A long running series spanning many years with a healthy amount of titles like the Atelier series by Koei Tecmo is constantly in a tricky situation. Any new title must appeal strongly to long-term fans, be beginner friendly for newcomers, and try and attract a wider audience. From the initial trailers, Atelier Yumia: The Alchemist of Memories & the Envisioned Land looks a bit darker than previous Atelier titles, so does it achieve that important appeal balance on Nintendo Switch?
The start of Atelier Yumia isn’t actually the start at all, and is the beginning of many issues. Presenting a sequence of what turns out as end game content might have the effect of building suspense for how the story turns out, but for those who truly like to start at the early part of the game it can be confusing. Some issues never ever get explained, such as Yumia’s unique shoes that have hover capabilities. There is the vague hope they would be customisable through synthesis; a cool concept but that theory didn’t pan out.
Veterans will have to be patient to get through the initial tutorial, which is clear enough. The main system of alchemy is straightforward, and the auto add feature is handy if in a hurry to create several items that, until levelled up, are mostly singly created. The alchemy animation is first class, with every little dance Yumia does being breathtaking to watch. It can be sped up, but predominantly is watched for the sheer beauty. This made the lacklustre menus and the dull looking recipe book feel quite unlike an Atelier game.
Perhaps keeping everything minimalistic attracts a wider audience range of those who play less cute style RPGs like Elden Ring or even Final Fantasy. The Atelier Ryza trilogy was a sophisticated design and felt like an Atelier game all the time, whereas as Yumia‘s familiarity for long term fans is intermittent throughout 70-plus hours of gameplay.
Other parts of Atelier Yumia look as incredible as the alchemy reactions. The characters are attractive, and some areas have well thought out designs with immense details, from fruit hanging far above on crazy tall trees, and water flowers on rivers and lakes. Virtually almost every rock, crevice and wall can be clambered upon. The diverse environments of each area make the various regions distinct. Unfortunately these designs have a lot of flaws. Some areas are almost completely barren of items to collect, chests, and enemies.
This is true from the start, but especially at the end. It is understandable certain lands are meant to be sparse in what is there, but exploring for a few minutes without interacting to gather resources or kill a monster feels like the entire game is unfinished. This is particularly noticeable because the available quests often involve trekking from point A to points B and C before returning to point A again. While exploration does uncover warp points, in a lot of cases the travel is by foot. The transport provided in the form of a bike is cool, but often feels impractical to use if wanting to alter altitude easily or simply stop to explore an unexplored section. Therefore, walking in the visually subpar land for any length of time more than once detracts from the usual Atelier fun.
Perhaps if these issues were the only problem in Atelier Yumia it would be passable. Sadly it is riddled with bugs ranging from disappearing characters, falling through the floor and getting stuck in no man’s land that clearly is not meant to be seen by players, and quests that can not be fulfilled as the character in question completely disappears from the marked position on the map. There are map symbols that do not remove even when the quest tracker is removed, and elevated platforms that should have solid ground but hang in mid-air almost out of reach and require creative jumping skills.
Then there are the significant and frequent frame rate issues. These are terrible when in battle. Admittedly the difficulty setting feels easier than most Atelier games, and on lower levels is more button mashing than actual strategy, but if out in the world near monsters during an unpredictable slow frame rate, it cam result in unwanted fights that should be avoidable.
The base building is another brilliant concept that is executed poorly. The way campsites are different to actual base areas restricts where some items can be placed, which is fair enough. The catalogue of prepare buildings is convenient when base levels need to be raised to certain levels, and cramming houses that would never be entered again with stacks of furniture is a quick method to do this. However, furniture does not click easily into place, and they can be placed partially in the ground or unrealistically high in the air.
It means boulders can take up less room by keeping most of it underground, but for those who enjoy decorating houses, attaining a pleasing aesthetic will take a ridiculously long time. One particular banner did not want to stick to the required wall except on every eighth to tenth attempt.
Yumia’s journey is not without charm. There are a lot of dark moments, perhaps more so as alchemists are not viewed as positively as earlier titles, creating hostility in the new communities encountered. Watching Yumia and her team use subterfuge is amusing, but it seems a bit unbelievable that none of the residents wonder how Yumia engineers the items she so easily creates.
Each area has its own unique problems that need overcoming to gain new skills and items. Fulfilling pioneering quests leads to significantly upgraded equipment needed to gain access to some initially blocked off areas. These are satisfying to tick off, and they force less preferred party members to be used at least once in order to complete that portion of pioneering goals.
It is with regret to say that alchemy is, in a way, not entirely needed. With battles on the easy side on the lower difficulties, using items in a fight is almost never needed. Yumia’s staff acts as both a pick axe and an axe from the start, and almost all weapon upgrades can be found through thorough terrain exploration. Although higher quality weapons can be created with alchemy, if the chests containing them were found first it feels pointless to upgrade manually.
Then there are quest items. There seems to be no extra reward for higher quality items. Unlike previous titles where a certain grade of item became necessary with a generous bonus, there is no such method in place in Atelier Yumia‘s world. With no literal need to create high quality items, half the time it feels like alchemy could have been done away with altogether. The focus was on exploration. Yes, some items are needed to progress, but the thrill of improving Yumia’s skills simply doesn’t exist since it is virtually pointless.
An Atelier game where alchemy feels like a side affair absolutely makes it feel like a different style of game, and yet in the dozens of hours it takes to reach the end, there are a lot of heartwarming moments. Yumia makes a difference to people’s lives and makes the world better, helping it to heal from past alchemists’ mistakes, restoring faith in those distrusting of anyone who can manipulate mana.
