Atelier Yumia: The Alchemist of Memories & the Envisioned Land is a competent RPG with fun characterization and mechanics that falters slightly in a few areas, but nevertheless makes up for its shortcomings with its charm--not unlike the many ditzy alchemists that star in these games at their outset. Even if Atelier Yumia doesn't quite nail the delivery with its attempt at an open world, it stands out from the series for trying.

Atelier Yumia takes place in the mysterious land of Aladiss, where Yumia Leissfeldt works with the Aladiss Research Team in surveying the continent. Yumia's story is notably darker in tone than the other Atelier games; here, Yumia has to fend off distrust from her colleagues, given that alchemy is considered a "taboo" art because of Aladissian civilization having been destroyed in an Alchemy-related disaster. Even though Yumia's synthesized tools can be immensely useful to the research effort, she constantly finds herself the target of suspicion from her peers. Given how bright and cheery the Atelier games usually are, it's startling to have a game that so blatantly shows our protagonist as a target of discrimination.

Yumia herself, however, is a worthy member of the Atelier series' legacy. While she may appear to be more mature than her peers Sophie or Ryza, she's actually around the same age as them--with a charming clumsy streak to her. Details like her stumbling over her heels during a victory backflip or her ahoge reflecting her mood do a good job of keeping the mood from becoming too dour in light of her many turmoils and troubles. Yumia's friends are similarly loveable; while it nevertheless takes a bit to get through their initial nature, the interactions between them (with or without Yumia) are up to series par. So far, so good.

A lot of work was put into adapting Atelier Yumia into an open-world format--the biggest point towards that being that Yumia doesn't use a cauldron for synthesis. Like any good open world, Aladiss has key points that need exploring in order to expand your map, as well as minor landmarks you can activate for goodies. As Yumia explores Aladiss, she can construct new bases at certain points around the world, which can include all of the basic sundries needed for synthesis (like a workbench or an altar). Sure, there's a bespoke atelier Yumia works out of (read: a crumbling shrine), but it's a lot more fun to build your own ideal base from the ground up. There are tons of styles for walls and furniture to find, as well as a few premade layouts you can rely on if architecture is a bit beyond you. There are also some specialized edifices you can construct that help Yumia with her items, like a warehouse for expanding her storage or a greenhouse for passively growing plant-based ingredients. There are, however, a few hiccups with the system; you can only construct on specific plots, and working within the limitations of these areas can be challenging. On one occasion, I was trying to make a cozy lean-to at a campsite, only for the floor to be just a bit too big for the space allotted (the edges of the floor would always poke out of the building perimeter by a hair). This cramped my style while also complicating my placement of furniture like couches or beds--which are vital to increase the Research Team's comfort level in an area (which in turn can grant you vital item recipes). The build mode is also rather cumbersome in tight places; upon customizing the living space of a warehouse, I found myself constantly fighting the camera to put down a carpet or lights without clipping through the walls. As an aside: "special" edifices like the Warehouse count as whole bespoke structures and can't really be "customized," in my experience. So my attempts at turning a warehouse into an auxiliary Atelier with better lighting fixtures were dashed once I placed the Synthesis pedestal and it attached to the ground underneath the warehouse floor. Ceiling lights similarly wouldn't attach to the ceiling.

The upside is that synthesis itself is as breezy as ever (though I won't pretend I understand it any better than other Atelier synthesis methods). You now have a variety of alchemy cores you can "activate" with ingredients as you synthesize an item, with better ingredients creating more resonances that increase item effects while also increasing item quality. As usual, you can also synthesize new weapons and armor for your party, while also synthesizing tools for battle (more on those later). In an appreciated twist, you can also re-synthesize items you have equipped, improving their quality or effects without having to make a whole new item or remove equipment. There's also a system for improving recipes via particles found through exploration, which can grant extra copies of items upon synthesis or even extra alchemy cores. There's also a "simple Synthesis" system for making items used in exploration, which doesn't require a pedestal. While simple synthesis as a system insists upon itself (why are zipline gloves one-use only?), it's easy enough to take a moment to make extra bullets or repair kits.

Combat is breezy, as befits an Atelier game, but it does lack a touch of depth. This time around, combat is real-time, and actively set in whichever spot you bump into monsters. Your attacks work off of timed cooldowns, with a number of uses for each one (and extra uses granted if you attack stunned enemies). It's easy enough, but also a bit too easy to fall into the pattern of just mindlessly mashing buttons until enemies are pummeled to death. There is a hair of strategy to be found in dodging attacks in real-time, with MMORPG-style flashing spots indicating areas that are targeted for attack; you can block or time dodges for bonuses, or even mix stepping out-of-range (which opens up a second set of ranged attacks). Stunned enemies can also be left vulnerable to Friend Actions, wherein two party members gang up with one of your synthesized combat items for a flashy combo, and proper dodge timing can even activate special counters. Finally, every playable character has their own unique gimmick during fights, like Yumia storing mana to buff a single Item use or Viktor accumulating Piles to buff his ranged pile driver skills. Unfortunately, a lot of these nifty features are gated behind level-ups or even investing skill points into them, as opposed to naturally unlocking them through gameplay.

While I was worried battles would be entirely too easy, boss fights at least throw you for a loop. One noteworthy encounter seamlessly transitioned from combat to a cutscene wherein Yumia was left fighting alone for a bit, only for her companions to heroically return to the fray once enough damage had been dealt to the boss. It's here that proper dodging and blocking also comes into play, especially given the limited options for healing. It's a shame we don't get more of these cinematic encounters, but I appreciate the effort in mixing up the formula.

Beyond that, Atelier Yumia is at its best when its mixing the basics of an Atelier game--searching for ingredients, searching for recipes, exploring the world--with the conceits of an open-world game (discovering teleport points, finding landmarks, solving minor environmental puzzles to unlock bonuses). If there's a game that is definitely all the better for giving us the opportunity to make our own secret base and decorate it to our heart's content, it's Atelier Yumia. While there are definitely a lot of minor quibbles I'd hope to see improved in a possible sequel (Atelier protags do tend to get their own bespoke trilogies, after all), I can wholly vouch for The Alchemist of Memories & the Envisioned Land as a fun, breezy title perfect for ringing in the springtime.