 |
| Peter Triezenberg |
I just want The Alchemist of Full Metal to be one of these games, who's with me?
07.07.15 - 1:39 PM
The latest entry in Gust's item-crafting RPG series, Atelier Sophie: The Alchemist of the Mysterious Book, is coming to the PlayStation 4, PlayStation 3, and Vita this September in Japan, and we have the first juicy deets. First off, a plot summary:
"The sparse, but full-leaf trees rustle and the birds sing as the morning sun rises and the light illuminates the flowers on the street.
On the outskirts of a town with such a warm atmosphere, where the sunlight filters through the trees and a carpet of yin and yang is laid out, lives a girl alone.
She is a cheerful, yet somehow overlooked, ordinary girl who’s anywhere. But she has a special power the town’s people do not possess.
She possesses the mysterious power of “Alchemy,” which lets her synthesize materials to create something entirely different.
However, she continues to fail at the most crucial of mixing—as is the limits of a girl who learned from a book rather than from a teacher.
But one day, the girl encounters a strange book that can talk and possesses knowledge of alchemy, beginning a new story."
The main character in this new Atelier adventure is Sophie Neuenmuller, a sixteen-year-old girl who lives on the outskirts of a town called Kirhen Bell. She's cheerful, and feels great joy in using alchemy to help others. She isn't one for housework, though, preferring to leave that to someone else.
Then there's Plachta, who's certainly interesting. She's a book, given to Sophie by her grandmother, who has taken on the shape of a person. She doesn't know much outside alchemy, being the content of her pages, so she's troubled by the often incomprehensible remarks of those she encounters during her newfound humanity. She has a calm personality, and is beginning to remember a mission she needs to fulfill.
The objective of the game is to restore Plachta's memory. Fighting monsters and mixing items will lead to the creation of recipes that will deepen the duo's knowledge of alchemy. By advancing your alchemy, you'll be able to customize Plachta, in a system known as "Doll Make."
There will be other new features as well, such as a day/night cycle that will determine the location of characters or the power of monsters. In typical Gust fashion, there will be a number of special editions for the game. A special Doll Make costume will be available via download code in all first-print versions of the game, but there will also be a Premium Box for 9800 Yen (8800 on Vita), and a Collection Box for 15,800 Yen (14,800 on Vita). The Premium Box comes with the game, a visual book, sound archive, poster, character clear marker set, and five in-game items. The Collection box will include all of this along with a crystal paper weight and key chain.
Gust also released the first full trailer for the game, which you can view below.
Atelier Sophie releases in Japan on September 25th. Keep an eye on RPGFan.com as we learn more.
