Koei Tecmo has released a free demo for Atelier Yumia: The Alchemist of Memories & the Envisioned Land, ahead of the game’s full release on Friday. It’s available on PlayStation, Xbox, Nintendo Switch, and PC, and save data will transfer over to the full game.
The Atelier Yumia demo covers the game’s prologue, introducing the alchemist Yumia Liessfeldt and some of her companions and giving players a taste of the new combat and synthesis systems. Players will also be able to explore the open field of the Ligneus region, play around with some of the new exploration tools, gather ingredients, and get started with building their own base.
I’ve only played a little bit of the demo so far, but it already shows a lot of promise—and teases quite the shake-up of the Atelier formula. Combat is far more dynamic now, but without going full-blown “action game” a la Final Fantasy XVI, and exploration builds on ideas from the Ryza trilogy as far as how you move about and interact with the environment. An alchemist with a rifle is fun, y’all.
Atelier Yumia: The Alchemist of Memories & the Envisioned Land launches this Friday, 21 March, on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch, PC, and, in a first for the series, Xbox One and Xbox Series.