Atelier Sophie 2: The Alchemist of the Mysterious Dream has been announced for the Nintendo Switch, PS4, and Steam, with an anticipated release date of February 25, 2022. The sequel to 2016’sย Atelier Sophie: The Alchemist of the Mysterious Book, the newest installment, continues the story of Sophie Neuenmuller, along with some familiar faces.
This time, Sophie and Plachta are pulled into a vortex and deposited in a strange new land called Erde Wiege. Once there, Sophie finds herself alone until she meets another alchemist, who also happens to be named Plachta. Sophie and New Plachta then set out to find Old Plachta and make a few new friends along the way.
Is it a parallel universe? Is it all a dream? Will New Plachta sport a very suspicious beard, which will immediately identify her as evil? Will everyone grow beards in this new mysterious land? Time will tell!
One thing’s for sure: monsters abound. And quickly! Atelier Sophie 2 promises no load times or additional screens before a battle, so exploration and fighting will feel much more cohesive. What’s more, you can now have six members in your party during battle. This new arrangement allows two teams of three to pull off some new maneuvers and opens up new combat strategies.
And, of course, there’s the alchemy. You still get to mix-and-match materials in the way that you did in Atelier Sophie: The Alchemist of the Mysterious Book, but this time you can choose between two different ways to alchemize: a quick and easy system to help make essential items and a more complex one for alchemy experts.
Fans of ateliers, in general, have been spoiled for choice recently: Atelier Ryza 2 recently came out for the Switch, and there’s a huge catalog of games waiting for any aspiring alchemists. If you’re a massive fan of the series, you might be interested in the limited edition of Atelier Sophie 2. Available for pre-order for the PS4 and Switch, this edition comes with an art book, soundtrack, poster, keychain, and download code for a new costume for Sophie. No word yet on any beard-DLC.
