Art direction keeps going downhill. It's more like Genshin than Atelier.

[Evangela]

I can't be the only one who feel like this. Atelier used to have the unique classic European mixed with anime art style and it was incredibly charming and different from everything else in the market.

I just loved these games a lot more when I explored the world in Arland, Dust, or Mysterious games. But since Ryza it became so bland. Not just the world design but the character designs and their clothes became more like mainstream games.

And now Yumia... everything I've seen so far is completely "Genshin-like". The art style, the character design, 3D character models... It's just Genshin and all the other Genshin clones.

I've been waiting so many years for Ryza trilogy to finally end, so that we can get a new trilogy, but how could they manage to get worse than Ryza is beyond me.

Can't they hire some better artist that suits the oldschool Atelier art style? Like Momopoco or Torino Aqua for the examples? C'mon... There are many amazing artists who will do great Atelier arts.

[Jeffer'son Airship]

I have to agree. I especially loved the style of Arland that was very French, It had a charm the newer games are lacking.

[1% Aoukar]

completely agree bad sadly genshin sells :/

[Chibi Life]

Went from cute girls to thick girls and now we're at tomboys. Hopefully I'll die before I get to see what's next

[somedude212]

It's not just the art direction but also the fact that the game as whole seems to be abandoning its root of being a down-to-earth alchemist in slice-of-life story (which made it stand out among other games during the series' earlier years) in favor of being a standard JRPG. I see lots of people commenting that the newest promo looks like the one for a Tales game, not an Atelier one.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S9YbckFBt04

[concisewon]

In a previous magazine interview, the producer mentioned that they were aware many veteran players preferred the old European-inspired clothing style. To cater to these nostalgic fans, they decided to retain this aesthetic in the mobile game and encouraged them to enjoy it there.

Personally, I think sticking to the old style may allow the series to survive in a niche, but embracing the mainstream appropriately offers greater room for growth. There are many elements we might not like but are undeniably effective, such as gacha systems and battle passes. However, I believe while keeping the protagonist's design mainstream, the supporting characters could offer more variety. In fact, Ryza 2 executed this quite well—Patty was adorable and dashing, while Serri was incredibly charming. Yet, Ryza 3 and Yumia opted for a uniform aesthetic across the cast, which I find perplexing.

[Chibi Life]

Originally posted by concisewon:

Personally, I think sticking to the old style may allow the series to survive in a niche, but embracing the mainstream appropriately offers greater room for growth.

Yes yes profits > everything else including long-term fans. Can't wait for this tomboy edition to the game. Gooners had a lot of fun with Ryza!

Disgusting. Nothing can just stay niche oh no, gotta convert it to the mainstream and sell out to gooners and drooling tards cuz $$$$$$$$$$$$$.

They can shove their gacha game up their @ss too. I don't play casinos

[Jeffer'son Airship]

The gacha game is so predatory it's tanking in even the heavy gacha markets.

[1% Aoukar]

i thought japanese games had heavyy gatcha regulations?

[Jeffer'son Airship]

Originally posted by 1% Aoukar:

i thought japanese games had heavyy gatcha regulations?

Nope. There's a regulation council but it's not legally binding at all. Several of the gacha companies formed it to try and stop Japan from creating strict laws (similar to the ESRB and other agencies.)

[Chariothe]

Originally posted by 1% Aoukar:

i thought japanese games had heavyy gatcha regulations?

nope I think that's China.
Japan consumes their trashes like FGO forever.
KT censored their Atelier gacha game and that's so lame.

[Bruno_Malta]

Do we at least know the expected boobies size of Yumia?

[Walrus Beard]

I can understand where you're coming from. It's important to cater to a core audience. Unfortunately, the audience for the Atelier games has remained relatively small throughout the series' lifetime. They found a formula that work with the Ryza games, and like any company, they want to make as much profit as possible. That means catering to a different audience.

[Chibi Life]

T&A solves all financial problems but over time companies tend to get too confident in T&A and sacrifice far too much gameplay quality hoping to milk it with as little production cost as possible.

I've seen it happen before and it will happen again. This is why I hated Ryza (besides the streamlining of the crafting system). I only see a dark future for Atelier where the mommy milkers, thunder thighs and elephant booties grow larger at the expense of the gameplay and story quality.

[Monterossa]

I don't know which game sell more copies, but Sophie 2 is a miles better Atelier game than the other post-Mysterious era games. Lulua is second to that. It's clear that the oldschool Atelier games are better than these modern ones with their high ambition to go AAA/global or whatever.

[1% Aoukar]

Originally posted by Monterossa:

I don't know which game sell more copies, but Sophie 2 is a miles better Atelier game than the other post-Mysterious era games. Lulua is second to that. It's clear that the oldschool Atelier games are better than these modern ones with their high ambition to go AAA/global or whatever.

according to google ryza sold half a million while sophie 2 sold 200k.
i wonder how many finished ryza vs sophie 2 though
I prefer sophie 2 as well over ryza