Atelier Firis: The Alchemist and the Mysterious Journey is the latest in the popular JRPG series. This time, two sisters set out from their sleepy home village in hopes of completing the alchemy exam.

Magical adventure

Second in the line of 'Mysterious' series, Atelier Firis: The Alchemist and the Mysterious Journey tells the new story of Firis and Liane as they embark on a grand adventure. The two girls find out about an alchemy test and so set out for a life beyond their rural home life. Taking place across a giant map with more unique locations than ever before alongside the series stable turn based combat and crafting systems, the game has noticeable improvements over a set of base gameplay complaints. Fast travelling is underdeveloped, areas are too large to comfortable explore, performance can be spotty and the plot is stripped back to the point of tedium. While Atelier Firis: The Alchemist and the Mysterious Journey shares the standard anime inspiration and is certainly not meant to be a game embraced by the mainstream, a lacklustre translation often hampers quest notes and highlights the low importance for the English version.

Mixed release

Atelier Firis: The Alchemist and the Mysterious Journey is a case of one step forward while taking two steps back. Previous games were better designed but, in terms of pure content on offer, Firis takes the crown.