My first review in more than a month, it's been some time since the last time I wrote a review...mostly because I'm running out of material, to be honest. As most people know, I am the person who writes reviews of Japanese games with fan service around here, I've written reviews of games with varying levels of suggestive content, but...I make sure to write reviews of games that did not have a review yet, which is why I've reviewed games that did not have a review until I wrote one, and also, why even though I have played the original Hyperdimension Neptunia on PS3 from beginning to end...I haven't written a review of that game...someone else has already written a (great) review of Hyperdimension Neptunia for PS3, I won't write another review...anyway, Atelier Firis perhaps contains more fan service than Atelier Shallie Plus, the game is on par with Atelier Shallie Plus in that aspect, or it might contain a little more...any of those two assumptions might be true, more or less. This game not only has Plachta and Drossel, there are also some CG images that involve hot springs. Anyway, let's begin.

Story: The main character is Firis Mistlud, a girl who has lived her entire life in the isolated town of Ertona, one day, a mysterious alchemist, Sophie Neuenmuller, arrives to Ertona, through Sophie Neuenmuller, Firis learns about alchemy and the great things you can create using alchemy. Firis wants to see the world outside of Ertona but her parents, especially her mother, don't want to let her go, then, the elder of Ertona has the idea of testing Firis Mistlud, she must solve problems that the people around town might have using alchemy, and if she solves those problems within a time limit, she will be allowed to go outside...for a limited time, at least, Firis learns of the licensing exam for alchemists, an exam that alchemists take in order to become a licensed alchemist. Firis will go to the outside world, but during her time outside of Ertona, she must get at least 3 letters of recommendation in order to apply for the exam, and, of course, pass the exam to become a licensed alchemist, once Firis passes the exam, she can finally be outside as much as she wants. Firis is a great main character and she's impossible to hate, even though Atelier Firis doesn't have a main antagonist and, unlike Atelier Shallie, it's not a situation of a phenomenon affecting the world or something like that, in the world of Atelier Firis, you really don't have to worry about the end of the world or things like that, and even so, I really like the characters, I wouldn't say that the characters and story are on the same level as THAT other game developed by Gust (Blue Reflection...), but...I think I like the story and characters more than I thought, Liane Mistlud is a great older sister, she really cares for Firis and is overall a likable character. Of course, throughout the story there are funny moments and a few sad or moving scenes. I'd say that this game barely gets a 10 for this category, but, in the end, a story that barely qualifies as fantastic...is still a fantastic story...it helps that, unlike previous games in the franchise, Firis Mistlud is a character that didn't know anything about alchemy when the game starts, in other games, when the story starts, the main character already has at least a little of knowledge about alchemy or is already practicing alchemy, well, not Firis Mistlud...that perhaps makes you like her more as a character, it's really satisfying seeing how she learns alchemy fast and the moment she passes the exam is satisfying and all, you feel good for Firis...she is a good character and you care about her as a character...

Graphics: Another game developed by Gust that looks amazing, the PS4 version of Atelier Firis has beautiful graphics. The 3D models aren't the best even for a game like this on PS4, but they look good enough I guess, the rest of the graphics however are amazing for the most part...great textures, beautiful environments, good lighting, even the water looks nice, unlike the water in Nights of Azure...there are evident clipping issues, and there are a few instances where the textures look like something from a PS2 game or worse, but as I said, the graphics are amazing for the most part, and overall, Atelier Firis on PS4 looks really nice, not the best looking anime style game for PS4 (Blue Reflection is still my favorite anime style game when it comes to graphics), but it looks great nonetheless. The 2D art looks beautiful, Atelier Firis is an interesting case where 2 different character designers designed characters for the same game, and while it's true that Atelier Firis (and the Mysterious Trilogy, I should add) isn't the only example of something like that (2 or more character designers working in the same game), it's also true that it's kind of rare. The characters were designed by Yuugen and NOCO, and they look great in 2D, there are subtle differences between the 2 artists, that said, I'd say that the art style of those 2 artists is very similar, and the game has many CG images, which look amazing.

Sound: Atelier Firis has an amazing soundtrack at times, it's not my favorite soundtrack in a game developed by Gust, but I can't deny that this game has great music, The First Step is an addictive tutorial theme (I can't stop listening to that music...), Candy Explosion and Super Candy Explosion are both used for funny events or moments and they are catchy themes, Quick Flight is a catchy battle theme...it's a great soundtrack, I don't always enjoy the use of accordion, but even so, I really like the soundtrack for the most part. Atelier Firis is another game with dual audio, the English voices are fitting and the acting is pretty good most of the time, at least, Koei Tecmo America used great talent for this game, Sophie Neuenmuller is voiced by Chistine Marie Cabanos again, Firis Mistlud is voiced by Faye Mata, Drossel Weissberg is voiced by Cherami Leigh, Edel Hangstein is voiced by Melissa Fahn...it's an amazing cast. Personally, I really like Plachta's voice, Plachta is voiced by Ryan Bartley, and she gave Plachta a nice, soothing voice...I love her voice and I'm sure I'm not the only one, it's great listening to her soothing voice, I've listened to a little of her Japanese voice (literally Plachta saying things like ''Barrel'' and ''It appears to be a barrel.''), and...I think that her English voice is better, her Japanese voice doesn't have that soothing tone or sound...it's not the first time I prefer the English voice of a character in a Japanese game, though...

Addictive: This is another turn-based RPG with an alchemy system, you gather materials that you then use to make another item (synthesis), and for many items, there are several catalysts that can be used if you want to get other upgrades or traits for a specific item. The alchemy system is different from the Dusk Trilogy, and instead of cards, in Atelier Firis you have a grid and each item has a size that must be considered. It's fun to create items and the system works really well, it has some depth and, of course, I think I spent more time creating items with alchemy than fighting enemies, but I can't say that the turn-based combat is bad. The thing with Atelier Firis is that unlike Atelier Shallie and Atelier Sophie, for example, the first part of the game has a time limit, you have a time limit of 1 year in the game itself to pass the licensing exam, and as many people know, the days in Atelier Firis are very short, combine that with the fact that Atelier Firis is a game with an open world (the first game in the franchise that has such a thing), and you have a game where even though the time limit is lenient, you still feel pressure because the days are very short and the world is more or less huge...not to mention that making things with alchemy always takes time...another thing that must be mentioned is the slowdown, Gust games usually (always?) don't have the best framerate and the presence of slowdown is common, but here, even on the PS4, the slowdown can be...very bad, there was at least 1 instance where the game was running at a framerate of 17-22 frames per second or something like that, and it really bothered me, I admit that the slowdown in Atelier Firis can rarely affect the experience, at least on a regular PS4 (the back says that the game is PS4 Pro enhanced), the game usually runs well (30 frames per second or at least close to that), but not always...I wonder if the bad slowdown is common in ''that'' map, I don't remember the name of the area, but it was a forest...oh well.

Depth: I played the game for almost 95 hours when I got one of the endings, the game can be very long even if you ignore most quests (at least 50 hours or something like that), and if you really want to do and see everything, it's a lot, I played the game for many hours, and even so, there are many CG images I haven't unlocked, for example, Atelier Firis feels like a game with more content and things to do and see than Atelier Shallie Plus, and that's probably because it's true, this is perhaps a game where, even if you say ''I have played Atelier Firis for 190 hours'', maybe, just maybe...you will not have done everything yet. The multiple endings, the hundreds of quests, the many CG images (more CG images than I expected)...it's a huge game, bigger than other RPGs, perhaps.

Difficulty: The game has three difficulty levels, I played the game on Normal difficulty, and I lost many times, you can always change the difficulty, but I'd say that Atelier Firis can be very difficult if you want to, not the most difficult RPG, maybe, but still, difficult enough to be a challenge...I admit I didn't pass the exam on my first try, the licensing exam can be challenging, which is something I like.

I can't believe that I played Atelier Firis from beginning to end, considering that it's a game that didn't interest me...I did not plan to play this game, even so, I had fun with Atelier Firis ~The Alchemist and the Mysterious Journey~, the game is fun to play, and the characters, story, music, (English) voice acting, and graphics are great, if you have never played an Atelier game before, I'd say that this game is a good place to start with the series. Sure, the game isn't perfect and the slowdown, not to mention the combination of an open world and a time limit are flaws that might be important to mention, but yeah, Atelier Firis isn't a bad game, and I recommend it. I don't know if I'll play a third game in this series (Atelier Sophie, maybe?), but...as a non-Atelier fan, I can say for sure that this game is worth playing.