The Atelier franchise has been around for about 28 years and has released almost as many games. There isn’t any sign of slowing down, as the newest title,Atelier Yumia: The Alchemist of Memories & the Envisioned Land, is scheduled for release next month. After viewing a presentation that provided an overview of what we could expect in the upcoming game and spending some time playing it, Hardcore Gamer was given the opportunity of sitting down with Gust president and Atelier Yumina producer, Junzo Hosoi.
New Details Revealed for Combat, Synthesis in Atelier Yumia
Koei Tecmo has released a new trailer for Atelier Yumia showing new footage for both combat and synthesis!
World Building
[Hardcore Gamer] Coming off of that presentation there were a few things that stood out, but it seems like this new building system got a lot of attention. Can we start with an overview of how that will work?
[Junzo Hosoi] The building system is an area we’ve put a lot of thought into. Not only can you build your own base, but you can also do a lot of customizing or just use the pre-made items that are already in the catalog. You can also build a park out of the building system, but there’s a limit on how much you can do based on furnishing costs, but up until that is reached you can do anything. There is a comfort level for furniture, which can lead to benefits during exploration, such as granting additional effects. We are considering doing a free update once the game is released to improve the building system.
This is the first time we’re mentioning this. Yesterday there was a conversation with the director where we are considering adding a free update on the building system that includes additional stories and also adding more building areas.
The building seemed interesting in the little bit I’ve got to play already. How big of a role will it play in the final game and how might this possible update expand it?
There is a lot of building area in each area, but building is currently limited to specific areas, such as campsites. This update would make it so that the player could build structures anywhere. We were brainstorming yesterday about making the whole area of the game a building area, where players could build their own town. It might not be ready at release, but these are the ideas we have for a free post-release update.
It looks like you can do a lot – houses, campsites and it sounds like with this update the player will be able to basically take over the entire game with their buildings. It sounds like it will be very involved.
It was inspired by other housing games we’ve enjoyed, so we wanted to bring some of those mechanics into Atelier.
Cruising Through Aladiss
Moving on to other aspects of Yumia that stood out in the early presentation, the motorcycle was one of them. How will it be utilized in the game and what led to the decision to include it?
The motorcycle is primarily just for traveling around quickly, and it helps reduce or avoid damage from falling from high heights, so those are practical benefits of it. Yumia can also shoot from it, so she can ride around sniping. The reason why they added motorcycles is they were going for a cooler, more stylish character with Yumia. Normally they would ride around on cutesy animals but we wanted to do something more stylish. Basically, the director wanted the motorcycle, so we threw it in.
It was definitely a surprise. I was watching a trailer earlier and saw her cruising around it. It was not expected, but it looked fun.
(laughs) We thought the same thing.
The alchemy system with the atelier has been a constant feature with the series. How would describe the system’s evolution with this Atelier Yumia?
We haven’t made a whole lot of changes with this entry. It’s similar to the other Atelier titles, but there are new materials in Atelier Yumia that are simply for the building system. Once you collect the material, two items pop up: one item will be for the Synthesis system, the other will be for the Building system.
Fast-Paced Combat
From what I’ve seen of the combat system, it seems like the direction is more into real time, fast-paced but still holds on to elements of turn-based battle, such as different types of skills and swapping controllable characters with quick menus. What elements distinguish it from previous Atelier games?
The combat is meant to be faster paced, and we’ve added Just Dodge and Just Guard actions that, when timed correctly, can lead to counterattacks by other characters. When an enemy is weakened and stunned, you may use special attacks with other characters. Depending on which character is being used, different buffs will be applied to different items or elements, so you really have to think about which characters to use items on. The difference with Yumia is it’s faster than previous games, and the quick character change. Players can change characters for different advantages, but they can stick with one character for the whole battle.
It looks like an interesting approach and does sound like a difficult tightrope. Action does seem to be what’s popular now, and it is enjoyable, but RPG fans do like turn-based because it allows for a more methodical and strategic approach. This system seems like it’s attempting to balance the best of both worlds by having fast-paced action combat, but still having those quick menus to keep some of the turn-based feel.
We tried to make it more like an action battle system this time based on player feedback from previous Atelier titles. We tried to do a mix of different elements and styles but were leaning toward a faster, action-oriented style. It’s based on the battle system from Atelier Ryza, but we’ve made improvements. We really like action games as well so we’ve tried to make something similar to that.
Yumia’s Journey
I’m curious about Yumia as she is a new character to Atelier. What are some things you can tell us about her?
The story of Atelier Yumia starts off about a few hundred years ago. The continent, Aladiss, was actually destroyed by alchemy, and Yumia finds out that her mother was an alchemist. When the continent was destroyed, alchemy became forbidden. Yumia is an alchemist and she now wants to find out why her mother was an alchemist and if alchemy is inherently good or bad. So she’s trying to find out the truth behind all these mysteries and tries to figure out what the best decisions are for her, and going through this is how the story unravels.
Since alchemy is forbidden in this world, Yumia isn’t well researched when she joined her research team. Once she started using alchemy and gaining the trust of the people around her, they started to befriend her. She is given some choices in conversation and the choices can lead to different endings. So it’s actually important what Yumia chooses during the story.
How many different endings are there?
We can’t really say how many there are, but the endings hint at how Yumia is using alchemy to live in the future, so you’re actually creating her future. The choices you make in conversation can lead to the story being different. Once you choose another conversation, everything will be different for each player, so there are multiple story roots and the conversation can steer Yumia to a different route.
Shape Her Destiny
So multiple playthroughs are encouraged to get all the different experiences. It’s probably two earlier to ask about this, but we know there have been continued stories in Atelier, like the Dusk Trilogy and Ryza trilogy. Are you able to discuss any hopes/plans for Yumia?
At the moment, since the game isn’t out yet, we don’t know if or what we’ll be able to do to continue her adventure, but since Ryza was a trilogy with the same character, it gained a lot of popularity. We are confident about Yumia with her character design and the game in general, so depending on how well it’s received, we want to consider creating another Yumia game, but we’ll have to see if the game goes well.
Atelier Yumia: The Alchemist of Memories & the Envisioned Land Maintains Charm, Shows Potential, Begins a New Atelier Saga
Yumia opens a new Atelier Saga as she explores the once great ruins of Aladiss in Atelier Yumia: The Alchemist of Memories & the Envisioned Land.
One thing I noticed about the intro is it seemed to throw you right into the action, with tutorials interspersed with the gameplay instead of having lengthy cutscenes explaining everything.
We received a lot of comments about the slow pacing of other games where it takes a couple of hours before getting to the battle or synthesis stages, so we decided to start things off faster, so players can get into the game quicker and start enjoying things.
We’re just about out of time. Are there any additional topics you’d like to add?
We’ve covered everything I wanted to discuss about Atelier Yumia. It’s the best game I’ve worked on and I hope everyone enjoys it.
