After Lydie and Sue reach the E Rank alchemist level in Atelier Lydie & Suelle: The Alchemists and the Mysterious Paintings, Ilmeria and Firis ask them what their goals are. This leads them to visit multiple alchemists in the city, like Alt, Lucia and even their father, to try and discover why they use alchemy. This sets the stage for what sorts of endings you can achieve later in the game. While the young women talk a big game about having the best atelier in the country to make their deceased mom’s dream, they are not really sure what to do after that point.
What is nice about Atelier Lydie & Suelle: The Alchemists and the Mysterious Paintings is that it breaks with tradition from past entries in the series. It is entirely possible to get the best ending on your first playthrough. Moreover, if you save before having Lydie and Sue begin the S Rank promotion exam, then it is possible to go ahead and get every possible ending from the same save file. All five offer different looks on what can happen, ranging from a normal ending that comes from not going out of your way to do anything and passing the S Rank exam, to far more complex outcomes. (Don’t worry; no spoilers will follow.)
Some might find the good ending even easier to achieve than he normal one. This comes from reaching alchemy level 50 and them as level 50 characters from battles. By the halfway point in the game, I would say chapter six, I had both Lydie and Sue around level 25, so it is definitely doable. And, should you also be preparing a save file that lets you get all endings without too much trouble, it is entirely possible to have your alchemy level at 50 without intending it.
Two of the endings that are “side” endings are difficult to come across. These have the young women pursuing other sorts of business opportunities as they find their specialties. One is actually rather easy to do, if you have been synthesizing a lot and stock up on some valuable items. What you first need to do is have under 10,000 dollars. This will unlock an event and a task. You then need to get 50,000 in money to unlock additional events that lead to the end. The other involves synthesizing paints. You make one, then attend an Atelier event. Synthesize more paints (I did three), and ended up with another Atelier event. Basically, follow the paint requests to lead you down this path.
It is the best ending that will take the most time and effort. The first thing you need to do is have exceeded expectations on all of your exams, getting a flower from Mireille by giving top materials and doing as much as possible to pass. You also have to have completed all of their ambitions, have alchemy level 50, have Lydie and Sue at level 50 and have seen all of the friendship events with characters and completed the tasks they asked of you throughout the game. If this happened, then you will get recipes for Pastels of Unity, as well as a number of other important recipes from Alt, Firis, Ilmeria and Plachta. You will need to make all of these items as you go along, then make an item called the Samsara Compass. After you created all these items and the Samsara Compass, go ahead and make the pastels.
What is nice about all of these endings in Atelier Lydie & Suelle: The Alchemists and the Mysterious Paintings is that each one is feels quite plausible. All of these outcomes make sense for Lydie and Sue. They seem like paths they could take. And, as you start down the paths to the ones that are not the normal or good endings, you will eventually get to see other sides to the young women showing how industrious and resourceful they can be.
Atelier Lydie & Suelle: The Alchemists and the Mysterious Paintings is available for the Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4 and PC.
