The Atelier series has long been beloved for its charming characters, down-to-earth tone, and engaging systems. While the other games and casts are beloved in their own right, it was the adventures of one Reisalin Stout that truly made many pay attention to the esteemed alchemic series. Dubbed the "Secret" Trilogy, the Atelier Ryza games have much that brings them together--besides Ryza herself. All three are wistful summer adventures, featuring Ryza and her friends on summers of discovery. What we have here is the definitive way to experience these three titles, although not without some pain points for longtime fans.

The story begins with Atelier Ryza: Ever Darkness & the Secret Hideout, where we're introduced to Ryza and her friends as misfits living on the conservative and backwater Kurken Island. A chance visit from Alchemists takes Ryza from a summer of dodging her home chores to pursuing the art herself, all while her friends Tao and Lent find their own paths in history and swordfighting, respectively. Their adventure is brisk and nostalgic, haunted as it might be by the shadows from everyone's personal lives, like Ryza's conflicts with her overbearing mother, Lent's struggles with his alcoholic father, or Tao's problems with the local bullies. We're reunited with the cast three years later in Atelier Ryza 2: Lost Legends & the Secret Fairy, where an older and more-experienced Ryza is called to help solve the mystery of some ruins at the capital. The gang takes stock of how much they've grown and how much larger the world is, finding themselves along paths they would have never imagined walking. When we meet the crew again one year later in Atelier Ryza 3: Alchemist of the End & the Secret Key, they're no longer children. Ryza, once a tomboyish misfit, has now become the local wisewoman and problem-solver of Kurken Island. Tao, no longer the trembling slip of a boy, has grown into a confident academic and has befriended his tormentors. And Lent has finally escaped the shadow of his own family, becoming a mountain of a man with a heart of gold. It is a melancholic moment when the friends reunite at their old hideout and realize how much smaller it is than it used to be all those summers ago...

Mechanically, Ryza 1 suffers the most; Kurken Island feels constricting and small, and the process of collecting ingredients and alchemic recipes feels grindy. Moreover, the turn-based combat system feels a bit too loose; there's a clear system of events, what with needing to build up Action Points to use Skills, investing Action Points to increase your Tactical Level (allowing for higher Action Point threshholds), and triggering follow-up attacks from your party by partaking in certain actions. But it nevertheless feels a bit hollow, lacking a climax, especially since item charges can only be replenished by sacrificing items. Similarly, it feels hard to capitalize on follow-up attacks. Ryza 2 improves matters with the addition of Item Rushes, wherein you can use as many of your Alchemic items as you have, so long as you have enough Core Charges earned from using Skills, giving combat a goal you can build towards. Understandably, Ryza 3's battle system is the best, as it fully realizes the Core Charge system while also allowing for new strategies by swapping party members mid-attack.

And then, of course, there's Item Synthesis, the series-wide mechanic of creating items through alchemy. Here, Ryza can follow recipes and their ingredients to create items, with better element spreads from her ingredients producing higher-quality items with better traits. It's also possible to turn an old recipe into an entirely new item if you have the right ingredient. It's a fun system, and progress in the game grants new ingredients that can make old items even better. Ryza 1's system of buying and reading books to learn new recipes and leveling up your alchemic ability through synthesizing items feels more like a chore compared to later games, unlocking recipes with a skill tree; later games fare better in giving synthesis that addictive twist that encourages experimentation in item production.

But long-time fans know all of that; what they're going to want are the new goodies for each of the Deluxe versions of these games. The good news is, there is plenty: there are quality-of-life additions like indicators for your item storage while you're on the overworld, improved minimap displays, and improved depth of field for graphical displays. Each game also includes at least two new playable characters, like Ryza 1 finally making town guardian Agatha playable. Each game also includes new sub-stories expanding the game, new maps for exploring, and new features that expand your options in the overworld. All this, plus all of the base DLC from the original titles, plus the save file bonuses in each game. So if you've been waiting for a chance to try the Secret Trilogy, this is the best way to do it. The bad news is that long-time fans might find themselves having to buy each game again for all the new content; Gust hasn't made any kind of update available for bringing the prior Ryza releases into parity with the Deluxe versions. Thankfully, each Deluxe version includes all of the prior cosmetic DLC, and they're all priced at a very reasonable $40 each (or $90 for the whole trilogy). Gust deserves credit for at least pricing each title at a discount, but the lack of an upgrade path nevertheless stings, especially given the loyalty of the Ryza fanbase these six long years.

While Gust dropped the ball on the matter of the upgrades, there's nevertheless no denying that this is a stellar package. Each game is lovingly improved in ways that don't upset the experience, with all the goodies you could want and then some. Longtime fans can look forward to all of the improvements expanding the little island of Kurken like never before, while newcomers get to experience one of the sweetest coming-of-age stories you'll ever find. It might be a dreary November, but Atelier Ryza Secret Trilogy Deluxe Pack has all the memories of summer you could want.