Atelier Elie: The Alchemist of Salburg 2

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Box Art

Game information

Developer

Gust

Publisher

Gust

Released

December 17, 1998 (PlayStation)

December 16, 1999 (The Best edition)

April 28th, 2000 (PC)

October 27, 2005 (Atelier Marie + Elie)

Modes

Offline

Single Player

Platforms

Playstation

Playstation 2 (Atelier Marie + Elie)
Playstation Portable (Download)
Playstation 3 (Download)
Playstation Vita( Download)
Dreamcast (Atelier Marie & Elie)
Windows95

Genre

Role Playing Game

Artist

Isaemon Yamagata

Atelier Elie: The Alchemist of Salburg 2 (~エリーのアトリエ～ザールブルグの錬金術士2～ Erī no Atorie ~Zāruburugu no Renkinjutsushi 2~) is the second game to be released in the official Atelier series, and is the second game in the Salburg trilogy.

It is a direct sequel of Atelier Marie: The Alchemist of Salburg, and takes place 6 years after the events of the first game. Like its predecessor, Atelier Elie was only released in Japan.

The original Atelier Elie title has been collaborated with many other titles such as Atelier Marie, and it has created a series of side games. Atelier Marie and Atelier Elie were paired as a game released as Atelier Marie & Elie: The Alchemists of Salburg 1・2 in 2001 for the Sega Dreamcast. The final game pairing was released in 2005 for the Playstation 2 titled Atelier Marie + Elie: The Alchemists of Salburg 1+2. These versions are all Japanese exclusive releases. Since 2008, Atelier Marie and Atelier Elie have been available through the PlayStation Store for PlayStation Vita, PlayStation Portable, and PlayStation 3.

Plot[]

After our main protagonist Elie was saved by Marie, Elie decides to follow in Marie's footsteps. She enrolls herself into the very same academy that Marie was once a student at in hopes of becoming a great alchemist. Because of the nature of the game, the player can pursue different directions for Elie's life.

The game follows an "open world" type style, which allows the player to make a variety of choices on how the game will progress. In total, there are 10 regular endings and 2 bad endings that are achievable.

Game Play[]

Atelier Elie leaves the player in charge of improving player character Elie's alchemy skills for four in-game years. It will also be necessary to make money in order to buy new reference books, tools, items and rumors, as well as hire adventurers to protect her from the monsters outside of town. Every year a contest will be held at the academy where the players can improve their rank by doing well. Good results may allow Elie to progress to the Meister Rank, which adds an additional two years to the game's deadline and opens the path to new endings and events. If the player doesn't make the five year-deadline it's also possible to get a second chance and repeat a year.

Synthesizing[]

In total, there are 200 items to collect and synthesize in Atelier Elie. (A complete list can be found here). This is double the number that Atelier Marie had. There are three ways to synthesize: recipe synthesis, blend synthesis, and original synthesis. These become available gradually as the player improves their alchemy. Recipe synthesis is synthesis completely according to the item's recipe and blend synthesis allows the player to tweak the formula to their own liking. This can have both positive and negative effects. Mastering blend synthesis is integral to certain aspects of the game, such as the Patissiere-ending. It's also encouraged that the player invest their money in various tools to increase the success rate of synthesis, as well as keeping Fatigue low. Original Synthesis lets the player choose materials and tools all on their own to try to create a brand new item. Some items can only be discovered this way, and it also lets player make items which they don't have the recipes yet for, as long as the formula is on a minimal level correct. This makes it possible to skip over steps such as the complicated process of unlocking the Philosopher's Stone recipe as long as the player is aware of its formula (from Atelier Marie, guides or a previous playthrough etc).

Gathering[]

Just like in Atelier Marie, Elie will be able to adventure to areas outside of town. By defeating monsters, it will be safe for Elie to gather ingredients that she will be able to use for alchemy. Some materials are only available during certain seasons, and special events may also occur when out gathering. To see all of the locations that the player can gather from, click here. Adventurers will charge Elie a flat fee for every trip she makes outside of town, which decreases the more Elie gets to know her party members.

Tasks[]

Elie is able to take tasks from the Tavern to earn popularity and money. The more popular she becomes, the more likely that high-leveled adventurers will want to accompany her outside of town. It is also vital to unlock friendship events and to earn money. There are two types of tasks: one where the player has to turn in a set amount of a specific item (offered by Dio and Flea, just as in Marie), and one type where the player has to turn in items that fit a certain category (offered by Kugel, who now works at the bar along with his brother). Kugel's tasks present the player with several choices of what to turn in, and choosing poorly will have an effect on Elie's reputation. Elie's allies may also request items from her when she is in the workshop.

Fairies[]

Fairies can be hired to help with gathering or synthesizing. Fairies of different color rank have different abilities and hiring costs. By doing work, they will earn experience and can level up to a higher color rank. The hiring costs will remain constant and not be affected when a fairy levels up.^[1]

There are also fairies who aren't hireable, but will offer to clean Elie's workshop or sell items. Fairies are unlocked once Elie obtains a Fairy Bracelet from an event based on the player's progress.

Recipes[]

New items recipes are unlocked through a variety of ways. Some recipes are unlocked by simply owning the reference book. However, to unlock every recipe in a book or find books in the library it's often necessary to have the right stats or have visited the right places. Reference books can be bought at shops, the library becomes available as soon as the player has progressed in alchemy enough to obtain a library card, and the advanced library becomes available if the player solves the mystery of the library ghost.

Characters[]

The game features many characters from Atelier Marie, but also has a list of new characters to the franchise.

Other media[]

Atelier Elie: The Exchange Student from the South[]

Atelier Elie: The Exchange Student from the South (エリーのアトリエ―南からの留学生) is a spin-off manga by the game's illustrator, Isaemon Yamagata. It introduces several new characters, among them Sarai Maaya, who later made a short apperance in Atelier Lilie: The Alchemist of Salburg 3. The story follows Sarai, who is an exchange student from the Southern Academy, and the game's protagonist, Elie. Sarai gets to know Salburg and its people as Elie chases her dream of meeting Marie again. The manga also shows what became of Kyrielich and Schwalbe after the events of Atelier Marie, as they did not appear in the actual game.

Novelization[]

A two volume long novelization of the same name as the game was written by Asamu Kudou, who also wrote the novelization of Atelier Marie. It features illustrations by Isaemon Yamagata.