When it comes to the Atelier series, variety is the spice of life. One might think that more than 25 games deep into developer Gust’s long-running RPG series, the sheen of that trademark gameplay loop of collecting materials, learning recipes, and crafting items via alchemy would start to dull a little. Yet, with the introduction of each new entry and corresponding sub-series, Atelier constantly finds ways to reinvent itself and offer a unique spin on its tried-and-true gameplay systems. From the darker and more action-focused Atelier Yumia to the sprawling adventure saga of the Atelier Ryza trilogy, each title has its own distinct identity.
That’s why Atelier Resleriana: The Red Alchemist & the White Guardian, the 27th mainline entry in the series, is such a complicated game to explain. So much of its identity is owed to what came before it. It’s simultaneously a standalone sequel to a free-to-play gacha game, a major crossover event that incorporates characters from past entries, and a self-proclaimed return to the series’ turn-based roots. At the same time, it’s also very much its own thing, chronicling an original story with new leads and fresh gameplay concepts.
A lesser game might be crushed under the weight of all the things Atelier Resleriana is supposed to be, yet it manages to dovetail each responsibility into a cohesive whole. The result is one of the stronger Atelier releases in recent years and, thankfully, an enjoyable experience that remains largely unfettered by Switch 1’s ageing hardware.
Set after the events of 2023’s Atelier Resleriana: Forgotten Alchemy & the Liberator of Polar Night (a mobile and PC-based gacha title that is no longer available to play outside of Japan), this moves the focus to two new playable protagonists: Rias and Slade. They hail from Hallfein, a once-bustling town that suffered a mysterious tragedy 12 years prior and has since fallen into disrepair. When the pair of adventurers meet and stumble across an abandoned atelier, they resolve to use the power of alchemy to restore their hometown to its former glory and uncover the mystery behind its downfall.
In keeping with its narrative focus, Atelier Resleriana’s gameplay is defined by three key areas: exploring the world and its dungeons while collecting alchemy ingredients and battling enemies; synthesising and strengthening new items via alchemy recipes at the atelier; and improving the quality of the town by selling items at Rias’ store or taking on additional quests and side activities. Each strand is well-defined with its own set of intricacies and systems to learn, and the way all three interweave makes engaging with each one key to progression.
The game’s refreshed alchemy system sees you combining ingredients to produce items and equipment for your party. Materials possess two distinct colour attributes that must be chained together to effectively pass on unique traits and effects. It may seem like a simple match-the-colour system on the surface, but there are a ton of wrinkles and additional mechanics that up the complexity of crafting considerably.
Having a nice amount of depth in the alchemy system is an Atelier hallmark, though this iteration’s tutorials don’t always do the best job of explaining all the need-to-know ins and outs. This opaqueness can be frustrating, especially as a few battles in the mid-to-late game ramp up the challenge to test your crafting mastery.
You collect materials by exploring locations and progressing through a slew of floor-based dungeons with procedurally generated interiors that change upon each visit. The act of collecting materials essentially boils down to hitting a button to instantly harvest useful stuff with ease. You can gather one handful of items after another within seconds, and having a constant influx of valuable ingredients added to your basket is pure dopamine.
For their part, battles have returned to a turn-based format from earlier Atelier titles. Here, you control the actions of up to three party members on your frontline. Most of the genre staples are present — each character has their own stats and skillsets (which can be expanded and improved via a skill tree or levelling up), and they can use their turn to perform an element-based attack or use an item. Enemies have elemental resistances and weaknesses that can be exploited to temporarily stun them. Party members who act in succession can also follow up each other’s actions with extra attacks.
The basics of combat may be straightforward, but Atelier Resleriana also includes several key mechanics that keep battles feeling dynamic and fresh. Arguably the biggest is the presence of a visible turn timeline à la Pokémon Legends: Arceus, which you can use to plan out your strategy multiple moves in advance, and even manipulate to change turn timings and obtain certain bonus effects. Determining when to schedule an Interruption action for a free item use or deciding which target to steal an effect from on their next projected turn adds a whole additional layer to battles.
Meanwhile, the Multi-Action mechanic allows you to spend accumulated Technical Points to give an active combatant and two of your non-active party members a chance to perform an action in one fell swoop before swapping out the main fighter for someone on the back line. This twist allows you to perform some pretty devastating combos while keeping all of your party members relevant and involved.
There are more battle mechanics to play around with besides these, but the point is that Atelier Resleriana’s combat is a nice blend between classic turn-based RPG fare and fresher concepts that encourage further strategy and optimisation.
Finally, there’s the town improvement system, which centres around management of Rias’ shop, Mistletoe Miscellaneous. Here, you can stock items you’ve synthesised, hire fairies as staff, and customise the interior to your liking. As the shop sells wares, you can both turn a profit and level up various parts of Hallfein.
It’s also possible to improve the town by taking on optional side quests and partaking in other activities around town. Certain shops, items, and visitor characters become available as Hallfein grows, but seeing the struggling locale’s condition visibly improve over the course of the game offers a rewarding sense of progression in itself.
On that note, I quite enjoyed the restrained and laid-back nature of the story. While it’s not without its high-stakes moments and occasional twists to keep things interesting, Rias and Slade’s journey feels refreshingly quaint with a greater emphasis on character dynamics. It helps that the main cast is made up of supremely likeable and charming people who come alive thanks to fluid animation work and fully-voiced cutscenes.
The people you meet are compassionate and willing to lend a helping hand far more often than not, and it’s easy to root for the team as they rally behind Hallfein’s restoration. It may not be everyone’s tonal cup of tea, but the whole thing just comes off as very pleasant and earnestly sweet without falling into saccharine territory.
You’ll spend a whole lot of time with these characters, too, with an ample amount of cutscenes both throughout the main story and within optional character episodes and side quests. These story segments are generally enjoyable for the reasons described above, although there really are a ton of them, and they can be rather long-winded at times.
Cutscenes are also easy to trigger, even when you don’t intend to. Going to a certain area or speaking to a certain character can cause multiple cutscenes to stack, automatically playing out one after another and bringing progress to a screeching halt. Suffice to say, there are plenty of spans when all you can do is set down the controller and watch things play out.
It’s also worth mentioning that both the main story and side content feature a bunch of returning characters from Atelier history who make up most of the primary and supporting cast, including the bulk of your party members. Thankfully, the game doesn’t let this crossover element overpower the core narrative and effectively introduces everyone without much confusion. That said, you’ll definitely get much more out of all the little nods and references embedded in the story if you’re familiar with previous entries.
You’ll also be relieved to hear that Atelier Resleriana appears on Switch without egregious performance concessions. The game ran at what appeared to be a rock-solid 30 frames per second throughout my playthrough, which feels fluid enough to fit its moment-to-moment gameplay.
Visuals have definitely taken the greatest hit, as it can get pretty blurry and jaggy in handheld mode. Thankfully, the stylised art direction shines through even in the messier moments. Atelier Resleriana on Switch may not be as sharp or as smooth as it is on other platforms, but it still plays just fine and stands as a more-than-viable version.
Conclusion
Between a restrained scope and structure that harkens back to the Atelier games of old, a bevvy of fresh gameplay twists to call its own, and a metric ton of fanservice for veterans, Atelier Resleriana: The Red Alchemist & the White Guardian feels like a triumphant celebration of the entire series’ legacy.
More importantly, it’s just a really great RPG experience. Appropriately, it mixes together a bunch of quality ingredients — a heartwarming narrative, strategic and dynamic turn-based combat, complex crafting systems — and synthesises them into a jolly little romp of an adventure. There’s certainly a bump in the road or two, but the ride is too enjoyable to linger on those for long.
