Here at Shacknews, I’ve talked about *Atelier* a few times. GUST and Koei Tecmo’s item synthesis and cozy vibes RPG series has had its ups and downs over the past few decades. If you’ve read my previous reviews, you might have a skewed perspective — the most recent outing was a big down, and the one before was, excuse the cliché, a mixed bag. But dial the clock back just a bit more, and you have the current peak of the *Atelier* mountain: Ryza. This time, we get to talk about Ryza.
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### Ryza: The Peak of Atelier
Banger, banger, banger—that’s how *Atelier* games typically come, usually in loose trilogies tied together by a theme, a location, or very rarely, an actual character. Ryza, which started in 2017 with *Atelier Ryza: Ever Darkness & the Secret Hideout*, ended up being a whole set of direct sequels—a rare move for this series.
That’s because Ryza was such a hit, especially with the debut of the Nintendo Switch that year (and a craze for physical copies that were constantly selling out). The series broke containment in a way GUST didn’t seem to be expecting.
You can trace that success not only to how the series evolves in the Ryza trilogy, but also to how *Atelier Ryza: Ever Darkness & the Secret Hideout* was such a massive expansion in scope. Its sequel, *Atelier Ryza 2: Lost Legends & the Secret Fairy*, and the third entry, *Atelier Ryza 3: Alchemist of the End & the Secret Key*, didn’t hit as hard individually (though they did quite well). That’s more a testament to how the Ryza trilogy found its footing and dug in—capturing lightning in a bottle and nourishing it across two sequels in a way few series can, especially in a niche where resources are inherently limited.
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### What Makes Ryza So Great?
It’s a little tough to quantify what’s so great about the Ryza series. A certain sect of the fanbase might say “thighs,” which is valid I guess, but there’s a lot more to it than that.
Ryza herself is a character with compelling energy in a series where most *Atelier* protagonists tend to be a little more quaint and low-energy. Ryza is a go-getter who accidentally stumbles into alchemy as a side effect of a desperate want for adventure, and that’s a fun dynamic for a “cozy” game.
Meanwhile, the trilogy is an excellent use case for what a trilogy can be from a storytelling perspective. You can feel the passage of time—through the characters’ lives, development, relationships, and even the spaces they inhabit. It’ll hit differently if you binge the trilogy all at once rather than waiting years between each release, but there’s still an emotional weight when, in the third game, you retrace your steps and reminisce with the team about the past.
With how much the gameplay systems change and evolve too, there’s a transformative wonder in how differently you interact with these spaces throughout the trilogy. It’s like going back home after moving away and mentally tracking how different everything feels—and processing the emotions those differences stir.
It’s good stuff, on top of the usual *Atelier* staples: grinding up numbers, bopping cute enemies with a creative and evolving combat system, and growing from making weak, crappy items to synthesizing a cartoony-ass bomb that could probably level a building.
These are special games, and I’d suggest anyone who’s into RPGs but unsure where to start with *Atelier* should jump in right here. Just be prepared to keep chasing that high for now, as GUST is still figuring that out.
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### What’s Deluxe About It, Then?
Another tradition in the world of *Atelier* is the DX branding. After a series wraps up, GUST usually returns to it later with re-releases that include tweaks, additional content, collected DLC for “free,” and let players snag a whole trilogy at an overall discount.
This was great for collectors (especially for the growing Switch community at the time), because you could import physical copies of the Dusk and *Mysterious* trilogies—getting a whole set of games on one cart with English language options and all the additional extras.
Now it’s Ryza’s turn.
Like before, you can catch up on the Ryza trilogy if you missed them, at a lower price point and with extra features such as additional story content, new playable characters, secret bosses, and more. It’s a great deal, even for *Atelier* fans willing to double dip.
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### A Generation-Spanning Release
Ryza DX lands at a weird intersection of console generations that happened between the first Ryza and its sequels, and in Nintendo’s case, after as well.
As a smaller developer in the grand scheme of things, GUST is known for fun, breezy, and beautiful games—but not for top-of-the-line fidelity and performance. The Ryza DX series gave them a unique opportunity, especially with the first game.
The end result depends on your platform of choice, though—I’ve come away from playing on the Switch 2 with a tinge of disappointment. It’s not terrible, but there’s a gut feeling things could have been better, and sadly, that expectation wasn’t met.
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### FPS Dreams, Shattered?
*Atelier Ryza 1* runs beautifully on the PlayStation 5. Having a classic *Atelier* game that looks as good as it does and runs smoothly is wonderful—and a great excuse to upgrade from the PS4 version without a doubt.
On the Switch 2, however, you’re looking at a locked 30 frames per second. The tradeoff is that it runs with more muscle in the lighting and reflection department than the original Switch version. It also clearly runs at 1080p in handheld mode and keeps that locked 30 fps without breaking a sweat.
So it looks amazing and doesn’t have those weird jitters that the recent *Persona 3 Reload* port suffers from. But as a game with some hybridized real-time elements in its turn-based combat system, that frame rate over on PlayStation land looks really good.
It’s a bummer there’s no option to choose performance mode at the expense of some visual upgrades—considering the Switch 1 version is playable and runs at a smooth, locked 30 on Switch 2 as well.
Performance concerns are less of a factor for *Ryza 2* and *3*, which were already released for PS5 and were finicky there to begin with. For example, PS5’s version of *Ryza 2* can run at 60 fps in performance mode, but you have to go into the console UI and manually limit the resolution output yourself to get there.
Having those games run smoothly at 30 fps on Switch 2 is a welcome outcome—and expecting 60 there would have been foolish.
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### Final Thoughts
Overall, this is a weirdly fun exercise in revisiting history, tracking how things can change across hardware releases, managing your expectations, and finding what to appreciate.
*Ryza 1* is the only bummer, and even then it’s still an improvement over past versions. Hopefully, as time goes on, we’ll have more stable expectations for Nintendo Switch 2 ports—but as of now, it still feels like the Wild West.
And don’t get me started on the physical edition—that’s a whole other issue and not as relevant to this review.
Ultimately, the *Atelier Ryza Secret Trilogy Deluxe* series is a treat for fans, and a brilliant new way for potential newcomers to jump into the best the *Atelier* series currently has to offer. It’s a perfect way to try *Atelier* for the first time, especially since you don’t even have to buy the whole trilogy upfront if you don’t want to.
It’s an excellent deal between the new content and upgrades. Even if the Switch 2 version isn’t the perfect edition I had imagined, it’s still a great chunk of RPG goodness for the new console.
Regardless of the platform, Ryza’s three-part adventure was a big deal the first time around for real reasons—and the DX version only serves as reinforcement.
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### Availability
The *Atelier Ryza Secret Trilogy Deluxe Pack* is available on November 13, 2025, for PC, PlayStation 4 & 5, Nintendo Switch, and Switch 2.
A Switch 2 code was provided by the publisher for this review.
https://www.shacknews.com/article/146782/atelier-ryza-secret-trilogy-deluxe-review-score
