Look, I'm about to hit you with some JRPG titles so long that they feel silly, but stick with me here because jamming the crowbar of curiosity in the latest entry in Gust's cutesy crafting-heavy JRPG series is beyond intriguing. You see, the just released Atelier Resleriana: The Red Alchemist & The White Guardian sort of is and isn't a sequel to 2023's mobile gacha game Atelier Resleriana: Forgotten Alchemy and the Polar Night Liberator (and it's also completely different to Atelier Yumia: The Alchemist of Memories and the Envisioned Land which also released earlier this year). Note that down. We're talking about two games, both called Atelier Resleriana, and how one broke me, and the other put me back together.
Not only do both games share a main title, but, confusingly, they're officially they're even both considered to be Atelier 25. I've been an on-and-off but consistently devoted fan of Atelier over the years (mostly from PS3 onward), so it annoyed me to no end that what felt like a gacha mobile spin-off with Atelier Resleriana FP was considered the next mainline game – and I wasn't the only one. When it eventually came out globally in 2024 I bounced right off it, then didn't end up making time for Atelier Yumia, either. Only when I saw the sunsetting of Atelier Resleriana FP's global release after barely a year did I realize – this mobile move had made me slip right off the series altogether. Which is why I'm thrilled to say that Atelier Resleriana RW has managed to pull me right back. This is a make-good that has worked on me.
