Atelier is back – this JRPG got a non-gacha sequel to its divisive mobile game, and I'll take that as a win

The just released Atelier Resleriana: The Red Alchemist & The White Guardian sort of is and isn't a sequel to 2023's mobile gacha game Atelier Resleriana: Forgotten Alchemy and the Polar Night Liberator (and it's also completely different to Atelier Yumia: The Alchemist of Memories and the Envisioned Land which also released earlier this year). Note that down, as the names here get silly long, but it's worth it. We're talking about two games, both called Atelier Resleriana, and how one broke me, and the other put me back together.

Not only do both games share a main title, but, confusingly, they're officially they're even both considered to be Atelier 25. I've been an on-and-off but consistently devoted fan of Atelier over the years (mostly from PS3 onward), so it annoyed me to no end that what felt like a gacha mobile spin-off with Atelier Resleriana FP was considered the next mainline game – and I wasn't the only one. When it eventually came out globally in 2024 I bounced right off it, then didn't end up making time for Atelier Yumia, either. Only when I saw the sunsetting of Atelier Resleriana FP's global release after barely a year did I realize – this mobile move had made me slip right off the series altogether. Which is why I'm thrilled to say that Atelier Resleriana RW has managed to pull me right back. This is a make-good that has worked on me.

Mix it up

You can feel that Koei Tecmo and Gust at least somewhat acknowledge things got wonky with Atelier Resleriana FP, given Atelier Resleriana RW online ads are plastered with comically large 'Entirely Offline' stickers. The FAQ I linked earlier even goes out of its way to ensure there are zero gacha elements in the new game, that it brings back returning alchemy systems from earlier in the series, and that, though set in the same world, narratively this is its own adventure that doesn't require mobile game knowledge to enjoy.

Even the move to consider both titles Atelier 25 feels like plastering over a known problem – after all, all three Atelier Ryza games got their own number. It's saying 'don't worry, the real Atelier 25 is here'. I can appreciate the attempt to appease fans like me – which is why I gave it a go, and how I ended up loving the series once again.

The opening hours are a little wonky. Atelier Resleriana RW doesn't feel like the JRPG series firing on all cylinders. Far from it, this is an engine at mid-performance by design, banking off the motorway for a pleasant country drive instead. For Atelier, a series that thrives in cozy vibes, this is actually the best possible move for acclimatizing me back in. And, quickly, once I get used to some janky movement and simplistic combat, the layering on of more party members and alchemy crafting gives me more than enough reason to begin to feel at home again.

Not being too ambitious doesn't mean there's no playfulness at all or sense of scope. In fact, with heaps of returning characters from earlier games in the series – 'wanderers' who have come from other worlds – there's a lot to see. Also, potentially an excellent chance for the developer to make the most of assets from the gacha game, I suppose. Turn-based battles are fairly straightforward, but a nod of the cap to the likes of the excellent remake Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter's battle system that has special effects tied to a timeline of ally and enemy attacks does breathe some extra life into scraps.

Some other tweaks threw me, like the sheer abundance of alchemy ingredients you acquire from enemies and gathering points throughout each environment – not to mention the amount you can even carry in your basket for each expedition. Atelier Resleriana RW is a game of abundance, countered somewhat by a shop system that has you selling your spoils and creations to fund the restoration of the town of Hallfein – ruined by a mysterious magical event several years earlier (an oddity considering this particular world has been near drained of magic completely).

Though alchemy in Atelier Resleriana RW is some of the more simplistic in the series, it still works – which is where it really gets its hooks in me. This is a series where, though you can buy usable items like potions and bombs, and armor and weapons – they will never be as good as the sometimes game-breaking concoctions you can create through alchemy in your big cauldron. Mixing and matching stats and special buffs, there's a marvelous power curve that you play a hand in meeting directly with each stir of the pot.

Before I know it, I'm 15 hours in, then 20 hours, then 30 hours – huge patches of time disappeared by allowing myself to sideline the story as I pursue better ingredients to craft better items, and add new twists to my recipes to unlock whole new routes for creation. The cute anime gals and fellas that make up Atelier Resleriana RW's party can pack some serious heat when equipped with a blazing ball of fire they can pull from their jacket with extra scorching effects. To be honest, though I liked the Atelier Ryza trilogy, the higher stakes JRPG storytelling there could make the alchemy feel a bit lost in the brew.

For as basic and unambitious as Atelier Resleriana RW can feel – I'd never recommend it to a series newcomer – this is comfort food for a fan like me. It's not a meal I'd want to eat every day, but when it hits, it hits. But somewhere in this game that feels hastily taped together, the pieces inside the wrapping paper sticking out too and fro, I realize that haphazard design, while imperfect, can be sort of charming too.

Scrolling my phone, I realize I forgot to delete Atelier Resleriana FP after the global app shuttered. With only half-an-eye on my phone screen – I'm slotting together some foraged coral and a seahorse in Atelier Resleriana RW with the correct colors to boost a magic-draining sparkly spellbook that has slime charms hanging off it – I slide the icon down to to uninstall it.

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