Atelier Resleriana interview – devs talk visual style, alchemy system, going back to turn-based battles, more

Atelier Resleriana: The Red Alchemist & the White Guardian will soon be launching on Nintendo Switch, so to learn a bit more about the game and its development, we caught up with the team for an interview. General producer Junzo Hosoi and development producer Yasunori Sakuda were kind enough to answer a few of our questions.

Between the two, we’re able to hear more about the game’s visual style, alchemy system, and revisiting turn-based battles. They also fielded questions about why we’re getting this one so soon after Atelier Yumia, and we couldn’t help but ask about Nintendo Switch 2.

Our full Atelier Resleriana interview can be found below. 

The Atelier series is known for its stunning art direction. Can you share how the visual style of Resleriana was developed?

JH: We look at current trends, searching for a turning-point for us. For the mobile version of Resleriana, we went with visuals that resembled illustrations, but with this title since the cel shading for console titles is stronger and brighter, we can improve the graphics in a different direction than mobile version and also compared to Atelier Yumia.

What inspired the aesthetic choices behind the designs for Rias and Slade?

YS: Rias is the first beast girl protagonist in the Atelier series. Since there are beast human in the world of Resleriana, we decided to feature this aspect and expand the setting. Additionally, as Rias’ birthplace differs from the Resleriana protagonists Resna and Valeria, her clothes were made to have a very different image from them.

From the start, when working in the Atelier series’ character design, we continuously discuss with the illustrators about how much “fantasy” should be added alongside the modern fashion elements. With that in mind, for Rias’ design, we have moved forward with a closer eye on modern fashion trends for a more modern look compared to when we designed Resna and Valeria.

As for Slade, he’s the first male protagonist in the Atelier series in a long time. Though we have created many male characters throughout the series, we didn’t want him to overlap with them, while also wanting him, as a protagonist, to look attractive as he moves. Additionally, since male characters tend to have short hair, we wanted his to be on the longer side and to make his weapon a bit different. That’s when the “Geist Core”, a mysterious tool he uses to attack was created along with its feature that is linked to this game’s world.

Atelier titles are known for their heartfelt narratives and character growth. What themes are central to Resleriana’s story, and what sets Slade and Rias apart from past protagonists?

JH: The theme of this story is “Finding hope and recovering what was once lost”. Up until now, our titles have started from rural towns, unexplored lands or abandoned circumstances. However, the stage for this story is the town of Hallfein, which was destroyed by a past disaster. As characteristic for the series, there are not that many dark depictions, so it’s a story about restoring the town and connecting hope to the future.

I think what differentiates Rias and Slade from previous protagonists is the fact that neither of them were really involved with alchemy from the beginning, but this time we have depicted their encounter with alchemy. Please look forward to what kind of story will these two go through and what ending they are headed towards.

How has the alchemy system evolved in Resleriana compared to recent mainline entries in the series?

YS: With Resleriana, we have made the “carry over traits by connecting colors” basic flow simple on purpose, so that those who aren’t fans of the Atelier series could also play it without difficulty. This title’s synthesis continues in that same line, while also adding a mechanism in which the order the colors are connected affects which traits will be carried over primarily for players who enjoy being creative with synthesis.

The concept of “linking colors” in itself is simple, but since the synthesized item will inherit the linked color, a lot of trial and error is required in order to understand what kind of intermediate ingredients to create, what traits to carry over, how to carry over or blend ideal traits, etc.

Of course, those who just want to clear the game won’t need to dig deep into synthesis, but please try to create your own unique and powerful items.

More recent Atelier entries have started to feature real-time combat, but Resleriana has turn-based battles. How did the team decide on using that format?

JH: We are always thinking about how to keep improving the Atelier series. With Atelier Yumia, for example, we proactively included elements from the current trends in RPGs, such as open world, battles with high action elements etc., which allowed us to extend the RPG experience. But on the other hand, we have always made turn-based RPGs and have received a lot of requests for its return from the fans. With that in mind, we wanted to create a separate line from Atelier Yumia that sticks to the “traditional Atelier” to expand those players, so we went with the turn-based system for this title.

However, as turn-based command battles have a bit more of waiting time compared to action-focused battles, we carefully set the tempo so that the players would not lose interest.

Can you talk about the challenges or breakthroughs the team encountered while developing Resleriana simultaneously for console and PC platforms?

YS: As Atelier Resleriana was created for mobile devices, a lot of features had to be added in order to expand it to consoles. We were able to share the character models, but the system itself was quite different so we struggled a lot to implement features that were the same or above those of previous Atelier titles.

But thanks to all that, it also allowed the CG to evolve in a different direction from Atelier Yumia, and gave us a chance to work on the system flaws we weren’t able to improve until now.

Did the team run into any difficulties during development? Are there things you’re particularly proud of?

YS: From a development standpoint, it was quite difficult to rebuild the system. We thought a lot about what we should keep and what we should exclude from the mobile version of Resleriana and previous titles. On top of that, we were only able to properly create these features due to each member’s passion and determination to achieve our goals.

Atelier Yumia only just launched a few months ago. What was the decision behind releasing two entries in the series so close to each other?

JH: While we were developing Atelier Yumia, we planned to create a challenging new Atelier, alongside traditional Atelier titles. However, after the release of the mobile Resleriana game, we received a lot of comments from players saying they would like to experience the world of Resleriana on consoles. So we decided to move forward with our future plans. For the release date, we planned on announcing it during the 1 year anniversary of the original Resleriana and release it a year later on the 2nd anniversary.

Did the team ever consider making a Nintendo Switch 2 version? Will there be any benefits for those playing on the new console?

JH: From the start of development, our intent was to create only a Switch version. This title was created with the Switch in mind. It is possible to benefit from the power of the Switch 2.

Atelier Resleriana: The Red Alchemist & the White Guardian comes to Nintendo Switch on September 26, 2025. Read more about the game here.