Atelier Resleriana: The Red Alchemist & the White Guardian Review – Lighthearted

It’s been a while since I’ve played a video game that didn’t stretch my boundaries too much, and was still fun to play as a result. Atelier Resleriana: The Red Alchemist and the White Guardian does just that, coming with enough meat on its bones to be entertaining while refraining from overly complex mechanics and systems for the most part.

While that may hold it back from joining the ranks of this year’s greatest hits, that isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Koei Temco’s latest addition to a long list of titles in the franchise makes good use of its expansive cast of characters, while its charming new protagonists are affably adorable despite some serious motivations fuelling their respective stories.

"You play as either the alchemist Rias or the guardian Slade for the most part, choosing between them at the beginning of the story."

You play as either the alchemist Rias or the guardian Slade for the most part, choosing between them at the beginning of the story. That choice seems relevant only for the opening chapter you get to play through, as the two protagonists quickly join forces in their quest to bring their hometown, Hallfein, back to its former glory after a mysterious calamity rendered it uninhabitable and caused the loss of family members close to them in the bargain.

For Rias, that’s her grandfather, the proprietor of Miscellaneous Mistletoe, a shop that was once the heart and soul of Hallfein. Slade, on the other hand, returns to Hallfein to find out more about his father, who died defending the town from monsters, leaving him with a few mysterious artifacts that open up an Atelier in the ancient ruins, where he first meets with Rias.

This Atelier soon becomes central to the story, with Rias discovering her latent alchemical skills and using them to spearhead Hallfein’s restoration effort. Slade uses it to open dimensional paths to other worlds, where he finds pedestals that generate mysterious text in an ancient language on a book that he inherited from his father.

Discovering more about their respective pasts while meeting new people in the game’s main story is a major part of the core gameplay loop. Characters are introduced to you at a steady pace, including El, an archaeologist who helps Slade decipher the aforementioned text, Camilla, the head of Hallfein and Rias’s sister, Rudolph, the gruff but noble administrator of Hallfein, and Raze, a seasoned adventurer who joins forces with Slade and Rias as they explore Hallfein and its surroundings.

"While a flashy combat system isn’t a bad thing on its own, it doesn’t help that fights are so absurdly easy that I rarely felt like any of my party members were in danger at any point."

Each of these characters doesn’t dwell too much on their troubles, making Atelier a very enjoyable title to play. Missions include exploring new areas and taking on monsters with a combat system that brings a few inspired twists to the JRPG formula. Rias and Slade are eventually joined by Raze and a few others, each with their own skill sets and flashy moves with which you take on enemies in a turn-based fighting format.

Sadly, the potential that this combat system carries is largely wasted thanks to a very limited set of moves for your party members. It quickly became repetitive despite brilliant attack animations that are straight out of your favorite anime, and very unique attacks that have multiple party members tearing into your enemies with reckless abandon. It’s built for spectacle, not depth, and the limited skill trees for each character do not help.

While a flashy combat system isn’t a bad thing on its own, it doesn’t help that fights are so absurdly easy that I rarely felt like any of my party members were in danger at any point. Even major bosses fell quite easily, having predictable attacks that I was able to parry with ease, generating even more Attack Points to use on skills for my characters in battle.

However, it’s what you get from those bosses and enemies that makes Atelier stand out from its peers in the genre. Collecting rare materials from bosses, enemies, and also from exploration allows Rias to expand her alchemical repertoire. She uses the Atelier to craft new items that the party can use in the field, and also ones that actively help the citizens of Hallfein.

True to her mission, bringing Miscellaneous Mistletoe back into Hallfein’s faded spotlight is a huge part of the game’s narrative. Rias can then use the store’s earnings to invest in the town, fulfilling her goal of bringing it back to its former glory. A highlight of that exercise was the fairies, adorable beings whom you recruit from dimensional paths you access via the Atelier thanks to Slade’s Geist Cores.

"Speaking of the open world, each area is teeming with life, bringing new enemy types and potentially new discoveries at every turn."

The fairies are happy to help around Rias’s shop and also in and around the town of Hallfein, quickly making themselves an indispensable part of ensuring your shop and Hallfein continue to thrive when you’re out exploring or cooking up new products to put on the shelves of your store.

Making new materials via alchemy was easily my favorite part of the experience, with the activity taking up a significant portion of my time with the game. Combining materials with the right properties results in items that are far more potent than those you just throw together without a careful analysis. As such, expect to spend a lot of time looking for recipes and new crafting materials out in the open world.

Speaking of the open world, each area is teeming with life, bringing new enemy types and potentially new discoveries at every turn. While the cel-shaded visuals are quite colorful and visually pleasing, they do not stretch the imagination in any way, remaining serviceable and consistent throughout the experience. Static character faces during cutscenes were kind of a sore point for me, but you may be able to look past that thanks to the rapport that they build as the story goes on.

The game’s audio design is similarly passable, while the performance on a base PS5 was excellent, with no pop-in or dropped frames, even during the most flashy combat moves. All in all, Atelier is a solid experience that looks and feels good while its story is interesting enough to keep you invested from moment to moment.

"If you’re a fan of JRPGs and anime, this one’s going to keep you entertained for many hours."

But it could have, and dare I say, should have been more. While I get the need to keep things light and breezy on the narrative front, the game’s combat feels like the developers included it as an afterthought. I know that’s not the case thanks to the innovative additions like a perfect parry, the ability to steal effects from your enemies by defeating them before their turn, the extremely useful Unite mechanic, and the ability to chain multiple actions between party members on a single turn. It could have been a tug of war for the momentum of a battle instead of a series of simple button presses that exist only to add some style and flair to the overall experience.

If you’re a fan of JRPGs and anime, this one’s going to keep you entertained for many hours. However, if challenging turn-based combat is what you’re looking for, you could wait for a sale to grab this one for a rainy day.

This game was reviewed on the PlayStation 5.