RE-REVIEW: Atelier Shallie Plus : Alchemists Of The Dusk Sea


Title	Atelier Shallie Plus : Alchemists Of The Dusk Sea
Developer	Gust Co. Ltd.
Publisher	Koei Tecmo
Release Date	January 17th, 2016
Genre	RPG
Platform	Vita
Age Rating	Teen
Official Website

Atelier Shallie: Alchemists of the Dusk Sea Plus is an updated version of the previous PlayStation 3 release for the PlayStation Vita. I played Atelier Ayesha but I didn’t get a chance to play Atelier Escha & Logy, so I went in a bit blind. This actually was not an issue since this story stands well on its own, but I’m sure I missed out on a few references to the previous game. Since this is a Re-Review I will be focusing on mostly the technical aspects of this port and new content. If you would like a more in-depth look at the combat and synthesis systems, please check out David’s full review.

Graphically the game looks similar to its PS3 counterpart, however, you can tell that some environmental details have been toned down to improve the framerate. This honestly makes the amazing artwork of the character designs really stand out. I’d love to say this had a solid framerate, but that would be an outright lie. There are some areas this game will bog down to around 15 FPS. The larger boss battles also suffer from framerate dips. This doesn’t really effect the gameplay, but you would think Koei Tecmo would be better at optimizing these games for the Vita after this many ports.

The music in this game is just like the rest of the series, meaning it is simply amazing. I personally think the GUST sound team is one of the most overlooked teams in all of the industry, and this game is no exception to their quality work. You can also download a boat load of tracks from other Atelier titles to make yourself a custom soundtrack for the game. This feature has been around for a while in the series, but I still think it is fantastic.

There is a wealth of new content in this version. Some of the content even clears up some unanswered questions from the console release of the game. This includes new dungeons and bosses. The most notable new boss is the Beast King Champion, and unlocking this badass will give even the most seasoned players a run for their money. New Story chapters give a better explanation for the unusual desertification phenomenon, which was not explained very well in the original release. Ayesha and Logy are included as playable characters here as well, and these characters were DLC in the console release. There are also some new costumes that are exclusive to the Vita version.

While I think this port suffers in the technical aspects, I feel it more than makes up for it with the additional content. The new story sections add more depth to an already great story. The extra dungeons and boss battle add more challenge and combined with the other new content certainly give players a reason to revisit this world. I played this title for around 35 hours and I felt like it would be well worth the $39.99 asking price. Though I would recommend players check out Atelier Ayesha and Atelier Escha & Logy before diving into this title. You could probably play this one by itself, but I think you will be a little lost.