Atelier video games have been round for the reason that late ’90s, with greater than two dozen titles shipped in that point – however you’re forgiven some unfamiliarity the collection, as Atelier Yumia: The Alchemist of Recollections and the Envisioned Land would be the very first to reach on Xbox. After taking part in by way of the primary few hours of the sport and talking with producer Junzo Hosoi, it’s changing into clear that the primary Atelier title on Xbox isn’t merely the most recent within the collection, it’s essentially the most bold entry but.
“As an enormous Xbox fan, I’m thrilled to lastly carry the collection to the system,” Hosoi advised me by way of e mail, “However after I have a look at the sport as a complete, I don’t describe Atelier Yumia as the following Atelier recreation. I describe it as a totally new JRPG collection that has Atelier options.”
My preview session bore that out; gamers will discover acquainted RPG parts aplenty – strategic, real-time battles, crafting, exploration – however they arrive collectively in manner that feels altogether totally different from others within the style. The key ingredient, if you’ll, lies within the tremendous deep crafting system.
“The attraction of the Atelier collection is about synthesis and the alchemy course of,” Hosoi-san confirmed. “The sport cycle is fairly distinctive as there’s accumulating within the area, combating in battle, and using the synthesis system, and all three of these issues are associated.”
That attraction can be evident within the playable forged of characters, particularly the eponymous Yumia Liessfeldt, a extra grown-up character than some previous collection headliner heroines.
Hosoi-san shares extra background: “Since Yumia is 21 years outdated, the story is about her rising into maturity. That is proven all through the story by way of her robust core values… independence and attraction. With [heroes of previous titles] Ryza and Sophie, they had been youthful, so that they wanted mentors with the intention to develop up, however with Yumia, she has her personal identification and decision-making abilities.” Oh, and he or she owns a bike!
As a result of Aladiss, the brand new continent launched in Atelier Yumia, inherently distrusts alchemy, the sport’s early hours see Yumia searching for to show her value. Whereas her synthesis abilities differentiate her from different characters within the recreation, bolstered by a brand new constructing system that crafting survival followers will take pleasure in, in my playthrough, it was Yumia’s battle prowess that shocked most.
For almost the entire collection’ historical past, Atelier titles had been turn-based affairs. The latest Atelier Ryza titles had been to first to maneuver to real-time, and for Atelier Yumia, the crew heard participant suggestions, leading to an enormous quantity ofc ombat choices for gamers to grasp.
“The mechanics of battle have been fully redesigned for this recreation as shut and ranged fight has been added,” Hosoi-san explains. “Throughout the two assault zones, gamers can transfer the lively character freely across the enemies or between the 2 assault zones in battle. You can even guard and dodge assaults in real-time and even pull off a robust cooperation assault with different characters when an enemy is surprised. For Atelier Yumia, we’re specializing in truly exhibiting the participant’s abilities throughout battle.”
In observe, battles transfer shortly; gamers can management Yumia or shift at any time to considered one of her touring companions. Placement is vital; you may see when and the place assaults will hit, however timing out a precision guard (or getting the heck out of the way in which) takes good timing. It’s not too difficult when going 1 on 1 with an everyday mob, however in a multi-enemy rumble, with fewer secure areas, there’s a complete lot to account for.
Add in various enemy weaknesses, alternatives to execute highly effective Pal Actions, balancing offense and protection at totally different ranges – I didn’t anticipate a recreation this lovely to require such situational consciousness! Luckily, your squad enters and exits battle seamlessly as you discover, and it’s quick and enjoyable to construct up combating expertise, or to keep away from encounters while you simply wanna zipline again to city.
As talked about, Yumia isn’t on this journey alone; you’ll meet a number of companions within the recreation’s prologue earlier than rewinding to an earlier level within the story. I discovered one character significantly entertaining, and Hosoi-san shocked me by unexpectedly citing an Xbox icon when requested about Flammi, Yumia’s floating, humorous little companion.
“Flammi was truly impressed by Halo’s Cortana. I wished to make one thing the place we might have a dialog between a fundamental protagonist and any person near them who’re all the time collectively. Taking part in Halo was a lot enjoyable and that’s why I actually wished so as to add a mascot for Atelier Yumia.“
Atelier Yumia arrives at a really prolific time for Koei Tecmo: Dynasty Warriors Origins was well-received on its latest launch, Staff Ninja shocked everybody with Ninja Gaiden 4’s announcement, and we’ve been spoiled with shadow drops of Ninja Gaiden 2 Black and Warriors: Abyss. To listen to it from Hosoi-san, the constructive power is boosting everybody’s initiatives.
“Inside Koei Tecmo video games, the model producers get alongside rather well with one another. We’ve got a convention the place video games underneath growth obtain opinions from every of the manufacturers, so not solely will we pay attention to one another’s opinions, we then get to see their video games in growth as nicely. We make the most of one another’s opinions to assist us develop and create higher video games. In the long run, that helps in my aim of creating Atelier Yumia recognized worldwide as the perfect recreation within the collection.”
