Lost Legends & the Secret Fairy takes place three years after Ever Darkness & the Secret Hideout. Once again, the focus is on the farmer's daughter Reisalin Stout, alias Ryza, who this time finds herself in the royal capital Ashra-am Baird, which, despite its Arabic-sounding name, has more the flair of a southern European old town, whose districts sound more German. However, there are no German on-screen texts this time either.
Almost all important events and dialogs are set to music. In Ashra-am Baird, Ryza meets both familiar and new faces. Together with childhood friend Tao Mongarten, the mysterious fairy creature Fi, and the wealthy capitalist Patricia Abelheim, they want to fathom the secrets of the nearby ruins, while Ryza fulfills alchemical orders for Patricia's father on the side, to be allowed to use one of his apartments rent-free as accommodation and studio. As in the predecessor, you can decorate and redesign your home individually.
However, the focus is still on the alchemical production of equipment and commodities for customers as well as for your own needs. Orders can be placed on the bulletin board or directly from residents and friends. Thanks to the new progress tree, you have even more freedom when unlocking new recipes, skills, and talents, as you can decide for yourself which upgrades you want to invest your earned skill points in first. Of course, certain fields will only be unlocked with the corresponding progress in the game.
The current honeycomb-based crafting system, where you can activate properties, bonuses, or further modification honeycombs by placing suitable ingredients, has only been changed in detail compared to the predecessor and offers the usual multi-faceted possibilities to produce and refine objects with various characteristics. Among them are again various exploration and harvesting tools, which can be used to overcome obstacles, fish, or simply collect raw materials more effectively. If you hit a tree with an ax, for example, you'll get different materials than if you use a stick or a sickle. Some raw material sources can even only be processed with the appropriate utensils.
Conclusion
Atelier Ryza 2: Lost Legends & the Secret Fairy builds on the positive innovations of Atelier Ryza: Ever Darkness & the Secret Hideout with subtle but consistent improvements. Above all, the freer learning of recipes, talents, and skills stands out positively, while the battle system, which was recently changed to active-time battle style, seems less hectic thanks to intelligent object selection pauses. Next time, however, the action could be paused during skill selection to further promote the tactical aspect. The multi-faceted crafting of alchemical equipment and utility items also offers new details. In the dungeons, you can now even use a compass to search for tracks and other clues.
