Whoo, that title is quite a mouthful. Atelier Marie Remake: The Alchemist of Salburg is a remake of the original Atelier Marie: The Alchemist of Salburg, a role-playing video game developed by Gust Co. Ltd. and the first title within the Atelier game series. It was first released on the PlayStation in 1997 and, soon after, ported to the Sega Saturn and Microsoft Windows. It was eventually bundled alongside Atelier Elie for the Sega Dreamcast and PlayStation 2. A fan translation of the PlayStation 2 bundle was completed in 2018. Fast-forward to 2023, and we see the light of day of a new Atelier game! Let’s dive in.

Atelier History

As I stated in my introduction, Atelier Marie: The Alchemist of Salburg was originally a 1997 role-playing video game developed and published by Gust. The first entry in the Atelier series was initially released for the PlayStation, then received ports and enhanced versions on other platforms. A remake for modern platforms, Atelier Marie Remake, was released worldwide in 2023 by Koei Tecmo – and you’re reading the review for this title right now! Following the efforts of alchemist-in-training Marie to pass an exam within five years, the gameplay focuses on exploring for materials to create alchemical recipes and completing story missions and requests within the in-game time limit.

Atelier Marie began development in 1996, with series creator Shinichi Yoshiike wanting a light-hearted fantasy. Artist Kohime Ohse created the character designs and in-game art. Reception of the game has been generally positive, with commentary focusing on its non-standard gameplay compared to other titles of its time. The remake saw praise for its art, but several noted its archaic elements. Following the success of Atelier Marie, Gust developed two further titles using the Salburg setting, Atelier Ellie and Atelier Lilie. The Atelier series would become one of Gust’s flagship products.

Story

The story follows Marlone, also known as Marie, who attends the prestigious Royal Academy of Magic in Salburg. Despite her enthusiasm and passion for alchemy, Marie struggles with synthesizing and consistently fails her exams. However, her instructor Ingrid offers her a final chance to graduate by giving her a workshop in Salburg. The condition is that Marie must successfully synthesize a high-quality item within five years or risk being held back from graduation. Throughout the five years, Marlone operates from her workshop, fulfilling requests for the people of Salburg and supporting her friend Schia Donnerstag, who is battling an extended illness. The game has various endings, including a negative one where Marlone fails and multiple endings where she passes Ingrid’s test with varying degrees of success, depending on her relationship with Schea.

Gameplay & Remake

The updated version of the game still has the same fundamental gameplay structure and time limit, but there are several alterations to the gameplay. The environment is now displayed from an angled 3D perspective with visual novel-style cutscenes. Players will lead Marie through Salburg’s environments and dungeon settings, with sprites on the map representing enemies with which the player can engage by running into them. There are new missions to complete, including instruction from Marie’s teacher. The remake also features an “indefinite mode” that turns off the time limit, allowing players to take their time and alter the story’s progression.

Junzo Hosoi, the series producer, stated about these choices:

Following the increased popularity of the Atelier series with the success of the Atelier Ryza trilogy, series producer Junzo Hosoi wanted to make the first game accessible to new players to celebrate the series’ 25th anniversary . Production began in early 2022 as development was finishing on Atelier Sophie 2. The game was made easier by adjusting gathering and battle statistics and introducing new social events triggered during the five-year time limit. The “indefinite mode” was added as an accommodation for newer players, who were used to the more lax time mechanics of later Atelier titles. The in-game character models were designed in a deformed miniature style, emulating the original in-game sprites. The character designs were redrawn by artist Benitama, and the music was arranged for the remake by Kumi Tanioka.

If you are familiar only with the newer entries of Atelier (Arland onwards), you may find Marie quite bare in many aspects. Crafting is as straightforward as having the necessary materials and creating the item. The recipe list is also quite limited. However, this game has some unique features that the other games do not have, such as the ability to hire party members and explore with them and a “Knowledge” stat that increases Marie’s ability to synthesize and create more complex recipes. The world of Salburg is not very detailed, but there are many event scenes for all party members, and their stories unfold as you progress through the game. It is enjoyable to see.

Older games like this can be cryptic in many ways, but fortunately, the remake includes a “Story” tab in the menu that shows a list of every event scene in the game and how to trigger them. You can sort them by character and understand when, where, and how to start each scene. It is an excellent addition to getting the most out of the story. The only other significant acquisitions in the remake are the explorable environments in Salburg itself and gathering areas. In the original, you navigated menus to move from place to place, like a point-and-click adventure. Certain events that were chance-based menu prompts are now full-fledged minigames, which is also enjoyable.

Conclusion

So to conclude, Atelier Marie Remake is essentially the original game with updated graphics and quality-of-life features. Despite this, it is still an enjoyable experience, mainly if you are interested in the Salburg world. However, the cost of €50 for a single playthrough of 6-10 hours may be too steep for some, so it may be worth waiting for a sale to purchase.

7.5/10

Tested on the Nintendo Switch