[Entrevista] We talk about Atelier Marie Remake, Ryza’s anime and the future of the franchise with Junzo Hosoi

A few weeks ago we brought you our impressions of Atelier Marie Remake, the long-awaited return to the origins of the franchise like and koei tecmo that It will arrive this July on Nintendo Switch. and other platforms. Now, as every year, we have had the pleasure of being able chat with Junzo Hosoi, franchise producer and head of the studio, to ask him questions about this upcoming game and the future of the franchise in general. If you want to take a look, you have the interview next.

Congratulations on the recent release of Atelier Ryza 3! At what point did you decide that you wanted to go back to the origins of the series with a remake of Atelier Marie?

Thank you so much! The Secret series with Ryza as the main character has been played by a lot of people, and the number of people who became interested in the Atelier series itself has increased. Among them, there are probably many who have an interest in the original Atelier Marie, but have never played it. In order to convey the origin of the series to these people, we have decided to make a remake of Atelier Marie.

The new look of the game, which mixes 2D illustrations with “chibi-style” models, is very attractive to us, how did you come up with it?

We are developing this game with the concept of a modern remake of the visual image of the time. Therefore, the style of mixing 2D illustrations and mini-characters used in the original work has been maintained in this work.

Actually, at first we were considering using life-size characters like the ones in the Ryza games, but we were concerned that it would come across as RPG like the current Atelier games. Atelier Marie has a stronger simulation game feel than current Atelier games, so that kind of visual aspect would cause a gap in the perception of the game. So we thought it would be best to create a 3D version with characters at a similar scale to the original version.

In addition to its renewed graphics, Atelier Marie Remake includes a new, more relaxed game mode and other things, could you tell us more about all these novelties?

“Ultimate Mode” allows you to play without worrying about the time limit until graduation. In normal mode, the graduation exam is forced to end after 5 years, but in “Ultimate Mode”, players can continue to play freely after the 6th year, and the end of the game will depend on the result of the exam.

Another key new feature is the addition of “Professor Ingrid’s Tasks”, which provide players with guidelines on what actions to take. In this feature, Professor Ingrid will regularly assEsports Extrashomework, and upon completion, the player will receive hints on how to pass the graduation exam.

What has been the biggest difficulty you have encountered this time in the development of Atelier Marie Remake?

The way of expressing the mini-characters is one of the points with which we have struggled the most in this project. Since mini-characters like the ones in this title are not common in recent Gust games, we had a hard time finding a way to make them look really adorable. However, it was worth the trial and error process, and I think we managed to express the cuteness not only in the design, but also in their facial expressions and gestures.

If Atelier Marie Remake is successful enough, would it be in your plans to continue developing remakes of classic installments of the series?

Well, there is the possibility. One of our goals is to make the entire Atelier series, from Atelier Marie to the latest title, available on digital stores. We believe that the next “Atelier” will be created based on some of the feedback we receive from players of past and recent titles.

Recently, an anime adaptation of Atelier Ryza has been announced. You haven’t adapted a game into anime since Atelier Escha and Logy, can you tell us how this project came to be?

As for the anime adaptation of Atelier Ryza, it’s something I’ve been wanting to make into an anime ever since we started planning the game, and through a series of lucky circumstances we’ve been able to do so. We’ve been preparing for this for several years, and I’m glad to see the great response we’ve received from all over the world!

Speaking of Escha and Logy, many of our readers have commented on the possibility of a male lead returning to the series, is that an option you would consider implementing in the future?

Depending on the future evolution of the series, it’s something we might reconsider.

Now that Ryza’s story arc is over and we’re going back to the beginning with Atelier Marie Remake, do you have any final thoughts you can share with us about the future of the franchise? Perhaps it would be interesting if Ryza returned as a master alchemist for a new main character.

Although I can’t talk about anything yet, there is something we are thinking about for the future of the “Atelier” series. Please look forward to it!

Thank you very much Hosoi-san!

Having said all this, we can only remind you that Atelier Marie Remake: The Alchemist of Salburg Coming to Nintendo Switch this coming July 13 digitally via the eShop, check it out if you’re curious about the origins of the franchise!