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Thomas Frelicher
published 4 hours ago / 559 views
Release of two full Studio Releasing an RPG in less than a year was certainly a bold move on KoeiTecmo's part. Bye Atelier Yumiya clearly aimed at updating the series, Atelier Resleriana: Red Alchemist and White Guardian returns to traditional experience. But isn't the company simply dividing its forces by doing this?
Atelier Resleriana: Red Alchemist and White Guardian has the same world and story as the free-to-play mobile game. Atelier Resleriana: forgotten alchemy and liberator of the polar nightwhich ceased operations outside Japan earlier this year. However, this console game introduces a completely new and independent story, as well as two exclusive main characters: Rias and Slade. The dual protagonist system is reminiscent of Atelier Escha & Logy 12 years ago, although Slade is not the alchemist that Logie was in his game. The cat-eared girl, Rias, is an aspiring alchemist seeking to restore her hometown of Halfane with her new talents. Slade is a knight of sorts who also cares about Hallfein's past and future. Although the player can control either Rias or Slade on the world map, Slade plays a smaller role than Logi did in his time.
Atelier Resleriana very different from Atelier Yumiya in almost every way as it maintains a very conservative approach to the series. Bye Atelier Yumiya World- and narrative-driven, this Atelier is all about alchemy and management. There's no open world like in Yumiya, and the maps are quite cramped, tiny, and look awfully generic (not to say ugly). In short, there's nothing particularly noteworthy about the level design, as is the thin storyline that's never given much attention. It sounds pretty sad, but in return you get something I've been waiting for for years: a store.
Yes, we do business in Studio again. As the story progresses, you receive goals for the development of the city (that is, the restoration of Hallein to a certain level). This is achieved in part by selling items in Rias's shop. The more income you receive, the faster the city will develop. Thus, the player has to spend time in the workshop to create alchemical items of the highest possible quality, which will most likely cost a lot. However, the city also has level restrictions, so Rias will also have to invest in a town hall. Each investment requires money, a lot of materials, and high-quality alchemical items. Economics plays a very big role in this article because alchemy manuals and copying, replenishing or refining alchemical products cost a real fortune. To progress, the player must be mindful of the cost/income balance that has historically been the basis of the game. Studio experience of the great era of Arland. Returning to such strong management is definitely very nice for an old fan like me.
This also means that you will have to learn the alchemy system hidden in your workshop. StudioThe fundamental logic is to create alchemy products from materials found in the wild using recipes. There are two ways to find new recipes in Atelier Resleriana: By purchasing manuals from city merchants or using a recipe transformation. The latter is critical. The game's collection of alchemy is divided into item families, each of which has a recipe tree. By browsing the recipe tree, you can find what material you need to add to the current recipe in order to unlock the next recipe and therefore an improved item over the one you currently own.
But not everything is so simple, because all objects are in Atelier Resleriana have a color scheme that must be strictly followed if you want to achieve anything. Each material placed in the cauldron has a left and a right color. If you want to discover the next recipe, the colors must match on all sides until a new recipe appears. This means that you will spend a lot of time on cards to collect all types of materials in each color scheme. What's really annoying is that trait inheritance also strictly requires color matching.
IN StudioA trait is a passive skill built into a piece of equipment or an offensive/defensive item. There are dozens of them, of varying rarity and effectiveness, and their analysis alone takes up a significant part of the total playing time. Personality management has always been one of the StudioThe strongest appeal: finding the rarest of them and combining them into the greatest perks possible has always been and will always be absolutely exciting to me. This is also unique to Studio; I've never seen another RPG series even try to copy it.
Studio Another special feature is that you will have to create everything that you use in battle. IN Atelier Resleriana I didn't see any guns for sale in the city store. Thus, you should craft weapons for your characters with stats that maximize attack power, such as Rare Metal, which gives ATK +30, armor; as well as accessories with protective properties; and healing items with characteristics that increase recovery, revival and number of uses. It's also worth noting that attack and healing items have a certain number of uses, which is a very limiting factor in combat, so you'll need to make sure you're making extremely effective potions, food, and elixirs.
So what can often happen in Atelier Resleriana is that although you have a desired trait, you won't be able to implement it if the colors don't match. Yes, there is a mechanic to get around this issue, involving changing the type of material at hand, but it is poorly implemented and even less well explained. This is very, very frustrating considering how much it interferes with the end result. It's just extremely difficult to get three of the required stats for the same weapon or armor. Not to mention that ingots, cloth, and anything in between now only have one trait instead of three. I was able to deal with all of this in the end, but it is absolutely unacceptable for the first attribute to always be overridden when more than three are added. I should be able to pick out the best features, like I always have on the show. So, the system of alchemy in Atelier Resleriana isn't as user-friendly as it used to be, but it can also be seen as an added layer of complexity.
Atelier Resleriana On consoles, the principle of turn-based battles already used in the game for smartphones is retained. You have a front and back row of three characters each. Just like in the smartphone version, you need to hit your opponents' weaknesses (fire, wind, physical, etc.) so that the characters' skills prevail. A single gauge allows characters to act consistently as it grows, and the team can gradually deal more damage. At level five of the unit gauge, characters can perform special assists and ultimates, but the gauge simply doesn't fill up fast enough to see it often. As in Atelier Yumiyathis mechanic is too restrictive. As expected, the game is challenging and requires the player to do extensive alchemical research and complex recipe processing, which is very stimulating and ultimately guarantees a high level of satisfaction if you stick with it.
However, Ghast may have gone too far this time, especially in chapter six. The boss in this chapter is significantly stronger than any other, including those found in later chapters. This battle is a clear anomaly, and I highly doubt there is such a mid-game difficulty spike when the available traits are of rather limited effectiveness. Challenges are essential to a good JRPG, but they must remain honest and progressive. Although not as great as in Sophie's Workshop 2 three years ago, the battles are generally quite interesting, the mechanics and animation suit me quite well. However, the uneven difficulty is a source of frustration and is set at an unprecedented level this time around.
Of the six playable characters, only Rias and Slade are new. Sharing the world and knowledge of a smartphone game, which means it's offline. Atelier Resleriana it's also an all-star game featuring many characters from different parts of the series. Raze, Wilbell, Totori, and Sophie returned as playable characters, but about 24 more people will eventually become non-playable characters. To be honest, I don't think this is enough. I'm not saying the console version should have all the characters and costumes from the smartphone version, but asking for a few more characters isn't too much to ask for. Atelier Yumia came out only six months ago, so there was no rush to purchase it. Atelier Resleriana will hit the market in September with such a tiny playable cast. It would be better to release it later this financial year with additional playable characters.
This is all the more frustrating because the character modeling in this entry is amazing. I almost fell out of my chair when I first saw Aisha. Gust (perhaps with the help of Team Ninja) has since made a giant leap in graphics. Atelier Yumiyawhich in itself wasn't so bad. I've been complaining for a while now about how Japanese JRPG developers aren't keeping up with Chinese firms in terms of character graphics, but now KoeiTecmo has clearly caught up; the characters look absolutely great. In particular, the rendering of the eyes is truly impressive. Character animation has also been modernized, with new, more varied and natural gestures during conversation scenes, making them significantly more enjoyable. Unfortunately, this does not apply to the landscapes and creatures, which are quite unimpressive compared to Atelier Yumiya.
This is not the last difference from Atelier's other 2025 release, as Atelier Resleriana has a completely different take on the story and character development. Atelier Yumiya wanted to tell a philosophical story about alchemy, but neglected character development. Atelier Resleriana on the contrary, it does the exact opposite, and I support it; Throughout the game, a lot of character events happen throughout the weak storyline. Bye Atelier Yumia was completely serious throughout, the small talk in this entry is silly and positively humorous. The characters' personalities are given more attention and there are a lot of good jokes. The script effectively focuses on making you smile through the actors' eccentric behavior, and I like that approach.
Atelier Resleriana: Red Alchemist and White Guardian this is the “other side of the mirror” compared to Atelier Yumia: it's traditional Studio The game is focused on alchemy, control and fun from interacting with characters. Ultimately it reminds us how extraordinary Atelier Yumiya was, that is, it was alien to the series, like Riza's Odyssey. But Atelier Yumiya And Atelier Resleriana they are also similar in the sense that they are both enjoyable Atelier games, albeit with very glaring flaws. Atelier Resleriana has strong qualities associated with beloved episodes, boasts visual progression and artistry, but loses what it had to offer Atelier Yumiya or even Atelier Ryza 3 in terms of world design, which ultimately makes me question the decision to debut two Atelier games in the same year.
This review is based on a digital copy of Atelier Resleriana: The Red Alchemist & the White Guardian for PS5, provided by the publisher.
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