Perhaps Im just spoiled by Gust's exceptional Atelier Ryza series. Perhaps, for the same reason, I have incorrect expectations for what the game should have been. Nonetheless, I find Atelier Marie to be an interesting but awkward expereince.

Unlike the story driven experience of Ryza, Marie is much more like a life sim. The core loop of the game is picking up requests from the nearby tavern, which either asks for materials you can harvest in the world, or crafted items you have to create. This is still in Ryza of course.

The key difference is that you have a time limit for the end of the game, and ~every~ action ticks down the clock. Want to harvest a material? That costs a day. Want to craft an item? Could take 5 days, or even more. The reason this is such a huge departure from Ryza is because you no longer have time for experimentation, and every action you take has to be strategically considered. Time spent crafting consumables that help survive expeditions to dangerous areas is time that could be spent tackling requests to earn money and reputation. Time holed up in the atelier crafting items is time that could be used for harvesting valuable ingredients, and finding rumors around town that provide valuable information.

The strictness of the design means the game's progression has to be equally tight... but I dont think it is. It took me a few restarts to even understand how the game wanted me to play it, and even then the randomness involved in many aspects of the game can leave you in a rut you just have to wait out. And the costly nature of crafting makes me feel like I need to have a calculator on hand to determine how much time a request is going to take, calculations that could be meaningless if the game's rng ends up working against you.

I can see the potential of the experience the game wants to craft, and I do really want it to work, but its implementation is too messy for me to fully enjoy.

RNG is baddddd
No selection on which ending
Kind of boring after a while
Not worth the $50 AT ALL
The blur in the native village square was annoying.

Desde que joguei Atelier Sophie 2 ano passado, eu me afeiçoei muito à franquia. Essa forma mais intimista de lidar com sua história, que me parece ser comum à desenvolvedora (GUTS), me é verdadeiramente apaixonante, mesmo quando trazem problemas dignos de um JRPG comum, a narrativa e o tema que eles trazem seguem falando e interagindo muito mais com os personagens e a forma como eles se sentem perante aquele mundo do que com o universo em si.

E Atelier Marie, talvez por ser o primeiro da franquia, carrega muito da ideia de ser uma trama mais cotidiana, mesmo os problemas do jogo são coisas como "Estão roubando a taverna, tem estado muito frio etc.", e o jogo aborda essa trama cotidiana de uma forma extremamente leve, é sempre algo colorido, extremamente animado, extremamente descontraído e sem qualquer senso de urgência. Eu imagino que para algumas pessoas essa leveza do jogo possa deixar com que ele fique até meio sem sentido, mas pra mim funcionou muito bem, eu me imergi naquele mundo e pelas 8 horas que tive passei por uma jornada calma, fofíssima e bem divertida.

Enfim, a história do jogo é que a protagonista, Marie, ficou em último lugar em todos os testes da academia, mas como um último esforço, eles deixam com que ela se torne a dona de seu próprio Atelier pelos próximos 5 anos, e seu objetivo é se tornar uma grande alquimista até esse tempo limite. E aqui o tempo é tratado como um recurso, cada ação que você toma custa tempo, alguns itens vão demorar dias pra serem sintetizados, ou ir até aquele lugar no mapa vai demorar 7 dias de ida e mais 7 de volta, coletar recursos e batalhar vai sempre passar um dia no calendário para cada uma, a única forma de se curar é dormindo, e não é por apenas um dia, então pensar no que fazer acaba sendo a grande dificuldade, já que o jogo não vai te deixar só passar sem nenhuma obrigação, pra explorar você precisa de aliados, e cada um deles tem um salário a ser pago a cada viagem, coletar todos os recursos que são necessários para sintetizar os itens mais avançados demoraria muito caso fosse só a Marie, e pra isso existem as fadas, que trabalham coletando recursos nas áreas já exploradas ou sintetizando itens no caldeirão, e cada uma delas tem um salário a ser pago mensalmente que são definidos pelos quão eficientes elas são, então pra ter um bom sistema, acaba saindo bem carinho, e a forma de se ganhar dinheiro aqui é completando os pedidos da taverna (Derrotar algo, pegar um item ou sintetizar um item), e com isso o jogo acaba também formando um ciclo, você precisa progredir e melhorar para se formar, e pra isso você precisa de dinheiro para comprar utensílios e livros, além dos materiais para poder fazer os itens, e pra pegar esses materiais você precisa gastar dinheiro em salário, e pra pagar o salário se precisa completar as tarefas dadas na taverna, com isso o jogo cria um ciclo que não permite que você fique parada, sempre se tem algo a fazer no jogo, então mesmo sob a falta de uma história que vá te guiando diretamente, eu nunca senti como se eu não tivesse o que fazer, e por ser dessa forma, a liberdade do jogo acaba sendo muito orgânica.

Ah, além desses 3 recursos "principais", se tem o conhecimento e reputação da protagonista, o conhecimento é necessário para poder sintetizar mais itens, e ter sucesso tentando mais frequentemente, enquanto a reputação é usada pra aumentar o nível das tarefas que chegam a Marie, além de ativar alguns eventos do jogo, e a forma como se adquire os dois acaba sendo uma consequência do ciclo do jogo, sintetizar itens, comprar ou ler livros disponíveis na biblioteca, e a reputação se ganha completando as tarefas da taverna.

A existência desses 2 serve pra ajudar na progressão do jogo, pelo lado do conhecimento quanto mais você sintetizar e aprender, melhores serão os itens que você vai poder fazer, sempre que se termina algo, surge um novo algo ainda mais difícil de fazer, isso faz com que a curva de aprendizado da personagem não seja só algo inserido na história, mas sim algo que a jogadora sente de forma direta, surge um novo algo ainda mais difícil de fazer, isso faz com que a curva de aprendizado da personagem não seja só algo inserido na narrativa, mas sim algo que a jogadora sente de forma direta, e tudo é ligado de uma forma tão orgânica que a progressão fica muito gostosa, a cada ação que eu tomava, eu sentia que a protagonista evoluía e aprendia ainda mais. Já pelo lado da reputação, conforme você completa missões, mais reputação você ganha, com mais reputações, missões cada vez melhores, que precisam de itens mais difíceis de serem pegos, sejam itens mais difíceis de serem sintetizados, ou itens que vêm de áreas com inimigos mais fortes; a diferença aqui é que você pode perder reputação caso você não consiga completar as tarefas das missões, que tem um tempo limite de acordo com sua dificuldade, então se precisa pensar bem sobre o que fazer, uma tarefa de sintetizar um item difícil que precisa de 15 dias só nele mesmo, vai impossibilitar que se pegue outra tarefa difícil nesse tempo, já que uma delas seria perdida, é mais uma coisa que adiciona a progressão da protagonista, as pessoas da cidade iam confiando mais em mim conforme eu mostrava isso, e deixavam de confiar caso eu mostrasse o contrário, perfeito. Vendo pela primeira vez, eu achei a ideia muito legal, deixando tudo um pouquinho mais complexo, eu tinha que pensar se eu tinha como fazer aquilo, quanto tempo demoraria até pegar os recursos, além do tempo da sintetização em si, e valia a pena eu confiar nos 3000 de uma única quest que me tomaria o mês inteiro e eu teria uma chance de falhar, ou confiar nos 500 de uma mais simplesinha a longo prazo, o que me daria menos dinheiro, mas seria mais seguro. São escolhas que não tem necessariamente uma resposta, então isso adiciona a toda a liberdade de abordar sua jornada da forma como a jogadora se identificar mais. Só é uma pena que a reputação não seja um sistema tão bem executado assim, por cada tarefa não cumprida se perde 5 de reputação, e dependendo da tarefa feita, se ganha 20, 30, 50, até 60 dá, então acaba que nada além de você mesma impede que se saia pegando tudo, se por tarefa não cumprida você perdesse metade, ou toda a reputação que iria ganhar, sinto que já resolveria completamente esse problema.

Eu acho que isso acaba caindo nessa falta de urgência do jogo, por consequência tudo é muito pouco punitivo, o máximo que você perde pegando uma quest e não cumprindo é tempo, porque a reputação pouco importa, da mesma forma, a única coisa que se perde indo pra algum lugar e morrendo em combate é tempo, já que não se perde nada de dinheiro, e a "punição" é perder uma unidade de item, nunca que isso vai se tornar relevante, e honestamente é mais fácil ignorar completamente o fator falhar do jogo, já que sob tudo que você tenta, as recompensas sempre são altas, e as consequências caso se perca minúsculas. Talvez a resposta pra facilidade do jogo, que por mais que se alinhe a proposta do jogo de ser algo mais leve e descontraído, e que eu acho que funciona muito bem no sentido de combate, que são simples e gostosinhos, feitos na medida certa pra forma como é jogo, não funcionam bem no sentido do desafio em geral, o jogo admite que seu principal desafio é a gestão, então porque não trabalhar sobre ela a sua dificuldade, escolher o modo difícil pouco impacta nisso, e eu acho que seria melhor se a ideia não fosse aumentar a dificuldade dos combates em si, mas sim aumentar a dificuldade da gestão de recursos (não entregou algo a tempo? Perdeu mais reputação; morreu pra um inimigo? Lá se vai um pouco de dinheiro), o jogo brilharia muito mais.

Outro ponto que eu sinto que o jogo falha um pouco é justamente na parte da alquimia, talvez por carregar uma certa expectativa, já que os jogos da série Atelier costumam ter mecânicas incríveis de sintetização, extremamente interativas já que dependem 100% das suas escolhas de como fazer o item, (Acho que o ápice disso foi o sistema de Atelier Sophie 2) eu senti que esse aqui faltou justamente nisso, interação. Diferente dos outros aqui a alquimia não traz uma mecânica a parte, ela só custa a mana da protagonista e custa tempo pra ser feita, você clica um botão e se tem os materiais necessários vai lá e pronto, cria o item, eu dou uma relevada porque esse é o primeiro da série, então eu já esperava certa simplicidade, mas da forma como é feito, eu sinto que ele me tira de toda a liberdade que eu tenho dentro daquele mundo pra fazer as coisas de uma forma engessada e sem graça, acaba sim incomodando. E apesar de incomodar essa parte, o que eu acho que falha grotescamente é a protagonista ter chance de falhar, uma das coisas que mais me frustra em jogos é falhar por algo fora do meu controle, e aqui isso era algo muito contornável, e dentro do próprio jogo tem um sistema que já serve pra isso, o de utensílios, e se eu não tenho um utensílio e decido fazer uma receita que precisa dele, eu aceito que falhar já é sim culpa minha, ou pelo menos que eu não posso reclamar já que eu aceitei apostar na protagonista conseguir fazer o item mesmo sem a ferramenta ideal. O problema é que mesmo com a ferramenta e tudo perfeito, você ainda pode falhar, e nesse momento eu sinto que o jogo foi injusto e se pôs contra mim, e aqui isso é especial porque toda a proposta é ser algo levinho, e toda o clima agradável vai pro espaço quando eu erro duas vezes um item que me custou um bom tempo pra fazer simplesmente porque o RNG do jogo estava contra mim.

Mas de problema, foi só isso que eu senti enquanto jogava, de resto, eu achei tudo uma maravilha, e eu fiquei muito surpresa com a historinha do jogo, apesar de algumas coisas que sempre vão acontecer, como uns pouco eventos já pré-setados, (que você não é obrigada a concluir e isso faz diferença enquanto o evento está ativo, ou quando você termina o jogo) a maioria das coisas que acontecem dependem do que você faz, então toda a progressão daquele mundo e das coisas que interagem com a protagonista depende totalmente da sua vontade, se você decidir não fazer algo, uma personagem pode fazer algo, agora se você fizer, vai ter outro resultado e por aí vai, as escolhas que eu faço ou deixo de fazer parecem impactar aquele mundo, e eu acho que isso combinou muito com a ideia do jogo que é a Marie se tornar uma grande alquimista por suas próprias decisões. Deixando bem claro que não são coisas gritantes, são ceninhas que você perde, situações que não acontecem, finais diferentes que você pega, personagens que ficam indisponíveis e por aí vai, não é a maior diferença do mundo, mas eu ainda senti como algo muito valioso enquanto jogava. Também adiciona muito a um fator replay, já que é impossível fazer tudo em um único save, a não ser que seja no modo ilimitado, uma nova opção do remake que tira esse limite de tempo da história.

Eu me diverti muito enquanto jogava Atelier Marie, tudo nesse mundo parecia tão mágico, os personagens são divertidíssimos de se conhecer e acompanhar, as piadas são incríveis, a jornada toda é muito gostosa, é um jogo que em todos os sentidos possíveis, é adorável. E eu fico feliz de ver algo que assume sua simplicidade e trabalha em cima disso, e esse aqui trabalhou muito bem, facilmente uma das experiências mais fofas e agradáveis que tive com lançamentos desse ano.

Despite the game being extremely simple compared to modern Atelier games, I enjoyed my time with this one.

You have the option to play with a time limit, which means the game will end on a certain date, and your ending is determined by what you accomplished within this time. Alternatively, you can play without the time limit and enjoy your time completing requests and unlocking story sequences at your leisure.

I chose to play with the time limit on. Initially, I felt stressed out, questioning each move I made. Did I want to battle this wolf and allow a day to pass? Did I NEED to make one more red neutralizer? However, it wasn't long before I stopped thinking about the passage of time and was simply enjoying setting myself mini task-based goals and checking them off.

"One of the game's features is that, at a certain point, you meet a group of fairies in a nearby forest. You can hire them to perform helpful tasks, such as gathering common ingredients used in other recipes. I would hire one fairy to gather raw components, while another tasked with synthesizing the base materials needed for more complex recipes.

I have read mixed reviews about this game, with criticism aimed at its repetition and simplicity. I can sympathize with those sentiments because I won't deny that the game has been stripped down to its very basics. After all, it was the first game in the series. For me, what maintained my engagement was the habit of checking my journal and finding hints on how to unlock new scenes with each character. The story is as simple as it gets, but I found the little vignettes with each character endearing."

I had an absolute blast with Atelier Marie Remake. From its charming art design to its lovable characters and delightful music, the game kept a constant grin glued to my face throughout the entire journey. It perfectly encapsulated the core elements that I cherish in my Atelier games, and it's fascinating to witness how the game has gracefully evolved into the masterpiece it is today.

Full video review: https://youtu.be/sxCL3hsqdUU

Atelier is finally back to its roots. And now, over 25 years later, we finally have the chance to play the game that started it all.

Time Limit
Now I know this series is known for being incredibly comfy, but I think this might actually be the comfiest Atelier game I’ve played - which is ironic given that the release brings back the time limit system that more recent Atelier games had dropped. You start the game and are immediately given five in-game years to beat it. Every action you do adds to the internal time.

This sounds stressful and I was tempted to choose the option at the start of my save to completely disable the time limit - a new feature - but honestly, the time limit is extremely generous. I managed to get the game’s true ending with over an entire year to spare. So those worried about the time limit thing - it’s really not that big of a deal.

Gameplay / Complexity
Which brings me back to why I find this game comfy in spite of this artificial deadline. That being literally everything else in the game compared to other Atelier titles. Combat is simplified, crafting is simplified, exploration is simplified - everything takes a bit of a dive in terms of complexity. This is where Atelier started and it’s really just the basics on display here.

And honestly? I kinda liked it. I still love recent Atelier games with their challenging combat and super complex crafting systems, but it’s nice to kick back and play a bite-sized version of the series I love. Is it easy? Absolutely, but I also can’t deny that I had a lot of fun crafting every single item, maxing out my reputation and knowledge, and unlocking event after event in the story - which the game makes immensely easier by actually providing you a checklist of things to complete before an event can be viewed.

Story
The story is not really anything special, but it doesn’t do the Atelier classic of going overboard and losing itself as it progresses. The pacing stays relatively steady throughout and might even be a bit too slow, but it makes for a nice change of pace regardless. There are also a bunch of different endings to unlock as well, encouraging multiple playthroughs.

Length
The game can be completed in roughly 5 or 6 hours. There’s definitely more to do if you’re going the completionist route and want to get all the events, but even then, I had a pretty good chunk of them by the end of my first playthrough. For how simplified the game is, this short length kinda matches that change, but it’s definitely something to keep in mind if you’re used to the usual 30+ hour Atelier experience.

Otherwise, I had a good time with the game. There’s a ton of stuff to craft, the characters are fun to get to know, the combat is straight to the point, and it just radiates that charm I’ve come to love from this series.

PC Port
I had zero issues here. No framerate dips, no stutters, no bugs, no nothing. The game worked flawlessly out of the box at 4k 144fps and didn’t require me to jump through hoops to change basic settings like past Atelier games have. I played through on a controller, but mouse and keyboard also works here (even in menus) and has bindings that actually make sense - so props for that too.

Overall
Atelier Marie Remake is a nice little bite-sized Atelier experience that exemplifies just how much this series has grown while also being a fun little play in itself. It’s very simple compared to other entries in the series, but that lends it its own charm in a way and I had a lot of fun casually playing through it. I wouldn’t say it’s the best choice for series newcomers, but if you’ve already tackled Ryza and maybe a couple others, then give this one a shot.

A perfect remake of the first Atelier entry, that managed to keep all the charm of the original while removing all the (very small) issues I had with the OG.

I loved the original, and I'm extremely glad this remake was made with love and care. I can only hope this does well so we get the rest of the old games as well.

If you've never played Atelier, it's a game about minding your business (and the atelier), and while there is a goal, it's not a typical JRPG's world-saving goal. It's a fun adventure with great characters that you get to know more as you go along.

You play as Marlone, who's failing her classes and given a special exam to use alchemy to make a good item within 5 years. The game is extremely hands-off, letting you do whatever you want for the entire duration of the game, and consists of the following tasks:

-Hiring adventurers to help you gather items
-Use alchemy to turn the items into other items
-Complete quests at the Tavern for money
-Make more items and learn more alchemy recipes
-Make and use more bombs than Ted K.

How one does that is entirely up to the player. You can even not make the item at all and just get one of the battle-centric endings instead. The adventurers all have Friendship levels that go up the more you go on quests with them, giving you access to their personal stories, sidequests, and item requests. There's an extensive Event list so you can keep track of the requirements for them, which is a massive improvement over the original (where I missed over half of them due to not knowing they even had events).

The game itself is on the short side for the genre, about 10-20h depending on how you play, and you can meet some of the ending conditions early and end up with 1-2 years of free time to max Friendship with other characters and see other events.

They toned down the initial difficulty a little bit compared to the original, which I'm honestly glad for. If you'd like the CBT experience you can set it to Hard or Very Hard, but honestly there isn't any reason to.

The soundtrack is fantastic and they did a great job with the remake, and if you disagree, you get the option to change it back to the original down to each individual track.

I don't know how to end this review. Ancient Footsteps (original) is the best track in the game.

This was my first time playing an Atelier game and I was genuinely surprised by how much I liked it! I had a bit of the series beforehand like the Ryza and the Dusk trilogies, but never had an urge to try them. When they announced they were remaking the first game, I thought it would be a great opportunity to finally give the series a chance. After playing it, the game really won me over so much that I might replay the game in the future to get all of the endings. The game has a lot systems, but they all work so cohesively with one another since they were designed to be simple. However, the systems being simple for me is a huge positive. As a newcomer to the series, it never felt too overwhelming trying to contend with the systems that it asks the player to experiment with. It mainly just asks you to collect a series of items to craft a higher tier item without too much trouble (besides for remembering which items are collectible in a particular season, but the game gives you a chart on this anyways). Crafting items, doing battle with turn based rpg mechanics, interacting with characters, managing money, questing, boosting your reputation, and collecting items while exploring new areas was incredibly addicting and never got tiring for me personally. The time limit was a great addition as well as it made me think strategically on how I should plan out the remaining days I had left before the graduation. It reminds me a lot of the time management in Pikmin which I absolutely adore in that series (to be fair though, it is way more lenient in Atelier Marie than in Pikmin). Honestly the only negatives I can say is that the characters are kind of boring and that after a certain point, money becomes kind of useless as you have nothing else to buy with it. However, these are extremely minor in the grand scheme of everything this game accomplsihes. Also wanted to mention, the presentation is stunning with gorgeous character art, pretty good 3d models, and cutesy music. Overall, it was a super charming experience with no glaring flaws. Can't wait to play more of the series in the future, super excited to try the newer entries!

no thicc thighs but the comfy vibes are thicker anyway

since im already knee deep into the atelier series after playing ryza i decided to hold the sequel off for a second while i take my time exploring the beginning of the series with the remake of atelier marie the very first game in the franchise and a damn good one at that i thought there were gonna be a lot lesbians in this one too and i was pretty happy to see that theres a lot of sapphic play going on we won people

since i only played one (1) i still have no idea what this franchise comprises and when booting this game my expectations were definitely high up there due to me being blown away by ryza and it definitely delivered in that department if i gotta be honest

as a remake i cant really attest for a lot of stuff since again ive never played the original (i saw i can toggle the atelier marie plus version in-game so i think im gonna give that a try to see how the original is faring whether its cock and balls torture or not) but i definitely can see a lot of love poured into this project even though the skeleton of the source material is still mostly intact as much as im concerned

atelier marie plays it safe in every single part of the game starting by the story itself: marie is an alchemist in an academy institute who is also well known to be an absolute failure in everything she does so the principal gives her the possibility to use an atelier for 5 years for the purpose of honing her ability and creating an high quality object as a testament of her improvement in the art

and thats basically it youre gonna play through these 5 years which actually sound like a lot of work but realistically everything you do in this game will move the day forward traveling harvesting fighting doing alchemy i swear 5 years went by faster than i initially planned and this game is probably gonna take you something like 10 hours its definitely way way way shorter than i expected it to be but i think the original is even shorter so they made a huge amount of work actually adding some flare to the whole thing

coming from ryza most of the elements of the series are simpler and way toned down here the exploration is pretty bare bones you have like 10 places to visit which yeah theyre pretty fun and range in biomes and gathering in them makes it pretty clear that theres definitely not as much variety in the items even things like alchemy make a huge step back with only something between 50 and 100 items im not actually sure im just giving out numbers for the stuff ive seen in there but do i care about all this drivel ? absolutely fucking NOT the core element of a relaxed jrpg are still there and wow the formula was already a winning one in the very first game thats absurd

so as i was saying the gameplay is (as far as i know) typical atelier loop you explore and gather items you make some alchemy and do some fetch requests in the tavern and if the stars align youre gonna get a huge event or something

while i was definitely familiar with the gameplay loop the time management aspect of it all was something that i found weird being completely absent in ryza and it was kind of a delight to explore (even tho i chose to do the unlimited time mode because im very easily stressed but i still managed to have the requirements for a couple good endings so apparently its more lenient than i thought it would be)

as i said time passes while doing literally anything whatsoever so theres that but i definitely enjoyed how this all entwined to the different events in specific moments of the year or side quests for specific character is a really fun mechanic that drives home the limited time and schedule youre gonna have to deal with

a highlight is getting to know the different aspects of the town and listening to different gossips around the plaza and IN PARTICULAR the side plot lines are so interesting now as i said the main story isnt really so thick its basically “you need to make item X in 5 years” and thats it but the fact that you actually dont have a set party and you can actually hire/befriend/help a plethora of different characters in town which makes it really fun to actually get to know each one of them if youre interested just get them in your party fight a bit with them and increase the friendship to get new heart to heart events

top of the top are schea my sweet little baby she definitely has some scissoring going on with marie but you will be the judge of that also side note why are all atelier girls excited by barrels and have weird names like what kinda name is marlone honestly whatever so i was saying the bandit boss is so hot im sorry yall i HAD to say that as soon as i saw him i was like damn do i want a piece of that and hes actually a pretty deep character to boot likeeeeeeeeeee ruven is also pretty hot i love me some extraverted confident mercenary for my party and for my hole and then idk the others are also cool the kings knight is handsome the redhead woman can kick my balls yknow the usual

talking side characters the new way the combat system work is pretty simple but i really enjoyed it its definitely not that deep you only get a couple of tactics going on and most of the time is just skill skill skill until everyones dead but the fact that you can bring different people in battle actually make for a really cool variety in the party composition and overall its way on the easy side youre gonna level up pretty smoothly and kill everyone in your way without any real problem

the art direction is stellar this chibi style really ate and left no crumbs it has that sweet little ps1 charme (the entire game also feels like a early console game if im being honest like it has those kind of simple and charming vibes) and while it is pretty simple most of the locations are actually pretty beautiful if you ask me and the little CGs during events are SOOOOOOOOOO GOOD and also did you look at those portraits theyre so beautiful my jaw dropped so hard after looking at them not gonna lie oh and the music is also booming ngl

got the “going to the adventure ending” but i actually watched the remaining events and endings on youtube and obviously the lesbian schea route is the canon one im not even gonna argue with yall on this

all in all another confirmation that i gotta dig into this series a lot more and i cant wait to play some more stuff my expectations are HIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIGH

As a Remake, this is nearly flawless and makes the original completely obsolete. I do still have a soft spot for the art style of the OG, sure, but that's limited to certain characters and CGs exclusively because I felt most of the game looked bad. The charming chibi style (which seems to be calling back to the chibi sprites of the OG) and modern artwork look great here, especially in the CGs (which are still as rare as in the OG).

The game mostly plays things pretty close to the OG, so it doesn't try to warp the classic game into something more fitting of the later entries, but it does make some very welcome changes and additions.

Gathering is now an actual exploration instead of being just a single JPEG with dicerolls. The exploration itself is incredibly simple, fitting the game, and it does make the game easier since you can see what you're gathering and can avoid enemies or get pre-emptive strikes. The classic gathering system is also available, though, as the "Simplfied Gathering" feature! I used it a couple times, so it's a welcome addition.

Combat is, for the most part, largely unchanged. Turn order is much more transparent, and I'm not sure the OG had the same "basic attacks get you more turns than special attacks" thing... but it's been forever since I played the OG Marie. What is a huge glow up, though, is the presentation! The chibis really get to move their tiny stumpy legs in combat, with some very charming animations. On top of that we get combat speed-up and difficulty options, as well as Auto Battle which I warn everyone to ignore because it wastes items AND turns.

Salburg itself also got a glow up, albeit a minor one. Instead of the town being a static image, like gathering, you can now walk around the main plaza. It feels nice, but it's a relatively minor change all things considered. However, it does host a new shop that opens later in the game and also unlocks the new Atelier customization feature, which is another minor-but-nice addition.

What is NOT a minor addition, however, is the large new amount of events the game has. I'm pretty sure events have doubled, making friendship with your various party members more important. For example, I'm pretty sure Schwalbe had no events after he became an adventure in the OG, if my memory serves right. Now he has 3 new events dealing. Might not sound like much, but this treatment applies to every party member, they all now have at least 2 or 3 more events to flesh them out. Considering Atelier is all about the characterization and interactions, this is extremely welcome.

The one flaw of these events is that they lack voice acting. Not that I care much, because I generally skip the audio once I'm done reading in Japanese games, but it's worth noting. This game seems to reuse the OG's voice acting, so new content doesn't get voiced, basically. On the other hand, music has been rearranged and sounds better than ever! Though you can also use the OG OST (or the OST for almost every other Gust game if you have the DLC).

To top it all off, there's also loads of quality of life improvements that make the game snappier than ever. It's much easier to keep track of the loads of shit you need to craft and what quests you have accepted. It's also easier to find and trigger events!

If I had a gripe with this remake it would be that I felt that I got way less direct requests than in the OG, which made raising friendship more annoying. But that's RNG and I haven't played the OG in forever, so maybe it's just me imagining it?

What IS annoying, though, is that they didn't add a feature to let you pick which ending to watch (from the ones you qualified for, of course). I know they put that feature in modern Atelier games and it would be welcome here, as I qualified for all but ONE of the endings (100% Item Guide was being a bitch so I didn't do that). Then again, BFF ending is the best ending and it has the highest priority so it works out...

I'm gonna be over the fucking moon if they give Elie this kind of remake treatment, as I loved that game much more than Marie. And I'll be going sicko mode if they also remake and localize Lilie for the first time ever! One can dream...

Picking this one up on a whim since hearing it was only 8-10 hours long was such a good decision. Being a remake of the very first game, it blends the simplicity of how the game originally was (I assume) with the quality of life improvements in UI that a modern game can provide. As Marie, you’re essentially given a 5 year time limit to prove yourself as an alchemist and the game really guides you well on everything you can do without ever throwing too much on your plate as you learn through the game, creating a seamless experience where everything just flows naturally as you learn more of what you can do as you eventually get to the end game. The best part of it is that every step of progress you make with the synthesis/alchemy and leveling up with other characters is greatly rewarded with these small but wholesome cutscenes as to what’s going on in Salburg. It’s nothing particularly deep, but it’s a nice bonus to the overall structure of the game with how well integrated the narrative is. 8/10, I might peep the other Atelier titles to see what I might be missing out on.

This game goes by F A S T. Both by its length, and passage of time. As someone who's played through 3 trilogies of Atelier games so far (I still need to play Dusk), it's so odd seeing the time mechanic here, and see time pass so fast. One gathering attempt causes an entire game to go by. So your actions do mean more, but alchemy is waaaaay more simple. It's really interesting. I'd absolutely play more games like this, but I think I do ultimately prefer the modern Atelier formula.

The music is great as always, the live2D character portraits, and the fun minigames are just the cherry on top of this quaint little Atelier game. I think it could reasonably be one of the better entry points into the series with its length.

Fun game, though decidedly less than any of its peers due to the simplistic nature of alchemy and exploration in the original, and as you get toward the end the grinding required to unlock Schea's ending + friend events is pretty ridiculous given how arduous exp and frd are to come by. It's a fresh coat of paint laid over what is nevertheless still a 26 year old concept. What can you really expect? At its core this still feels like a 26 year old game. As a fan of the franchise I suppose I feel validated in getting to experience an accessible rendition of the game which started it all, but damn if I don't feel like a sucker from Gust still charging their premium for an eight hour game... Doubly so given the recent news that A25 is gonna be a live-service gacha which, while unrelated, does make me look more sourly on the high price tag than I already did.

It's not every year that we get two new Atelier game in a row except i see this becoming more likely but shhh but in addition to Atelier Ryza 3, Gust has gifted us with a remake of the very first Atelier game, Atelier Marie. Now i went and played the original a few years ago, the PS2 port specifically. I immediately realized how dated it was and decided to cut my loses early. So when the remake was announced, i was pretty excited. A game that has never left Japan being localized is a good time and a modernized remake on Atelier Marie would only be good. Was i right on that? Well, yes.

To get things out of the way, the game is a very faithful remake. The main difference it has compared to the original is a brand new artstyle, actually explorable areas (the original game was very menu-based), and an actual sense of direction. Aside from that however, the game is basically the same as the original but these differences go a long way in enhancing the experience. And, to be honest, with how different it is from modern Atelier, it might as well feel like a new game. Crafting is still the central mechanic but it doesn't at all have the depth of the modern entries. Equipment functions like normal game equipment, without any modifiers you could add to them. Items in theory have a lot of use but the combat is so piss easy, it's literally just spam Marie's skill until the enemy dies. It really goes to show that this was the first game in the series, given new life. And hey, to be fair, this game (and at least this early in the series) was much more of a sim game than an RPG game, so it's understandable why the combat in particular wouldn't be as fleshed out as the later entries.

One thing i noticed was how the tone of this game was a bit different from the modern entries. Not by much but noticeable for this series. While it still maintains it's slice-of-life elements, i was surprised to see the game touch on topics of war, causes of banditry, racism and even hints of trafficking and enslavement. All of this is told, not shown, it merely informs the backstories of certain characters, but the fact that Atelier characters can have these backstories at all is just wild. This isn't to say modern Atelier didn't get heavy with it's topics, it's just not in a way like this. Even the Dusk trilogy, which took place in a declining world, did have a, uh, lighter tone, to put it that way. The original premise of Atelier was "what if in a world of legends, you played as just a normal person", a premise that modern Atelier has pretty much abandoned. It was interesting to see the series' roots.

What surprised me the most with the gameplay was the time-limit. This game has a five-year time-limit, similar to Atelier Totori, Meruru and Ayesha. And yet, i was surprised by just how lenient it is in this game compared to those. My experiences with the latter three had soured me on this form of the series' time management (i'm fine with the more segmented approach of Atelier Rorona and Escha & Logy) so i opted for the remake's Unlimited Mode, which removes the time-limit. I uh........didn't expect fulfilling the main objective to be so easy. It's such a general requirement that you'll meet it without trying, and that's not counting the other requirements for the endings. I'm definitely gonna replay this game another time but the way it was intended, especially since there's specific events that for fundamental reasons cannot occur on Unlimited Mode.

I do think this game was a bit too faithful in regards to it's RNG. Certain events have a chance of occuring, sometimes as low as 10%. For a game about time-management, that's pretty awful but i was still fortunately able to get most of them way before the five years were up. I imagine an Atelier Elie remake is not off the table. If and when it comes, i do hope Gust does away with the RNG trigger for events. Remove them and it only changes for the better.

Atelier Marie Remake was a fun way of finally experiencing the series' roots, filled with charming characters, a good gameplay loop that allows for easy replays and of course, Gust's signature great music. It's obviously simple by the modern entries' standards but i think it does accomplish what it set out to do well.

If you’re considering playing the remake over the original or the original over the remake don’t. Both versions are wonderful and have a unique charm in their own way. I have seen numerous complaints about the length which I understand considering it’s a tad pricey but if you enjoy the loop of atelier it’s worth it. It’s definitely pretty short but one of the biggest draws is how refreshing the replay value is. As long as you’re not scrambling to overachieve and do absolutely everything(which is doable but unnecessary) there will be plenty of secrets, endings, and events you very likely would not have seen the first run. The remake itself is very faithful but there’s some major changes that do make it more in line with the “modern” approach of how the series has been going forward. The original kinda just throws you into the game with a very vague and short optional tutorial board inside your atelier while the remake obviously offers a slightly more hand-holdy lengthy tutorial that’ll follow you throughout ur first playthrough. At first I was very confused and had no idea what the hell was going on in the original but once you get a feel and better grasp the loop it’s insanely satisfying and it offered a very magical feel of immersion. One of the drawbacks on the first playthrough of the remake is it kinda kills that feeling due to the constant pop ups but in the long run offers a way faster grasp on how things are different if you played the remake first. Ultimately since both versions are incredibly short I think you’ll appreciate both games if you played them back to back release order. You’ll probably get a completely different ending for the original and remake anyways and see tons of events you missed in the previous version as well. I’m not sure how unlimited mode is in the remake as I actually enjoy the tight schedule restrictions in this one, but if that is something that worries you the option is there but beware there’s event(s) that will not show up if you do pick this option. All in all a really great experience for both versions, Marlone is adorable :)

A perfectly fine game. It's on the short side, but I appreciate that it doesn't feel a need to overstay its welcome. Atelier Marie Remake is full of uncontrollable charm through its captivating artstyle and illustrations, as well as the soundtrack that entrances you in the Atelier world. The quests in the game are nice and give you meaningful rewards, and the battle system is pretty easy to understand and get into. Nothing too complicated or full of endless tutorials. With my experience in other turn based games, this one is a nice change of pace as it falls into a more relaxing type of vibe that I'm not familiar with in RPGs. This was my first Atelier game and I think it's a fine starting point from my own experience.

an amazing, faithful remake of the first atelier game! i honestly had a lot more fun than i expected with this one; it's so addicting and going through all of the events and learning more about each character is pleasant.

EDIT: just got 100% this afternoon.. a little sad that it's over but also really happy i got through it! i had about 38 hours of in game time, but i think that's because i was really going at my own pace lol.. either way, it was a really enjoyable experience (aside from max all friendship grinding, but that's a given).

all the characters are very sweet and despite the gameplay being simple, it's simple in a way that is addicting and has a lot of charm to it. sometimes simple is best! and i think atelier marie manages to do it just right.

if you are going for 100% after your initial run, i recommend starting normal NG+ and speedrunning to the bad ending (no rank 6+ item), then start an unlimited NG+. you are able to get multiple endings that way, as the game lets you view your results on the board at any time after the five years.

i'm really glad that koei tecmo remade this game, because i think they brought it back and made it even better than before. i'm really excited for future remakes!

The game isn't anything special but it is so damn simple fun and addicting. As a remake? It is an insane huge improvement over the original, so many great QoL changes across the board and the cute chibi style fits.

The game is just an excellent remake that keeps the charms and quirks of the original. I am satisfied with the quality of a side-project like this. Given that the engine is made, Elie probably take a lesser amount of time if they start on it. Can't wait for more.

In the original, I had a very hard time figuring out what to do and how to unlock the events in the game. In the Remake they added mini objectives, being able to check how to exactly trigger characters events and has an agenda that shows the general events in a year.

Walking in the overworld is such a big boon, you can now freely choose the items you gather in given areas instead of relying on randomness. It is easier to track when an item is available to gather too. It made everything so much easier for me aside from a few weird exceptions.