After leaving Sophie’s hometown of Kirchen Bell, the pair discovers a huge tree identical to one that Plachta had seen in a dream, and as they get closer, a mysterious vortex pulls them inside. Sophie awakens alone in a curious new world called Erde Wiege, and it’s not long before she hears about an alchemist named Plachta that lives on the outskirts of town. Shockingly, when Sophie arrives at the atelier, she meets a young alchemy enthusiast named Plachta, and even though the alchemist shares the same name as her friend, she doesn’t recognize Sophie. What other surprises await Sophie on this journey? As the adventure continues, Sophie meets aspiring alchemist, Ramizel Erlenmeyer, who willingly agrees to help her in her time of need.

The narrative elegantly unfolds with a charming new visual style that combines the art of the Mysterious sub-series with the high-quality graphics and animations featured in 2021’s Atelier Ryza 2: Lost Legends and the Secret Fairy.

On her journey to find her missing friend, Sophie will have to fight the many monsters that inhabit the lands of Erde Wiege. As soon as players encounter an enemy in the field, the battle begins instantly without any load times or separate screens – a series first – allowing battles to flow seamlessly. In addition, battle parties now consist of six members, with three in the front and three in the back, to form two teams that co-operate in multi-linked turn-based battles. This new battle system opens up a wide range of exciting combat strategies that players can utilize to take out their foes.

Koei Tecmo America and developer GUST Studios revealed the latest details of Atelier Sophie 2: The Alchemist of the Mysterious Dream, including two new characters and the magical updates to the franchise’s panel synthesis system.

Atelier Sophie 2: The Alchemist of the Mysterious Dream follows beloved alchemist, Sophie Neuenmuller, shortly after her adventures in 2016’s Atelier Sophie: The Alchemist of the Mysterious Book. Sophie’s unexpected new adventure finds her unconscious in a mystifying, dream-like world known as Erde Wiege, where she is saved by an unfamiliar face. The hero of the day is named Alette Claretie, who dreams of one day finding treasure that can only be found in Erde Wiege. She’s a procurer who sells things she finds throughout town, but is also known for being reckless and wild. Alette helps Sophie explore this new world, setting out on a quest to find Sophie’s friend Plachta, who appears to be missing.

They begin their journey at a place known as The Dream Tree, where Sophie was found unconscious. The mysterious woody plant resembles the tree where Sophie and Plachta had last explored before ending up in Erde Wiege, but Plachta is nowhere to be found. When Sophie and Alette return to Roytale, the only town in Erde Wiege, they are approached by a man named Olias Enders, who refers to himself as “the world’s strongest ultimate bodyguard!” Olias claims to know a girl named Plachta, and offers his services to help guide them to the atelier on the outskirts of town. But when the trio arrive and encounter Plachta, Sophie claims not to know this new girl. Who is this new Plachta, and what is her relationship with Sophie’s best friend? Sophie, Alette, and Olias are determined to find out.

Throughout the adventure, characters will need to employ their skills in alchemy in order to proceed, with gamers utilizing an updated version of the panel synthesis system featured in the Mysterious sub-series. In Atelier Sophie 2: The Alchemist of the Mysterious Dream, new items are created based on the alchemic components of materials placed on the panel. Alchemic components are associated with an element (color) of either fire, ice, lightening, wind, or light. By selecting material that consists of an element (alchemic component) that matches the type of item you want to synthesize, various effects can be acquired. With alchemic components, panels that light up brightly are known as link components. When link panels of the same element are adjacent, they form a link, and the greater the number of links, the better effects can be acquired. In order to create powerful items, being aware of links and strategically placing alchemic components becomes key.

As the game progresses, catalysts and restricted panels will also become available for use. Using catalysts will enable special effects such as increasing the size of the synthesis panel. And while restricted panels have a higher synthesis difficulty level – making it harder to place alchemic components – there are special effects that can only be acquired by using a restricted panel.

In addition, Sophie and Plachta will be able to unlock the special use of Assist Skill further along in their adventure. When Plachta’s synthesis is unlocked, either Sophie or Plachta can be selected to assist with synthesis. There are some recipes that are exclusively for Sophie, and some only for Plachta, and a few of these recipes include important items required to proceed in the game. In order to create the advanced items that are key to the story, players need to raise their level as an alchemist (Alchemy Lv.). Balancing the use of Sophie and Plachta in synthesis to increase each of their Alchemy Lv. will be essential to advancing the storyline and unlocking the mysteries behind this mysterious dream.

As with previous entries in the Atelier series, alchemy plays a huge role in Atelier Sophie 2: The Alchemist of the Mysterious Dream. The game builds upon the panel synthesis system featured in the Mysterious sub-series, where materials are placed into the panel slots to create new items. The game allows both aspiring and veteran alchemists to synthesize items in a way that is comfortable to them due to two different panel types – regular panels make it easier to create items, while restricted panels are complex to master but allow for items with stronger effects to be synthesized.

To help celebrate the latest edition into the Atelier Sophie franchise, KOEI TECMO America is offering a delightful new Limited Edition of Atelier Sophie 2: The Alchemist of the Mysterious Dream, exclusively available through the NISA Online Store. This must-have version of the game contains an art book, deluxe fabric poster, keychain, bonus BGM CD, and an exclusive DLC costume all packaged into a beautiful collector's box.

Atelier Sophie 2: The Alchemist of the Mysterious Dream is coming to Nintendo Switch, PS4 and PC (Steam) on Feb. 25, 2022.