The current state of the Atelier series and my thoughts - coleironworks

Here's a brief version of what I talk about in the video, the full version is included in the comments section: The alchemy system is the unique appeal of the Atelier series. It's formally known as "Synthesis" in the games. In Japan, it's officially called: 調合 The Synthesis system the core appeal of Atelier games. There are other things that other people consider as the appeal of the Atelier IP, but the first idea that comes to mind for the longest time whenever you hear "Atelier games" would always be about its complex and systematic crafting systems: the Alchemy/Synthesis systems. When it comes to the current state of Synthesis systems for Atelier games in recent years, Gust makes Synthesis systems according to how much friction is applied within the synthesis gameplay process. Personally, I am always in favor of Synthesis systems that are never easy to trivialize. I like it whenever they make it very difficult to settle on a predicted output. There are other factors that tie into this, but that's the gist of how I always feel and expect whenever I play an Atelier game. I have fun whenever the synthesis process gets myself to spend time to rethink about the steps I have taken and attempt to seek other patterns when adding ingredients before finalization. Atelier Dusk trilogy's and Atelier Sophie 1's Synthesis systems are inspired by the thinking logic when playing Shogi, and I think that's the best mindset when designing Synthesis mechanics. Each entry still plays differently between each other, but that thinking logic is always applied no matter what. That is where the friction comes from. There is no other video game out there I've tried (so far) that could replicate the same satisfaction when synthesizing items in Atelier games. The "Shogi thinking logic" is still applied in games after Sophie 1, but they later on considered the idea to simplify and streamline Synthesis in order to "welcome newcomers". This resulted in games like Atelier Ryza 1-2-3 and Atelier Yumia, which simplified and streamlined the synthesis process. It was understandable for Atelier Ryza 1-2-3 to do it, since those three games were made with the intent to be newcomer-friendly, but Atelier Yumia decided to sacrifice complexity and lessen reason for the player to think and observe within the synthesis process. It's not even myself being "gatekeepy", the lack of effort put in by other people when determining "what's complex & systematic" versus "what's simple & intuitive" has affected the reception on Atelier's synthesis systems. (And it sucks, because the ones who don’t want to bother with complexity are often loud and popular these days!) Previous Atelier games used to make it feel like you were able to think like an Alchemist when creating items. Heck, even Atelier Sophie 2 (2022) was still able to apply that feeling of following the "scientific method" mindset. It annoys me to no end that the current Gust's solution to become "newcomer-friendly" is through sacrificing complexity in favor of watered down attempts in taking ideas from mainstream video games. I just wish they could fully revisit the synthesis ideas from Atelier Lulua's, Atelier Ayesha's, Atelier Shallie's, and Atelier Sophie 1's then create a learning curve that bridges the gap between newcomers to veterans. I want Atelier to return to having the "The Synthesis system is the primary game, everything else are secondary" reputation. I enjoyed Atelier because the Synthesis systems Gust offered in the past are unique puzzle-like experiences that no other video game I've played have ever managed to succeed nor have ever managed to keep me engaged. When you reduce the relevance of Synthesis in the gameplay experience of an Atelier game... you will only be left with nothing but “an RPG featuring a protagonist that's labeled as an alchemist.” As for the current state of Atelier's musical identity, the current Gust needs to review how Atelier music always managed to stand out in the past regardless of which composer is in charge. The music is very important for Gust games. But the current Gust seems to have minimized its priority in maintaining its musical identity in recent years. All I'm asking for Gust to do right now is to: 1. Do something about bridging the wide gap between newcomers and veterans. 2. Review the past ideas that made Atelier's Synthesis systems stand out despite its complexity. 3. Review how the old Gust was able to maintain Atelier's musical identity in the past while keeping each past entry feel unique between each other. 4. Actually make an Atelier game that has a substantial amount of meaningful gameplay content instead of bloating it with monotonous chores and checklists. #アトリエシリーズ #ateliergames #atelierseries