After her professor provides an Atelier, Marie must create a unique item within five years. She’s free to explore the surrounding areas and gather materials, fight monsters, and take on requests from the townsfolk. In her journey, Marie can recruit adventurers to her cause and tackle tougher challenges.

Atelier Marie Remake features revamped graphics, a rearranged soundtrack, tutorials and improved exploration. It also features some quality-of-life changes, though its scope and scale are nowhere near that of contemporary titles like Atelier Ryza 3: Alchemist of the End and the Secret Key. Check out our review here for more details.

The latest title does just that, going back to the very beginning. Atelier Marie Remake: The Alchemist of Salburg is based on the first game in the series, first released on the PlayStation in 1997 for Japan. It was subsequently ported to Sega Saturn the same year and received a Plus version in 1998 before arriving on other platforms like PC, Dreamcast, PS2, iOS and Android, but never released outside of Japan.

Thus, the remake allows for experiencing the series’ origins with snazzy, revamped visuals. However, if you expect a more comprehensive remake with new mechanics or quality-of-life features to match the more modern games, Atelier Marie Remake will disappoint.

"Atelier Marie plays out over multiple days and months in a year, and you can venture out to speak to the townsfolk in Salburg, gather materials in nearby areas or take on tasks to deliver items and resources."

The story starts with Marlone, or Marie, a student at the Royal Academy of Magic in Salburg. She’s at the bottom of her class in grades and is subsequently given a special exam by her professor, Ingrid. Marie must make a unique item to impress her within five years. With an Atelier at her disposal, Marie gets cracking, and that’s pretty much where the narrative rests on your hopefully capable shoulders because the plot is driven by what you decide to do.

Atelier Marie plays out over multiple days and months in a year, and you can venture out to speak to the townsfolk in Salburg, gather materials in nearby areas or take on tasks to deliver items and resources. You can interact with characters like Schia, Marie’s friend; Kries, the Academy’s best student, but also arrogant and dismissive of Marie; My, an upbeat adventurer; and more. These characters can be recruited (for a wage) to accompany Marie on gathering sessions and quests.

Your popularity also determines whether they accompany you, and it can only increase by completing different tasks. Some tasks pop up as you progress through the story, like bandits taking up residence at a nearby cave which must be dealt with. Others involve going to a place and gathering materials, then delivering them before the deadline.

If you fail to do so, then your reputation drops slightly. Tasks can also arrive from Ingrid, asking Marie to adventure with four different party members. When your reputation increases, stronger characters can offer their assistance.

"Why not for a set number of resources or even the entire time I’m in that location? On the bright side, Marie doesn’t need to switch tools to mine, gather or fish, so that’s nice."

Salburg also offers facilities like a blacksmith for purchasing new weapons and armor while the Academy sells materials and recipe books. The latter’s inventory can change daily, and different events become available in select months. Otherwise, characters provide some dialogue, maybe some items, and probably inform you of rumors they’ve heard, which can lead to different events. Even with the option to fast travel to places in Salburg, you can freely explore and run around, unlike in the original. The mechanics of all this is very straightforward; the catch is the time limit.

When re-entering the Atelier, a day will pass, but traveling back and forth between locations can take several days. Even gathering materials causes time to pass, so if you pick up a single item, that’s one day gone. It isn’t the worst thing in the world, but it’s worth noting if you’re trying to pick up everything and then venture back to the Atelier to dump it all off. That may be more accommodating for one Reisalin Stout, but Atelier Marie is far stingier (especially with only 40 slots available in your inventory at the start).

You must be more selective about the materials, some of which you won’t even know until you’ve picked them up for the first time. While I can appreciate the time limit and how it causes you to plan out each gathering expedition, applying it to picking one resource at a time is a little harsh.

Why not for a set number of resources or even the entire time I’m in that location? On the bright side, Marie doesn’t need to switch tools to mine, gather or fish, so that’s nice. You can also hire fairies at some point to assist in gathering with different kinds requiring more money based on how quick they are.

"One of the main appeals of an Atelier game is the alchemy part, but Atelier Marie is very basic in that regard. You mix two ingredients, specify the number of items you want, and that’s it."

There is an Unlimited Mode that turns off the time limit, but you will miss out on some events when enabling it. Aside from gathering, there’s also combat. Including Marie, up to three party members are allowed in battles, and you can choose between basic attacks, guarding, Skills, Items and running. Party members can also change formation during combat, so if you want to have characters go forward and deal more physical damage, hang back for more magical damage or stay centered for neutral benefits, that is an option.

It doesn’t add as much complexity as you’d think to most battles. You’ll have your hardest-hitting attackers in front, Marie in the back, rinse and repeat. Some Skills can pierce multiple enemies in a row, and there is a turn order to keep in mind. Items are also used in battles, but we’ll get to that later. All in all, combat is extremely simplistic and straightforward. While exploring, you may also jump into mini-games which involve platforming or bonking Punis with a hammer and avoiding bombs.

They’re fine – not necessarily the best and somewhat floaty (especially when trying to jump over obstacles during one mini-game, with knockbacks being annoying), but they’re there. Locations are fairly constrained, and it’s easy to get turned around, looping back to the beginning and realizing that’s all there is. The variety of environments is nice, and even if they’re all more or less the same in terms of traversal, they have unique resources and enemies.

One of the main appeals of an Atelier game is the alchemy part, but Atelier Marie is very basic in that regard. You mix two ingredients, specify the number of items you want, and that’s it. Marie builds up fatigue with each synthesis, increasing the failure rate, and thus you need to spend time resting to recover. You can craft some items, like explosives, for use in battle on top of healing allies, raising their attack, and more, though it doesn’t add that much complexity on top.

"For those accustomed to the quality of life changes, stronger story-telling, deeper characterization, faster-paced combat, in-depth crafting and freedom of contemporary titles, it falls short."

Aside from purchasing a few tools and reading books to learn new recipes, there isn’t more to it, which is understandable, given that it’s based on a 26-plus-year-old game. However, you would think that quality-of-life features like auto-adding materials for quick synthesis would be available.

The biggest change to Atelier Marie is the visuals. Instead of 2D sprites and hand-drawn environments as backgrounds, everything is fully 3D. It looks very sharp, even if the chibi design of the characters won’t gel with everyone. Animations are limited, but at least character portraits during conversations are high resolution and very sharp.

Oddly enough, the animated cutscenes were low resolution and running at a low frame rate – it’s unknown why they’re recorded this way, but hopefully, there’s a fix. The music has also been rearranged, though you can switch back to the original. It’s fine, as a whole, but some of the melodies, like the blacksmith’s shop, can get a little jarring on loop.

Overall, Atelier Marie Remake: Alchemist of Salburg is a decent remake of the original for a new generation. However, for those accustomed to the quality of life changes, stronger story-telling, deeper characterization, faster-paced combat, in-depth crafting and freedom of contemporary titles, it falls short. Even if it wasn’t sold for $50 at launch, just $10 less than any of the Ryza games or Atelier Sophie 2, Atelier Marie Remake isn’t extensive enough to recommend to all but the most ardent fans.

This game was reviewed on PlayStation 5.

The Legend of Heroes: Trails into Reverie

While many may see this as yet another Trails title in the long-running series, for many, it’s the conclusion of a journey that ended somewhat abruptly in 2020. The Legend of Heroes: Trails into Reverie takes place after the events of Cold Steel 4 and sees Erebonia at peace. However, trouble begins to stir once more. This time, there are three different character paths to pursue. Lloyd Bannings and the Special Support Section seek to protect Crossbell; Rean Schwarzer and Class VII deal with the aftermath of the Great Twilight; and a mysterious individual named C butts heads with both.

Players can switch between each protagonist with the Crossroads system and venture into the True Reverie Corridor, a randomly generated dungeon with its own side content, characters, and events. Even if the wait for the next entry is long, fans can finally see the Erebonian saga come to a close when The Legend of Heroes: Trails into Reverie launches on July 7th for PS4, PS5, Nintendo Switch and PC.

Oxenfree 2: Lost Signals

Oxenfree fans can finally continue the mind-bending journey that began in 2016. Oxenfree 2: Lost Signals is set five years later and sees protagonist Riley returning to her hometown. Mysterious events are occurring again, thanks to strange electromagnetic waves, and she’s determined to find the cause. Once again, conversations play out in real time, and your choices influence the story’s direction, the bonds forged, and Riley’s personality.

You can use the new walkie-talkie to speak to (or ignore) the locals and maybe learn more about the mysterious Parentage. Space-time travel, bigger stakes and more await as everything rests on your shoulders. Oxenfree 2: Lost Signals launches on July 12th for PS4, PS5, PC, Nintendo Switch, iOS and Android, and we can’t wait to see what twists await.

Exoprimal

There have probably been enough jokes about someone at Capcom thinking, “But what if Horde mode Dino Crisis with power suits?” Nevertheless, Exoprimal looks very interesting. Set in 2040, where outbreaks of thousands of dinosaurs occur constantly, players join a squad of exosuit pilots to stem the tide. An AI known as Leviathan is used to predict the outbreaks, but before you know it, time travel is involved. What is Leviathan’s goal with its simulations, and can players resolve the mysteries of the dinosaurs?

The story unfolds through the co-op Dino Survival mode, as two squads of five players compete in various maps to complete objectives. Sometimes you may go head-to-head, but you can forgo PvP entirely. Gather clues to learn more, and pilot several different Exosuits, each with unique roles and capabilities, whether healing allies with Nimbus, tanking damage as Murasame, or taking down hordes of enemies with Zephyr.

Exoprimal launches on July 14th for Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PS4, PS5 and PC, and is also coming to Game Pass on day one.

Pikmin 4

What happens when Captain Olimar crash-lands on a planet and the Rescue Corps sent to retrieve him also crashes? It’s the job of a recruit, aka You, to save everyone, once again corralling and commanding hordes of Pikmin to help.

Releasing on July 21st for Nintendo Switch, Pikmin 4 allows for customizing your character, collecting treasures and exploring the environment to rescue any castaways. A new dog-like creature Oatchi helps out, serving as a mount and also battling some of the hostile monsters that abound. Players can also explore at night, tackling tougher threats and using the new Glow Pikmin.

Throw in a mysterious individual who also seems to be after the castaways, leading to Dandori Battles, where you compete to gather the most objects, and Pikmin 4 seems to have a lot in store for series fans. Newcomers can download a free demo from the eShop, allowing them to sample the gameplay and transfer progress to continue in the full game.

Remnant 2

Defying expectations, Remnant: From the Ashes went from relatively no buzz to a beloved third-person shooter Souls-like that sold over 3 million copies. With Remnant 2, Gunfire Games is going much bigger with new worlds, weapons, armor, enemies, bosses and an increased scale. Taking place nearly 20 years after the events of Subject 2923, Ward 13 is at peace. However, with The Root continuing to spread to other worlds via The Labyrinth, players suit up to try and stop it.

Instead of classes, players have Archetypes, which allow for multi-classing and mixing and matching Skills and Traits. The random world generation is also kicked up a notch, as you’ll explore new biomes with unique quests and enemies on each playthrough, leading to more replay value. Remnant 2 is out on July 25th for Xbox Series X/S, PS5 and PC.

Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart (PC)

Roughly two years and several other PS5 titles on PC later, Insomniac Games’ Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart is finally coming to Steam and the Epic Games Store. Launching on July 26th, it supports 21:9 and 32:9 Ultra-wide displays. For the triple monitor owners, it even has 48:9 support. Ray-traced reflections are a given, but you also get unlocked frame rates and ray-traced shadows for exteriors.

There’s support for the haptic feedback and dynamic triggers on DualSense in addition to the keyboard and mouse (not to mention other controller options). Upscaling solutions like Nvidia DLSS 3, AMD FSR2, Intel XeSS and Insomniac’s Temporal Injection are also supported. If this isn’t enough, you can also use DLAA to improve the image quality and Reflex for more responsive controls.

Honestly, just hearing that Nixxes is handling the port is good enough for us, as Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart is an incredible dimension-hopping 3D platformer.

Disney Illusion Island

Remember that gorgeous-looking 2D platformer starring Mickey, Minnie, Donald and Goofy that Disney announced? Good news – it’s not dead. Disney Illusion Island recently received a new trailer ahead of its July 28th release, and it looks as sharp as ever. The story sees Mickey and the crew venturing to Monoth Island to recover three books. Along with platforming challenges and puzzles, they’ll take on bosses with their unique abilities and delve more into the island’s various mysteries.

The hand-drawn animation, familiar voices and charming soundtrack will draw you in, and there’s also four-player couch co-op support with unique skills for helping each other out. With its adorable visuals and sleek presentation, Disney Illusion Island could fill the hole that Rayman Origins and Legends have left for party platformers.

F1 Manager 2023

It’s easy to be wary of F1 Manager 2023, especially considering how Frontier Developments handled the post-launch support of its predecessor. Nevertheless, with 23 races, new tracks like the Las Vegas Strip Circuit, and the new Race Replay for reliving the 2023 FIA Formula One World Championship, there are some interesting bells and whistles. You can also embody a team during big moments in the season using Race Moments.

Frontier also promises better drive AI and “refinements to racing lines, overtakes and incidents.” F1 Manager 2023 launches on July 31st for PS4, PS5, PC, Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S. Hopefully, it’s a step up from its predecessor.

Jagged Alliance 3

The latest entry in the classic squad-based tactical strategy series, Jagged Alliance 3, sees players assembling a team of mercenaries to rescue the President of Grand Chien and defeat The Legion. Mercenaries come with different personalities and quirks, and some familiar faces are returning. However, all tactical decisions rest with the player, whether you’re customizing weapons and load-outs, battling enemy forces or capturing territory.

Jagged Alliance 3 offers an open structure with plenty of freedom, and you can experience the campaign alone or with a friend in co-op. It’s out on July 14th, exclusively for PC. Will it end up with fewer issues than developer Haemimont Games’ Park Beyond? One can certainly hope.

The Expanse: A Telltale Series Episode 1

Telltale Games is working with Alcon and Deck Nine Games for a new narrative adventure based on the popular sci-fi series, The Expanse. As a prequel to the TV series, it sees Camina Drummer (played by Cara Gee) and her crew on the Artemis exploring The Belt, salvaging space ships and having all kinds of run-ins.

As with classic Telltale titles, your decisions matter and can be the difference between valuable supplies or your crewmate losing a leg. The Expanse: A Telltale Series launches July 27th for Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, PS4, PS5 and PC via the Epic Games Store. However, this marks the debut of Episode 1 – four more episodes are coming, each releasing two weeks afterwards.

Synapse

Among the many new titles coming to PlayStation VR2 is Synapse, a first-person shooter from nDreams starring David Hayter and Jennifer Hale. As an operative tasked with investigating Colonel Peter Conrad, who is threatening a world-ending catastrophe, you venture into the latter’s mind, battling through surreal environments while gathering clues on his weapon.

The Heart of Darkness inspiration isn’t exactly subtle, but seeing Hayter play Conrad, lending his signature charisma to what should be an intriguing villain, will be interesting. It also doesn’t hurt that the shooting and visuals look good. Synapse is out on July 4th for PlayStation VR2.

Ed-0: Zombie Uprising

From Lancarse, the team behind duds like The Diofield Chronicle, comes Ed-0: Zombie Uprising. Though it has some role-playing elements, this is a hack-and-slash dungeon crawler with randomly generated environments where you slay hordes of zombies in the Edo period. Play as a Samurai, Sumo Wrestler or Ninja, discover over 150 items and skills, and battle bosses.

Will this result in the zombies not turning Japan into a deadman wonderland? Probably not, but it should make for some mindless fun. Ed-0: Zombie Uprising is currently available in early access for PC but exits on July 13th while also being available for Xbox Series X/S and PS5.

Atelier Marie Remake: The Alchemist of Salburg

You may be familiar with the Atelier series, specifically Ryza and Sophie, but how about returning to where it all began? Atelier Marie: The Alchemist of Salburg kickstarted the RPG series, and it’s getting the remake treatment on July 12th on PS4, PS5, PC and Nintendo Switch. The visuals are updated, with cute 3D character models and stages, while event illustrations are now animated.

Thankfully, the tutorial, exploration and collecting of materials have been improved. Long-time fans can look forward to new events and characters, but if you’re dreading the five-year time limit that past Atelier games are known for, don’t worry, as the new Unlimited Mode lets you play at your own pace.

Blackout Protocol

A twin-stick co-op shooter with rogue-lite elements vaguely based on the SCP? That’s Blackout Protocol in a nutshell. It launches on July 20th for PC as an early access title and sees the S2P Corporation venturing through Sector 13 to deal with supernatural entities. Shrouded in darkness, you must deal with randomly changing environments and friendly fire, using light to guide the way.

Some entities react differently to being illuminated, further adding to the unpredictability and your Panic Gauge, which can result in debilitating conditions. With skills that carry over between runs, you have to survive more than a few deaths to reach the bottom.

Koa and the Five Pirates of Mara

If you’re looking for a more laid-back platforming experience, Koa and the Five Pirates of Mara may be worth checking out. It sees Koa and Napopo journeying through the world of Mara (which some may recognize from Summer in Mara) and discovering all kinds of things, from pirates to volcanoes. There are collectables to collect and secrets to uncover, but those keen on speedrunning also have options.

With eight different levels, skins to unlock, characters to meet, and sailing, Koa and the Five Pirates of Mara promises a fun, colorful adventure. It releases on July 27th for PS4, PS5, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, PC and Nintendo Switch.