Nelke & The Legendary Alchemists: Ateliers of the New World Reviews
On the other hand, if you're on the market for a competent and interesting city builder with some casual JRPG toppings sprinkled on, adorable artwork, great voice acting, and a veritable celebration of the legacy of the Atelier series and of its many characters, I can definitely recommend giving Nelke & the Legendary Alchemists: Ateliers of the New World a try.
Nelke and the Legendary Alchemists: Ateliers of the New World is a successful spin-off in that it carries over all of the aspects that make the Atelier role-playing games enjoyable into a new genre. However, there are too many design choices that hold it back from being a great city building title.
Those who love the time management and relationship aspects of Atelier will likely have a blast. As for those who like exploration, fighting monsters and being the achieving your dream might walk away a little disappointed. But, if nothing else, this is a title that certainly holds true to the franchise and caters to a different player base.
As an Atelier fan, I thoroughly enjoyed my time with Nelke & the Legendary Alchemists: Ateliers of the New World.
Gust has decided to try something a little different in the spinoff Nelke & The Legendary Alchemists: Ateliers of the New World, but it is still a worthy entry in the series for its unique town building elements and ability to maintain the low key type of experience that fans will find familiar.
Nelke & the Legendary Alchemists: Ateliers of the New World is a small breath of fresh air for the Atelier series, featuring a town-building experience that's different from anything that has been seen in the series before. The mechanics, while not particularly deep, are quite solid and they manage to make the gameplay loop quite engaging, together with the excellent character interaction. The game is clearly aimed at longtime fans of the series, but even those with a more generic knowledge of the Atelier games will find something to like. Just don't expect anything outstanding or revolutionary.
long as you can get past the frustrating first hour, Nelke & The Legendary Alchemists: Ateliers of the New World opens itself up to be a rewarding and engaging experience that’s surprisingly hard to put down.
The bright, charming, and community-focused story, in a world without a great evil or catastrophe to reveal the ugliness of humanity, means that Nelke, like every other Atelier title, is the perfect foil to the unrelenting angst and anger of so many other games out there.
Fans of the Atelier franchise might get a kick out of seeing familiar faces, but by combining a JRPG and a city management sim, it creates a result less than the sum of its parts.
I found it to be a joyful blend of simulation and JRPG that at once will please Atelier fans looking to extend their time in this universe and for series newcomers who fancy a JRPG that offers a genuinely different and challenging adventure.
Nelke & the Legendary Alchemists ~Ateliers of the New World~ is the perfect 20th anniversary special for the Atelier franchise. Despite the game simplifying the combat and almost eliminating the exploration segments, the strategic and puzzle-like city building mechanics more than satisfied my enjoyment of this new take on the series. If you didn't particularly like the city building aspect of Atelier Meruru ~The Apprentice of Arland~, you most likely won't enjoy this game either as it's more of the same only more advanced, deeper, and the focus is now set on the building aspect first.
Nelke & the Legendary Alchemists: Ateliers of the New World is not the most complex city management game ever devised, but it is quite enjoyable.
Nelke & the Legendary Alchemists can be a dissapointment to the series' fans, as it left behind its main focus (RPG) to embrace the management of a city, with simple and routinary mechanics. What's worst is that even if it includes most of the main characters from the series, it doesn't use them in all of its full potential...
Review in Spanish | Read full review
Nelke and The Legendary Alchemists is a celebration of the Atelier series in the truest sense. Putting forward an experience both accessible to series newcomers and engaging for veterans, it does a brilliant job of captivating players despite its relatively easy to grasp gameplay loop. Though slightly let down by its RPG elements, it's a game I can recommend for anybody who enjoys careful planning and watching their efforts slowly come to fruition; your ideal town is right at your fingertips.
Nelke & The Legendary Alchemists: Ateliers of the New World is a nice simulator with recognizable characters and cute graphics, but annoying time limits and inconvenient interface.
Review in Russian | Read full review
Nelke & the Legendary Alchemist is a wonderful celebration of past Atelier games, all while bringing something genuinely new and different to the table. While many of the RPG elements have been greatly toned down, the town-building aspects are so addictive and entertaining that you can forgive the simplicity. A light and breezy atmosphere topped off with so many charming character interactions make Nelke's story an undeniably pleasant adventure.
Nelke & the Legendary Alchemists is an intriguing take on the long-running JRPG series, but it just doesn't do a good job of crafting a management experience that feels rewarding or engaging. Even once you're used to the overwhelming menus and systems, it never feels like you're a part of the town you're building from behind the walls menus, charts and numbers. It was a treat to see previous Atelier characters interact and talk to each other, but that bit of fanservice doesn't make up for the lacking gameplay.
Considering that I’m limited in my exposure to this franchise as a whole, I found myself engrossed in what this game has to offer. This is a decently crafted side game with enough heart to make it competent enough to play, but a tasty side of fanservice for those who’ve been really digging alchemists and absurdly long game titles for 20 years.
Although basic in parts, it's so easy to get addicted to Nelke & the Legendary Alchemists: Ateliers of the New World. Alchemy gives a wonderful twist to the city management gameplay, and everything is so charming that it's easy to get lost in building up the town and watching it grow.
A spin-off title of the niche Atelier series, Nelke may provide some neat cameos for long-time fans, but otherwise isn't a very interesting game to play.