Atelier (series)

The Atelier series is a series of role-playing video games developed by the Gust Corporation since 1997, primarily for the PlayStation consoles (original, PS2, and PS3), though portable versions for the Game Boy Color, Game Boy Advance, Nintendo DS, PlayStation Portable and PlayStation Vita have also been made. Two of the games in the series were ported to the Sega Saturn and Dreamcast. The series has been primarily released in Japan, though recent titles have been localized for other markets. The game series, based on the definition of "atelier" as an artist's workshop, is heavily based around the art of alchemy, requiring the player to find and collect items and combine them in recipes to create better items with which to progress further in the game. A manga adaptation by Yoshihiko Ochi has also been published.

Common elements

The Atelier series of games focuses around the use of alchemy. Players control the game's character, roaming the game world to collect objects to use in alchemy recipes to create new objects, including cooking ingredients, recovery items, tools, weapons, armor, and accessories. Synthesized objects are commonly required in order to create more powerful or potent objects through alchemy. Many of the games feature a method of transferring properties of one item from the recipe to the synthesized item. Recipes also often allow the substitution of items, which can either lend better properties to the final synthesized item, or can lead to the character thinking of a completely new recipe.

The games are generally centered around a turn-based combat system, in which the items made through alchemy come into play, either to boost the character's abilities, or for offensive, defensive, or support items.

The games' stories are typically light-hearted and humorous, often deriving conflict from a source other than an antagonist and the player ends up with a large group of characters to explore the world with. In most games of the series, the player has a limited in-game time to accomplish one or more main objectives and actions like gathering items, traveling or synthesizing spend a portion of that time. Failure to accomplish the game's main tasks in time may cause the game to end abruptly or lead to a bad end.

Games

There have been sixteen main games in the Atelier series which are subdivided into six sub-series. There are three games in the Salburg series, two games in Gramnad series, three games in the Iris series, two games in the Mana-Khemia series, three games in the Arland series and three games in the Dusk series.^[1]

Side games

In addition to the main games, several side games have been released.

Remakes and ports

Several of the series' titles were remade or ported, mostly for portable devices.

Other

• Marie from Atelier Marie ~The Alchemist of Salburg joins many other out of game characters in 2008's Cross Edge.
• Violet from Atelier Violet ~The Alchemist of Gramnad 2 appears in the 2009 company-collaboration RPG, Trinity Universe released in the United States by Nippon Ichi Software of America (NISA).
• Company-collaborative 2010 RPG Hyperdimension Neptunia's in-game character Gust displays Atelier characters in numerous special attacks in the game. Gust also has a costume that directly resembles a costume from Atelier. She also has a hobby of making items out of strange ingredients, a play on the Atelier series' focus on alchemy.
• Sterkenburg Cranach from Atelier Arland series, appeared in Warriors Orochi 3 Ultimate, sporting his Meruru appearance and his Rorona appearance as DLC costume.

Manga adaptation

Atelier Marie and Elie - The Alchemist of Salburg (マリーとエリーのアトリエ ザールブルグの錬金術士) by Yoshihiko Ochi is a five volume manga adaptation first published in Japan by Enterbrain,^[7][8] published in German by Egmont,^[9][10] published in French by Ki-oon,^[11][12] and four of the volumes were published in English by Tokyopop.^[13][14]

See also

• Quintet (company)

References

External links

• Atelier Marie and Elie - Zarlburge Alchemist (manga) at Anime News Network's encyclopedia