Atelier Yumia: The Alchemist of Memories & the Envisioned Land

まだクリアまでプレイはしていませんが、概ね満足はしています。 ストーリー、BGMはアトリエシリーズらしくいい出来栄えに感じています！ 現代のゲームスピードにあわせたにスピード感のあるスタイリッシュなアクションはみていて爽快でした。 ただ、調合は今までと比べると少し簡単すぎるかなと思いました。もうちょっとスロットの素材に制限をかけたりして難易度を上げても良かったんじゃないかなと感じました。

I’ve gotten the chance to play almost every Atelier game in the series, and it’s become one of my favourites that I look forward to seeing more games of in the future. What I enjoyed: I loved the new alchemy system, for me it felt both complex and easy once you learn the basics. This is in contrast to some of the older games that have a more complex alchemy system with little explanation of how it works. I really enjoyed the open world aspect. It was fitting for the general type of games that the Atelier Series strives to be. One with the idea of the player sojourning from one end of the world to the other. I liked the idea of building your own Atelier. It gives the player more creativity in a genre of game that generally doesn’t offer it. I also loved the character designs, Yumia, Lenja, Viktor, Isla, Nina, ect. Amazing art direction for the characters. The sound track was phenomenal, an absolute banger. Gust’s music division also hits when it comes to its music. What I didn’t like: While the idea of an open world is amazing, the world of Yumia really fell flat. I understand the world is meant to be the discovery of an abandoned continent. But I think that concept was pushed too hard, because there’s only three villages in the whole game, and the rest of the world feels very barren. This is in contrast to a game like Zelda Breath of the Wild where the world is in a similar situation, but you can come across wonderers, travelling merchants, camps with friendly NPCs, ect. Overall just a very barren world. The story I did not enjoy. It wasn’t captivating or engaging. Many parts felt similar to Atelier Ryza’s story, with the search for an ancient civilisation, alchemy become evil, ect. There were momentary part with intrigue, but they were very far and few in between. I would have much preferred a dark story like the Dusk trilogy. Perhaps explore the concept of what Alchemy can be used for when in the wrong hands, and have it be at the forefront of the game. Show the player why alchemy was banned, don’t just tell them in passing. Explore more of the past civilisations that were more advanced, perhaps have it take place in modern day Tokyo, with a dark twist. Over all the story just didn’t hold up. The base building, while an amazing concept, was atrocious. I personally had the camera flip out, couldn’t get the walls, stairs, and other items, to place correctly. It took me about two hours each time to create a fairly decent Atelier, which is fine… if that time had been spent decorating, but most of it was spent trying fight with the mechanics to build what I wanted. To top that, you could just place a prebuilt Atelier down which defeats the point of building your own. Finally, at the time of purchasing the game was Steam Deck verified. But I had to mess with the settings for ages to get it into a playable state. I would often get bad frame rate in area with a heavy amount of trees or grass, which really accounts for the whole world. Because of this my Steam Deck sounded less like a gaming machine and more like an air frier, which is good if had been wanting to eat, but I was more tired and frustrated after spending hours messing with settings to eat. While not perfect, no game is and no game can be. If you love the atelier series, are new to the series, or are checking out for the first time, I still recommend it, if with a warnings before hand.