With digital pre-orders now open for Atelier Resleriana: The Red Alchemist and the White Guardian, we were grateful for the opportunity to interview general producer Junzo Hosoi and development producer Yasunori Sakuda about the upcoming game.
Nintendo Insider: I thought I’d start with reflecting on where the Atelier series is now compared to a decade ago. In recent years, the series’ popularity has expanded considerably among its western audience. How encouraging has this been for the team to see how rapidly its fanbase has grown, and has that had any impact on how you approach developing a new game in the series?
Junzo Hosoi: We are truly grateful. The rising number of Atelier series fans overseas has become a huge encouragement for the development team. But I believe this result is not just because of us, but the players as well, who are interested in these kinds of interviews and who support us.
We will continue to study globally popular titles and continue to challenge ourselves with titles that have the global market in mind, such as Atelier Yumia, for many players to enjoy. I would like to continue creating works that will earn the fans’ support.
Nintendo Insider: How strongly is this new adventure connected to Atelier Resleriana: Forgotten Alchemy and the Polar Night Liberator? Can it be played as a standalone experience, or has it been created with an expectation that players will have experienced the mobile game?
Yasunori Sakuda: This game takes place within the same setting as the previous Resleriana, so we partially used its system as reference. However, this is a completely new title, with a plot that takes place within the same timeframe as the mobile game, but in a different region.
For those who have played the mobile game, this might be thought of as a “spin-off” of sorts. These players will be able to see connections to the original game, but those who have never played the mobile version can experience this game as a completely new title.
For example, the area surrounding Hallfein, which is explored during early game, will be a completely new place, which means even newcomers will be able to step into it without issues.
Nintendo Insider: Atelier Resleriana: The Red Alchemist and the White Guardian appears to return to what I would describe as the series’ “classic” design, compared with the new direction taken for Atelier Yumia: The Alchemist of Memories and the Envisioned Land. How have you looked to continue to build on what fans have come to expect from this foundation?
Junzo Hosoi: Atelier Yumia was created with the global market in mind and to be a more “challenging Atelier”, whereas this title was created with the concept of being more of a “traditional Atelier” title. Moving forward, I think it would be good for the Atelier series to be developed having both the “challenging” and the “traditional” Atelier. For us, we believe this title can be used as a base to push out new forms of command battles, a synthesis system with highly difficult elements, and many more possibilities.
Nintendo Insider: For those who may still be unfamiliar with the series, would you recommend Atelier Resleriana: The Red Alchemist and the White Guardian as an entry point?
Yasunori Sakuda: As this is a crossover title, a lot of characters from past games will appear. There’s a lot of different opinions about this point, but I think this title can be recommended to players new to the series precisely because it’s a crossover. I would like it if those who are interested in a specific character would play the series they originally appeared in.
Nintendo Insider: Have there been any new additions to the Battle or Synthesis systems that you would like to highlight for new and returning fans?
Yasunori Sakuda: The synthesis system uses a color linking system called “Gift Color”. Ingredients will gain certain traits depending on the color order and new items can be created as players add new colors and specific ingredients to the mix. 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.
We have also added the “Unite” feature for battles. A gauge will fill up as the battle progresses and once it reaches a certain amount, it’s possible to unleash a “Unite Attack” based on the character action order. Once the “Unite” gauge is full, players will enter the “Unite Burst” state, which links the “Unite Attack” and the character’s special move. We made it with the intention of creating the feeling of a united front with companion characters.
Nintendo Insider: This game introduces ever-changing multi-level dungeons called Dimensional Paths. How did the team approach designing these, and can their difficulty levels be changed so that players can continue to challenge themselves?
Yasunori Sakuda: Dimensional Paths are several different types of multi-level dungeons, each one with up to 4 difficulty levels. Except for the lowest level, all other levels are there as a replayability feature, so those who want to focus on the story don’t necessarily need to challenge it.
For those who want to challenge themselves in battles or experience more synthesis can opt for a higher difficulty level and aim for better rewards. They can choose to further challenge themselves once they clear the game, or take on the challenge as their characters get stronger throughout the story.
Nintendo Insider: The game stars Willbell, Totori and Sophie as returning characters. How did the team choose which characters would make an appearance?
Junzo Hosoi: There are a lot of series within the Atelier series, so we wanted to include as many different characters from them as possible. For Raze in particular, we created his first 3D model for the original Resleriana, so we selected him since we wanted fans to enjoy this. Another reason is that the story of this title takes place at the same time as the second half of the first part of the original Resleriana, so we chose characters that could be in Hallfein during that time.
We also selected them considering the balance in a party. If only alchemists were chosen it would become unbalanced, so gave characters such as Raze and Wilbell, a swordsman and a witch respectively, an attacker-like role.
Nintendo Insider: Can you say whether having existing save data from previous Atelier games will unlock any bonus content (e.g. costumes) in Atelier Resleriana: The Red Alchemist and the White Guardian?
Yasunori Sakuda: There is no save data carry over or bonus system in place.
Nintendo Insider: With Nintendo Switch 2 now out, has the team had a chance to explore any opportunities with the new hardware – whether that be an enhanced “Nintendo Switch 2 Edition” or any visual or performance improvements compared to playing the game on the original Nintendo Switch?
Junzo Hosoi: 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.
Nintendo Insider: What are you most excited for players to experience in Atelier Resleriana: The Red Alchemist and the White Guardian?
Junzo Hosoi: Since this is the Atelier series, I would like to bring attention to the synthesis system. Since the “linking colors” has been matched to the series’ titles, it has become a completely different system for consoles. Linking colors looks very simple, but it has become a very deep system.
We are following the “The more time you put into it, the more benefits you get” concept for this game, so while aiming for the strongest items is quite challenging, there’s definitely a difference between those who spend the time challenging themselves and those who prefer not to. Of course, those who just want to clear the game won’t need to dig deep into this aspect, but since players can now create ultra-powerful items, I hope they will take on that challenge.
Additionally, players will be able to meet many characters from various series, so please look forward to it!
Atelier Resleriana: The Red Alchemist and the White Guardian will be released at retail and digitally on the Nintendo eShop for Nintendo Switch worldwide on 26 September 2025.
