Nov 222023
Remember back in August when I was excited for the upcoming announcement of a new Atelier game and then never said anything about it ever again?
(Well, not entirely. I mentioned it briefly when making TGS predictions.)
I woke up early that morning to watch the live stream, and they did indeed announce the next mainline entry… which turned out to be a gacha game for mobile and PC, Atelier Resleriana: Forgotten Alchemy and the Polar Night.
A mobile gacha game being the next mainline entry was not well-received by fans, and many assumed it would never come west anyway. Well, it’s still a mobile gacha game, but it was recently announced that it will be coming west after all, in 2024.
It’s a shame it’s a gacha game, because it looks beautiful.
But you know how I am with this type of game. Even when it’s something that interests me quite a bit, like Tears of Themis or Final Fantasy VII: Ever Crisis, I find it a difficult format to stick with. Reception to Resleriana’s Japanese release doesn’t seem too great, either.
Nevertheless, if you were hoping for a western release of Atelier Resleriana, you’ll get your wish next year.
I doubt the backlash to Resleriana would be as strong if it had been announced as a spin-off title. Being a main entry, however, has fans worried that it could define the series going forward if it’s successful. On the other hand, the optimistic view is that a successful mobile game could provide Gust with enough funding for future console Atelier games to have higher quality. Time will tell.
For me personally, I just see it as a break in their normally-rapid release schedule for me to make progress with the previous games… as I have more Atelier games in my backlog than any other series.
How do you feel about Atelier Resleriana? Do you intend to try it when it comes out in the west next year?
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