Atelier Ryza Secret Trilogy Deluxe Pack: A complete journey into alchemy, adventure, and friendship.
In 2019, the Atelier Ryza Secret Series was released as a new installment in the long-running Atelier series, which began with the original game on the PlayStation and has since expanded to include numerous sequels. The games in the series have changed over the years from time-limited simulations to easier-to-understand JRPGs with a focus on crafting and adventure.
But it was Atelier Ryza: Ever Darkness & the Secret Hideout that really made the series more well-known, especially in Western countries. Both new and old fans fell in love with the game because it had a lively, familiar main character, an easy-to-understand alchemy system, and beautiful art direction. In previous games, the main character usually changed for each game.
But in the Atelier Ryza Secret Trilogy Deluxe Pack, the main character stays the same throughout all three games. This consistency makes it easier for players to connect with Ryza and her friends, as they see how they change throughout the story and the worlds become more challenging.
Atelier Ryza Secret Trilogy Deluxe Pack, which includes all three games plus all previously released DLC, extra story episodes, and quality-of-life improvements, is the best way to play the trio, whether it’s your first time or you want to play it again and improve your skills. It was a brave and welcome move to release all three games at the same time, giving fans a chance to experience the series as a whole for the first time.
The story of the Ryza trilogy is told from the point of view of Reisalin “Ryza” Stout, a free-spirited and interested country girl who becomes interested in alchemy and sets out on a trip of growth, discovery, and adventure.
In the first game, Ryza’s story takes place on Kurken Island, where she learns the basics of chemistry and gets used to the slow pace of island life. In her early years, she has a lot of slice-of-life charm, from small conversations with friends to slowly building the secret hideout that will be the start of all her adventures.
Ryza 1 starts off a bit slowly, and it takes the story a few hours to really pick up speed. But once it does, there’s a satisfying mix of adventure, character growth, and finding out old secrets about the Klint Kingdom. Ryza is a great main character because she is active, naughty, and determined. She gives a series that has felt predictable in the past some life and personality.
However, some supporting characters, like her childhood friends Lent and Tao, don’t have enough depth in the first game. They don’t have many important interactions or voiced character events that make you care about their stories. Many of these problems are fixed in Ryza 2 and 3, which makes the world and the characters more important.
Ryza 2 takes place three years later in a busy capital city and adds new characters and deepens relationships between existing ones. For example, Fi, an animal friend, helps with both the story and the gameplay.
Ryza 3 takes place a year after the second game and expands on the story even more. It combines parts of both previous games and adds new plots and side episodes that make the characters and world more interesting overall.
The Deluxe Pack includes new character-focused episodes and story scenes, but some of them feel like they were added on at the last minute and don’t fit in with the main story at all.
This may make veteran players want a more unified experience. Still, the series strikes a good mix between cozy slice-of-life stories and action-packed adventures. This makes it easy for newcomers to get into while still rewarding returning players with more content and deeper character arcs.
There are three main parts to the Ryza trilogy: alchemy, exploration, and combat. As the series goes on, each of these parts gets more complicated and polished. In this game, alchemy is very important because it lets players make weapons, equipment, and consumables that make battles and exploration easier. Nodes and materials are used to make each thing. These have elemental affinities and can unlock extra traits, quality boosts, or special effects.
The recipe morph system lets players keep improving crafted things by upgrading or combining them. This lets them make strong, unique gear that changes as they go through the game. Duplicating items and rebuilding them are features that come later in Ryza 1, but they come earlier in Ryza 2, making them easier to use and making creating more fun.
One complaint is that making use of a gem-based system instead of in-game money makes money pretty much useless. Even so, crafting is still one of the most fun parts of the series, especially for players who like to try new things and make things better.
Exploration goes well with alchemy because it focuses on collecting materials, exploring ruins, and interacting with the world.
Players get resources from monsters, plants, and hidden areas. To get to items that weren’t available before, players often need special tools like scythes, hammers, or devices that have been alchemized.
Atelier Ryza Secret Trilogy Deluxe Pack makes exploring better by adding quality-of-life features like bigger baskets for collecting resources, on-screen signs for inventory space, and the ability to use gathering tools while riding spirit beasts in later games.
Ryza 1’s maps are already pretty big, but Ryza 3 gets rid of all the loading gates, making regions that look like they belong in Xenoblade Chronicles and letting players explore without being stopped. The open worlds are organized by side quests and goals, which lets players move at their own pace without getting lost or feeling aimless.
The RPG loop is made better by growth systems. Characters’ stats get better over time as they complete quests and fight enemies, and they gain experience points (XP) that let them learn new skills and be more effective in battle. This XP system is closely linked to both making and exploring.
For example, stronger weapons and tools made through alchemy have a direct effect on how well they work in battle, and thorough exploration finds materials that can be used to make better syntheses. Players can get extra XP and items by doing optional side quests, ruin expeditions, and gathering tasks. This helps them get better at the trilogy’s increasingly difficult game mechanics over time.
The battle system in the Ryza trilogy is a real-time combat system similar to ATB.
It combines action-based mechanics with turn-based strategy. Each character has a timeline that they can follow, and they can use items, do normal strikes, skills that are powered by AP, or defend themselves. The AP you get from attacks goes into the tactics system, which gives you brief benefits like better skill use or faster AP accumulation.
Core charges let you use some items over and over again without running out, which adds a strategic layer to fight planning. Character swaps in the middle of a fight give players full control over all of their party members, letting them react quickly to enemy moves and making their strategy as effective as possible.
Even though the fighting system is mostly fun, it does have some problems. When players have to manage both the tactics meter and AP at the same time, they have to choose between using skills or getting fight bonuses, which can make the ATB mechanics feel limiting at times. Long attack animations can also get in the way, but quick-use tools can help with this.
Ryza 2 and 3 make fighting even easier to use: battles happen faster, skills are easier to switch between, and Ryza 3 feels more like an action RPG, which cuts down on downtime and keeps the experience fun.
Atelier Ryza Secret Trilogy Deluxe Pack also comes with a custom battle mode that lets players try out different mechanics, strategies, and get used to complicated systems without having to focus on the story. Overall, getting good at the combat loop can be hard at first, but it’s fun and satisfying once you do, especially when you use optimized gear and alchemy to make it even better.
The visual style of the Ryza trilogy is a good mix of cuteness and usefulness, with bright surroundings, expressive character models, and detailed equipment designs. Ryza herself stands out because her design shows off her lively movements and unique personality. Supporting characters have unique looks that change as the story goes on, even though they aren’t fully developed in Ryza 1. The environments include lush islands, busy towns, and mysterious ruins.
Ryza 3’s seamless open-world traversal is made possible by getting rid of loading gates, which makes the experience more immersive and gives exploration a natural, satisfying flow.
The Deluxe Pack includes quality-of-life visual updates that make the series look better without taking away from its aesthetic appeal. These updates include changes to the depth of field and bigger inventory screens. In the first game, there aren’t many CG images of character actions, but in later games, they become more common, adding to the voice acting and making story points stronger.
The series’ music is always good, adding both atmosphere and emotional weight. Ryza 1 has some memorable music, like the “Secret Hideout” theme, which fits the early game’s sense of fun and adventure. Later games add more music to fight scenes and exploring ruins, which makes the tension and excitement higher.
Voice acting is great for Ryza, but some minor characters in Ryza 1 don’t have much voice acting, which makes the experience a little less immersive.
This gets better in Ryza 2 and 3, which have more voice work for minor characters, new episodes, and DLC. The sounds of combat, background noise, and user interface (UI) are all well-balanced, making it easy to hear what you’re doing and keeping you interested without taking away from the general soundtrack.
The Atelier Ryza Secret Trilogy Deluxe Pack is a complete and fun way for new players to start, and it has enough improvements to keep returning players interested. The trilogy is great because of its easy-to-understand but deep alchemy system, fun travel, and getting better at fighting.
Ryza’s character development over three games, along with new story episodes and expanded secondary character arcs, improves the story experience, though some material feels like it was added on at the last minute instead of being seamlessly integrated.
The visuals stay bright and draw you in, and the sound design, which includes a charming soundtrack and good voice acting, completes the look and feel of the game. For people who are new, Atelier Ryza Secret Trilogy Deluxe Pack might be a must-have. With all of the DLC and new features added, the three games make up a smooth and full journey through Ryza’s world.
The upgrades and extra material may be fun for experienced gamers, but the fact that saves can’t be moved between editions and some episodes feel like they were added on at the last minute may make the value proposition less appealing. In general, the trilogy is one of the most fun and easiest to play games in the Atelier Ryza Secret Trilogy Deluxe Pack. It has a good mix of simple JRPG design, complex alchemy, and a charming story.
