The Atelier series takes a different approach from most roleplaying games, typically eschewing high-stakes plots and linear journeys for an easygoing experience. It's also an unusually prolific franchise in the genre, averaging close to one mainline release per year since its debut on the original PlayStation. Atelier Marie Remake: The Alchemist of Salburg, developed by Gust and published by Koei Tecmo, brings the game that started it all back to life for modern systems while offering its first official localization outside of Japan. Although many aspects of Atelier Marie Remake are simple compared to recent games in the series, an impressive level of care makes its fast-paced fun shine.

Atelier Marie Remake follows the most basic template of the series, following the journey of a young woman with talent in alchemy as she works toward a goal and masters her skills along the way. In this case, Marie is a troublesome student tasked with creating a high-ranked item by the end of a five-year span as an alternate path to graduation. Players can spend those five years (or longer, depending on the setting chosen at launch) crafting, battling monsters, and befriending companions in any order they please, so long as that path leads them to acquire the necessary recipes and items to pass the unusual exam.

A Compelling Gameplay Loop Hands Players The Reins

Alchemy is the centerpiece of Atelier Marie Remake's gameplay, although the system itself is simpler than its evolution in successive games. Each item uses a distinct crafting recipe with no room for substitutions and no way to alter the quality of the product, making ingredient supply and crafting time the players' only concerns. An exhaustion mechanic adds a chance for complex recipes to fail, but generous odds limit its impact on the gameplay. Successful alchemy can be used to meet various goals for money, friendship, or knowledge, setting up a steady creep forward that delivers a consistent sense of progress for even minor accomplishments.

The need to supply ingredients is the primary driver for players' interactions with the rest of the game, necessitating interactions with the town of Salburg and exploration of the steadily unlocked areas in the world beyond. Atelier Marie Remake transforms the original games' gathering areas from mostly static screens with random drops and encounters to 3D environments littered with ingredients and monsters, increasing players' agency and efficacy. Taking on alchemy requests and venturing out for the necessary components is satisfying enough to drive the game forward, even if features like combat offer minimal strategic depth and possibility.

Uneven Progression Can Be Mildly Distracting

One of the added features of the remake comes in the form of biannual goals set by Marie's teacher, which ensure that the player advances in all directions by enforcing standards for alchemy, exploration, and more. Players experienced in the franchise will likely find that these goals come in under their previous accomplishments once the game is well underway, making the feature feel trivial and revealing the generosity of the five-year limit. It's similarly easy to maximize the Reputation gained from completing tasks at the tavern in Salburg, and the few bosses that the game has to offer can also be surmounted without much friction on the Normal difficulty setting.

The other major area of advancement beyond Atelier Marie Remake's basic goals lies in relationships, with each possible member of Marie's adventuring party (and a couple of townspeople) featuring an individual array of events. These side characters offer the bulk of what narrative can be found in the game, which ranges from cartoonish gags to brief but sincere backstories. Players looking to advance as many relationships as possible will find the game's most incremental progression here, and mounting frequent short expeditions might make this goal achievable while slowing advancement on the easier objectives.

Polished Presentation Brings The Remake To Life

The smaller scale and shorter length might make Atelier Marie Remake a less attractive purchase than other games in the series, but the work that Gust put into updating the game is self-evident. With 3D graphics, modern UI, a re-orchestrated soundtrack, and freshly illustrated character and story art, every aesthetic element of Atelier Marie comes to new life in the modern presentation. Crucially, the new approach manages to retain the original game's charm, with chibi characters and vibrant environments reinterpreting but not overwriting its cutesy appeal.

The new take on Atelier Marie feels even better than it looks, with snappy and responsive menus and gameplay. Battles can be played at up to 3x speed, but the simplistic turn-based encounters are efficient even at the baseline. The most impressive feature on the PS4 is the complete lack of loading screens, with seamless transitions between every environment and task. An unlimited timer presents a new alternative to the five-year limit, inviting newcomers concerned about their rate of progress. Everything amounts to a fast, fluid experience, and with no apparent bugs in the course of a playthrough, very little gets in the way of the game's fun.

Final Thoughts & Review Score

Atelier Marie Remake: The Alchemist of Salburg is a mostly excellent update to a classic RPG and a great game for series fans who want some quick and easy alchemy. A polished approach to modernization brings a host of improvements, with a mistuned rate of progression presenting the only notable downside. Although Atelier Marie Remake may not scratch the roleplaying itch for hardcore gamers or provide the expansive experience of the Atelier Ryza games, its unique charms help it rise to the standard of quality that the franchise is known for delivering.

Source: PlayStation/YouTube

Atelier Marie Remake: The Alchemist of Salburg releases July 12, 2023 for PC, PS4, PS5, and Nintendo Switch. Screen Rant was provided with a PlayStation 4 download code for the purpose of this review.