Okay JRPG, worst Atelier game I've ever played. If you want to enjoy the game, don't build items/equipment with alchemy (core game mechanic), and don't use items in combat (also core game mechanic). The difficulty only matters in the first hour of the game, and is irrelevant afterwards.

I've never played a game where the lack of difficulty (even on the hardest setting) detracted from the game so much. There's never any reason to care about anything happening in a battle, supposedly dramatic story events are cheapened, and there's so many aspects of the game that you just never engage with. And it's to such a degree, too.

You could just 10x the stats of every enemy, and it might be a bit better, but there's so much that needs to change balance wise throughout the game. Why does the block button even exist? Even the final boss doesn't do any damage.

I don't think it will ever be fixed, so I can't recommend the game, despite have played it through and completed it.

Atelier Yumia is a bit of a departure from some of the usual Atelier norms that we're used to, but is a great game in its own right.

Well, it's an Atelier game, so you just know the characters are going to be fantastic. Each of the party members has their own personality, but they're all lovable in their own way. Everyone needs a friend like Isla, and Victor is a perfect husbando. Yumia herself I wasn't sure of at the start, but she definitely grows on you as you play through the game and learn more about her.

The same can be said about the story - the beginning is a bit rough, and I was genuinely questioning why I bought the game on release day, as for the first region of the game the story is....nothing worth writing about. But it picks up in the second region and keeps you interested the rest of the way through the game, always wanting to know more. I can't say more without going into spoiler territory, but just trust me and give it time if it doesn't immediately grip you. Have faith in Gust.


Okay so this is where the game really departs from the series' norms. I mean, an open world with base building? I know we've had elements of both before, but the way it's done here is a lot more simplified. The open world elements do make sense within the story of the game, but it's a very Ubisoft formula that we've seen 100 times before in other games, so it's nothing groundbreaking.

The alchemy is also much more simplified from the other games. It does work within the context of the story, and I suppose it's probably good for beginners to the series. But it is one element of the game that really had me missing the older games. It's not to say Yumia's system is bad, I'm sure there are those that would actually prefer not having to grind out specific materials and just be able to use whatever, but it's not to my personal preferences in what I'm used to in an Atelier game.

As for the combat.....it has the bones of something really great. But it's just way too easy. Like, the Dodge > Precision Counter mechanic is so fun, and the animations of all your party members' attacks are brilliant. But the battle is just over so quickly that you don't get to enjoy the brilliance of it all. Especially if you utilise the alchemy to make an OP item of each element - you just stun enemies with your gun before entering battle, and then you get to OHKO with a Superior Grimoire Kame-Hame-Ha Combo Attack and it's over. Which is a shame, because if the battles were longer or more difficult, I think the battle system would be really really fun. Yes, you could just avoid making OP items, but it's an Atelier game, I need a 999 Quality item, it's in my blood!!!!


So the performance out the box is not the best on Steam Deck. The default graphics settings make everything look...blurry, like it's not finished rendering? But if you play with the settings, turn some of the options off/down (not too low), then the game looks significantly better on Steam Deck.

Graphics issue above aside, the game ran perfectly fine. I did get crashes twice in my playtime, but one was when I was zooming around in a busy area, and the other was when I was save-reloading constantly to grind Particles. So I guess I pushed my Deck too much in those instances. But the performance was otherwise fine.


Great game, totally different from your usual Atelier games, but it's good that Gust tries something different with each series. I look forward to a sequel!

TBH this game is very disappointing, as a avid Atelier player I can't recommend this game. First of all PC port is pretty bad as it consistently locks up every couple of minutes (15-30 minutes) even on high end specs. (7900xtx and 7950x3d) Lowering the settings doesn't help. Secondly, the game have many disappointed aspects such as the alchemy system which the lack the depth is a downgrade from previous entries. Also the battles and music are not as fun as it use to be. Third visually it looks ok which isn't good compare to past games considering nowadays most other games like Zelda including Gacha games like Genshin Impact, Honkai Star Rail, Wuthering Waves etc. have better visual quality than this game. The only thing this game is going for is the story. It's a great story but the performance issues ruins it overall. Overall, for $70 it's not worth it. Don't buy until they fix the issues. It's ashame as I wanted to like this game but can't do it. Side note: Intel Xess isn't enough to provide a good experience and upscalers like FSR and DLSS should be mandatory as that's where most people are using. Let's hope for a fix or the devs will have to come up with something better.
This review comes out mean but if enjoy this game then continue on. Don't let people stop you from having a good time. I'm just pointing out that's the game didn't provide what I was hoping for.