A Brief Review of Sophie's Alchemy Workshop 2: Come to the Dream World for a Walk

2022 marks the 25th anniversary of the Alchemy Workshop series, and I know Gust will definitely do something to give back to veteran players. However, after seeing that they brought up Sophie's Alchemy Workshop 2~The Alchemist of Incredible Dreams, I still have an unreal feeling. Isn't this really my dream?

Thank you for the invitation from Honor Tecmo. I had the opportunity to experience the Steam version of this game in advance and confirm that it was not my fantasy. After getting started with Sophie's Alchemy Workshop 2, I would like to share my trial experience with everyone.

A brand new adventure that new players can easily get started with

For players like me who have had contact with the first generation, I am naturally very happy to see my old friend Sophie return to the world in 2022. But for new players, this is a sequel to an old game and they may worry about not being able to connect to the plot.

As mentioned in the producer's interview, the production team has specially prepared a film to review the main plot of the previous work, and can enjoy this work even without exposure to the previous work. Although designed for new players, it also unintentionally caters to players like me who have played the first generation and have little impression of the plot.

In this work, Sophie and her companion Pravda discover a mysterious tree on their journey, which looks very similar to the tree that appeared in Pravda's dream. During the investigation, the two were sucked in by a sudden vortex and transported to the dream world of Edwig, causing them to be separated.

The most important task at the moment is to search for Pravda who has been separated from Sophie. In order to find the traces of her lost companions, Sophie has found some new partners in "Edwig". The characters in the previous installment were not accompanied by Sophie for various reasons, and many of them were their first appearances, so there was no threshold in the plot.

As for the alchemist who appears in the trailer with the same name as Pravda, what is her relationship with the familiar "Little Yellow Book" Pravda, and who is the alchemist Ramijier who looks similar to Sophie? Please find the answer on your own in the game.

A colorful dream world with stunning visuals

The main stage of the game has shifted from Kierhan Bell to Edwig, a dream world among the world's population. People gather here to fulfill their dreams, and some scholars even settle here to study this world.

The only village in the new map is "Loyotier". Considering the special setting of this game and the official use of "village" instead of "town" when introducing "Loyotier", I thought that the main activity area this time might not be large, and I was worried about the game's content at one point. But when I first stepped into Loyotier, I realized that everything I was worried about was unnecessary.

The vast activity space is filled with conversational NPCs, street vendors, farmers working in the fields, and villagers resting by the river. Strolling around without feeling bored. Whether it's the early morning dew, the midday sunshine covering the earth, the evening sunset setting in the west, or the brightly lit night, all make me feel that the village is full of vitality.

Such a beautiful village naturally makes people want to take photos as a souvenir. In addition to taking some live photos, I also take the initiative to find a beautiful check-in spot, carefully adjust the character's position, movements, and expressions, and showcase the most perfect side of the characters.

The weather system is the core of outdoor exploration in this game, and players can control the weather to change the terrain. This not only allows the same map to have different forms, but also naturally adds the wet effect to this game. After changing the weather to rainy days, I could clearly see Sophie's clothes getting wet from the rain.

Perhaps due to different visual styles, I feel that the visual experience of Sophie's Alchemist 2 is not as good as that of Lisa's Alchemist 2, but the game's visuals are still top-notch throughout the entire series. As the game graphics become better compared to the first generation, the hardware requirements for players will also increase accordingly. This time I was experiencing the PC version of the game. Although the recommended configuration displayed in the Steam store is i7 6700+GTX 1070, the game provides a variety of screen options. Friends with poor computer configurations can enjoy the game by reducing some resource consuming special effects appropriately.

Pleasant battles and alchemy

What surprised me was that Gust did not use the semi real-time action system like in "Lysa's Alchemist", but instead used the turn system of "Sophie's Alchemist". As soon as they entered the battle, it was familiar to veteran players. But this does not mean that this game is just a simple new bottle of old wine in terms of combat. The addition of a new system makes the battle more enjoyable and coherent without compromising strategy.

Specifically, this game is divided into two small teams of three forwards and three defenders, totaling six players. The advantage of this design is that we can not only use the collaborative attacks of three players within the team, but also use more collaborative attacks by switching forwards and defenders. "Cooperation" is the core of this combat system, which can be used together with teammates to achieve stronger effects, whether it is a regular attack or a deadly skill.

At the same time, encountering enemies in the wilderness can enter the battle interface without loading, greatly accelerating the battle rhythm. For players like me who like to brush monsters in the wilderness, it is undoubtedly a good thing.

If you have played the first installment of Sophie's Alchemy Workshop, you will definitely be able to quickly get started with the alchemy system of this game. The alchemy section is a more complex "puzzle" system than the "Lysa's Alchemy Workshop" series, but in the early stages of the game, different puzzle blocks can be rotated, and everyone should have a foundation in this area of puzzles. After new players spend some time familiarizing themselves with the system, they can also feel the interesting aspects of the alchemy system. They may not be able to stop, like me, and even forget to advance the main storyline.

Generally speaking, teammates who are not alchemists are not useful in alchemy, but this game also adds a collaborative system to the alchemy process. As long as specific conditions are met, they can activate collaboration with teammates and obtain various enhancement effects such as quality improvement. This encourages players to establish good relationships with their teammates and increase their favorability. At the same time, the influence of favorability is no longer limited to battles, and can also be used in the alchemy stage of the series of signs.

Conclusion: Sophie's Remarkable Progress Continuation

In my opinion, "Alchemy Workshop" belongs to the type of game series that improves oneself step by step, and you can feel the improvement of the game every time. Sophie's Alchemy is the first alchemy game I've been exposed to, which means a lot to me. It's been so long since the first generation, and comparing the two shows even more significant progress in all aspects.

Although this experience is not the final version, it can be seen from various details that this is the sequel to Sophie's Alchemy Workshop that I have been looking forward to. If you have been waiting for a sequel like me for a long time, don't forget to explore your dream world with Sophie when the game is officially released on February 24th.