"Sophie's Alchemy Workshop 2: The Alchemist of Incredible Dreams" is the 25th anniversary of the "Alchemy Workshop" series, and after the "meat leg" boom, the popular character "Sophie" has also returned with a new look.
The aftermath of the old story
"Sophie's Alchemy Workshop 2" sets the plot between the original "Sophie's Alchemy Workshop" and "Phyllis's Alchemy Workshop", and Sophie, an alchemist who has left her hometown of Kirgen Bell and embarked on a long journey, accidentally steps into the dream world of "Edvig" and embarks on an adventure in search of the lost partner doll Prafda.
The dream world "Edwig" is a stage that does not belong to any timeline, so in addition to new partners, Sophie will also meet her most desired grandmother- Ramiele Ellenmaier, but there are no spoilers here, the specific plot is still the players themselves to explore the game.
Compared with the previous game, the picture quality of this work is very improved, and all the character models of Sophie and Prafda have been remade, and the painting style looks more mature. The area of all the scenes is also much larger, and the constant passer-by characters on the streets make the town seem particularly lively.
The light and shadow special effects and cutscenes of this work are more like "Blue Reflection: Emperor", especially the plot of rainy days, and you can clearly see the characters' wet costumes and dripping rain on their faces, with GUST's as good as ever BGM, making this work quite comfortable in audiovisual experience.
That said, the previous game was 7 years ago.
"Sophie's Alchemy Workshop 2" does not have much improvement in picture quality compared to "Lesha's Alchemy Workshop 2", but the filter uses bright colors that are more suitable for the Sufi series. However, if you have ever played the previous game, then this game will still bring you some freshness on the screen.
Seamlessly collaborate across multiple roles
The game's battle system does not use real-time strategy battles from the Lesha's Alchemy Series, but instead inherits the turn-based combat of the previous game and has made some evolutions.
The game uses a seamless unfolding battle, when touching the enemy on the map, or hitting the enemy, you can directly start the battle in the same place without loading, and after the battle, you can also seamlessly switch back with the victory posture, and the rhythm of the battle in the field is accelerated a lot.
Multiple co-op is the core mechanic of the game's combat system, where players can form 3 strikers and 3 defenders into squads of 6 characters.
After entering battle, players need to first operate the striker character and accumulate multiple co-op slots through skills, items, or flat A. When a striker is attacked by an enemy, the player can choose to consume multiple co-op slots to allow defenders to help fend off the attack, while also swapping places with the striker.
Many enemies in this game will release aura, using aura to weaken the damage caused by the character, and the player needs to use the character to attack a certain number of times to make the enemy break through the defense and enter the BREAK state.
In the striker's attack round, players who want to hit burst damage when the enemy enters the BREAK state can also use multiple co-op slots, allowing the defender and the striker to attack in the same turn, while exchanging positions, they can also release skills with less MP, and some skills that originally require only a small amount of MP can even be cast without consumption.
In addition, various actions in the turn will accumulate double trigger slots, which is equivalent to a double kill skill, not only can play a high amount of damage, but also according to the different trigger characters have different must kill performances, and the performances matched by each role are also worth watching.
Return to the fun of puzzles
Sophie's Alchemy Workshop 2 inherits the puzzle-tuning system, one of the features of the Incredible Alchemist series, and makes many changes to the previous trilogy.
The blending panel of this game will show the quality change and the chance of great success after the blend, and the player can also intuitively see the effect slot change produced by each attribute after accumulation.
The puzzle grid provided by each catalyst is divided into ordinary cells and connecting grids, and the ordinary cells placed on the puzzle are directly added to a fixed number of effect slots, and the effect slots will be multiplied when placed on the puzzle corresponding to the attributes.
While the link grid has the role of a normal grid, it will also form a link adjacent to another link grid with the same attribute, increasing the upper limit of the effect slot, and the more links, the higher the achievement of the upper limit.
In addition to the general blending puzzle panel, this game also adds a reverse puzzle panel, although the puzzle is more difficult, but it can make more powerful props.
How to use the puzzle panel with limited space to place a variety of complex puzzle grids without letting them conflict with each other, while still getting your own ideal blending effect. The evolved puzzle blending system is more fun to solve puzzles and has the playability of repetitive challenges, making it easy to indulge in.
The recipe concept of this game is the same as that of the previous game, and players familiar with the previous game should be able to get started soon. As the plot progresses, Prafda will also unlock personal blends, and she can conceive some blending recipes that are different from Sophie's.
However, it is a pity that most of Prafda's formula actually coincides with Sophie's formula, but the blending book of two people is independent, so most of the props have to be mixed by two people once, which slows down the pace of the game.
Feel free to manipulate the world of weather
The setting of the dream world "Edvig" allows GUST to add some very special mechanisms to it, and the Weather Operating System is one of them.
Players can manipulate Sufi alchemy items corresponding to the weather, and use them in specific locations in the wild to change the weather of the scene.
Weather changes can affect the state of the map, such as when it rains inundating areas with lower terrain, which need to be explored by becoming clearer. When it becomes sunny, some higher areas are unreachable and need to be used to create floating platforms through rain.
Exploring the wild has almost become a puzzle game, observing your surroundings, thinking about forks in different climates, and then deciding on the weather that needs to be changed, so that you can take the full treasure chest and reach the entrance to the next map.
Not only that, the change of weather will change the configuration of the monster, and different weather can also collect different materials, and players can switch the weather according to their own needs.
Weather mechanics are also used in combat, with some enemies adapting to specific climates, and changing to the opposite climate during combat can greatly weaken these enemies and make the battle easier.
Mini-games are indispensable
This game cancels the LP stamina restriction, players can explore and collect various materials, unlock landmarks and teleportation points without restrictions, and the collection experience has been greatly improved compared with the previous game.
The big collection mechanism is a small game mechanism added to this game, some collection points will occasionally become a flash state, and when you walk over and press the collection, you will enter the large collection.
The form of the mini-game of different collection methods is also different, for example, the big collection of mining is the key storage turntable to select the reward effect, and the big collection of fishing is to capture the reward effect of constantly "swimming" by storing the net.
According to the results of the mini-game, additional rewards such as specific attribute materials, material quantity quality bonuses, and direct access to money will be obtained, allowing players to obtain high-quality and compound attribute materials in the early stage.
After the plot has advanced to a certain extent, the greenhouse cultivation system will also be opened, and the seeds from the alchemy can be put into the greenhouse representing different weather, and after a period of time, a variety of materials corresponding to the weather can be obtained.
However, the gameplay of the greenhouse cultivation system is more monotonous, that is, ordinary planting and harvesting, which is not even as fun as the process of alchemy seeds, so this system is only relatively convenient for players, but there is no improvement in the game experience.
summary
The use of a new engine once again gives players the unique gameplay of the Incredible Alchemist series, and some of the original experiences have been improved by leveraging the production experience of the Lesha's Alchemy series.
The battle system makes the rhythm faster because of the seamless unfolding and multiple cooperative mechanisms, even if it is a turn-based battle, it will not let the player fall into a boring brushing cycle, and the player can enjoy the strategic fun of the replacement of forwards and defenders.
After the alchemy mechanism returns to the puzzle blending system, not only can the old players feel the fresh and challenging gameplay, but also the new players who enter the pit from Lysa's Alchemy Workshop can also experience a completely different way of alchemy.
The new weather operating system makes the process of running the map have a certain degree of puzzle solving fun, and the improvement of the collection experience and the large collection mechanism also make the collection process more selective.
As a 25th anniversary work, "Sophie's Alchemy Workshop 2" can make everyone go back and experience the charm of the character of Sophie in a way that can be accepted by both old and new players.
While the alchemy gameplay itself is very much about the player's personal preferences , which is why the series has always been small , if you're a player who likes the previous game or is in the pit from Lysa's Alchemy Series , then you can also feel free to start with Sophie's Alchemy Workshop 2.
Rating: 8.0
merit:
- The pace of battle is accelerated
-The substitution of forwards and defenders is more strategic
- More fun puzzle blending
-Weather operation makes exploration also have puzzle fun
- There are more diverse ways to collect footage
shortcoming:
- The picture quality has not evolved much compared to the "Lysa" series
- Prafda's recipe mostly coincided with Sophie's
-The greenhouse cultivation system does not have many highlights