Atelier Sophie: The Alchemist of the Mysterious Book

Atelier Sophie: The Alchemist of the Mysterious Book (Japanese: ソフィーのアトリエ～不思議な本の錬金術士～, Sofii no Atorie ～Fushigina hon no Renkinjutsushi～) is a Japanese role-playing video game developed by Gust.

It was originally released in Japan in 2015, and released worldwide in the summer of 2016. Two sequels in the Mysterious sub-series of games, Atelier Firis: The Alchemist and the Mysterious Journey and Atelier Lydie & Suelle: The Alchemists and the Mysterious Paintings, are released in 2016 and 2017 respectively. A direct sequel, Atelier Sophie 2: The Alchemist of the Mysterious Dream, was released in 2022.

Gameplay[]

Atelier Sophie is a fantasy turn-based-RPG with heavy emphasis on item creation and exploration. It takes place in a highly stylized third-person open world setting illustrated with cel-shaded visuals.

In this game, the player controls a party of up to four characters traversing the world collecting ingredients for synthesis while discovering new recipes for item creation. The player is capable of accepting randomized Requests, which serve as side quests in order to gain money and rare resources.

Plot progression follows a formulaic pattern in which the acquisition of new recipes triggers cut scenes which advance the story while unlocking new areas, allowing the player to gather new resources and more advanced recipes.

Alchemy, the crafting system of this game, is a complexly woven puzzle mini-game in which the player fits together different sized ingredient puzzle pieces in order to create a product out of the base materials. Depending on the way in which the player fits together varied pieces and manipulates the bonus system, different effects can be endowed upon the product, resulting in a highly customizable item creation system.

This game features a "Friendship" affinity system, where investing time in deepening the bonds between the player and the cast of NPCs can lead to new features and party members being unlocked, along with bonuses in battle when paired with party members of a high affinity level.

The game has established a day-night cycle, directly influencing the harvests and the enemies you encounter. Additionally, the game features a weekly schedule consisting of three weekdays and two weekends. Other characters in the game follow a schedule in which the time of day, day of the week, and weather can influence their location and interactions with the player.

Plot []

The game revolves around the life of the main protagonist Sophie Neuenmuller, a young, and inexperienced alchemist who runs an atelier on the outskirts of Kirchen Bell. Sophie discovers a mystical talking book named Plachta, whose sole memories involve the use of alchemy. Plachta, a blank reference book, has lost almost all of the memories that comprise the pages of her text, and it's up to Sophie to help her recover those memories by writing down alchemy recipes into the blank pages.

Sophie is aided by her close friends, Monika Ellmenreich and Oskar Behlmer, who help Sophie on her quest to become a grand alchemist capable of providing for the town while restoring Plachta's memories. Along the way, a colorful cast of companions join Sophie as her allies in a story arc that becomes much bigger than the interactions of small town, and instead becomes a fight for the fate of the world because the harmful kind of alchemy which used by the evil alchemist name Luard.

Characters[]

Main article: List of Characters in Atelier Sophie

Playable Characters[]

Sophie Neuenmuller

An alchemist that runs an atelier on the outskirts of Kirchen Bell. She's as cheerful as an slacker. She loves alchemy and helping others with it.

Plachta

A book that Sophie finds in the atelier. When Sophie writes a recipe into the book, her spirit awakens. She eventually becomes Sophie's alchemy teacher and start gradually recovering her lost memories. She's hopeless when it comes to anything besides alchemy.

Monika Ellmenreich

She is Sophie's best friend. As she was born to a well respected family, she is a talented woman who excels in both studying and fencing. She is very serious and holds propriety in high esteems. She secretly enjoys singing.

Oskar Behlmer

He is Sophie's best friend and the son of Kirchen Bell's grocer. He is optimistic and doesn't sweat the small stuff. He is lazy and unfit, but he has the special ability to hear the voice of plants, giving him an abundance of knowledge of things such as grass and flowers.

Julio Sebald Leidenschaft

A knight working for the church from the country of Adalett who came looking for the assistance of Sophie's grandmother. When finding out that she has passed away, he decides to take a bet on Sophie's potential as an alchemist and offers to help her until she can become a great alchemist.

Corneria

An alchemist with the power to duplicate items. Unlike Sophie, she can't create any items from scratch. She is curious to know about her father and her heritage, but her mother won't tell her anything about the past. Her power comes at the cost of that every time she uses it, she gets slightly shorter in height.

Harol Simens

Kirchen Bell's clockmaker. Though he succeeded his retired father's clockmaker's shop, he has a lack of sincerity about his work. Other than repairing watches, his main hobby is making guns and makes a living selling them.

Leon

Fritz Weissberg

Non-Playable Characters[]

Horst Basler

The owner of a café in Kirchen Bell. During the day, the shop runs as a café; during the night, as a bar. He has knowledge of the town and offers requests and rumors.

Pamela Ibis

Elise Phulie

A woman who runs a bookstore that she inherited from her grandfather. She's a matchless book lover and has been a bookworm since she was very young. Sophie became attached to her by seeing her as an older sister. Since she has an abundance of knowledge, she acts as her "goodness counsellor".

Tess Heitzmann