I never played any Atelier game before and this is one interests me. It looks like there’s different things to do (gathering materials such as ore, crafting, fighting,…) that kind of interconnect.
I know they are surely two pretty different games but somehow it gives me Fantasy Life vibes (maybe for what’s said above and the chibi style).
For the ones who’ve played the original game, how does the combat work? We can’t really tell from the trailer if it’s action (real-time *close-body*) or if it was the animations you could see between actions in a turn-based type of combat. Are the areas the character is walking in linear roads where you encounters foes/monsters randomly or map areas you can explore?
Sorry if it’s too soon to tell or if those are dumb questions, that trailer piqued my interest 🙂
Ttm-o
Game looks pretty nice. It always throw me out of the game when they show hand drawn, adult looking characters then zooms out and it’s a chibi character. Lol.
Snake0055
Bet they are gonna charge $70
Hyero
Man, I was excited for this.
Rudy69
So far the only atelier game I really enjoyed was the Iris series
gigabiscuit
Another cute and cozy Atelier game! So glad they finally localized this one.
And it’s awesome that the digital deluxe version includes the original Atelier Marie game if you wanted to play it.
TheBIackRose
Is the time limit on this series strict? I get anxious just thinking about it. All I’ve played was Ryza 1
PewPew_McPewster
I’m down for this! I love Marie’s design, her hair is so floofy and her outfit has some spice to it. I can deal with chibi 3D. It’ll be nice to follow Ryza 3 up with this!
Live_Passage3198
I love this chibi 3D art style! Will definitely be checking this out when it drops
AnalStewDelight
Anyone know if it’s available for preorder yet?
Alpacaliondingo
Not sure how i feel about the chibi like characters but it’s Atelier so obviously going to buy.
CaspianX2
For those who are scratching their heads at the Atelier series, intimidated by it, or wondering where to jump in, I got a crash course in the series last year when I reviewed every single Atelier game on the Switch. I should note that much of my info comes from the helpful guide at [Barrel Wisdom](https://barrelwisdom.com/blog/atelier-series-guide).
For anyone looking for quick answers, here’s a helpful Q&A:
**What’s an atelier?** – An atelier is a workshop or studio used by a craftsman or artisan… or in these games, by an alchemist. Atelier is a French word that’s normally pronounced “uh-tell-ee-yay”, but the characters in these games often pronounce the word “at-lee-ur”. In this game’s ateliers, the game’s protagonists (usually female) mix ingredients in a cauldron to create helpful items, both for their own use, and to fulfill side-quests.
**What’s the deal with the Atelier games?** – Generally speaking, the Atelier franchise is a series of JRPGs generally known for their lighthearted tone, anime-style character designs, and *especially* their crafting systems. While these games tend to have traditional JRPG-style combat (usually turn-based), and usually have some sort of story, the crafting system is often one of the game’s main central focuses.
**Why do people talking about Atelier games talk about time limits a lot?** – Earlier games in the franchise were known for this, with the game divided into calendar days with a specific in-game date that quests need to be completed by. Think of the way you have to do certain things on certain days in games like Harvest Moon and Stardew Valley, and you have a general idea. Mostly, these time limits were stressed enough to ensure that players stay on-task rather than just endlessly grinding and hunting for alchemy ingredients, but not so severe that most players had to worry about losing the game because they dawdled. Over time, games in the franchise have gradually loosened up on this, with more recent entries in the series not bothering with an overall time limit at all (though they usually do still have a limited amount of in-game time for individual side-quests to be completed within).
**How will I know if I’ll like Atelier games?** – Do you like JRPGs? Do you like crafting? Do you like lighthearted stories? If you answered “yes” to these, then you’ll probably like the Atelier games.
**How much are the stories connected?** – The Atelier games are all separated into their own sub-series. Within each sub-series, the games have story connections, but are generally completely separate from games in other sub-series. Often in these sub-series, the alchemist that starred in the prior game in the series will be the mentor of the alchemist that stars in the new game, though some games follow the same set of characters throughout, such as the Atelier Ryza series. In any case, if you’re looking to follow a story from its proper beginning, you usually just have to go to the first game in a sub-series, not the first game in the entire franchise.
**What’s the best game to start with?** – Atelier Ryza.
**What, that’s it? Not even going to give multiple options?** – Atelier Ryza is just a perfect game to recommend to newcomers to the franchise for countless reasons. Firstly, it’s the first game in its sub-series, meaning there’s no prior story to worry about. Second, it’s a fairly recent release, meaning it’s got some of the best graphics in the franchise and incorporates decades worth of QOL improvements the series has added over the years (including the lack of those time limits I mentioned earlier). Third, its story and characters are overall great IMO. Fourth, its soundtrack is [absolutely gorgeous](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SmAMS4eQr7I). Fifth, for folks in this subreddit, its Nintendo Switch port is very good (there are some minor dithering issues, but otherwise this game looks beautiful on Switch). And if you like it, you can jump right into Atelier Ryza 2, which is also great, for many of the same reasons.
**There’s no other option worth looking into?** – Well… okay, fine. Atelier Sophie 2 is also a pretty good one to start with. It’s the most recent game in the series as of this writing, has many of the positive qualities I just mentioned for the Ryza games, and I think its “Tetris”-style crafting system is more accessible and just overall more enjoyable. It has a more relaxed, lower-stakes story than Ryza (though most Atelier stories are pretty low-stakes overall), but not so low-stakes that it’s completely disposable (as was the case in the first Atelier Sophie, IMO).
**What about Atelier Marie, the game in this post?** – Atelier Marie was the first game in the entire Atelier franchise, originally released on PlayStation, Saturn, and eventually PC, and then bundled together with its direct sequel Atelier Elie on Dreamcast and PlayStation 2. And assuming this remake gets released in the West, it will be the first time Atelier Marie has seen any sort of release outside of Japan. As such, I have not personally played it (as I don’t read Japanese), but it’s pretty clear that this game is an extensive remake given the quality of the visuals here. Definitely not up to the standard of other modern entries in the series, though.
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Anyway, that’s my take on all of this. I’m far from a series expert, but I think that’s all just about right. Hope this helps!
12 Comments
I never played any Atelier game before and this is one interests me. It looks like there’s different things to do (gathering materials such as ore, crafting, fighting,…) that kind of interconnect.
I know they are surely two pretty different games but somehow it gives me Fantasy Life vibes (maybe for what’s said above and the chibi style).
For the ones who’ve played the original game, how does the combat work? We can’t really tell from the trailer if it’s action (real-time *close-body*) or if it was the animations you could see between actions in a turn-based type of combat. Are the areas the character is walking in linear roads where you encounters foes/monsters randomly or map areas you can explore?
Sorry if it’s too soon to tell or if those are dumb questions, that trailer piqued my interest 🙂
Game looks pretty nice. It always throw me out of the game when they show hand drawn, adult looking characters then zooms out and it’s a chibi character. Lol.
Bet they are gonna charge $70
Man, I was excited for this.
So far the only atelier game I really enjoyed was the Iris series
Another cute and cozy Atelier game! So glad they finally localized this one.
And it’s awesome that the digital deluxe version includes the original Atelier Marie game if you wanted to play it.
Is the time limit on this series strict? I get anxious just thinking about it. All I’ve played was Ryza 1
I’m down for this! I love Marie’s design, her hair is so floofy and her outfit has some spice to it. I can deal with chibi 3D. It’ll be nice to follow Ryza 3 up with this!
I love this chibi 3D art style! Will definitely be checking this out when it drops
Anyone know if it’s available for preorder yet?
Not sure how i feel about the chibi like characters but it’s Atelier so obviously going to buy.
For those who are scratching their heads at the Atelier series, intimidated by it, or wondering where to jump in, I got a crash course in the series last year when I reviewed every single Atelier game on the Switch. I should note that much of my info comes from the helpful guide at [Barrel Wisdom](https://barrelwisdom.com/blog/atelier-series-guide).
For anyone looking for quick answers, here’s a helpful Q&A:
**What’s an atelier?** – An atelier is a workshop or studio used by a craftsman or artisan… or in these games, by an alchemist. Atelier is a French word that’s normally pronounced “uh-tell-ee-yay”, but the characters in these games often pronounce the word “at-lee-ur”. In this game’s ateliers, the game’s protagonists (usually female) mix ingredients in a cauldron to create helpful items, both for their own use, and to fulfill side-quests.
**What’s the deal with the Atelier games?** – Generally speaking, the Atelier franchise is a series of JRPGs generally known for their lighthearted tone, anime-style character designs, and *especially* their crafting systems. While these games tend to have traditional JRPG-style combat (usually turn-based), and usually have some sort of story, the crafting system is often one of the game’s main central focuses.
**Why do people talking about Atelier games talk about time limits a lot?** – Earlier games in the franchise were known for this, with the game divided into calendar days with a specific in-game date that quests need to be completed by. Think of the way you have to do certain things on certain days in games like Harvest Moon and Stardew Valley, and you have a general idea. Mostly, these time limits were stressed enough to ensure that players stay on-task rather than just endlessly grinding and hunting for alchemy ingredients, but not so severe that most players had to worry about losing the game because they dawdled. Over time, games in the franchise have gradually loosened up on this, with more recent entries in the series not bothering with an overall time limit at all (though they usually do still have a limited amount of in-game time for individual side-quests to be completed within).
**How will I know if I’ll like Atelier games?** – Do you like JRPGs? Do you like crafting? Do you like lighthearted stories? If you answered “yes” to these, then you’ll probably like the Atelier games.
**How much are the stories connected?** – The Atelier games are all separated into their own sub-series. Within each sub-series, the games have story connections, but are generally completely separate from games in other sub-series. Often in these sub-series, the alchemist that starred in the prior game in the series will be the mentor of the alchemist that stars in the new game, though some games follow the same set of characters throughout, such as the Atelier Ryza series. In any case, if you’re looking to follow a story from its proper beginning, you usually just have to go to the first game in a sub-series, not the first game in the entire franchise.
**What’s the best game to start with?** – Atelier Ryza.
**What, that’s it? Not even going to give multiple options?** – Atelier Ryza is just a perfect game to recommend to newcomers to the franchise for countless reasons. Firstly, it’s the first game in its sub-series, meaning there’s no prior story to worry about. Second, it’s a fairly recent release, meaning it’s got some of the best graphics in the franchise and incorporates decades worth of QOL improvements the series has added over the years (including the lack of those time limits I mentioned earlier). Third, its story and characters are overall great IMO. Fourth, its soundtrack is [absolutely gorgeous](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SmAMS4eQr7I). Fifth, for folks in this subreddit, its Nintendo Switch port is very good (there are some minor dithering issues, but otherwise this game looks beautiful on Switch). And if you like it, you can jump right into Atelier Ryza 2, which is also great, for many of the same reasons.
**There’s no other option worth looking into?** – Well… okay, fine. Atelier Sophie 2 is also a pretty good one to start with. It’s the most recent game in the series as of this writing, has many of the positive qualities I just mentioned for the Ryza games, and I think its “Tetris”-style crafting system is more accessible and just overall more enjoyable. It has a more relaxed, lower-stakes story than Ryza (though most Atelier stories are pretty low-stakes overall), but not so low-stakes that it’s completely disposable (as was the case in the first Atelier Sophie, IMO).
**What about Atelier Marie, the game in this post?** – Atelier Marie was the first game in the entire Atelier franchise, originally released on PlayStation, Saturn, and eventually PC, and then bundled together with its direct sequel Atelier Elie on Dreamcast and PlayStation 2. And assuming this remake gets released in the West, it will be the first time Atelier Marie has seen any sort of release outside of Japan. As such, I have not personally played it (as I don’t read Japanese), but it’s pretty clear that this game is an extensive remake given the quality of the visuals here. Definitely not up to the standard of other modern entries in the series, though.
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Anyway, that’s my take on all of this. I’m far from a series expert, but I think that’s all just about right. Hope this helps!