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An Atelier gacha game? Atelier Resleriana is a beautiful slice-of-life game with limited gameplay

3K View2024-01-30

Atelier Resleriana

7.0

JRPGRPGCasualAdventureSingleplayerAnimeStory Rich

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SHOULD I PLAY ATELIER RESLERIANA?

If you’re a big fan of the Atelier franchise or are looking for a cute, chill gacha game, Atelier Resleriana definitely deserves a closer look. That said, if you’re expecting a full-scale Atelier game, Resleriana might be a disappointment. Officially speaking, this is a mainline entry in the Atelier series, but it feels like a spin-off. There are no environments to explore, and the crafting system is stripped down and simplified. It’s a fun, appealing game, and I definitely enjoyed my time with it, but it doesn’t compare to previous entries in the series.

TIME PLAYED

I played a little over four hours of Atelier Resleriana, which got me through several chapters of the main story. I also had time to take on side quests, craft a wide range of items, and unlock new characters via gacha pulls. There’s a ton of content to enjoy, and the game should keep Atelier fans busy for quite a while.

WHAT’S AWESOME ABOUT ATELIER RESLERIANA?

• Beautiful 3D visuals. If you like the cute characters and pastel color palettes of the Atelier series, you’ll love looking at Resleriana. The 3D character models are absolutely stunning, and the game finds plenty of opportunities to show them off. I was constantly treated to lavish animations, whether I was battling Punis or crafting items back at my atelier. There are also tons of gorgeous, fully voiced cutscenes that give the game some cinematic flair.

• Tons of Atelier fan service. While Atelier Resleriana features a brand-new alchemist, the game is filled with familiar faces. Part of the story involves alchemists from different universes being mysteriously summoned to Resleriana’s atelier. It’s an obvious setup for gacha mechanics, but it’s also a lot of fun. I’ve been playing Atelier games for more than a decade, so it was a blast to see some of my favorite characters interact with each other.

• Charming slice-of-life story. One of my favorite things about Atelier games is that they’re not about defeating an ancient evil or saving the world from certain doom. Resleriana has a lovely, laid-back story that puts its characters front and center. I don’t always need a game to have a high-stakes plot. Sometimes it’s just nice to watch likable characters hang out and enjoy each other’s company.

WHAT SUCKS ABOUT ATELIER RESLERIANA?

• There’s no depth. Atelier Resleriana isn’t a bad game, but it does feel pretty shallow. There’s no strategy to the turn-based battles, and none of the enemies I fought provided any sort of challenge. After a few fights, I turned on auto-battle and let things play out on their own. The crafting system is fine, but it’s very basic, and it doesn’t have any of the complexity you can find in other Atelier games. If you’re looking for an easy, relaxing game, you might like Resleriana’s streamlined gameplay, but I found myself wishing that the game had a little more to it.

• The gacha system is pretty stingy. I adore the Atelier series, so the prospect of pulling my favorite characters should be pretty tempting. Sadly, Resleriana’s greedy gacha system completely turned me off. The pull rate for high-tier characters is abysmal, and the options at lower tiers are pretty limited. I got a duplicate character on my third pull, which was really disappointing.

To make things worse, it’s extremely difficult to earn pulls through gameplay. After hours of play, I’d barely earned any in-game currency. It feels like Atelier Resleriana is afraid to reward players, and that’s not a quality I want in a gacha game.