Atelier Marie Remake: The Alchemist of Salburg review

Marie Remake revisits the inaugural Atelier game, back when synthesis was simpler and your acquaintances demanded compensation.

For over a quarter of a century, GUST Corporation has captivated players with its beguiling portrayals of alchemy. Across 24 mainline entries and 17 spin-offs, ingredients have been gathered, before being mixed together in massive cauldrons. But this is hardly the only transformative feat found in the franchise. Habitually, the Yokohama-based developer depicts a naïve apprentice emerging into a self-assured expert, subsequently becoming a fixture of their community.

But it wasn’t until the sixth main entry, 2005’s Atelier Iris: Eternal Mana, that Western players officially finally got an opportunity to get in on the fun. Given the international success of more recent outings, GUST has decided to revisit the first effort in the franchise: 1997’s Atelier Marie: The Alchemist of Salburg. While it lacks much of the sophistication found in contemporary entries, fans might be absorbed by seeing the franchise’s early ambitions.

Academic Underachiever

Although not as nuanced as Atelier’s contemporary protagonists, Marlone is a likable lead. She’s instinctively curious, makes friends easily, and is refreshingly forgiving of others. But her studies pale in comparison to her social skills. At the prestigious Salburg Academy, her performance has been lackluster, with test scores that rank among the school’s worst. As such, a professor named Ingrid makes an ultimatum: with a loaner workshop for practice, she has five years to improve. Before the end of that period, she’s tasked with alchemizing a top-quality item or she’ll be kicked out of school.

Witnessing Marlone/Marie fret about the threat of academic expulsion makes her relatable. But interestingly, that isn’t the only turmoil at hand. Just outside the walls of the academy, there are murmurings about a mounting tension between kingdoms. Wisely, GUST never lets these events overshadow Marie’s journey toward redemption but mentions these incidents often enough to ensure the Academy doesn’t feel isolated.

Despite some new interactions, GUST likely felt obligated to remain true to the original game’s script. In the 26 years since the original Marie was released, role-playing games have ripened their depiction of relationships. And while the sense of camaraderie with fellow townsfolk is agreeable, your interactions will probably seem a bit superficial.

Marie, You’re (Almost) on Your Own

Mirroring real life, there’s a lot of autonomy amidst the pursuit of higher education and distractions can easily lead to your downfall. After some instructional guidance that demonstrates the core loop of gathering, fighting, friending, and synthesis, you’re largely your own. Sure, you’ll get quarterly assignments from Professor Ingrid as well as a new guide and in-game reference that helps keep track of things. But largely, you’re on your own with your actions determining which of the seven endings you’ll see.

Five years of play might sound like a long period of modeled time. But in execution, the span can quickly sail by. Every time you leave the atelier, gather a resource, or perform item synthesis will devour at least a day from your schedule. Likewise, venturing further away from the academy has its own burden on your timetable.

Discretionary Deadlines

But Atelier Marie Remake provides an option. You can elect to follow the five-year plan of the original, facing any repercussions at the end of your term. But if the pressures of time management are too much for you, this iteration permits players to cultivate Marie without worrying about a looming deadline. However, unless you’re extremely bothered by the presence of a schedule, the classic is the better experience, injecting a bit of urgency into the proceedings.

Fortunately, Alchemist of Salburg is a softie when it comes to its time limit.  Not only are you given plenty of notice for important assignments but it’s easy to bounce back and restore your reputation should you miss an individual goal. Not long into the game, you’ll meet fairies that can automatically collect resources and even craft their own items. Their assistance removes some of the drudgery that can emerge from Salburg’s core gameplay loop.

90’s Style Synthesis

Undoubtedly, modern players with lofty expectations will find some fault in the execution of Marie’s fundamentals. When it comes to adventuring you can hire about seven different acquaintances to back you up (or get your best friend Schea to do it for free) and take them to eight different smallish sites. Like many of the early Atelier titles, combat is rather unexceptional. The turn-based proceedings here are stubbornly traditional, tasking players with knowing when to attack, defend, or use an item. Meanwhile, alchemy is reduced to combining items without worry about item quality or Tetris-style arrangement. The game’s real challenge is compound synthesis, where you must craft the ingredients for a larger recipe.  But anyone who has spent more than a half-hour with any respectable Minecraft clone will be suitably prepared for this undertaking.

On the upside, the isometric visuals of the original PlayStation disk have been satisfyingly retrofitted. Here, the squat sprites of the original have been converted into chibi-fied, adorable 3D models. At present, performance is acceptable on most machines. But even with all of its settings set on low, Atelier Marie Remake doesn’t deliver consistent performance on the Steam Deck.  Seeing Marie move without silkiness in her visually modest workshop isn’t a dealbreaker, but it will perturb obsessives.

Conclusion

Remakes of last century games are doomed from the start. Modernize too much and developers will be blamed for tampering with the formula. Staying too true to the original game can lead to accusations of minimal effort. For the most part, Atelier Marie Remake: The Alchemist of Salburg finds a prudent balance. From offering more in-game guidance to the offer of removing the game’s big deadline, some of the original games’ archaic approaches have been mended. But it’s difficult to make your way through the game without craving a few more changes, especially when it comes to the writing of relationships.

Atelier Marie Remake: The Alchemist of Salburg was
played on PC with review code provided by the publisher.