Atelier 2014 May Be Brand New, Dusk Series Won’t End With Escha & Logy

This week’s Dengeki PlayStaton magazine featured an interview with Gust’s director Yoshito Okamura, who hinted that they’ll be releasing a new Atelier game, that may not be related to the Dusk series. In addition, he also says that the Dusk series will continue and won’t end with Atelier Escha & Logy: Alchemists of the Dusk Sky.

Previously, Okamura mentioned that there won’t be a plus version of Atelier Rorona. The other two games in the Arland trilogy got expanded ports for PlayStation Vita and were released as, Atelier Totori Plus and Atelier Meruru Plus. Okamura said that they’d like to make an expansion for it in the future that will show the reason why they saved it for last. According to the Dengeki PlayStation interview, we may be seeing a remake for Atelier Rorona before we see a completely new Atelier series.

“Since becoming part of Tecmo Koei, we now have the grounds to make big titles, while keeping true to Gust’s identity.” says Okamura in the interview. The director also reveals his intention to step down from the development of the Atelier series, with the reason being that when the same person continues developing a title, the game’s content will always be too similar to one another.

Here are some highlights from the interview:

• There are no plans to end the Dusk series anytime soon, as there are still plenty left to do.

• Gust’s next title may not be part of the Dusk series, although it’s not certain.

• There will be a new Atelier game released next year, as they have no intention to break the pattern of releasing a new title per year so fans will have something to look forward to every year.

• Since merging with Tecmo Koei, Gust now have the grounds to develop bigger titles and still keep true to their essence.

• Gust are currently training their young developers so they can carry on with the future of the Atelier series, along with new IPs, all while changing the future of the company from within.

• Director Yoshito Okamura feels that someone else must be entrusted with Atelier. Not because he dislikes making it, but because he feels that if the same person keeps working on it, the games will always be too similar.

• This year is Gust’s 20th anniversary, as they’re looking forward to taking on greater challenges.