There’s something both exciting and terrifying about a new game in a beloved franchise. As a huge fan of the Atelier series, I felt both of these feelings going into Atelier Yumia: The Alchemist of Memories & the Envisioned Land, especially as the initial trailers looked to be something of a departure. Would Yumia live up to my hopes for the Atelier series?
Atelier Yumia is the latest addition to the Atelier franchise and the first main game in the series since the end of the Atelier Ryza trilogy, which brought a wave of new attention to the decades-spanning series (not including the free to play gacha game Atelier Resleriana, which is ending service at the end of this month). Because of the new eyes that were on Ryza, Yumia has a lot riding on it as the future of the franchise.
For those who are just getting into Atelier, the franchise is split up into several series that have their own story and continuity, and Yumia is the start of the new Envisioned subseries. This means that Yumia is in many ways designed as an entry point to the Atelier series. You need no previous knowledge of Atelier to play this. All of this is to say that, if you are someone who is curious about the series, this might be a good entry point, because Yumia is an excellent game both for newcomers and existing fans alike.
Atelier Yumia is set in a world where alchemy is taboo, the cause of previous calamity in the world and, a force of destruction. Yumia, an alchemist, has joined a research team to investigate the fallen Aladissian empire. Along the way she meets other characters who have ties to alchemy, explores the land and learns more about the past of the empire and the characters themselves. So far this story is solid – the darker tone of alchemy and its relationship with the world reminds me a bit of the Dusk subseries. As of writing I’ve put several hours in this game but I feel like I haven’t come close to discovering its secrets. The real joy, much like other Atelier games, is in the characters. Yumia is a compelling character, who has to navigate alchemy as a forbidden art with the people around her. She’s very different to Ryza, which I imagine was on purpose, to avoid comparison, but she’s a delightful character to follow around. I also really enjoy the interactions with Yumia, the research team, and her party of character. Yumia, unlike many other Atelier protagonists, doesn’t know any party members ahead of time, so you feel the characters grow together. This is a fun dynamic, and I like just how different Yumia’s circumstances feel from the typical Atelier protagonist.
The world of Atelier Yumia is an open world and a lot of focus is put into the exploration, which is a joy in Atelier Yumia. Throughout your experience with the research team a big focus is on pioneering goals, as they establish themselves in this region. In addition to main and side quests you have different goals which unlock more in each of the game’s areas. The more you explore, the more ingredients you find, which leads to the classic Atelier gameplay loop of exploring to find ingredients, going back to your atelier to use alchemy to make new items, and using those items in combat to get further and explore more. It’s a really great loop that works in Yumia well.
There are also new systems at play in Atelier Yumia. For the first time you can make some basic items on the fly in the field. Basic bandages for healing, bullets for your gun staff (yes, your main weapon is a staff that is also a gun, whoever came up with this deserves a raise), and tools for exploring. There’s also a whole construction system where, in specific areas that allow for building, you can do base building. While I haven’t gotten into the cosmetic side of this much yet, there is something nice about being able to make essentially a second Atelier in different parts of the world by building a space for alchemy, a container for ingredients, and the other things you need. The items you craft for building use the lower quality ingredients you pick up, which is also nice because this adds a purpose to every item you pick up, even if you wouldn’t typically use it in your alchemy.
The combat is also really enjoyable. Rather than returning to the turn based combat of previous titles, Yumia expands upon the action combat of Ryza and improves upon it, making you follow enemy attack patterns, dodge attacks and use combat skills as well as items you crafted with alchemy. It’s not quite a full action RPG but it feels like a nice balance – the combat flows nicely and feels tactile, but also strategic.
Despite all these changes and additions, one of the things I want to stress most is just how much Atelier Yumia feels like an Atelier game, which is something I find to be pretty remarkable. This game is trying for a lot of different things and is clearly the Atelier team’s attempt to expand what the franchise can look like, but there are so many little moments that just feel like Atelier. The core gameplay loop is the same, the characters feel like Atelier characters, but they also do so much new. I think this strikes a perfect balance of attempting new things but still ultimately making an Atelier game.
Unfortunately, there is one big caveat to this experience, and that’s the visuals and performance on Switch. While a lot of the art designs look great and there are many moments where the game looks beautiful, it’s very clear that the experience was not tailored to the Switch’s hardware. When I first started the game, the location for the tutorial made my heart sink, with textures that looked, frankly, bad. Once you get to the main open world area it looks a lot better, which is good, but it still wasn’t a great first impression. The framerate, while usually stable, is also not the best. All of this has led to a game that, while very playable on Switch, is clearly not optimized for Switch. I wonder how Atelier Yumia will play on Switch 2 or other consoles. If you only have a Switch or (like me) enjoy playing Atelier games on Switch then this shouldn’t stop you, just know that there are several moments that feel frustrating based off of the game’s performance.
That all being said, Atelier Yumia is a game I think you should experience, either if you are an experienced Atelier fan or are looking for a new entry point into the series. While I have yet to finish the game (hence why this is a review in progress)I am thoroughly enjoying everything new and old that Atelier Yumia has to offer. If this is the future of the Atelier series, the future is looking bright for Atelier fans.
