Product Info

Platform

Switch, PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X, Xbox One, PC

Publisher

Koei Tecmo

Developer

Koei Tecmo

Series

Atelier

Genre

Action, RPG

Players

1

File Size (Minimum)

3.7 GB

Release Date (NA)

Mar 21, 2025

Purchase From

Amazon

NIS America, Inc.

eShop

PSN Store

Microsoft Store

Steam

Atelier Yumia: The Alchemist of Memories & the Envisioned Land is the 26th entry in the Atelier series. The gameplay takes a different path from its normal formula, embracing open-world exploration, and it delivers.

The Dark Side of Alchemy

In previous Atelier titles, alchemy is mostly viewed positively. In the latest game, however, alchemy is portrayed as evil. You play as Yumia, an alchemist who searches for the truth about why alchemy is deemed a taboo in her world. She joins a research team called the Aladiss Research Team to find out why the Aladissian Empire, where alchemy originated from, fell and whether alchemy is really evil. Along with her highly intelligent companion Flammi, who is a keepsake from her late mother, Yumi will go to the ends of the world to find her answers.

You’ll uncover secrets behind alchemy and how it was mishandled from villagers to the ruler of the Aladissian Empire. Villains are given a backstory, and it is not the most pleasant tale. Even your party members come from a dark past that changed their views about alchemy and explains why they volunteered to be on the research team.

Meet the Research Team

You’ll team up with other members of the research team, each with their own personality and weapon styles. Isla and Viktor, royal siblings, are the first party members to aid Yumia. Isla, with her bright personality and skills with a spear, is a great asset. Meanwhile, Viktor comes off as stern with a strong sense of justice, but he softens up the more he’s around his sister and Yumia. Viktor’s large shield not only makes him great at being a tank for the team, drawing enemies, but his attacks are also quite impressive. Rutger is snarky and distances himself due to his past, but his scythe is a great weapon to have around. Nina is mysterious due to being a mercenary and mature. Her personality and skills with a dagger can get the team out of a bind. Lenja is a demihuman who possesses strong physical abilities and can hold her ground with her blade. Her timidness and low self-confidence easily make her a lovable addition to the team.

Each character is uniquely designed differently with its colorful and gorgeous illustrations. Yumia, the protagonist that players control, has a mature and likable personality and when she performs her ritual dance, it looks elegant. The main villains in the game are distinctive as well with its demihuman features and forefront that showcases they are powerful foes. Players will come across these creatures throughout the game.

Forbidden Arts

Alchemy in Atelier Yumia is portrayed in a different form than previous entries, but it’s just as deep in its mechanics. Instead of combining items in a cauldron, Yumia performs a ritual dance to collect mana that resides in the air. It’s almost like watching Yuna’s ritual in Final Fantasy X. While collecting the mana, you also include ingredients found in the wilderness to synthesize into an object. These objects can’t be created until you find “recall recipes” on your travels. These recipes help create new weapons, armor, accessories, and more.

Once you obtain a recipe, you must learn it once before crafting. Each recipe requires a certain set of ingredients. Once obtained, the recipe becomes accessible to learn by using particles that you gathered from the wilderness. Additionally, you can increase the recipe level by adding more particles. Taking advantage of this can increase the item’s quality and special effects when crafting.

Now that the recipe is known, you can begin crafting the item. Using the gathered ingredients, you can increase the item’s special effects, such as higher attack power. You can choose which ingredient to add to the item’s core or let the system automatically choose for you. If you want to go back and increase that same item’s performance, you can do so. Additionally, you can use the forge tool, which is unlocked later in the game, to improve other stats. There’s also the ability to add gems to add more statistical features. There are layers of ways to beef up your crafted items. This is just scratching the surface, and as mentioned, you can dive much more into it or let the system handle a portion of it for you.

Additionally, you can perform simple synthesis to create medicine, bullets, and more while in the middle of adventuring. There’s no need for an atelier, which makes adventuring easier as long as you have enough ingredients on hand.

Based on the past Atelier games, it does feel like you are gathering more things to craft than ever before. Since the game is more focused on open-world exploration, collecting becomes second nature.

Battling it Out

Enemies appear on screen while exploring, and you can choose to avoid or confront them. With the tactical battle system, fighting is enjoyable and easy to pick up. You can switch between any of the three active party members anytime in battle and also swap with a backup member. Your fighter can fight in close or distant ranges, and has a different style for each one. For example, Yumia at far range performs magic-based attacks, and up close, she physically attacks with her weapon.

When enemies attack, a colored field will display to warn you that an attack is about to occur. This gives you a chance to maneuver your characters out of the area or to put up a barrier to deal less damage. You can also dodge, and by doing so successfully, your character will become highlighted in green. When this occurs, you can perform a “Friend Action,” which is basically a tag-team attack that deals heavier damage to the enemy.

When an enemy becomes staggered, this creates the right opportunity to perform unique attacks that the enemy is weak against. For example, if an enemy is weak to bolt attacks, have a character move in to finish the job quicker with a weapon infused with the bolt element or an item that does bolt damage.

After unlocking the Mana Surge at level fifty, you can use this powerful ability to increase your character’s skills, which makes battles end quicker. Leveling up is surprisingly easy and fast in Atelier Yumia when exploring mindlessly. If you’re a fan of action role-playing games, you’ll enjoy the battle mechanics here.

It’s Over 9,000 Quests

There are various types of quests in Atelier Yumia, from main story quests that progress the story to side quests that can be picked up by random non-player characters (NPCs). Side quests are not necessary to finish the story, but they do help out a lot more than you think. Doing these give you Skill Points that help unlock features in the game’s skill tree, such as increasing qualities in gathered ingredients or improving synthesis. Some are really easy, and some take a small amount of time. Whether it’s running deliveries, finding missing pets, or something bigger, these side quests will all benefit you in the long run.

Sometimes, quests become too repetitive and aren’t broad enough. Most of the time it’s either handing over extra ingredients on hand or crafting certain items. However, there are times you are asked to find a missing research team member or take out a powerful enemy. Regardless, if it’s an easy way to earn Skill Points, you can’t complain too much, right?

Exploring Till the End

One of the biggest features in the latest Atelier game is the exploration. No longer does it feel linear. You are given an open world where you can go just about anywhere and in any way. This means you can go to specific areas in the region you are in that the story hasn’t gotten to yet. There are four regions to explore, each one unlocking once you progress far enough in the story. Some areas are very dense with mana, creating a shield around Yumia. When this happens, your Energy Core will begin to deplete slowly. Don’t stress out too much: you can replenish it by coming across special flowers within the dense mana or reaching a base to rest.

The world is quite vast, but you can unlock a motorcycle later in the game to speed up your exploration. If you run into an enemy, the battle will start and afterwards you’ll need to jump back on your bike. It’s a nice ride, but with all the bumps and enemies on the field, it doesn’t feel as necessary to use. Sometimes, a nice stroll through is enough to witness the wonderful, vibrant, and vast world in Atelier Yumia.

You can find Guide Towers and other specific areas that, once accessed, allow you to fast travel there without the need to spend a long time backtracking there. This makes taking on side quests much easier to accomplish. Additionally, you can find small treasure rooms called a Treasure Trove, where you can earn Skill Points, items, and recipes. Coming across Shrine of Prayer spots sets a mini quest where you must activate all relay points. Doing so gives you a special item called an Energy Prism. It’s very helpful to obtain these because they increase your Energy Core, allowing you to explore dense mana areas and unlock specific skills in the skill tree. You can easily mindlessly wander a region for hours before making much progress in the storyline, and that says a lot on how entertaining exploration is in this game.

You can also build personalized bases as long as the area has enough room to do so. You can get pretty crafty with your home and set it up for all your crafting needs. However, when in your home bases and definitely while out exploring, textures look outdated and blurry when viewing areas up close to the game’s camera. While this could very well be done to help with the loading times for an old console like the Nintendo Switch, higher-end consoles and PCs shouldn’t be dragged down by this. At least give an option to increase the visual quality.

The game’s soundtrack is orchestrated and enjoyable. Battle themes are entertaining and well suited for whacking enemies down. Exploring regions have a whimsical feel as the sun sets and rises. In short, it does a fine job, capturing the feel of an environment and enhancing the emotions during the story.

The Final Craft

Atelier Yumia raises the bar for the Atelier series with its new features, open world exploration, and gameplay mechanics. With a darker story and interesting characters, there’s no reason not to jump into this enchanting land.

A PlayStation 5 review code provided for this review. Atelier Yumia: The Alchemist of Memories & the Envisioned Land is available on consoles and PC. Fans can visit the official website for additional information.