First announced in August, Atelier Resleriana: Forgotten Alchemy and the Polar Night Liberator launched in Japan on September 23. I’ve been patiently waiting to hear that it will receive a worldwide launch, and good news: it will! It is set to launch in 2024; no official date has been announced, though the App Store listing states it is expected on January 31 (likely a placeholder). The cinematic alchemy RPG is free to play, with in-app purchases. The game follows Resna, who dreams of spreading forgotten alchemy through the world. This is the series’ first new protagonist in four years.
A long time ago, the kingdom of Lantarna prospered thanks to the blessings of a white comet that passed overhead. The ability to harness the comet’s blessings became an art called alchemy, with practitioners being called alchemists. But the comet disappeared and its blessings are no longer available, so alchemy gradually faded from memories until it was entirely forgotten.
Many years later, Resna and Valeria have a fateful meeting. Each girl has her own motives and ambitions. Resna found hope in alchemy and is heading to the Capital before traveling to the World’s End where the source of the miracle is said to lie. Valeria has lost her memories and currently lives in the city while working as an adventurer for the Moonlight Society. Behind them in the shadow of a dark, mysterious group known as the Polar Night Alchemists. The two girls eventually get closer to the truth that lies dormant on the continent.
Each character has their own flock of friends. Resna has Izana, Roman, and Saskia. Valeria has Heidi, Flocke, and Lanze. While the game takes place in a brand new kingdom, familiar characters will pop up along the way. Expect to see Ryza, Firis, Monika, Shallistera, Escha, Logy, Ayesha, Marion, Keithgriff, Totori, Rorona, Iksel, Etsy, Raze, Vayn, and Judie.
Atelier Resleriana: Forgotten Alchemy and the Polar Night Liberator features a tactical, timeline-based battle system. There is an Effects Panel with a variety of effects to use building strategy to gain advantage during battle. The synthesis system is “optimised” – whatever that means – to make for easy, rewarding play. Combine character traits and materials to create your optimal solution. Characters can be enhanced using items, equipment created through synthesis, and Growboards. Growboards require the use of power-up materials, items, and Memoria. Memoria are illustration cards of famous scenes and what-ifs in the Atelier series.
Developed by Gust, and published by Koei Tecmo and Akatsuki Games, Atelier Resleriana: Forgotten Alchemy and the Polar Night Liberator will be released for iOS/Android and PC via Steam in 2024 worldwide. iPhones must be above iPhone XR/SE and above iOS 14. iPads must have more than 3GB of RAM and be above iPadOS 14. Android devices must be about Android 7.0 and RAM 4 GB, and the CPU must be above Snapdragon 835. The game is currently available for those platforms in Japan.
