Title (JP): Yumia no Atelier: Tsuioku no Renkinjutsushi to Gensou no Chi (ユミアのアトリエ ～追憶の錬金術士と幻創の地〜)
Title (NA): Atelier Yumia: The Alchemist of Memories & the Envisioned Land
Genre: RPG
Platform: PS4, PS5, Switch, XB1 XBX/S, PC
Developer: Gust
Publisher: Koei Tecmo Games (JP), Koei Tecmo America (NA)
Release date: 21 March 2025
Official website (EN): https://atelier.games/yumia/us/
Official website (JP): https://atelier.games/yumia/jp
Atelier Yumia is the latest entry in Gust’s long-running alchemy RPG franchise, and features an entirely new world and cast – possibly marking the beginning of a new sub-series, as Atelier games often come in independent trilogies. Mechanically competent and visually impressive, Yumia offers a surprisingly engaging world to explore, but unfortunately does so by sidelining much of what defined the Atelier series to begin with.
The game takes place across the sea on an unexplored continent, in a world where alchemy is taboo after a great empire destroyed itself with its use in the past. The protagonist Yumia joins a team which investigates the ruins of that empire, uncovering what went wrong.
The core cast of party members is also strong, filled with unique and likable characters. While some seem to have plot threads that are not entirely resolved in the game, the Ryza trilogy did have some such character plot threads take multiple games to get a satisfying resolution, and so it might be reasonable to assume that this might be the case here.
While the premise is promising and the cast engaging, however, Yumia unfortunately takes itself too seriously, with the story feeling more like one from a more conventional adventure RPG. Though big stakes are not something foreign to the Atelier series, many entries typically have a laid-back, comfy atmosphere – with many foregoing grand conflicts altogether.
It does not help that the antagonists are not fleshed out enough (even though the foundation for interesting characterization is clearly there), and the writing does a very bad job of even setting them up as villains – the game immediately treats them as villains without initially establishing any good reasons why, relying purely on framing rather than actual narrative justification, making the protagonists instantly acting like they are villains seem very odd.
Visually, Yumia looks solid and features some strong art direction in its landscapes and character designs, but the presentation is marred by a surprisingly weak soundtrack. Atelier games are usually known for their fantastic music, but Yumia’s soundtrack seems to aim to be more atmospheric and cinematic, which ultimately makes them more forgettable. Even battle themes, a franchise highlight in most entries, are hard to recall. None of the tracks are bad – this reviewer also purchased the soundtrack separately and listened to them on their own, and they are all competently composed and performed – but it’s hard to even place where most of them fit into the game; the BGM in this game mostly stays in the background, which is not something one typically expects of games from Gust.
Despite this, the world itself is one of Yumia’s strengths. It features four large, interconnected fields that feel more thoughtfully designed than anything in Ryza 3. Landmarks and exploration opportunities are plentiful, and while tilesets are often reused (especially in indoor areas), each region manages to maintain a clear identity. That being said, the connections between the areas are mostly limited to narrow corridors, and progression through them is almost entirely linear, so it never really feels like a single open world.
Exploration is further elevated by the inclusion of movement mechanics like wall-jumping and a triple jump, which add some welcome verticality. These can be exploited to reach unintended areas or skip terrain and puzzles entirely, but doing so is great fun in its own right. However, these features are rarely integrated into core progression, and sometimes break the game entirely, sending players out of bounds or under the map (though this is never a big problem thanks to the availability of fast travel).
The traversal system also includes a bike, but it’s clunky and simply not as good as Ryza 3’s monster-riding or the vehicles seen in Firis DX. Optional tools like special bullets to open paths exist, but since they’re locked behind optional content the game underutilizes them, and they add little to the experience, feeling like little more than an afterthought.
Yumia also suffers from excessive padding. The game leans heavily on outdated open-world design tropes seen in western games from two generations ago, including Ubisoft-style “icon vomit” and scattered micro-activities; anyone traumatized by Riddler trophies will want to stay away. These are mostly optional and also not very rewarding, and the guidance system doesn’t account for the vertical mobility the game has, meaning the player might spend minutes running in circles around the field to a place it turns out they could have just jumped to in seconds.
Despite the massive amount of padding, this reviewer only took 50 hours to clear the game, 10 hours less than Ryza 3, which was not as bad in terms of padding. Despite the world being huge, there is just not that much meaningful content to engage with in relation to it.
The battle system builds on Ryza’s action-like formula, with a mix of basic attacks, skills, items, and the “advent” temporary power-up mechanic. While the game initially introduces dodging and blocking as important elements, engaging with the synthesis system (i.e. the core system of any Atelier game) to make good equipment trivializes all of it. On the default difficulty, enemies, including bosses, struggle to outpace the player’s HP regeneration, removing any sense of tension. Worse, many enemies are HP sponges, so battles devolve into repetitive, drawn-out, mindless button-mashing chores where the player does not even have to move, let alone dodge or block.
Synthesis is similarly simplified, following Ryza’s direction of streamlining everything. It feels less like crafting and more like filling out pre-made blueprints, and the whole system lacks the rewarding complexity found in older titles going up to the Mysterious series, where combining traits required forethought and experimentation and could reward players with uniquely overpowered items. Unlocking and upgrading recipes also becomes a frustrating grind due to the random, sporadic availability of the resource needed for them.
Building outposts around the world adds some charm, but if the player engages in this too much the material requirements start to make the process more tedious than satisfying, and there is ultimately no point or reward at all to building them aside from the satisfaction of having done so. Side quests are uninspired, and there’s a notable lack of optional bosses or postgame content. Despite a large amount of grind in the game, there’s nothing interesting to use what you get from the grind on.
Another particularly frustrating issue is the restricted camera controls while swimming: The camera cannot tilt upward properly, meaning that the player is plain unable to look around while swimming at all, with the camera constantly stuck at an angle pointed downwards. This restriction seems to come from the same vein as the same anti-upskirt restrictions that cause characters to blink out of existence in photo mode if the camera gets too close to a “forbidden” angle. Unlike photo mode’s limitations, however, this directly affects gameplay, making one wonder why the main character even wears a skirt in the first place if it’s going to break the camera and detrimentally affect gameplay to such a degree. Since diving underwater is no longer a feature, swimming becomes nothing more than a huge annoyance. It would have been better if the bike could also traverse water, like with Ryza 3’s water-based mount, which would have done away with the camera problems while swimming.
Overall, Atelier Yumia is a well-made RPG; it’s just not a great Atelier game. The exploration is the highlight, with well-designed fields and a satisfying sense of discovery. However, the game sacrifices much of what gave Atelier its identity in favor of systems more in line with many other regular Japanese RPGs. The result is a game that feels like a decently competent adventure RPG with scattered Atelier-adjacent elements, rather than something that belongs fully within the series.
For fans who enjoyed the Ryza series and are open to more exploration-heavy experiences, Yumia may hit the mark. But longtime Atelier fans looking for deep synthesis or a laid-back story may come away disappointed.
The Good:
- Vast, well-designed world that’s exciting to explore
- Triple jump and movement mechanics are fun to use
- Strong core cast and party dynamics
The Bad:
- Poorly written antagonists and overly serious tone
- Oversimplified synthesis and shallow combat
- Excessive grind
Conclusion:
A solid, technically well-executed RPG with a large world and engaging exploration, Atelier Yumia delivers on production values, but in chasing broader genre appeal loses sight of what makes Atelier special. It’s worth experiencing for its strengths, but series veterans may find themselves missing the heart and identity that once defined the franchise.
Score: 79/100
This review was written based on the Japanese release of the game, and may not reflect changes made to versions released in other regions.
(Editor’s note, July 2026: The original score of 84 was adjusted to 79 to better align with the review’s assessment and maintain consistency with our scoring standards.)
Also see:
Review – Atelier Ryza 3: Alchemist of the End & the Secret Key
