Sophie's Alchemy Workshop 2" review: Feel Sophie's charm again

"Sophie's Alchemist 2: The Incredible Dream" is the 25th anniversary of the "Alchemist" series. After the "Flesh Legs" craze, the popular character "Sophie" also returned with a new look.

The Day of the Old Story of Tan

"Sophie's Alchemist 2" puts the plot between the first generation of "Sophie's Alchemist" and "Phyris' Alchemist". Sophie, the alchemist who left his hometown Kilhen Bell and embarked on a long journey, unexpectedly stepped into the dream world "Edwig" and an adventure story unfolded in order to find the lost partner Prafda.

The dream world "Edwig" is a stage that does not belong to any timeline. Therefore, in addition to the new partner, Sophie will also get to know the grandmother she longs for the most - Ramijieer Ellenmeier. However, there will be no spoilers here. The specific plot will be discovered by players in person.

This game has improved a lot compared to the previous game. All the character models of Sophie and Prafda have been remade, and the style looks more mature. The area of all scenes is much larger, and the role of passers-by constantly coming and going on the street also makes the town look particularly lively.

The light and shadow effects and cutscene performances of this work are more like "Blue Reflection: Emperor", especially the plot of rainy days. You can also clearly see the characters' clothing wet and the rain dripping on their faces. Combined with GUST's excellent BGM as always, this work is quite comfortable in audio-visual experience.

Nevertheless, the previous work was a game from 7 years ago.

Sophie's Alchemy Workshop 2" has not improved much in the picture quality compared to "Leisha's Alchemy Workshop 2", but the filter uses bright colors that are more suitable for the Sophie series. However, if you have played the previous work, this work will still bring you some freshness on the screen.

Seamlessly expand multiple cooperation

This combat system does not use the real-time strategic combat of the "Leisha's Alchemy Workshop" series, but inherits the turn-based combat of the previous work and makes some evolutions.

The game uses seamless expansion combat. When you contact the enemy on the map or hit the enemy, you can start the battle directly on the spot without loading. After the battle, you can switch back seamlessly with the victory posture. The battle rhythm in the wild has accelerated a lot.

Multiple cooperation is the core mechanism of this combat system. Players can form 3 forwards and 3 defenders into a squad of 6 characters.

After entering the battle, players need to first operate the forward character and accumulate multiple cooperation slots through skills, props or flat a. When the front attack is attacked by the enemy, the player can choose to consume multiple cooperation slots to allow the defender to help with the attack, and at the same time they will also exchange positions with the forward.

Many enemies in this game release aura and use aura to weaken the damage caused to the character. Players need to use the character to attack a certain number of times before the enemy can break the defense and enter the BREAK state.

In the striker's attack round, players can also use multiple cooperation slots to allow the defender and the forward to attack in the same round while switching positions. While exchanging positions, they can also release skills with less MP. Some skills that only require a small amount of MP can even be cast without consumption.

In addition, various actions in the round will accumulate double trigger slots, which is equivalent to a double-player ultimate skill. It not only can cause high damage, but also has different ultimate performances based on the different trigger characters. The performances of each role are also worth watching.

Return to the fun of puzzles

Sophie's Alchemy Workshop 2 inherits the puzzle blending system, one of the characteristics of the "Incredible Alchemist" series, and has made many changes based on the previous trilogy.

The mixing panel of this game will display the quality changes after mixing and the high chance of success, and players can also intuitively see the changes in the effect slots generated by each attribute after accumulation.

The puzzle grid provided by each catalyst is divided into ordinary grids and link grids. Putting the ordinary grid on the puzzle means directly adding a fixed number of effect slots. Putting it on the puzzle corresponding to the attribute will increase the effect slots exponentially.

While the connecting grid has the function of a normal grid, it will form a link adjacent to another connecting grid with the same attribute, increasing the upper limit of the effect slot. The more connections, the higher the bonus of the upper limit.

In addition to the general blending puzzle panel, this work also adds a reversal puzzle panel. Although the puzzle is more difficult, it can create more powerful props.

How to use the puzzle panel with limited space to place various puzzle pieces of complex shapes without letting them conflict with each other, while also achieving your ideal blending effect. The evolved puzzle tuning system is more fun to solve puzzles and playable with repeated challenges, which can easily make people obsessed with it.

The recipe concept of this game is the same as the previous game. Players who are familiar with the previous game should be able to get started soon. As the plot progresses, Prafda will also unlock personal blending, and she can conceive some blending formulas that are different from Sophie.

But it's a pity that most of Prafda's formulas actually coincide with Sophie's formulas, but the picture book of the two people's blending is independent, so most of the props have to be blended separately by two people, which slows down the pace of the game.

At the random operation of the world of weather

The setting of the fantasy world "Edwig" allows GUST to add some very special mechanisms to it, and the weather operating system is one of them.

Players can operate Sophie Alchemy to get the rightProps that are weather-dependent can be used in specific places in the wild to change the weather of the scene.

Changes in weather can affect the status of the map, such as rainfall will flood areas with lower terrain when it rains, and those areas need to be explored by sunny. When it turns sunny, some higher areas cannot be reached, so it is necessary to create a floating platform through rain.

Exploration in the wild has almost become a puzzle game, observing the surrounding environment, thinking about the forks in different climates, and then deciding on the weather that needs to be changed. Only in this way can you get the treasure chest and reach the entrance to the next map.

Not only that, the changes in the weather will change the configuration of the monsters. Different weather can also collect different materials. Players can switch the weather according to their needs.

The weather operation mechanism is also used in combat. Some enemies will be more adaptable to specific climates. If they change to the opposite climate in combat, these enemies can be greatly weakened and the battle becomes easier.

Mini games are indispensable

This game has cancelled the LP physical strength restrictions. Players can explore and collect various materials, unlock landmarks and teleportation points at will without restrictions. The collection has been greatly improved compared to the exploration experience.

The large collection mechanism is a small game mechanism added to this game. Some collection points occasionally turn into flashes. When you walk over and press the collection, you will enter the large collection.

The formats of mini games with different collection methods are also different. For example, the large collection of mining is to select the reward effect by pressing the key to the rotation dial, and the large collection of fishing is to capture the reward effect of constantly "swimming" by waving the net.

According to the results of the mini-game, additional rewards such as specific attribute materials, quality bonuses for the quantity of materials, and direct money, allowing players to obtain high-quality and compound attribute materials in the early stage.

After the plot advances to a certain extent, a greenhouse cultivation system will be opened. The alchemy seeds can be placed in a greenhouse representing different weather conditions. After a period of time, various materials corresponding to weather conditions can be obtained.

However, the greenhouse cultivation system is more monotonous, which is ordinary planting and harvesting. This is not even fun with the process of alchemy seeds. Therefore, this system is only convenient for players to a relatively small extent, but it does not improve the game experience.

Summary

Sophie's Alchemy Workshop 2 uses a new engine to bring players the unique gameplay of the "Incredible Alchemist" series, and uses the production experience of the "Leisha's Alchemist" series to improve some of the original experiences.

The combat system makes the rhythm faster due to the seamless expansion and multiple cooperation mechanisms. Even turn-based combat will not cause players to fall into a boring brushing cycle. Players can enjoy the strategy of replacing forwards and defenders.

After the alchemy mechanism returns to the puzzle mixing system, not only old players can feel the fresh and challenging gameplay, but new players who have entered the pit from "Leisha's Alchemy Workshop" can also experience completely different alchemy methods.

The newly added weather operating system makes the process of running the map have a certain degree of puzzle solving, and the improvement of the collection experience and large collection mechanism also make the collection process more choices.

Sophie's Alchemy Workshop 2 is the 25th anniversary commemorative work. It can allow everyone to go back and experience the charm of the character Sophie in a way that is acceptable to both old and new players.

Although the gameplay of alchemy itself depends on the player's personal preferences - this is also the reason why the series has always been very niche, but if you like the previous work or have been involved in the "Lesa's Alchemy Workshop" series, you can also feel at ease to buy "Sophie's Alchemy Workshop 2".

Rating: 8.0 points

Pros:

-The battle rhythm is faster

-Striker and defender replacements are more strategic

-More playable puzzle mixing

-Weather operation makes exploration fun to solve puzzles

-The methods of collecting materials are more diverse

Disadvantages:

-The picture quality has not improved much compared to the "Lesa" series

-Prafda's formula concept is mostly coincident with Sophie

-The greenhouse cultivation system does not have many highlights