The is a franchise of bishoujo role-playing video games developed by Gust Corporation since 1997, originally being primarily for the PlayStation line of consoles. Main entries in the series have seen consistent releases for Microsoft Windows since 2015 and the Nintendo Switch since 2017. New games are released in the series on an almost yearly basis. The series was solely released in Japan and Asia until 2004, after which the series has seen worldwide releases.
The franchise centers around the concept of an atelier specialising in alchemy; the gameplay involves finding, collecting, and combining items in recipes to create better items, which allows the player to advance further in the game. Like many JRPGs, the franchise is mostly an anthology of multiple subseries with their own self-contained stories and heroines, sometimes having a completely different continuity in a different subseries. Most of the games focus on female characters, which used to be somewhat rare among Japanese role-playing franchises around the time of the series debut.
Several manga and two anime adaptations of titles from the series have been created so far. As of August 2023, the series has shipped more than 7.5 million units worldwide.
Common elements Alchemy is the distinguishing theme of the Atelier series. Players control the game's character, roaming the game world to collect objects to use in alchemy recipes to create new objects, including cooking ingredients, recovery items, tools, weapons, armor, and accessories. Synthesized objects are commonly required in order to create more powerful or potent objects through alchemy. Many of the games feature a method of transferring properties of one item from the recipe to the synthesized item. Recipes also often allow the substitution of items, which can either lend better properties to the final synthesized item, or can lead to the character thinking of a completely new recipe. The games generally feature a turn-based combat system, in which the items made through alchemy come into play, either to boost the character's abilities, or for offensive, defensive, or support items.
The games' stories are typically light-hearted and humorous, bordering on iyashikei, with often deriving conflict from a source other than an antagonist, and the player ends up with a large group of characters to explore the world with.
In many earlier games in the series, the player are given a limited amount of in-game days to accomplish one or more main objectives and actions like gathering items, traveling or synthesizing spend a portion of that time. Failure to accomplish the game's main tasks in time may cause the game to end abruptly or lead to a bad ending, though these time limits tend to be rather lenient. The first entry in the "Mysterious" Atelier subseries Atelier Sophie does away with the time limit system, but the second entry Atelier Firis has a time limit for completing the game's first major story objective, after which players can play at their leisure. The third entry in the Mysterious subseries, Atelier Lydie & Suelle, only briefly included a time limit for one objective in the middle of the game. Starting from Atelier Lulua, the time limit system was completely removed from following main installments of the series, with future remakes such as that of Atelier Marie making time limits an optional, pre-game "difficulty" setting that can be activated or removed entirely.
Games There have been 28 main games in the Atelier franchise, which are subdivided into 10 sub-series, each usually connected by a single keyword in their titles. There are three games in the Salburg series, two games in Gramnad series, three games in the Iris series, two games in the Mana-Khemia series, four games in the Arland series, three games in the Dusk series, four games in the Mysterious series, three games in the Secret series, one entry in the ongoing Memories series,2014-03-16, Atelier 'Dusk' sub-series third entry announced, Gematsu and two entries in the Resleriana series, although Forgotten Alchemy & the Liberator of Polar Night is a mobile gacha game crossover.
Debut Versions Name Series Platform Japanese release date North American release date European release date Australian release date Salburg PlayStation 1997-05-23 — — — Salburg PlayStation 1998-12-17 — — — Salburg PlayStation 2 2001-06-21 — — — Gramnad PlayStation 2 2002-06-27 — — — Gramnad PlayStation 2 2003-06-26 — — — Iris PlayStation 2 2004-05-27 2005-06-28 2006-03-17 2006-03-23 Iris PlayStation 2 2005-05-26 2006-04-25 2006-09-29 2006-10-12 Iris PlayStation 2 2006-06-29 2007-05-29 2007-08-03 2007-07-26 Mana PlayStation 2 2007-06-21 2008-03-31 2009-03-27 — Mana PlayStation 2 2008-05-29 2009-08-25 — — Arland PlayStation 3 2009-06-25 2010-09-28 2010-10-22 2010-10-28 Arland PlayStation 3 2010-06-24 2011-09-27 2011-09-30 2011-10-06 Arland PlayStation 3 2011-06-23 2012-05-29 2012-05-25 2012-05-31 Dusk PlayStation 3 2012-06-28 2013-03-05 2013-03-08 2013-03-07 Dusk PlayStation 3 2013-06-27 2014-03-11 2014-03-07 2014-03-06 Dusk PlayStation 3 2014-07-17 2015-03-10 2015-03-13 2015-03-20 Mysterious PlayStation 3PlayStation 4PlayStation VitaMicrosoft Windows 2015-11-19 2016-06-07 2016-06-10 2016-06-10 Mysterious PlayStation 4PlayStation VitaMicrosoft Windows 2016-11-02 2017-03-07 2017-03-10 2017-03-10 Mysterious Nintendo SwitchPlayStation 4PlayStation VitaMicrosoft Windows 2017-12-21 2018-03-27 2018-03-30 2018-03-27 Arland Nintendo SwitchPlayStation 4Microsoft Windows 2019-03-20 2019-05-21 2019-05-24 2019-05-24 Secret Nintendo SwitchPlayStation 4Microsoft Windows 2019-09-26 2019-10-29 2019-11-01 2019-11-01 Secret Nintendo SwitchPlayStation 4PlayStation 5Microsoft Windows 2020-12-03 2021-01-26 2021-01-29 2021-01-29 Mysterious Nintendo SwitchPlayStation 4Microsoft Windows 2022-02-24 2022-02-25 2022-02-25 2022-02-25 Secret Nintendo SwitchPlayStation 4PlayStation 5Microsoft Windows 2023-03-23 2023-03-24 2023-03-24 2023-03-24 Resleriana iOSAndroidMicrosoft Windows 2023-09-23 2024-01-25 2024-01-25 2024-01-25 Memories Microsoft WindowsPlayStation 4PlayStation 5Xbox OneXbox Series X/SNintendo Switch 2025-03-21 2025-03-21 2025-03-21 2025-03-21 Resleriana Microsoft WindowsPlayStation 4PlayStation 5Nintendo Switch 2025-9-26 2025-9-26 2025-9-26 2025-9-26 Memories Microsoft WindowsPlayStation 5Xbox Series X/SNintendo Switch 2 2027-02-25 2027-02-25 2027-02-25 2027-02-25
Side games In addition to the main games, several side games have been released.
Name Series Platform Japanese release date North American release date European release date Australian release date Salburg Game Boy Color 2000-01-08 — — — Salburg Game Boy Color 2000-01-08 — — — Salburg WonderSwan Color 2001-10-25 — — — Salburg PlayStation 2 2001-12-20 — — — Salburg Game Boy Advance 2003-01-24 — — — Salburg DoCoMo 504i and 504iS (i-mode) 2003-03-10 — — — Salburg EZ App (BREW) 2006-11-02 — — Salburg EZ App (BREW) 2006-11-02 — — Iris SoftBank 3G, FOMA90x Series 2006-12-01 — — — DS Nintendo DS 2007-04-19 — — — DS Nintendo DS 2009-03-12 2009-10-27 — — DS Nintendo DS 2009-12-22 — — — Salburg GREE 2012-02-02 — — — — PlayStation Portable 2012-04-12 — — — — iOSAndroid 2014-10-17 — — — — iOSAndroid 2018-10-03 2021-07-08 2021-07-08 2021-07-08 — Nintendo SwitchPlayStation 4PlayStation VitaMicrosoft Windows 2019-01-31 2019-03-26 2019-03-29 —
Remakes and ports Several of the series' titles were remade or ported, mostly for portable devices.
Name Series Platform Japanese release date North American release date European release date Australian release date Salburg Sega Saturn 1997-12-11 — — — Salburg PlayStation 1998-06-04 — — — Salburg Microsoft Windows 2000-04-28 — — — Salburg Microsoft Windows 2000-04-28 — — — Salburg Dreamcast 2001-11-15 — — — Salburg PlayStation 2 2002-04-04 — — — Salburg DoCoMo 504i, 504iS, 505i, 505iS and FOMA (i-mode) 2003-12-15 — — — Salburg au BREW 2003 — — — Salburg au BREW 2003 — — — Salburg au BREW 2003 — — — Salburg DoCoMO 504i, 505i, FOMA2071, 2102V series 2004-06-03 — — — Salburg PlayStation 2 2005-10-27 — — — Salburg Vodafone V703SH, V703SHf, V802SH, V804SH, V902SH, V903SH, V803T, V902T, V903T, V904T, 804SS, 804N 2006-04-03 — — — Salburg S! App 2006-06-03 — — — Salburg S! App 2006-11-02 — — Salburg S! App 2007-04- — — — Mana PlayStation Portable 2008-09-25 2009-03-10 2009-03-27 — Mana PlayStation Portable 2009-10-01 — — — Gramnad PlayStation Portable 2010-04-08 — — — Gramnad PlayStation Portable 2011-02-03 — — — Arland PlayStation Vita 2012-11-29 2013-03-19 2013-03-20 2013-03-20 Arland PlayStation Vita 2013-03-20 2013-09-03 2013-09-04 2013-09-04 Arland PlayStation 3PlayStation Vita 2013-11-21 2014-06-24 2014-06-20 2014-06-19Atelier Rorona Plus: The Alchemist of Arland DXArlandMicrosoft WindowsNintendo Switch2018-09-202018-12-042018-12-042018-12-04 Dusk PlayStation Vita 2014-03-27 2015-01-13 2015-02-11 2015-02-11Atelier Ayesha Plus: The Alchemist of Dusk DXDuskMicrosoft WindowsNintendo Switch2019-12-252020-01-142020-01-142020-01-14 Dusk PlayStation Vita 2015-01-22 2016-01-19 2016-01-20 2016-01-20Atelier Escha & Logy Plus: Alchemists of the Dusk Sky DXDuskMicrosoft WindowsNintendo Switch2019-12-252020-01-142020-01-142020-01-14 The Arland Atelier Trilogy Arland PlayStation 3 — 2015-10-13 2015-03-06 — Arland Nintendo 3DS 2015-06-04 — — — Dusk PlayStation Vita 2016-03-03 2017-01-17 2017-01-20 — Salburg Android, iOS 2018-02-28 — — — Arland Nintendo SwitchPlayStation 4Microsoft Windows 2018-09-20 2018-12-04 2018-12-04 2018-12-04DuskNintendo SwitchPlayStation 4Microsoft Windows2019-12-252020-01-142020-01-142020-01-14 Mysterious Nintendo SwitchPlayStation 4Microsoft Windows2021-04-222021-04-222021-04-222021-04-22SalburgNintendo SwitchPlayStation 4PlayStation 5Microsoft Windows2023-07-132023-07-132023-07-132023-07-13Atelier Ryza Secret Trilogy Deluxe PackSecretNintendo SwitchNintendo Switch 2PlayStation 4PlayStation 5Microsoft Windows2025-11-132025-11-132025-11-132025-11-13Atelier Yumia: The Alchemist of Memories & the Envisioned Land - Nintendo Switch 2 EditionMemoriesNintendo Switch 22026-06-092026-06-092026-06-092026-06-09
A Gust's official spelling is Viorate, as seen on the manga adaptation's and the original soundtrack's cover. B Release dates are one day earlier than listed here for specifically the North American Microsoft Windows releases from 2022 onwards. This is due to time zone considerations, as a single worldwide Windows version is released via Steam. Console releases follow the listed dates.
External Crossovers Marie from Atelier Marie: The Alchemist of Salburg, and Liliane Vehlendorf, Rozeluxe Meitzen, Whim and Rewrich Wallach from Mana Khemia 2 joins many other out of game characters in 2008's Cross Edge. Viorate from Atelier Viorate: The Alchemist of Gramnad 2 appears in the 2009 company-collaboration RPG, Trinity Universe released in the United States by NIS America (as "Violet"). Company-collaborative 2010 RPG Hyperdimension Neptunias in-game character Gust displays Atelier characters in numerous special attacks in the game. Gust also has a costume that directly resembles a costume from Atelier. She also has a hobby of making items out of strange ingredients, a play on the Atelier series' focus on alchemy. She returns for the reboot as an important story character but was later replaced by Broccoli in the remake. She also appeared in the Megami Tsuuhin manga on some chapters. As of January 2015, Koei Tecmo's My Gamecity Card Collection browser collectible card game features more than 170 Atelier-themed cards. Astrid Zexis, Rorolina Frixell, Cordelia von Feuerbach, Lionela Heinze and Pamela Ibis, from Atelier Rorona: The Alchemist of Arland appeared in 2013's Kaku-san-sei Million Arthur. Sterkenburg Cranach from Atelier Arland series, appeared in Warriors Orochi 3 Ultimate, sporting his Meruru appearance and his Rorona appearance as a downloadable content (DLC) costume.