Koei Tecmo’s first mobile game of the decade has finally landed in the West, with Atelier Resleriana: Forgotten Alchemy & the Liberator of Polar Night launching globally today, January 25 2024.
Four months on from the Japanese release, this gives fans of the franchise the world over a chance to experience its latest entry while also boosting the series’ visibility to new potential fans.
Building a brand
RPG veteran Gust has been developing Atelier games since 1997, with the bulk of the series’ entries landing on Sony consoles until Koei Tecmo absorbed the developer in 2014. Since then, new releases have expanded to Nintendo Switch and PC, and now Atelier Resleriana marks the first main series game for iOS and Android.
Gust developed this latest title while Koei Tecmo published it, also marking the latter’s first mobile game of the decade in Japan - though Dynasty Warriors M beat it to global launch by two months. Keeping true to Atelier's roots, the gameplay loop revolves around the series’ staple gathering, synthesis, and battles.
As a mobile (and Steam) game, Atelier Resleriana also features oft-lucrative gacha elements, combining with the RPG gameplay to form a title merging some of the industry’s highest-grossing genres. The story is set in a time when alchemy has long been abandoned, but protagonist Resna looks to revitalise the art and go on an adventure to the World’s End.
After the popularity of the Atelier Ryza trilogy broke records for the series, Gust’s latest project being a mobile game makes perfect sense; the series already expanded with an Atelier Ryza anime in 2023, and with over 25 years’ worth of characters to bring back through a mobile gacha, Gust and Koei have plenty of material to leverage with this IP.
The worldwide release is also noteworthy, especially when fellow Japanese game maker Square Enix has a tendency to release mobile gachas in Japan only - even when based on global franchises. Many such Square titles have recently reached or are approaching end of service, so if Koei’s new global launch proves a success, perhaps Square Enix will follow suit with more worldwide games too…
