Atelier Marie Remake: The Alchemist of Salburg Preview #AtelierMarieRemake @koeitecmoeurope
The Atelier series has become one of the most renowned, loved, and successful JRPG franchises in Japan and the West. Since the first game in 1997, the series has spawned successful sequels, spin-offs, and new installments. However, with the success that the franchise has gotten, especially in recent years, it’s no surprise that Koei Tecmo and developer Gust have decided to head back to their roots with the first-ever game in the series, Atelier Marie: The Alchemist of Salburg by remaking the game, refining the experience, and providing new content to both fans and a new audience in the west. As a fan of the series, I had the honor of previewing the game and experiencing both the good and bad.
For those unfamiliar with Atelier Marie, it follows the titular young woman Marie, who we learn isn’t good at school and has repeatedly failed her alchemy studies. However, she’s provided her own Atelier for five years and is given one last chance to create an item through alchemy that will impress her professor in order to graduate. However, to do so, players must first gain a lot of experience by gathering items, defeating enemies, completing quests, meeting people, and leveling up.
Upon booting the game, I instantly noticed how drastically different the remake is from the original game. Models have entirely changed from pixelated to 3D models. Object and environment models are crisp and smooth, animations are defined, colors are more vibrant, environments are dynamic and lush, and more. Additionally, with the power of modern systems, players can now move freely in each location in the game, including the town, instead of moving to areas from a menu like the original version. Closed locations are also fully modeled, as opposed to the partly modeled 2D rooms in the original version. What’s more, the gameplay is a mix of random encounters and encountering enemies out in the open in dungeons and levels. Lastly, the game’s music has also been remade to sound new yet similar to the old soundtrack. There’s even a toggle to switch between the old and new soundtracks for those who want to really feel the nostalgia.
In terms of gameplay, the game offers players a normal mode and an easier, “Unlimited Mode.” While the Unlimited Mode provides players a more relaxed, non-timed experience at the cost of some events, the normal mode carries over its time limit system of five years from the original game. Due to this, every action you perform will take days to complete, reducing the overall time you have left.
A noticeable element of the game is that there aren’t many main missions that progress the story. Players are instead given a list of generic objectives and the occasional special quest at the start that are important to learn about the game. As such, players will be encouraged to take on quests from the local pub, all of which have a time limit, hire people to add to their party for battles during said quests, or just explore and grind out dungeons and fight bosses. In terms of combat, players fight enemies via turn-based combat, and like several other titles in the series, players can fight with basic attacks, special moves, guarding, and items. Combat is incredibly simplistic, which isn’t a surprise for the first game in the series, but it can also be challenging as several enemies will take grinding and strategizing to defeat. After each gathering quest, your party members will be paid upon arriving at your Atelier, where you can rest to regain your stamina (MP) and HP in exchange for time passing by.
When not fighting enemies or gathering resources, players will also indulge in several mini-games that either randomly occur in certain dungeons and areas or are linked to some quests. These include mashing Puni slimes with a mallet, avoiding slimes while running towards a goal, and moving through mazes to open chests while avoiding bears. They’re all very goofy but surprisingly fun and engaging regardless. Lastly, the series’ signature synthesis system is also present here, but because this is a female fo the first game, the crafting system is a lot more simplistic, with players only having to worry about their levels, MP, and time passing in order to craft items.
All that said, while the game provides plenty of freedom to do whatever they choose, it also does so in a limited way via its time system as it forces players to worry about whether or not the quests or actions they are doing are worth the time, at least on normal mode. This creates a complicated, sometimes frustrating mix, especially for a player like me who hates to waste time in games. For example, while you can take generic gathering and slaying quests between some assigned story missions and events, It still didn’t stop me from feeling like I wasn’t doing anything purposeful or making significant progress outside of grinding out levels. It also doesn’t help that you can go to any location at any time in the game and gather items that will complete quests before even taking them, making many quests feel purposeless. Although it’s also fair to say that since I’ve only gone through the first year of the game, this could very well change. Aside from that, the game looks as great as it runs on PC, which is especially impressive for a preview build. I didn’t run into any glitches or bugs, which is always nice.
Final Thoughts?
Overall, Atelier Marie Remake: The Alchemist of Salburg is an excellent remake of a great game. While some of the elements of the game don’t carry over well for modern players, it’s still one that offers a great experience and pleasant nostalgia to Atelier and JRPG fans, and I can’t wait to see what the rest of the game has to offer.
About the Author
Abdul Saad Abdul Saad is a seasoned entertainment journalist and critic, and has been writing for five years on multiple gaming sites. When he isn't writing or playing the latest JRPG, he can be found coding games of his own or tinkering with something electrical.
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