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The latest Famitsu and Dengeki PlayStation have revealed a new Atelier game from developer Gust and publisher Koei Tecmo.
The new game is titled Nelke & the Legendary Alchemists: Ateliers of the New World, and it will release sometime later this year in Japan across PlayStation 4, PS Vita, and the Nintendo Switch.
The protagonist is named Nelke von Luchetam (voice by Rina Honnizumi), the daughter of a noble that is worshiped by the ages. While having no alchemical talents or skills, she is appointed the director of the Vestabalt region. While building up the village, she seeks out the “Sage’s Relic.”
The player will be able to construct buildings and vendors at free will as they develop the village, via consulting NPCs and spending in-game currency. The village starts out small, but can eventually become a thriving city. The level of freedom and fun-factor in building the town is the focus.
If you build an atelier and assign someone there, they will move into the village. Previous series protagonists are confirmed to return in this manner, and confirmed former protags include Ayesha, Klein, Marie, Meruru, Sophie, Viola, and Vayne. There are others teased but not confirmed right now.
Instead of having characters being changed from their original world, the returning protagonists are shown as humans living in the world of this new game. Despite this each character’s incoming story will vary pending their history.
Fans can expect the new game to include all the series’ hallmark elements like synthesis mechanics, field exploration, battling, and more.
Gust confirmed they’re making Legendary Alchemists an entirely new series where previous characters can return. While this is a new spinoff game, Gust said they’re already thinking about the next mainline Atelier title.
For now, you can visit the game’s official Japanese website here.
