Welcome to our review of Nelke & The Legendary Alchemists, the 20th Anniversary entry in the Atelier franchise!
In Nelke & the Legendary Alchemists: Ateliers of the New World players assume the role of Nelke von Lestamm, a young aristocrat who longs to become an alchemist but sadly does not have the talents required. With a strong fascination for the ancient legend of the Sage of Granzweit, she is excited to uncover new information which rumors that the sacred Granzweit Tree is within the lands her father governs.
This title aims to combine the “slice-of-life” atmosphere of living in a town and collaborating with various characters and the exaltation that comes from successfully governing a town and expanding your world. This title is also designed to represent a new milestone in the evolution of the “Atelier” series, marking their 20th anniversary, and its theme, Town-management Simulation x RPG.
As you start up the game, you are hit by the typically cute graphics that made the Atelier games famous in many ways. I took so many screenshots that only after I started writing my review, I realized I skipped on taking screenshots of the battle sequences. This being a great compliment to the designers and everyone involved with the creation of this new Atelier game.
Nelke mostly plays as a town management game in the beginning and the first few hours will completely feel like you are in a Sims like game, by befriending everyone around you and getting the population to raise of the town you were assigned to, you build up serious relations with everyone around you, whether they are an alchemist that can synthesize items, like the other Atelier games. You can even build new houses, places for crops to grow and so much more.
While it does set itself apart from the main Atelier series by means of the town management side, it also makes the game much more versatile. You got way more to do and so many things to keep in mind. The usual suspects of any town management game come to mind, getting inhabitants to help out with the work to make a profit which in turn will result in bigger and better buildings. You know, real life employs this as well.
The battles are a little easier in this game in my humble opinion compared to some other Atelier games. Nelke employs a timeline RPG battle system, basically allowing you to plan out attacks. Once you are in a fight, this is pretty much your everyday RPG. You strike, they strike, you strike again and hopefully win the fight before they beat you. Nothing new under the sun, nothing wrong with it either!
I actually had more fun with this game than most other Atelier games and this was mostly due to the fact there were so many more things to do than just your everyday jobs that you need to take care of. The depth of character relations and more, Nelke really did a great job in my humble opinion to make a splash in the series, not just being the birthday boy, but really shining!
In conclusion, Nelke & The Legendary Alchemists felt like a fresh approach to the series and I had way more fun than I thought I would. Nelke has depth and is not a boring game at all, something I often felt later down the line in previous Atelier games. Graphically Nelke is impressive yet the awkward walking mechanics are still ever-present throughout the series and that is the time you most feel you are really playing another Atelier game!
