Lydie and Suelle is so close to being a 10/10 game, but it just barely misses due to a single small flaw, which I'll get to.
Aside from that, there is pretty everything here that you could want in an Atelier game.
The story and scope of the game are great, the cast doesn't have a dud, the synthesis is fun, nearly everything here goes well.
After playing Firis, and not enjoying the experience much, it feel so good o play a game as good as this.
Regarding each of those compliments; The narretive of growing your Atelier over the process of the game is an interesting hook, your goals are set clear, and fit snuggly in the, "very specific", and "You could have done this already" area, making completing them fun.
It's a bit more of that Totori sense that makes going for objectives feel rewarding, instead of tedius.
The idea of going inside of paintings to explore other wolds is also great, I really have to think about which is my least favorite.
Going on mini-adventures is always fun to do.
The cast is fun in tjhis game as well, a satisfying amount of characters return, while a good amount of new characters are also introduced.
Even the characters I didn't like much in the previous mysterious games are at worst just ok here.
I didn't care much for Firis in her own game for example, but here she is pretty fun,
Synthisis is a little simpler her then in the previous mysterious games, but it is still good.
there is enough customization here to keep it fun, although I'm still bummed there is no quick synth option yet in any of these games.
However as I said, there is one flaw that keeps this game from perfection, which is that it kinda relies on other games a bit too much at the end.
Most of these realitions are from the buildt in DLC I presume, but they're bakesd into the game now, so I'll judge them accordingly.
I was fine with a few characters form the previous game showing up, but when you get an entire area from Firis to explore in the post game, it moreso felt like a fanservice moment other then a fun addonn.
I'm prety sure Firis alreay isn't that popular, and the area isn't even one of the better ones in Firis, so it just didn't do it for me.
I'm not mad at the inclusion, but I would have prefered at least a different area.
An addition that I don't like however, is the Nelke painting.
I haven't played the game yet, so gtting spoiled on an area and a bit of music and lore was something I didn't expect, nor want.
I didn't go far into the sidequest, since I like to keep that for when I finnished Nelke, and replay this game.
Neither of these are enough to detract the amazing experience the rest of the gane is though.
I haven't mantioned the soundtrack yet, but this might genuinely be the best ost in any Atelier game as well.
There are too many good tracks to count.
Overall, Lydie and Suelle is my new favorite Atelier game, the game is amazing, just a bit to bloated with fanservce at the end.
Maybe It'll be a 10/10 when I have done a full playthrough of Firis which I'll probably do someday,a nd played trough Nelke.
9.5/10
