Atelier Sophie 2 Part #3 - Dreams of the Sun and Rain

Part 3: Dreams of the Sun and Rain

Update 3: Dreams of the Sun and Rain

Returning to the field in earnest…

Oh, that’s right. Sophie, why don’t we use this opportunity to pick up anything that might become useful for synthesis on the way? This world is full of unique materials. It certainly wouldn’t hurt.

Good idea. Maybe I’ll even come up with some ideas for new recipes!

Huh, if you’re going to do that, I can help out too. Give me a shout if you see anything useful.

And with that, we can begin unlocking recipes! This early on, the conditions are pretty simple–pick flowers to unlock their respective colored neutralizers, smack enemies a few times to unlock the sickle, and whatnot. It gets more complicated later on.

Music: Dreamy Dew
The game will also helpfully notify you when you’ve made progress towards unlocking a recipe. For Golden Thread, in addition to Silver Web, I also need Cotton Wool…

…And after getting some, Sophie starts jotting in her notebook, meaning I can synthesize Golden Thread once I go back to the atelier. But for now, we need to follow Ramizel into the forest.

Ramizel’s Granddaughter
Music: Sewing Sunbeams

Whoa, it’s raining? But the sun was shining just a minute ago!

It’s always like this around here. The rain never lets up.

Always?

Remember, everything in Erde Wiege is built from people’s dream visions. If it was raining in the dream visions this area was made from, it’ll be raining here forever.

That sounds like a pretty depressing dream. And…

That’s so strange … This might be the most other-worldly thing I’ve heard up til now …

Haha. You can say that again.

Music: Sewing Starlight

Anyway, en route to that blue icon, now’s a good time to gather stuff.

Sophie can jump over a bunch of barrels to an island where there’s a chest with Ingot Bugs and some other things we can’t gather yet. Jumping over barrels or other steps is a common path when it's raining in this game.

The evil-ish red icon denotes the optional mini-boss, a wood golem, that I’m in no state to fight right now. Anyway, moving on to the destination…

Looks like we’re stuck. Unless anyone’s brought a bridge …

We can’t even be sure Ramizel came this way. We could easily have overlooked something.

Maybe you’re right. If we can’t cross, she probably couldn’t either.

Huh?

Alette? Have you found something?

Yeah! That’s it! It was ages ago now, but one time I saw Ramizel using it. She did something to this rock, and then the whole world kinda went shwoom! Then the rain stopped, and the river disappeared!

Shwoom …?

That seems hard to believe. The rain stopping is one thing, but an entire river drying up?

I mean hey, anything goes in this dream world!

It’s true, I’m telling you! I saw it with my own eyes!

If you’re right, we might still be on the right path …

But we still can’t cross the river … How about we head back to town and speak with Kati? She might know something we don’t.

That’s a good idea. If anyone can tell us more, it’s her.

Hey, Gnome! … Huh? Where is Kati?

I’m afraid she’s, uh, a little busy at the moment …

You’re all such workaholics … Can’t a girl take a break once in a while … Working is such a pain … Really … Zzz …

Ahaha … Um. Well, this is how Miss Kati is, so you probably should get used to it. Anyway, did you have any luck finding Miss Ramizel?

That’s why we’re here! See, there’s this river …

The rain in the forest … I see. Perhaps this is my fault. I should have told you about changing the weather since you were going out that way.

Does that mean Alette is right, then? There’s a way to stop the rain?

Seeee! I was right all along!

Who would have thought? I’m sorry for doubting you, Alette.

So how do we get our hands on one of these special tools?

They aren’t easy to come by, sadly. Only a few people are permitted to own them. You’d need someone who is widely trusted, someone who often has business outside of town …

Well, this is a stroke of luck. Olias, didn’t you have a pair of those weather tools on hand?

Huh? Damn right I do. Got one for the rain and one for the sun.

That’s just what we need! Could we borrow them for a little while? We’ll bring them right back!

Whoa, hold on there. These things are probably worth more than I am.

I know they’re valuable, but we need them to get through the Near-Forest. We’re looking for Ramizel …

Near-Forest? Oh, I get you. Trouble with the rain, eh? Fine, I’ll let you use ‘em. There’s just one small problem.

Ehh?! You mean we can’t actually use them?!

Nah, I just need Ramizel to recharge them. Then they’ll be right as … Well, rain. Only I can’t seem to track her down, so for the moment they’re dead as doornails.

No way …

Um … When Olias says Ramizel can recharge them, does he mean with alchemy?

That’s right. I’m hardly an expert, but it requires some kind of special synthesis process.

Ehh? You mean … Ramizel’s an alchemist?!

Sure she is. Didn’t I say?

Music: Like When We Were Kids

Um, Gnome? How old is Ramizel?

: Erm … I think she mentioned that she was in her early twenties.

Then she wouldn’t be married yet, so … Her full name isn’t Ramizel Erlenmeyer, is it?

So it is. How did you know?

About that … You see, my late grandmother was an alchemist …

Wha …! You’re saying you’re Ramizel’s granddaughter?!

You’re kidding, right? Ramizel’s no old lady! She doesn’t even have kids, let alone grandkids!

It might not be impossible … if she has come to Erde Wiege from the time of her youth. People gather here from many different ages. You cannot say it couldn’t happen.

The OG Mysterious trilogy made a point about how much Sophie’s grandmother meant to her and how lonely she was after her death. You could visit her grave in Sophie 1, there’s an old alchemist acquaintance of hers in Firis who Sophie wants to talk to to hear about the old days, and at the end of Sophie’s events in L&S, she takes the time to tell her grandmother she’s surrounded by friends and has found happiness at last. Sophie DX added more postgame material to really drive home Sophie's bond with her late grandmother; in hindsight, I suppose this was to prime players for Sophie 2.

Anyone who’s taken a chem course (and I sure did as a premed washout) would recognize that Ramizel’s maiden name, Erlenmeyer, comes from the flask.

Let’s not get ahead of ourselves, Sophie. Don’t forget this is only speculation.

… You’re right. I mean, she wouldn’t even know I exist yet. Oh, I almost forgot! Olias, back to the weather tools … Do you mind if I try charging them myself with alchemy?

You sure about that? You know how much they’re worth, right?

Of course. Don’t worry. I’ll need a little time, but I think I can figure out how it’s done.

Fine, see what you can do. I’ll be as happy as you to have ‘em working again.

Soon, we, too, will be able to change the weather at a whim! But first…

Oh, that reminds me. Have you paid a visit to Pirka’s shop yet?

Pirka’s shop?

I know she runs one, but I have not had a chance to visit yet.

I see. I’d certainly recommend it, especially to an alchemist.

Yeah, Pirka’s place is something else! You’d never believe what you can find! See, most shops only stock materials from town … Oh, but I don’t wanna spoil the surprise!

Eeeh! But now you’ve got me curious!

Is there something special about her stock …? Perhaps we should pay her a visit before we return to the atelier and find our for ourselves.

Well, if I’m headed to a shop, I need money, right? Luckily for me, just by picking up materials in the field, I can get a good deal of cash from Kati.

obligatory

Gnome said we should visit your store! He said you sell some special items here.

Hmm … I see what Gnome was saying. The stock here certainly seems more varied than elsewhere.

That’s my selling point! I source what I can from town, but I also go out and gather things myself.

What, in person?

Well, with Alette. We go gathering together and pick up whatever looks like it’ll sell.

But if you think you’ve already seen the last of this store’s wonders, think again!

Make … more? I’m not quite sure what you mean.

My!

You sound like you’ve seen this somewhere before, Sophie.

I sure have! Cory can do the same thing! She’s a friend of mine back in Kirchen Bell. You know, Pirka kind of reminds me of her, if I squint a bit. Maybe it’s her clothes …

Really? Then there’s a good chance your friend has some connection to my homeland. Not just anyone can use duplication, after all. It’s a special power passed down among my people.

Really? Wow … I bet Cory would love to hear about this!

In any case, it sounds like we’ll never want for useful items with you to help us out. Still, I’m curious about this duplication power. Mightily curious indeed …

Just so we’re clear, it’s a paid service. I AM running a business here!

Turn this on, and we’ll foot the bill for item usage whenever we go back to the atelier.

Pretty much. This place is stuck in sunny mode.

Well, I guess it’s better than endless rain.

True … Still, I’d appreciate a few showers from time to time, y’know.

Hm? Why’s that?

I’m growin’ veggies in my garden, but they need a decent amount of water. And waterin’ them myself every day’s a real pain in the neck. A bit of rain now and again would go a long way. Man, what I wouldn’t give for my own personal rain cloud …

Are you really planning to try to fix those tools? If something were to go wrong …

I’ll be careful. And besides … If this is something that will help me find Plachta …

She really means a lot to you, doesn’t she?

Of course! We’re family, after all.

… Fine, then. Do as you like. I won't get in your way. Just take care that it doesn’t blow up in your face.

Hahaha. Don’t worry. I won’t even touch them until I’m sure I know what I’m doing.

In sum, that means we’ve got a recipe to unlock! Anyway, you’ve probably seen that further down the recipe tree you go, there’s a lot of locks next to silhouetted items. You have to unlock adjacent recipes before you can unlock these ones. Take that node just below the Sunlight Heliodor, for instance; it's for a pickaxe. The condition to get the pickaxe's recipe is getting some Silvalia, the tier 2 ingot. But since I haven’t made the Heliodor yet, I can’t unlock the pickaxe's recipe and start synthesizing one, even if some Silvalia fell into Sophie’s lap right this instant.

So first, we need to make the Heliodor. And speaking of beating up Blue Puni…

Blue Puni are weak to electricity, so it would serve me well to stack all the yellow components I can onto a Lightning Bomb. Even though this is just okay for now, many upcoming enemies are weak to electricity, so it'll be very useful in the short term.

While I’m at it, might as well make a Grass Sickle too. Maxing out yellow on this one lets me gather at Rank 2 with it.

Unlike with the Ryza games, this is only usable on tall plants. I can’t walk up to a log or a bush, switch gathering material from Staff to Sickle, and use the Sickle on those gathering spots for different items than I would get from smacking with the Staff.

I can turn up the difficulty to Legendary…

And kill both Puni with both of these very well-crafted bombs.

Doing this gets me a nice fat drop of materials with better components and traits than I should be able to get starting out. Anyway, with that done, dialing the difficulty back down and headed back to the Dream Tree…

We can now synthesize this item! But as always in an Atelier game, gotta make the rounds once they’re available…

The Town of Roytale

C’mon, isn’t it obvious? I’m on the clock!

Wait, you run this store?

Yep! It’s nothing all that grand, but … It’s all mine! It is called “Alette’s Sundries” after all.

Huh. Actually, I thought you were working with Pirka over at her place.

Ahaha … Well, she did offer me my own corner at her shop. But since we live together, she already helps me out a lot. Borrowing space would be kinda, you know … Besides, if I wanna make a name for myself as a merchant, then I’ve gotta run my own business!

Hehe … That’s really impressive, Alette!

Ehehe … Well, since this place is called sundries, I stock all kinds of stuff you won’t find anywhere else. So, I’ll be expecting lots of business from you!

You’d figure gaining hands-on experience would be what counts the most in this setting, since unlike a following in Erde Wiege, Alette can actually take that home with her.

Music: On Sale Today

Anyway, Alette sells things you can find in the field. Sometimes, she’ll have something with good components and/or good traits.

Huh? Are you taking a nap, Pirka?

Should you really be asleep while your shop is open? Won’t you lose customers?

Worry not! I’ve taught myself to jump awake when I hear the jingle jangle of Cole! Basically, the customers are my own personal alarm clocks!

You can’t treat your customers like that! No one’s gonna buy from you if you keep that up!

It’s fine, it’s fine! My services are in too high a demand for that!

Don’t jinx it, what if Elvira invites Corneria over tomorrow to eat your lunch? But Sophie has other concerns…

Shouldn’t you be more careful with it? Won’t it make you shrink?

Eh? Shrink? Don’t be ridiculous, Sophie! That’s just silly!

Really? I thought for sure that duplication power came with side effects …

It does for Corneria, who faints (and shrinks) from overuse of her powers. L&S shows that this was what happened to her father; he used it so much that he shrank to the size of a bug.

Putting that aside, I oughta tell you that I’ve been eyeing up the art of alchemy! If I learn this alchemy thingy, think of all the goodies I could make, duplicate, and sell! It’s the perfect business strategy! What do you think?

Ahaha! If you’re really interested, then come by my atelier! I think it’s worth a try.

For real?! Alright, it’s a date! Just don’t get mad if I turn out to be a prodigy, okay?

yeah we’ll see about that

That’s right. Mine was a far more civilized process. I heard Elvira’s voice near the tree. She told me about this world, and I accepted her invitation. After that, I fell asleep. And when I came to, I found myself here, in Erde Wiege.

In my case, I was taking a stroll through a local park. The rest was just as Plachta described it.

So, you don’t even have to be near the Dream Tree to be summoned to Erde Wiege?

Right. There are a number of places where the ties between the worlds are especially strong. When someone with a dream Elvira particularly likes passes by, she calls out to them. Then, those who agree are brought here.

Huh, so that’s how it works …

This is the first time I’ve actually heard someone explain it. Hm, so there are special areas …

They’re not something you can see, though. I doubt you’d be able to find them even if you went looking.

Now, back to business!

Shared Atelier

The number of uses the Heliodor has whenever you synthesize it depends on the effect thresholds you hit. Unfortunately, I have a dearth of good red components and yellow components with links, so this is the best I can do for now.

Having +Use traits also helps, as those are applied to, well, the use count.

Honestly … I wasn’t sure you could do it. I’m impressed.

I’m lucky I just had to recharge it. Making one from scratch would have been way too hard …

Really? Why?

I don’t think it’s made with just alchemy. There’s something in there I don’t really understand …

Sophie, can I ask you something?

Huh? You think you can fix it?

Maybe … No, definitely. In fact, I’m certain of it. I promise I can do it!

Hehe… All right. It’s all yours.

Really …? I mean, thank you! Um … Would you mind watching? Just in case I do something wrong?

Sure thing! I won’t take my eyes off you for a second!

I-I wasn’t asking you to stare! Just make sure I don’t mess up, okay?

(Although I guess that hasn’t changed much … )

And with that, we can now synthesize with Plachta and have unlocked her recipes!

A trip to the waterfall later …

Maybe. I feel like I’m close to an epiphany, but my brain is running out of fuel … I think we still have some soil potatoes left. Maybe I should cook one up …

You sure love soil potatoes, huh?

Really? You’re sure?

As sure as sure can be! Just show me that cauldron!

And here is the curveball Sophie 2 throws us! Unlike with Lydie and Sue, who could synthesize the same things and shared their alchemy level the whole game, Plachta has her own recipes that only she can synthesize and she starts off at Alchemy Lv 25. There are gathering items and story items that only Plachta can make (and the game will expect her alchemy level to be much higher than 50 by endgame), as well as weapons–in addition to her own robot arms, Plachta makes Alette’s boots and Olias’ rifles too. Not leveling up Plachta means you can’t progress the story and will be locked out of higher-end weapons for half your party, so it’s important to remember to have her synthesize.

Luckily, she has yet to synthesize the (shared) recipes that Sophie already did, so she’ll get EXP fast by doing all those building block ones for the first time. But first, with the Hydrite, we can’t actually make it yet because we don’t have a Seafood item! We can get some by buying some flour, making some bait, and then synthesizing a Fishing Rod.

Maxing out yellow lets me fish at Rank 2 out the gate.

While I’m out here, might as well demo Major Gathering.

I pick an item (in this case, it’ll be Wing Plant)...

And play a mini-game! The mini-game is different for each different gathering tool. I also suck at all of them so you won’t see much of them out of me.

And with a great big THWACK, I get Wing Plants. Now, time to synthesize!

Party!
I was SO CLOSE with the green threshold, but fell short. Still, 17 uses is plenty.

Nice work! I knew you could do it!

This shouldn’t have taken me so long. I still have a lot to learn.

C’mon, don’t be so hard on yourself. You gotta take your wins where you can. ‘Sides, they both look perfect to me. You two did a hell of a job.

Hear that? We did great!

I suppose … that does make me feel a little better.

I’m no alchemist, though. Just ‘cause they look fine to me doesn’t mean they’ll work.

Then let’s try them out. The quicker we can get them working, the quicker we can find Ramizel!

I agree. The three of us should set off as soon as–

Ehh?! You mean you’re coming with us?

I do owe you one after you got my tools workin’ again. Sides, you said this Plachta girl you’re lookin’ for’s family to you. I’m not gonna stand by and watch a family get separated. Lemme lend a hand.

With pleasure! Thank you, Olias!

And just like that, he's back!

There, all done!

Alchemy’s so weird. What you get out is totally different from what you put in …

Ahaha, it’s not all like that. When I first started, I could only make really basic items, like bags full of Uni …

Erm … Wouldn’t that’ve been faster to do by hand?

Ahaha … ha … Anyway, what I’m trying to say is that alchemy has some simple recipes, too.

Uh-huh … Then do you think there’s anything I can do to help?

Hm? You’d want to, Alette?

You bet! You’re always making stuff for me, which feels kinda unfair. I figure I should pitch in somehow, you know?

I think that’s a wonderful idea. An amateur’s perspective might give you the inspiration you need to spark new discoveries.

Good point! Would you mind, Alette?

Consider it done!

And if nothing else, we’ll have an extra pair of hands to help with tidying up.

Plachtaaaa, that’s so meeeean …

Ahaha …

Can show off later, but this tutorial screen gets the gist well enough. If you get enough links of a particular element, a party member will cut in and give you goodies. Here, Alette is giving a quality boost for Wind links. Other goodies can include changing a component or a square’s color.

Elements are tied to particular party members. Alette aside, Olias helps in for Ice links, while Plachta (or Sophie, depending on who’s synthesizing) helps for Light. The members associated with fire and lightning haven’t joined yet, so no Assist Skills for those elements until then.

Returning to Near-Forest, I’ll forage a bit…

Weathering With Sophie

Got it!

Heh heh heh! Prepare to be amazed!

Is clearing away a few clouds really so impressive?

Whoa! Look how quickly the sun came out!

This stone seems to affect more than the weather. It’s like it has altered the entire environment. Curious … Mightily curious indeed!

See, what did I tell you? It makes the whole world go shwoom!

The hell kinda explanation was that?

Yeah, it went all shwoom and bwaam! It was amazing!

Well, it makes sense to one of us, apparently. Anyway, the road is clear now. We should hurry and find Ramizel.

In addition to radically altering the maps, changing the weather also changes the gathering spots, as well as what items you get from gathering spots; case in point with the sickle. Still, it hasn’t actually brought Ramizel in view…

So too do the enemies change; the mushrooms have been replaced with flowers.

The next tier of weapons is also becoming available! Right now, the conditions are fairly simple (Plachta does a Twin Action, Sophie does a Dual Guard, Alette uses her skills), but you’ll need to know the battle system well to unlock the endgame tier weapons.

What is this thing?

It’s like a tear in the air itself. It might lead somewhere … but I wouldn’t recommend using it.

You mean we can go in?

We could, but no one can say where we might come out. Jumping in blindly would be very dangerous.

Huh. What are the chances that that’s where Ramizel went?

Hmm … Considering the fact that we couldn’t find her anywhere else, chances could be pretty high …

Sounds to me like you really wanna go exploring, Alette.

Well, maybe … but who wouldn’t? Think about it! It could take us anywhere! What if it’s a secret vault full of Elvira’s hidden treasure? Just think of all that Cole!

H-hey, don’t get me wrong! Ramizel totally COULD be in there! I mean … Oh, forget it! I’m going in! Geronimoooo!

Alette, come back! It’s too dangerous by yourself!

I swear, those two just don’t have any self-preservation instincts.

They got a point, though. Combin’ through this forest ain’t gettin’ us any closer to finding Ramizel. Plus I ain’t gonna let them run off alone. We can duck right back out if things look dicey.

I suppose you’re right. Besides, I can’t deny that I’m a little curious myself …

So they enter the hole in the world and find…

It’s incredible. Who would have thought there was a place like this in the middle of the forest?

Not me, that’s for damn sure. Maybe that hidden vault idea ain’t far off the mark.

I’m sure we’ll find out soon enough. I see light up ahead. This place must act like a passageway leading from the forest.

I wonder where it goes … Let’s keep going!

Music: Chained Dreams

Well, let’s! It’s not like there’s anything else to do here.

Music: Water Reflected in the Sky

Wow! Look at it all! This is amazing!

Are those … ruins? I’ve never seen anything like this.

What do you reckon this place is?

I’m not sure, but I bet there’s more to it than meets the eye.

I’d bet on it. You wouldn’t exactly cram it in some pocket dimension for no reason.

Sophie, I think we should keep going.

Didn’t you say it was dangerous to go in blindly?

I did, but that was before I knew what we’d find. Just the sight of this place would make any true alchemist mightily curious indeed! If Ramizel got here before us, I’m positive she’d have headed deeper in to investigate!

Now it sounds like YOU just want to go exploring …

Actually, I think she’s onto something.