出典 : Amazon.co.jp
We take an in-depth look at which of the Atelier series is the most popular, which has been attracting a lot of attention due to the success of Liza’s Atelier.
We examine fan favorites from a variety of perspectives, including sales, which is a barometer of popularity, character popularity, number of reviews, and more!
Outline of the Atelier Series
出典 : Amazon.co.jp
The Atelier series is a popular game that was once planned and marketed by Gusto.
The 1997 release of Marie’s Atelier was well-received, and as of November 2019, there are 21 regular and three handheld series and two crossovers (including the smartphone game Atelier Online) in the series.
In 2014, Gusto was merged into Koei Tecmo Games, and the game is currently developed by the Gusto Nagano Development Department within Koei Tecmo Games.
The genre is a role-playing game (RPG), but it is more of a combination of adventure game (ADV) and simulation game (SLG) content than a pure RPG, and is sometimes introduced as a SLG depending on the medium.
The common denominator throughout the series is that they are all stories in the same world.
The world is a standard European-style fantasy world in RPGs.
There are also monsters on the field.
And the most distinctive feature of the Atelier series is that the subject matter is alchemy and alchemists, and the stories mainly depict the daily life and interactions of alchemists, rather than the need to save the world.
The main objective of the player is to collect the materials found on the field, prepare recipes, reference books, and collection tools, and then concoct them to generate the desired items to accomplish the request within a period of time and increase the adventurer’s rank.
Each game is completed in its own right, but sequels with the same protagonist, or stories with a different protagonist but from the same region are referred to as the “XXX series” all together.
It’s usually switched to a new series every two or three works.
In almost all of them, the main character is an alchemist, and in many of them, the main character is a woman.
Some works have more than one character as the main character.
The difference in each work is the theme.
While the worldview and alchemy are the same, the purpose of the main character in the story is completely different, and the game design differs from one game to the next due to this.
The themes are not the same just because they are from the same series.
One of the features of this game is that it uses popular illustrators to design the characters.
The illustrators change for each series.
Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)
The first film, “Marie,” came in first place in terms of sales
出典 : Amazon.co.jp
Below are the sales figures for the entire Atelier series.
Saarburg Series
210,000 Marie’s Atelier: The Alchemist of Saarburg（1997）
161,000 Ellie’s Atelier – The Saarburg Alchemist 2（1998）
*90,000 Lily’s Atelier – The Saarburg Alchemist 3（2001）
Gramnert Series
*67,000 Youdie’s Atelier: The Alchemist of Gramnato（2002）
*59,000 Atelier Violato – The Alchemist of Gramnato 2（2003）
Iris Series
*81,000 Ilisu’s Atelier Eternal Mana（2004）
*58,000 Ilisu’s Atelier Eternal Mana2（2005）
*45,000 Ilisu’s Atelier Gran Phantasm（2006）
Manachemia Series
*47,000 Manachemia: Alchemists of the School（2007）
*48,000 Manachemia 2: The Lost School and the Alchemists（2008）
Arland Series
*77,000 Rorona’s Atelier: The Alchemist of Arland（2009）
127,000 Atelier Totorie: The Alchemist of Arland 2（2010）
138,000 Merle’s Atelier: The Alchemist of Arland 3（2011）
*50,000 Lurua’s Atelier: The Alchemist of Arland 4（2019）
The World of Twilight series
102,000 Asha’s Atelier: Alchemist of the Land of the Dusk（2012）
*79,000 Eska & Logy’s Atelier: Alchemist in the Dusk Sky（2013）
*70,000 Shirley’s Atelier: Alchemist of the Dusk Sea（2014）
Wonder Series
132,000 Sophie’s Atelier: The Mysterious Book Alchemist（2015）
*69,000 Phyllis’s Atelier: Alchemist on a Mysterious Journey（2016）
*43,000 Atelier of Liddy and Soule: The Alchemist of Mysterious Paintings（2017）
Other
*35,000 Nelke and the Legendary Alchemists: Atelier in the New Earth（2019）
*92,000 Liza’s Atelier: The Queen of Everlasting Darkness and Her Secret Lair（2019）
Portable Device Series
*41,000 Atelier of Leeds – The Alchemist of Ordole（2007）
*38,000 Annie’s Atelier: Alchemist of Serra Island（2009）
*22,000 Lina’s Atelier: Strahl’s Alchemist（2009）
※Excludes sales of low-priced versions and ports
The best-selling game in the series was the memorable first title, Marie’s Atelier.
At the time, consumer games were still going strong and the PlayStation was exploding thanks to the huge success of Final Fantasy VII.
Marie’s Atelier took advantage of this trend and became a hit.
The release of Plus, which added new elements, also began with this game.
The game was also ported to the Sega Saturn, Dreamcast, and PlayStation 2, and including all of these games, it was the top-selling game in the series in terms of total sales.
Character design was done by Ember Sakurase.
Although it was the first game in the series, the foundation of the system was already established, and the level of completion was understandable for it to be a hit.
The next game to sell was Ellie’s Atelier, the second in the Atelier series and the second in the Saarburg series.
It takes place a few years after the previous game, and although the main character has changed, many of the characters have been retained.
Character design was done by Isaemon Yamagata.
The blending system has been strengthened with the addition of “Blend Blending”, which allows for higher quality blending, and “Original Blending”, which allows players to create items not found in recipes.
This was a well-received orthodox and evolved version of Marie.
The third highest-selling game in the series was Merle’s Atelier.
The PS Vita port of “Meruru’s Atelier Plus” also sold well, with total sales approaching 200,000 copies.
While the first game was the highest-selling in most series, the Arland series saw a dramatic increase in sales with the second game, Atelier Totori no Atelier, and sales of Meruru also increased.
Bringing Mel Kishida to design the characters and moving the platform to the PlayStation 3, the series has made a dramatic visual evolution, bringing a glamorous twist to the Atelier series.
This Merle is themed around ‘pioneering’, and even newcomers to the Atelier series won’t be too lost as the objectives are easy to understand and visibly track your progress.
While the original PS3 version alone didn’t make it into the top three, Totori was a long-time hit on the PS Vita, and the final total sales seem to have exceeded 200,000.
Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)
