Gaming site Noisy Pixel has had the opportunity to interview Gust producer, Junzo Hosoi, who was appointed as the head of the company in 2020. Hosoi talked to the site about the Atelier series and explained to the site that if Atelier Ryza: Ever Darkness & the Secret Hideout had been a commercial failure, then the entire franchise could well have been canned. Thankfully, the series was a big success for Gust and Atelier Yumia: The Alchemist of Memories & the Envisioned Land looks to be shaping up to be something special for fans of the series.
“When I stepped in as producer, the pressure was immense. If Ryza failed, it could have been the end of the Atelier series.”
“For me, Atelier Ryza was the most challenging project. The pressure was incredible, but it ended up opening new doors for the entire franchise.”
Before the Ryza series came along, my knowledge of the Atelier franchise was very limited (I think I knew little of the Sophie series but it was mainly cuz of the character’s appearance in Warriors All-Stars). Now I enjoy the whole franchise a lot and most of it is thanks to Ryza. ^^
I mean Atelier Ryza has appealing character designs which helped it sell plus people liked her and the cast for gooning and non gooning reasons plus gameplay played a factor. You need a blend of character designs, how well liked the cast are and gameplay, graphics don’t really matter just as long as it doesn’t look like total buttcheeks.
The Arland Arc was the last arc I thoroughly enjoyed. I haven’t really played any games in the series since atelier Ayesha, which was the last one bought for the PS3. THIS however, looks really good. I like the turn base gameplay, but turning it into an action RPG is what the game needed.
I got the first 2 games. I’ll buy the 3rd game one day.
And see what happens when you ignore the idiots complaining about fanservice: it bloody sells!