It’s the level of heavy backstory against a fairly upbeat cast that really hooks me.  I love Atelier Ayesha so much, and this game got me so hyped up for the Dusk trilogy it’s unreal.  I have not often gotten this excited about games, but wow did this one ever captivate me.

If you enjoyed this (for some reason), consider checking out the write-ups for the other games in the series as well!

Atelier Rorona Plus Atelier Totori Plus Atelier Meruru Plus Atelier Ayesha Plus Atelier Escha and Logy Plus Atelier Shallie Plus Atelier Sophie Atelier Firis