The is a franchise of

role-playing video game Role-playing video games, also known as CRPG (computer/console role-playing games), comprise a broad video game genre generally defined by a detailed story and character advancement (often through increasing characters' levels or other skills) ...

s developed by

Gust Corporation is a video game developer and division of Koei Tecmo Games, known for their ''Atelier'' franchise. Company was founded in 1993 in Nagano, Japan, as the first game software house in Nagano Prefecture. The company began by creating ''dōjinsh ...

since 1997, primarily for the

PlayStation is a video gaming brand owned and produced by Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE), a division of Japanese conglomerate Sony. Its flagship products consists of a series of home video game consoles produced under the brand; it also consists ...

line of consoles. Main entries in the series have seen consistent releases for

Microsoft Windows Windows is a Product lining, product line of Proprietary software, proprietary graphical user interface, graphical operating systems developed and marketed by Microsoft. It is grouped into families and subfamilies that cater to particular sec ...

since 2015 and the

Nintendo Switch The is a video game console developed by Nintendo and released worldwide in most regions on March 3, 2017. Released in the middle of the Eighth generation of video game consoles, eighth generation of home consoles, the Switch succeeded the ...

since 2017. New games are released in the series on an almost yearly basis. The series was solely released in Japan and Asia until 2004, after which the series has seen worldwide releases. The franchise centers around the concept of an

atelier An atelier () is the private workshop or studio of a professional artist in the fine or decorative arts or an architect, where a principal master and a number of assistants, students, and apprentices can work together producing fine art or vi ...

specialising in

alchemy Alchemy (from the Arabic word , ) is an ancient branch of natural philosophy, a philosophical and protoscientific tradition that was historically practised in China, India, the Muslim world, and Europe. In its Western form, alchemy is first ...

; the gameplay involves finding, collecting, and combining items in recipes to create better items, which allows the player to advance further in the game. Most of the games focus on female characters, which is somewhat rare among Japanese role-playing franchises. Several manga and two anime adaptations of titles from the series have been created so far. As of August 2023, the series has shipped more than 7.5 million units worldwide.

Common elements

Alchemy Alchemy (from the Arabic word , ) is an ancient branch of natural philosophy, a philosophical and protoscientific tradition that was historically practised in China, India, the Muslim world, and Europe. In its Western form, alchemy is first ...

is the distinguishing theme of the ''Atelier'' series. Players control the game's character, roaming the game world to collect objects to use in alchemy recipes to create new objects, including cooking ingredients, recovery items, tools, weapons, armor, and accessories. Synthesized objects are commonly required in order to create more powerful or potent objects through alchemy. Many of the games feature a method of transferring properties of one item from the recipe to the synthesized item. Recipes also often allow the substitution of items, which can either lend better properties to the final synthesized item, or can lead to the character thinking of a completely new recipe. The games generally feature a turn-based combat system, in which the items made through alchemy come into play, either to boost the character's abilities, or for offensive, defensive, or support items. The games' stories are typically light-hearted and humorous, often deriving conflict from a source other than an

antagonist An antagonist is a character in a story who is presented as the main enemy or rival of the protagonist and is often depicted as a villain. Failure to accomplish the game's main tasks in time may cause the game to end abruptly or lead to a bad ending, though these time limits tend to be rather lenient. The first entry in the "Mysterious" ''Atelier'' subseries ''

Atelier Sophie is a 2015 Japanese role-playing video game developed by Gust for the PlayStation 3 (only in Japan), PlayStation 4, PlayStation Vita (digital-only) and Microsoft Windows. It is the 17th main game in the ''Atelier'' series and the first game of t ...

'' does away with the time limit system, but the second entry '' Atelier Firis'' has a time limit for completing the game's first major story objective, after which players can play at their leisure. The third entry in the Mysterious subseries, '' Atelier Lydie & Suelle'', only briefly included a time limit for one objective in the middle of the game. Starting from '' Atelier Lulua'', the time limit system was completely removed from following main installments of the series.

Games

There have been 27 main games in the ''Atelier'' franchise which are subdivided into 10 sub-series. There are three games in the Salburg series, two games in Gramnad series, three games in the Iris series, two games in the Mana-Khemia series, four games in the Arland series, three games in the Dusk series, four games in the Mysterious series, three games in the Secret series, and one entry in the ongoing Memory series. The 25th main game is a mobile game

crossover Crossover may refer to: Entertainment Music Albums * ''Cross Over'' (album), a 1987 album by Dan Peek, or the title song * ''Crossover'' (Dirty Rotten Imbeciles album), 1987 * ''Crossover'', an album by Intrigue * ''Crossover'', an album by ...

that does not belong to any specific sub-series.

Side games

In addition to the main games, several side games have been released.

Remakes and ports

Several of the series' titles were remade or ported, mostly for portable devices. * A Gust's official spelling is ''Viorate'', as seen on the manga adaptation's and the original soundtrack's cover. * B Release dates are one day earlier than listed here for specifically the North American

releases from 2022 onwards. This is due to

time zone A time zone is an area which observes a uniform standard time for legal, Commerce, commercial and social purposes. Time zones tend to follow the boundaries between Country, countries and their Administrative division, subdivisions instead of ...

considerations, as a single worldwide Windows version is released via

Steam Steam is water vapor, often mixed with air or an aerosol of liquid water droplets. This may occur due to evaporation or due to boiling, where heat is applied until water reaches the enthalpy of vaporization. Saturated or superheated steam is inv ...

. Console releases follow the listed dates.

Other

*Marie from ''Atelier Marie: The Alchemist of Salburg'', and Liliane Vehlendorf, Rozeluxe Meitzen, Whim and Rewrich Wallach from ''Mana Khemia 2'' joins many other out of game characters in 2008's '' Cross Edge''. *Viorate from ''Atelier Viorate: The Alchemist of Gramnad 2'' appears in the 2009 company-collaboration RPG, ''

Trinity Universe is a 2009 console role-playing game, co-developed by Nippon Ichi Software, Idea Factory and Gust Corporation exclusively for the PlayStation 3. The game is published by Idea Factory in Japan and NIS America in North America and Europe and was r ...

'' released in the United States by

NIS America is a Japanese video game developer and publisher. The company was founded in 1991 and has developed several role-playing video games, most notably the ''Disgaea'' and '' Marl Kingdom'' series. Its mascot is the penguin-like ''Disgaea'' charact ...

(as "Violet"). *Company-collaborative 2010 RPG ''

Hyperdimension Neptunia is a series of role-playing video games produced by Compile Heart and Idea Factory, which revolves around and parodies the real-life video gaming industry and other forms of Japanese culture. The series has also branched off into a manga, li ...

s in-game character Gust displays ''Atelier'' characters in numerous special attacks in the game. Gust also has a costume that directly resembles a costume from ''Atelier''. She also has a hobby of making items out of strange ingredients, a play on the ''Atelier'' series' focus on alchemy. She returns for the

reboot In computing, rebooting is the process by which a running computer system is restarted, either intentionally or unintentionally. Reboots can be either a cold reboot (alternatively known as a hard reboot) in which the power to the system is physi ...

as an important story character but was later replaced by

Broccoli Broccoli (''Brassica oleracea'' var. ''italica'') is an edible green plant in the Brassicaceae, cabbage family (family Brassicaceae, genus ''Brassica'') whose large Pseudanthium, flowering head, plant stem, stalk and small associated leafy gre ...

in the remake. She also appeared in the ''Megami Tsuuhin'' manga on some chapters. *As of January 2015, Koei Tecmo's ''My Gamecity Card Collection'' browser collectible card game features more than 170 ''Atelier''-themed cards. *Astrid Zexis, Rorolina Frixell, Cordelia von Feuerbach, Lionela Heinze and Pamela Ibis, from ''Atelier Rorona: The Alchemist of Arland'' appeared in 2013's ''

Kaku-san-sei Million Arthur is a Japanese media franchise created by Square Enix, consisting primarily of a series of video games. The first release was an online free-to-play card battle game titled , which was released for iOS and Android in 2012. A sequel gam ...

''. *Sterkenburg Cranach from ''Atelier Arland'' series, appeared in ''

Warriors Orochi 3 Ultimate ''Warriors Orochi 3'', originally released as in Japan, is a 2011 hack and slash video game developed by Tecmo Koei and Omega Force for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. It is the fourth installment of the crossover series ''Warriors Orochi'', a co ...

'', sporting his Meruru appearance and his Rorona appearance as a

downloadable content content (DLC) is additional content created for an already released video game, distributed through the Internet by the game's publisher. It can be added for no extra cost or as a form of video game monetization, enabling the publisher to gain ad ...

(DLC) costume. *2013's '' Dynasty Warriors 8: Xtreme Legends'' has a Rorolina Frixelle-themed (from ''Atelier Rorona'') costume for playable character

Wang Yuanji Wang Yuanji (217 – 20 April 268) was a Chinese noble lady, aristocrat and later empress dowager of the Jin dynasty, who lived in the state of Cao Wei during the Three Kingdoms period of China. She was the wife of Sima Zhao, a regent of Cao We ...

. *2014's '' Deception IV: Blood Ties'' has a costume based on Totooria Helmold, from ''Atelier Totori''. *''

Chain Chronicle is a tower defense role-playing game developed and published by Sega for iOS, Android, and PlayStation Vita. It was released in Japan on July 26, 2013, for iOS, August 1, 2013, for Android and on July 16, 2014, for the PlayStation Vita. T ...

s October 2015 update added Rorolina Frixell and Cordelia von Feuerbach from ''Atelier Rorona'', Merurulince Rede Arls, Keina Swaya and Sterkenburg Cranach from ''Atelier Meruru'', and Totooria Helmold and Mimi Houllier von Schwarzlang from ''Atelier Totori'', as playable characters. *In 2016, costumes based on various games by Gust, including the ''Atelier'' series, appeared as DLC in '' Dead or Alive 5 Last Round''. *In 2017, Sophie Neuenmuller and Plachta appeared in ''

Warriors All-Stars ''Warriors All-Stars'', is a hack and slash video game by Koei Tecmo. It is a Crossover (fiction), crossover based on the long-running ''List of Warriors video games, Warriors'' series, featuring an array of cast taken from various titles owned by ...

'' as playable characters. *In 2017, costumes based on Rorolina Frixell and Hom from ''Atelier Rorona'' appeared as DLC in Gust's game ''

Blue Reflection ''Blue Reflection'' is a role-playing video game developed by Gust Co. Ltd., Gust. It was published by Koei Tecmo in March 2017 in Japan for the PlayStation 4 and PlayStation Vita, and was released in September 2017 in North America and Europe for ...

''. *In 2018, costumes of Lydie and Suelle Malen appeared in ''

Everybody's Golf formerly known as ''Hot Shots Golf'' in North America, is a series of sports video games published by Sony Interactive Entertainment. The series is known for its humorous take on the game of golf, featuring cartoon-like and anime-like charact ...

'' as part of a collaboration. In return, costumes based on the game appear for free for an entire year exclusive to the PlayStation 4 version of ''Atelier Lydie & Suelle: The Alchemists and the Mysterious Paintings''. *Various ''Atelier'' costumes return as DLC in ''

Dead or Alive 6 , abbreviated as ''DOA6'', is a 2019 fighting game developed by Team Ninja and published by Koei Tecmo. The game is the sixth main entry in the ''Dead or Alive'' fighting series following ''Dead or Alive 5'' (2012) and runs on a new engine, offe ...

'' as part of the "Gust Mashup Costume Set". A separate DLC pack was released titled "Atelier Ryza Mashup Set" that is based on the three female playable characters in ''Atelier Ryza: Ever Darkness & the Secret Hideout''. *In 2024, costumes based on the ''Atelier Ryza'' series appeared in '' Fairy Tail 2'' as a part of the "Digital Deluxe" edition. It also includes "Atelier Lucy", an additional feature based on the series. * In 2025, Sophie, Ryza, and Yumia appeared in Warriors: Abyss as playable characters.

Manga and anime adaptations

by Yoshihiko Ochi is a five volume manga adaptation first published in Japan by

Enterbrain , formerly , is a Japanese publisher and division of Kadokawa Future Publishing founded on January 30, 1987, as . Magazines published by Enterbrain are generally focused on video games and computer entertainment as well as video game and strate ...

, published in German by

Egmont Egmont may refer to: * Egmont Group, a media corporation founded and rooted in Copenhagen, Denmark * Egmond family (often spelled "Egmont"), an influential Dutch family, lords of the town of Egmond ** Lamoral, Count of Egmont (1522–1568), the be ...

, published in French by

Ki-oon Ki-oon is a French manga publisher with its head office in the 8th arrondissement of Paris. It was founded in October 2003 by Cécile Pournin and Ahmed Agne. It released its first manga in March 2004, the first volume of ''Element Line''. The n ...

, and four of the volumes were published in English by

Tokyopop Tokyopop (styled TOKYOPOP; formerly known as Mixx Entertainment) is an American distributor, licensor and publisher of anime, manga, manhwa and Western manga-style works. The German publishing division produces German translations of licens ...

. The series was later re-edited and re-released in two ''

tankōbon A is a standard publishing format for books in Japan, alongside other formats such as ''shinsho'' (17x11 cm paperback books) and ''bunkobon''. Used as a loanword in English, the term specifically refers to a printed collection of a manga that w ...

'' volumes on July 25, 2007. The manga later received a sequel titled , as of February 2018 Enterbrain released eight ''tankōbon'' volumes. In 2005 Enterbrain also released a

one-shot One shot may refer to: Film and television * One-shot film, a feature film shot in one long take with no edits, or manufactured to look like so * ''One Shot'' (2005 film), a Sri Lankan action film directed by Ranjan Ramanayake * ''One Shot'', a ...

manga titled . ''Atelier Escha & Logy: Alchemists of the Dusk Sky'' was adapted into a manga series by Chako Abeno. It features some arrangements to the story in order to let supporting characters play a bigger role. As of January 2015 two ''tankōbon'' volumes was released. It has also been adapted into a 12-episode television

anime is a Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, , in Japan and in Ja ...

series, produced by

Studio Gokumi is a Japanese animation studio established by former Gonzo members. History Studio Gokumi, literally meaning "Studio Group 5", was founded in May 2010 after members of Gonzo's Studio Number 5 left the company to start one of their own. Studio Nu ...

and directed by Yoshiaki Iwasaki, aired on

Tokyo MX JOMX-DTV (channel 9), branded as Tokyo MX (officially stylized as TOKYO MX), is an independent station, independent television station in Tokyo, Japan, owned by the . It is the only television station that exclusively serves the city and parts ...

between April 10, 2014, and 26 June 2014. A manga adaptation of ''Atelier Ryza: Ever Darkness & the Secret Hideout'', written and illustrated by Riichu started serialization in '' Shūkan Famitsū'' on September 17, 2020. A manga adaptation of ''Atelier Rorona'' also exists. An anime television series adaptation of ''Atelier Ryza: Ever Darkness & the Secret Hideout'' was announced on March 19, 2023. It is animated by

Liden Films is a Japanese animation studio and production enterprise headquartered in Kamiogi, Suginami, Tokyo, and has animation studios in Kyoto and Osaka. Establishment Liden Films was founded on February 22, 2012, and, shortly after, joined joint-holdi ...

and directed by Ema Yuzuhira, with Yashichiro Takahashi and Kazuki Yanagawa reprising their roles from the game as script writer and composer. The anime series aired from July 2 to September 17, 2023, on Tokyo MX and other networks.

Notes

References

External links

* {{Atelier series Video games featuring female protagonists Fantasy video games Koei Tecmo franchises Japanese role-playing games Role-playing video games by series Video game franchises Video game franchises introduced in 1997 Video games about alchemy