Atelier Resleriana: The Red Alchemist & the White Guardian
– 5 min read
After their cautious foray into the mainstream with Atelier Yumia: The Alchemist of Memories & the Envisioned Land, Gust and Koei Tecmo Europe are releasing Atelier Resleriana: The Red Alchemist & the White Guardian. This game is more closely aligned with classic titles in the franchise, but still includes major innovations.
In Atelier Resleriana: The Red Alchemist & the White Guardian, players follow Rias Eidreise (the Red Alchemist) and Slade Clauslyter (the White Guardian) as they explore the ruins near their hometown of Hallfein. When they discover the ruins, Slade's Geist Core reacts, opening a passage to an alchemist's atelier filled with secrets that the two protagonists will attempt to unravel.
As usual, the role-playing game features the franchise's signature gameplay loops, which consist of exploring the game world, fighting enemies (which are turn-based this time), collecting ingredients, and crafting, also known as synthesis. During exploration phases, players can switch freely between Rias and Slade, who each contribute unique field actions to the adventure. There are a total of six playable characters: Rias, Slade, Raze, Wilbell, Totori and Sophie. Many other characters from previous Atelier series titles will appear as NPCs throughout the game. Alongside the familiar elements, the game features an overarching story progression system revolving around rebuilding the village of Hallfein and discovering why its inhabitants disappeared.
Players can invest the money they earn from completing requests and selling items in Star Landing's five districts by visiting the Town Hall. As the districts develop, their level and rank will increase, unlocking benefits such as new products in merchants' stocks and more efficient gathering. Alongside Rias' player-operated shop, new shops will open in the districts. Hallfein's appearance will evolve depending on the investment rank in each district as it is rebuilt, and its inhabitants will give players new quests while new visitors wander the streets. Players will encounter characters from previous Atelier titles among these visitors. Talking to these characters will trigger short events and quests.
Unlike Atelier Yumia: The Alchemist of Memories & the Envisioned Land, Atelier Resleriana: The Red Alchemist & the White Guardian stays close to the roots of the series and once again features a turn-based battle system with a strategic Timeline Command Battle system. Players can form a team of six characters, with three on the front line and three in the back. Players can use action points and equipped items to their advantage in order to inflict damage, influence the timeline of characters' turns, trigger consecutive turns for allies and activate powerful Unite Attacks. By attacking their opponents, players will need to fill in the Unite Gauge, allowing them to benefit from different effects depending on the number of "unites" available. Once the gauge is full, players can unleash a powerful Unite Burst.
Another new feature is the Dimensional Paths. These multi-level dungeons have a structure that changes randomly each time players visit. Depending on the difficulty level chosen, players can gather different ingredients and challenge new enemies. The higher the difficulty level, the more valuable the ingredients and rewards. Fairies can also be encountered here. Players can recruit these fairies to work at Mistletoe Miscellaneous, where they can help to sell various synthesised items.
Koei Tecmo describes the synthesis system as 'easy to learn, but difficult to master'. Rias will be able to synthesise various items using ingredients gathered during exploration or combat in a process called "Gift Colour Synthesis". During this process, players must connect the 'Gift Colours' of the ingredients to create new items. They can also assign traits or change recipes depending on the ingredients used. Players can create items with more powerful effects by cooperating with up to three other team members or fairies during the synthesis process. Alternatively, using Slade's Geist Core will allow players to enhance an item once it has already been synthesised.
Incidentally, Atelier Resleriana: The Red Alchemist & the White Guardian is not the first game in the sub-series, but rather the first to be released on PC and consoles. Previously, there was Atelier Resleriana: Forgotten Alchemy & the Polar Night Liberator, which was available on PC and Mobile. However, its service has since been discontinued. It's not a spin-off or a port; it's the latest numbered entry in the Atelier series. It shares the 'A25' numbering with the discontinued mobile game. Although the two titles are set in the same universe and timeline, the new Atelier Resleriana game is set after Weltex has been defeated and introduces players to a new story that runs alongside Atelier Resleriana: Forgotten Alchemist and the Polar Night Liberator. And there is no gacha system in Atelier Resleriana: The Red Alchemist & the White Guardian.
Unlike Atelier Yumia: The Alchemist of Memories & the Envisioned Land, the first game in the series to feature German subtitles, Atelier Resleriana: The Red Alchemist & the White Guardian does not have any German text. The game offers Japanese voice-overs and English text. JPGames stated that Atelier Resleriana: Forgotten Alchemy & the Polar Night Liberator was not localised into German either, and the same applies to Atelier Resleriana: The Red Alchemist & the White Guardian.
The first instalment of the franchise, Atelier Marie: The Alchemist of Salburg, was released in 1997. A major international milestone came with the Secret series, which sold 2.5 million units worldwide. This began in 2019 with Atelier Ryza: Ever Darkness & the Secret Hideout. The three-part series concluded in 2023 with Atelier Ryza 3: Alchemist of the End & the Secret Key. Following this was Atelier Yumeria: The Alchemist of Memories & the Envisioned Land, released in March 2025, the series became more mainstream with the introduction of real-time combat and set its fastest sales record. In the first few weeks after its release, it sold 300,000 units, setting a new record in the series' history. In total, games in the Atelier series have sold 7.8 million copies worldwide.
Given how popular Atelier Ryza was, it's not surprising that Koei Tecmo has announced the Atelier Ryza Secret Trilogy Deluxe Pack. This definitive version of Ryza's summer adventures is scheduled for release in 2025 on PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Switch 2 and Windows PC via Steam. This Deluxe Pack will include exclusive content, such as new playable characters and story elements, for each of the three titles, allowing fans to continue their adventures with Ryza. This means that the publisher has plans to release three Atelier games within a one-year period.
Atelier Resleriana: The Red Alchemist & the White Guardian was released on 26 September 2025 for PlayStation 5, Switch and PC via Steam. The PlayStation 4 version will not be sold outside Japan. Anyone who purchases a physical or digital copy within the first two weeks of release will receive the 'Activewear Adventuring Set' for Rias and Slade, as well as the 'Adventuring Charm Set', as an early purchase bonus. Aside from the standard version of the game, the Digital Deluxe Edition is also available for pre-order, which includes the base game, a selection of costumes for all playable characters, and a pack of items. Players can also pre-order the Ultimate Edition, which includes the Season Pass, extra background music, new costumes for all playable characters, new playable characters, new recipes and a high-difficulty dungeon.
Conclusion
Atelier Resleriana: The Red Alchemist & the White Guardian remains faithful to the franchise's proven concept, adding a new gameplay loop centred on the reconstruction of the city, which fits very well.
Features
- Builds on the classic strengths of the Atelier series, once again featuring tactical turn-based battles
- Rebuilding the town of Hallfein is the overarching concept
- Dimensional Paths are randomly generated Dungeons
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