Atelier Yumia: The Alchemist of Memories & the Envisioned Land PC Steam Deck Review

Atelier Yumia: The Alchemist of Reminiscences & the Envisioned Land is the most recent entry within the long-running Atelier sequence, introducing contemporary adjustments to its characters, narrative, and lore. It presents a novel tackle alchemy, shifting it from a revered self-discipline to a forbidden and shunned follow. The sport additionally introduces a number of intriguing ideas, from its expansive world-building to the mysteries surrounding its historical past. Nevertheless, regardless of these promising concepts, the execution falls brief, making it tough for the participant to completely have interaction with the story and mechanics.

Set in a world the place the Aladissian Empire as soon as flourished by means of alchemy, the sport explores its downfall following a catastrophic occasion believed to have been brought on by the very craft that after sustained it. Centuries later, alchemy is outlawed and thought of taboo. The story follows Yumia Reisfelt, a younger alchemist ostracized for her ardour. After shedding her mom in a tragic accident three years prior, Yumia learns of her household’s deep ties to alchemy and resolves to observe in her mom’s footsteps. This determination leads her on a quest to uncover the reality behind the autumn of Aladis, the thriller surrounding her mom’s loss of life, and the explanations behind alchemy’s condemnation. Alongside the best way, she allies with the Aladis Analysis Staff, whose members every have their very own private motivations, additional including layers to the overarching thriller.

A Distinctive Narrative In a Totally different World

Atelier Yumia’s story presents gamers an alternate world fairly totally different from earlier video games. Alchemists aren’t beloved or thought of useful people however are shunned for utilizing a forbidden craft. Alchemy’s origins are additionally totally different and tied to a previous civilization, and the character of Mana and the way alchemy operates are additionally totally different. Whereas these new ideas are fascinating and distinctive, they’re not offered or executed in an entertaining method. The plot boils all the way down to Yumia and her mates touring throughout the continent discovering the origins of alchemy and Aladis, however not a lot comes from it, nor are the discoveries that thrilling.

Every mission principally includes Yumia’s group transferring from one location to the subsequent, clearing up dense miasma-like Manabounds that prohibit motion, and serving to folks with their discoveries. The one thrilling moments of the narrative are when gamers encounter the sport’s few bosses, who’re all fascinating and have their very own mysteries to find. The characters, together with Yumia, whereas endearing in their very own methods, are additionally fairly bland and lack depth. And whereas not overly tropey, they stick with the identical primary character tropes seen in anime and JRPGs. 

Enjoyable however Flawed Gameplay

By way of gameplay, Atelier Yumia is kind of a combined bag. The sport contains some new options which are each extremely handy and enjoyable, however some which are nearly the exact opposite. For instance, the brand new Easy Synthesis characteristic permits gamers to craft issues on the sector and on the fly, like bandages, tenting kits for resting, zip line gloves, and extra. These are extremely handy and make exploring much less monotonous and tedious. Nevertheless, the brand new Vitality system is a first-rate instance of an inconvenient and infrequently annoying new component. Yumia has an vitality vial that enables her to do principally all the things from sprinting to dispelling Manabounds. Nevertheless, vitality runs out fairly rapidly, particularly when traversing Manabound areas, and enormous jumps, a core a part of traversal, turns into unattainable till gamers discover buildings or vegetation that refill their Vitality vial. Whereas this technique isn’t at all times annoying, it does really feel prefer it was needlessly tacked on to make exploring unnecessarily extra tedious in hopes of being tougher.

Talking of tedious components, among the worst components of Atelier Yumia are navigation and  traversal. Transferring throughout the map is downright torture, because it includes attempting to navigate the place to go, what construction is climbable and the way, whether or not or not you’ll want to climb issues, and the way the dynamic climate system closely impacts the visibility at evening, which is already fairly low. What’s worse is that if your vitality is totally depleted when navigating complicated flora and forests, and you’ll’t leap or run, which makes motion depressing.

Essentially the most evident challenge with Atelier Yumia on PC is its poor efficiency, notably on the Steam Deck. Whereas I didn’t encounter any crashes or main glitches, the body price is constantly dreadful, considerably impacting the gameplay expertise. Exploring ranges is stricken by frequent and extreme drops, particularly within the recreation’s opening space and densely populated areas full of flora and monsters. Even fight isn’t spared from these technical points, although the body price dips happen much less regularly than throughout exploration. These efficiency issues make traversal irritating and detract from the general immersion.

Your Fight Will Lack Depth

Aside from that, the Synthesis system is generally much like trendy video games like Atelier Ryza. Gamers acquire elements as they roam the world and head again to Yumia’s atelier to craft gadgets and kit. You employ particles collected throughout exploration so as to add extra traits similar to particular results and elemental bonuses, improve already-made gadgets, and be taught new helpful recipes. The system is notably a lot quicker and streamlined as a result of auto craft system and how briskly and simple it’s to search out and use supplies. General, the crafting system is probably the perfect the sequence has been shortly.

By way of fight, combating enemies and managers is enjoyable and feels seamless however the fight system notably lacks depth. Every character in Yumia’s occasion has a handful of abilities they will use in fight. Nevertheless, these abilities are restricted and get repetitive rapidly, and new abilities get unlocked very slowly, which is disappointing. Gamers can even craft elemental fight instruments like frost axes or a flamberge, however these instruments don’t do a lot harm in comparison with common abilities.

As fight is turn-based and characters have few particular abilities exterior linked assaults, combating enemies in Atelier Yumia is overly easy and will get boring rapidly. Nevertheless, combating bosses is at all times enjoyable as gamers should strategize with their choices and discover methods to mix all of them throughout these uncommon, difficult moments.

Last Ideas

Regardless of its flaws, Atelier Yumia does have redeeming qualities, notably in its crafting system and visible presentation. The synthesis mechanics stay one of the refined facets of the sport, making merchandise creation each environment friendly and rewarding. The world itself is superbly crafted, with wealthy environments and detailed character designs that showcase the sequence’ signature appeal. The facial animations and expressions are notably well-done, including life to interactions. Moreover, the sport options one of many strongest soundtracks within the sequence, additional immersing gamers in its world. These components elevate the expertise, even when different facets battle to take care of engagement. Lastly, the sport performs effectively on PS5 as I encountered zero bugs or crashes.

Sadly, these strengths are sometimes overshadowed by irritating gameplay mechanics and a scarcity of depth in fight and exploration. The vitality system feels unnecessarily restrictive, making traversal extra of a chore than a fascinating characteristic. Fight, whereas initially pleasurable, rapidly turns into repetitive as a result of restricted talent selection and gradual development of recent skills. Whereas boss battles present occasional pleasure, they’re few and much between, leaving a lot of the sport feeling monotonous.

Ultimately, Atelier Yumia is a recreation full of potential however hindered by design selections that detract from its general enjoyment. Whereas future updates might enhance its efficiency and steadiness, because it stands, it stays a combined expertise that struggles to succeed in the heights of its predecessors.