Atelier (series)

The Atelier series (アトリエシリーズ^?) is a series of role-playing video games developed by the Gust Corporation since 1997, primarily for the PlayStation consoles (original, PS2, PS3, and PS4), though portable versions for the Game Boy Color, Game Boy Advance, Nintendo DS, Nintendo 3DS, PlayStation Portable, PlayStation Vita and WonderSwan Color have also been made. Two of the games in the series were ported to the Sega Saturn and Dreamcast. The series has been primarily released in Japan, though recent titles have been localized for other markets. The game series, based on the definition of "atelier" as an artist's workshop, draws heavily on the pseudo-science of alchemy, requiring the player to find and collect items and combine them in recipes to create better items with which to progress further in the game. A manga adaptation by Yoshihiko Ochi has also been published.

Alchemy is the distinguishing theme of the Atelier series. Players control the game's character, roaming the game world to collect objects to use in alchemy recipes to create new objects, including cooking ingredients, recovery items, tools, weapons, armor, and accessories. Synthesized objects are commonly required in order to create more powerful or potent objects through alchemy. Many of the games feature a method of transferring properties of one item from the recipe to the synthesized item. Recipes also often allow the substitution of items, which can either lend better properties to the final synthesized item, or can lead to the character thinking of a completely new recipe. The games generally feature a turn-based combat system, in which the items made through alchemy come into play, either to boost the character's abilities, or for offensive, defensive, or support items.