Atelier Marie: The Alchemist of Salburg

Atelier Marie: The Alchemist of Salburg[lower-alpha 1] is a role-playing video game developed by Gust Co. Ltd., and the first title within the Atelier game series. It was first released on the PlayStation and, soon after, ported to the Sega Saturn and Microsoft Windows, eventually being bundled alongside Atelier Elie for the Sega Dreamcast and later PlayStation 2.[6] It has not been released outside Japan. However, a fan translation of the PlayStation 2 bundle was completed in 2018.

Atelier Marie: Alchemist of Salburg
Cover of the PlayStation version
Developer(s)Gust Co. Ltd.
Publisher(s)
Artist(s)Kohime Ohse[1]
Composer(s)Daisuke Achiwa
Toshiharu Yamanishi
Akira Tsuchiya[2]
SeriesAtelier
Platform(s)PlayStation, Sega Saturn, Microsoft Windows, Dreamcast, PlayStation 2, Android, iOS
ReleasePlayStation
Sega Saturn
  • JP: December 11, 1997
Microsoft Windows
Dreamcast
PlayStation 2
Android, iOS
Genre(s)Role-playing
Mode(s)Single-player

Plot

Marie is a 19-year-old student in Salburg, a make-believe medieval-style city. She is the worst student in her entire class, and is at the risk of expulsion. However, her teacher offers her a chance at salvation; Marie is given her own workshop (Atelier) in which she is given five years to produce something outstanding.

Characters
Marlone / Marie (マルローネ, Marurōne)
Voiced by: Haruna Ikezawa
The protagonist of the game. She has poor concentration which affects her academic performance, but she is nonetheless a clever alchemist.[8]
Schia Donnerstage (シア・ドナースターク, Shea Donorstark)
Voiced by: Tsumugi Ozawa
A 19-year-old girl from a wealthy family, who is Marie's best friend. She suffers from poor health.
Kreis Kuhl (クライス・キュール)
Voiced by: Takehito Koyasu
17-year-old apprentice alchemist and one of the academy's most talented students. He has a rude and arrogant attitude.
Ruven Filnir (ルーウェン・フィルニール)
Voiced by: Jūrōta Kosugi
A 17-year-old adventurer seeking his parents, who were lost due to war between the Shigsal and Domhaid kingdoms.
Hallesch Sleiman (ハレッシュ・スレイマン)
Voiced by: Jūrōta Kosugi
A 23-year-old adventurer who desires to become a knight, though he does not feel confident in his strength.
My Sextans (ミュー・セクスタンス)
Voiced by: Tsumugi Ozawa
A 20-year-old adventurer from the southern kingdom with a cheerful personality.
Enderk Jad (エンデルク・ヤード)
Voiced by: Jūrōta Kosugi
The 23-year-old commander of the royal guard, who is considered the most powerful of the kingdom's knights.

Gameplay

The game is centered around collecting ingredients, usually outside of town, creating items, and using the items for various quests or for use in battle. In battle, the player can have a maximum of two allies. Like Marie, these allies can attack, defend, use a strong attack, use items, or flee.

Music

The music was composed by the "G.S.T. Gust Sound Team Atelier So-La" consisting of Akira Tsuchiya, Daisuke Achiwa, and Toshiharu Yamanishi.[2] Tsuchiya went on to contribute towards all the Atelier titles up to Atelier Iris: Eternal Mana along with Gust's other prominent franchise, Ar tonelico. Yamanishi contributed to Atelier Elie as well, and Achiwa has contributed to most of the titles in the series since then.[9]

Development and release

Atelier Marie was developed by Gust Co. Ltd.. Series creator Shinichi Yoshiike liked creating and collecting things, and wanted to make a game that satisfied that part of himself. The inspiration for the game came from learning about alchemy in his university studies.[10]

Atelier Marie was released on various different platforms, with each succeeding port presenting additional feature updates. The Sega Saturn port, known as Atelier Marie version 1.3, added internal clock functionality which allowed specific messages to be played at certain times, such as during late nights, on holidays, or on Marlone's birthday. In addition, a number of additional events and a mini-game are also added. An enhanced edition titled Atelier Marie Plus was released on PlayStation on June 4, 1998. This version featured the additions from the Sega Saturn version with the exception of the internal clock (which was not supported by PlayStation), with the only new addition being DualShock rumble functionality support.

The game was bundled alongside Atelier Elie on the Sega Dreamcast and released on November 15, 2001. The first-print copies of the Dreamcast game were infected with the Kriz computer virus, which infected Microsoft Windows-based computers when the game disc was inserted and had no effect on the Dreamcast system itself. The screensaver virus erased the CMOS and BIOS settings, and attempted to overwrite files located on hard drives and the local network. The game was recalled by the publisher due to the virus.[11] A bundle with Atelier Elie was also released on PlayStation 2 on October 27, 2005.[12] On December 26, 2007, the game was released digitally on the PlayStation Network.[13]

Reception

Famitsu gave the original PlayStation version a review score of 32/40, the highest score for an Atelier title prior to Atelier Escha & Logy: Alchemists of the Dusk Sky. Atelier Marie Plus received a rating of 30/40 from Famitsu.

Notes
  1. Japanese: マリーのアトリエ ～ザールブルグの錬金術士～ Hepburn: Marī no Atorie ~Zāruburugu no Renkinjutsushi~

References
  1. "Punicove information on the game". Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved September 8, 2015.
  2. "Soundtrack information from the Video Game Music Database". Retrieved September 8, 2015.
  3. "マリーのアトリエ". Gust Co. Ltd. (in Japanese). Retrieved 2015-12-13.
  4. "マリーのアトリエ". Imagineer (in Japanese). Archived from the original on 2000-09-25. Retrieved 2015-12-13.
  5. "★☆★ ACHIEVEMENTS OF KOOL KIZZ AMUSEMENT WORKS,Inc. ★☆★". Kool Kizz (in Japanese). Archived from the original on 2001-12-08. Retrieved 2015-12-13.
  6. "Product information from Play-Asia". Retrieved September 8, 2015.
  7. "マリーのアトリエ Plus ～ザールブルグの錬金術士～". Gust Co. Ltd. (in Japanese). Retrieved 2020-01-15.
  8. "Official Website". Gust Co. Ltd. Retrieved September 8, 2015.
  9. "G.S.T. Gust Sound Team Atelier So-La page on VGMDB". Retrieved July 17, 2015.
  10. Siliconera - Atelier Series Creator Reflects On What An ‘Atelier-esque Game’ Is Like
  11. "Dreamcast game spreads virus". The Register. November 30, 2001. Archived from the original on December 13, 2015.
  12. "Gust Announces Atelier Remake". IGN. July 17, 2005.
  13. "SCEJ Adds Atelier Marie, More RPGs to PS Archives". RPG Fan. December 26, 2007.
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