REVIEW: Atelier Yumia: The Alchemist of Memories & the Envisioned Land


Title	Atelier Yumia: The Alchemist of Memories & the Envisioned Land
Developer	GUST, Koei Tecmo
Publisher	Koei Tecmo
Release Date	March 21st, 2025
Genre	RPG
Platform	PC (Steam), PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X\|S, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch
Age Rating	Teen
Official Website

Being a longtime fan of the Atelier franchise, I was really excited to get my hands on Atelier Yumia: The Alchemist of Memories & the Envisioned Land. This latest entry promises to build upon the Atelier Ryza series with more open world exploration and fast paced combat. I’ve spent right around 40 hours with this one and I’m ready to share my thoughts. Let’s see if this new direction fits my fancy.

The story begins as a young alchemist named Yumia Liessfeldt, sets foot on a continent that once belonged to the mighty Aladissian Empire. The empire once thrived due to its technology and use of alchemy, but it now all lays in ruins due to an unknown disaster. The disaster left people with a bad taste for alchemy and now it is seen as taboo and evil. Yumia wants to discover the true history of alchemy since her mother was an alchemist that helped people, before she died in an accident three years ago. She joins the Aladiss Research Team to find the answers to all the questions she has about alchemy. Is it really evil, where did it come from?

I felt the overall story here was pretty good. Yumia really shines out of this cast as she is not really your happy-go-lucky of alchemist of past games, but she is more down-to-earth. She really wants to learn about alchemy and its history. The supporting cast is great as well. From learning about Nina and Rutger’s past, to watching Lenja be all cute and embarrassed, discovering more about them through their quests is a pure joy. I just wish the villains would’ve had more time to shine, they really seemed to be an afterthought in many cases. There is one standout in this bunch and I really thought her story could’ve been expanded upon, as well.

In the graphics department, Atelier Yumia really shines. The huge open world environments reminded me of Xenoblade, in a good way. There were plenty of areas to explore, and each area of the island has a different theme. Some of it is a more natural forest to explore, then you have a more fantasy-type forest area and many others. Yumia has a triple jump maneuver, and this was just a great idea since it let her reach places easier without a huge amount of path finding. I spent hours wandering around the map to each of the points of interest just to see what they were, and to map out each fantastical region.

Atelier Yumia is yet another example of a great Gust soundtrack. The music here is a little more downbeat than previous entries, but it fits the tone of the ruined world to a tee. Each region has its own battle theme and all of these are fantastic. You’ll find yourself humming along as you slay many enemies that stand in your way. The game is voiced in Japanese and the actors do an amazing job bringing these characters to life.

When the gameplay begins, you will start to explore the island of Aladiss. Being that this game is completely open world, where you go and what you do is completely up to you. Do you do the pioneering goals for the region to get rewards? Do you explore all the different parts of the map discovering the points of interests laid out to you? Or is it time to take on some of the local monsters for materials and goodies? Don’t worry though, quests are all clearly marked and if you want to stick with the main quest, you will have no trouble figuring out where to go next.

As with all games in the Atelier series, synthesis is a huge part of the game, and honestly, this system is one of the more complex ones they have ever come up with. First, you will need to unlock the recipe. This is done by finding or making certain ingredients. Then, you will have to use mana particles you have collected to level up these recipes since they all start out very weak. Each level you give them will add new stat bonuses, traits and other buffs.

All items start with alchemy cores for the base. These will have various effects, such as giving an item certain traits, effects, or how much quality the item has. Some ingredients will raise the resonance area within your item. This will allow you to snag up more mana to make the item even more powerful, but this is limited based on how leveled up your recipe is. There are also some synthesis skills you will unlock on the skills tree that aid in making better items as well. I highly suggest using all the in-game guides if you’re gonna to attempt to do this without using the auto synthesis. They are very helpful and will show you how to make the best items you can with what you have at your disposal.

One of the biggest changes in this entry is the battle system. This is a fully active battle system where you can dodge and change from close quarters combat to ranged in an instant. Using proper timing of these two things will aid you greatly in overcoming most of the enemies the game has to offer. Items and attacks are mapped to the four face buttons on your controller and each has a slight cooldown period. Of course if you’ve made some killer items, this will help as well. I made some really great healing items and the buffs I got from them really helped me through the toughest battles I encountered. Being able to switch to any character in or out of combat on the fly, helped as well, since this gives you a greater range of attack items you can take into battle.

Overall, I really enjoyed Atelier Yumia: The Alchemist of Memories & the Envisioned Land. I found the full open world setting a joy to explore, the new combat system is fun, and the story is pretty good. The darker tone will be jarring for longtime fans, but I think it is very fitting for this world and character. Yumia is a different kind of alchemist than we are used to, and that is what made this journey even more special. There is plenty to discover as well, my playtime barely cracked the surface of everything that is here to discover. I feel the game is well worth the $69.99 asking price. This is also a great starting point for someone wanting to check out the Atelier series for the first time, since you need no knowledge of any of the previous games to have a good time here.