Well, this is a dubious distinction I doubt any developer desires. Dust off the rusty trophy, friends: Atelier Yumia: The Alchemist of Memories & the Envisioned Land Nintendo Switch 2 Edition is the worst Switch 2 Edition this reviewer has seen thus far. If you take anything away from this review, let it be that you absolutely should not buy the Switch 2 Edition of this game. If you already own the original Switch version, play it in Boosted Mode on your Switch 2 instead. Do not under any circumstances purchase and apply this “upgrade”. You’ll only find yourself searching for a handy guide to remove it if you do. Let’s hope this one gets updated, because it’s really that bad.
Atelier Yumia: The Alchemist of Memories & the Envisioned Land was released in early 2025 on the usual array of platforms, including the original Switch. It mixes up the format of the Atelier series a fair bit, adding an open-world element somewhat akin to things like Genshin Impact or The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. It’s a really cool game, and while it has some issues with its design, they’re the sort that will likely get ironed out as the series goes on. I strongly recommend the game to Atelier fans and general RPG enjoyers alike. The Switch visibly struggled with Atelier Yumia’s expanded scope, and with the Switch 2’s launch so close, I had some expectations of a Switch 2 Edition upgrade coming at some point.
The Switch 2 Edition finally appeared, pretty much out of nowhere, in early June. As I am a trusting soul, I immediately grabbed the paid upgrade DLC and fired the game up for a fresh playthrough with gloriously upgraded visuals. Or, you know, slightly upgraded? Maybe a more stable framerate? Anything? That this review is coming after a few weeks is a combination of sheer disappointment, hopes that it would be quickly patched, and being unable to play the game for very long at a time without feeling nauseous.
On paper, the promise is all the stuff you want to see. Improved resolution and framerate, shorter loading times, and even the option to use GameShare to play with others. Not sure if this is the kind of game you necessarily would want to play with others, but options are nice. It even throws in a few extra items for good measure. The graphical stuff manifests with two different settings to choose from: Quality or Performance. I’ll tell you right away to keep far away from Quality. It might look nice in screenshots, but the framerate is so poor it’s practically unplayable this way, especially in handheld mode.
I get the impression that Performance mode would be better, but something weird is going on with the frame pacing here. The game seems to be trying to hang around the 30 frames per second mark, but it stutters and hitches up frequently. Just sweeping the camera around makes the problem very apparent, and the busier the area is, the worse things get. It happens in both docked and handheld mode, too. This stuttering and hitching make the game extremely uncomfortable to play, and whatever other benefits you’re getting with the Switch 2 Edition are not worth putting up with this. It’s a shame because other aspects of the visuals look a lot better here, but the performance issues spoil the whole soup.
It’s so completely odd and damaging to the experience that I have to assume it’s unintentional. I sincerely hope that Koei Tecmo Games patches the Switch 2 Edition of Atelier Yumia to sort out these hitches and stutters, because as it stands now, I really can’t recommend this version of the game to anyone. Atelier Yumia is a really great game, but if you really want to play the game on a Nintendo platform, you’re better off playing the original Switch version on your Switch 2 for the time being. Do not buy this “upgrade” unless Koei Tecmo fixes it.
Version Tested: Nintendo Switch 2
