A Directional Shift for the Atelier Series
The new Atelier game revealed by Gust this week will be the most interesting experiment they’ve undertaken in some time, perhaps not in a way much of its vocal fanbase wanted.
The game is Atelier Resleriana: Forgotten Alchemy & the Liberator of Polar Night, one of the bigger mouthfuls of a name among those they’ve chosen in recent memory. Now that the Atelier Ryza games are safely behind the developer and fans who adore the franchise after receiving its requisite trilogy, Gust will establish a new universe with a brand-new set of characters. The bigger surprise is the nature of the game itself: This will be a free-to-play title that inherits many of the franchise’s long-established features, due for release on PC and mobile platforms.
Wait, sorry, that’s still not the biggest surprise. It’s not like Gust hasn’t released alternative experiments in the Atelier series before. Atelier Online: Alchemist of Bressisle was among them, a free-to-play game released exclusively for mobile systems. (It notably did not star an alchemist named “Online,” sadly.) It was well supported for its three-and-a-half-year run in Japan, but is dubiously memorable for only getting about 13 months of support in western territories. Atelier Resleriana (I’ll never get used to typing that name) amounts to a second shot at establishing a successful free-to-play Atelier, with publisher Koei Tecmo and title collaborator Akatsuki Games also being involved. But this is a considerably bigger shot.
The creative team clarified in no uncertain terms that this will be a mainline game during the announcement stream. The “A25” terminology was included, signifying how this will be the 25th game in the franchise. The companies and team involved are betting, correctly, that some fans who passed on Atelier Online because of its spinoff nature won’t this time because of its higher importance, though the game launching on PC in addition to iOS and Android won’t hurt.
The story setup will also be similar to previous games. It will follow the exploits of Resna Sternenricht, a girl who loves alchemy and desires to respread the practice over the land of Lantana, a kingdom that once prospered through the liberal usage of alchemy many years ago. (“Resna” is, notably, nowhere near as much of an initial mouthful as “Resleriana,” something usually the opposite for Atelier games.) She’ll be joined by several cohorts as she journeys to the so-called “Continent of the End.” Resna’s core design similarly fits in with previous Atelier protagonists.
I’ve used the word “surprise” several times in this blog, but I can’t emphasize how big of a shock it is to see Gust make this a mainline game. The preceding Atelier Ryza trilogy of titles were among the most popular games in the franchise. All three games combined sold around two million copies worldwide as of the end of June, a high amount for a niche brand like Atelier. The increased fanservice levels were part of that (and Resna’s thigh game is nowhere near on par with Ryza’s), but the Ryza games also streamlined the alchemy and adventure features to create the most welcoming Atelier experiences yet. But Gust is now, let’s say, shifting direction for this newest title.
There’s another audience Gust is pursuing here: The many upon many who’ve tried and played Mihoyo’s Genshin Impact. The art style shown for Resleriana thus far, including the character design style and the verdant pastures alongside its teal tint, recall that title. The Ryza games performed well for them, but Gust and their partners are seeing another shade of green when it comes to pursuing this idea. Resleriana doesn’t look entirely similar to Genshin in terms of the gameplay features shown thus far, with multiple stamina meters being present in the stream’s gameplay footage (it starts at 28:55). Granted, the developers have yet to clarify precisely what all those meters are for, and the game itself remains a work in progress. But it already looks more “gacha” compared to Genshin and Honkai Impact.
Plenty of fans aren’t liking this switch in style, especially of the English-speaking variety. But they shouldn’t give up on the franchise. Perhaps Gust has a more traditional game in mind planned for next year, though it’s a little difficult to see that kind of title coming soon after this one releases, with their online mainline experiment being a mainline title this time around. But Gust has released two brand-new Atelier experiences in close proximity before, after releasing two mainline titles and a spinoff in 2019.
Atelier Resleriana is planned for release only in Japan in 2023, which implies how this won’t follow the trend of the last several Atelier games by being a simultaneous worldwide release. Considering this plan didn’t work so well for Atelier Online, it’s — sorry — a surprise they’re doing this again. If this all doesn’t work out, don’t be surprised if, say, Atelier Ryza suddenly becomes a tetralogy. It’s not as if that hasn’t happened before either.
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Geoff
News Editor | Geoff is some nerd who writes for a blog and thinks he's knowledgeable. He write a lot about video games, but is capable of writing about other subjects, too. Twitter
