Ryza Might Return As The Protagonist Of The Next Atelier Game, Says Producer

Atelier Ryza producer Junzo Hosoi recently dropped a few interesting lines concerning the next game in the Atelier series via an interview in the latest issue of Dengeki PlayStation. [Thanks, Ryokutya2089!]

Here are some of the highlights:

• Hosoi mentions that for this game, they completely reconsidered their marketing plan, including putting the characters at the forefront of discussion this time around. They were able to implement this marketing organically thanks to how Toridamono’s designs became a hot topic.

• The team has received feedback from players saying that characters weren’t explored deep enough, and Hosoi explains that they would mess up the direction of the story if they were to explore the characters too deeply, and so they intended to strike a balance in regards to character events. Evidently this was not enough, and in the next game Hosoi wants the story and characters to be more interwoven.

• When asked about unrevealed mysteries and whether Atelier Ryza will get a sequel, Hosoi remarked that Ryza returning as the protagonist of the next game is entirely a possibility. He likened it to the Harry Potter series, where part of the charm is following the adventures of Harry’s life. Overall, he says that the team should reconsider the series’ formula of having the protagonist of the previous game be the sequel’s protagonist’s master.

That said, he mentions later on that rather than the Ryza series, this game might become part of the ‘Secret’ series instead.

• Players have mentioned that the previous method of having quests be tied to a quest board was better, so they’ll look into that for the next game, alongside other things like battle speed, the amount of info for materials, and more.

• There are going to be standalone DLC stories featuring Claudia, Lent, Tao, and Ampel & Lila (mainly Lila) which will have fixed stats, letting players experience something new.

• The goal of the next game will be to make the characters appear even more expressive, and to add more freedom to the story.

• The staff behind Atelier Ryza read through impressions and comments in real time on Twitter, and there’s a lot to take in and reflect on. Hosoi wants to answer to all the feedback and make the next game the best one ever, beyond this one. He says that the Gust brand is one that grows alongside the players.

Atelier Ryza: Ever Darkness & the Scarlet Hideout is now available in Japan for PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch. The game releases for PS4, Switch, and PC in North America on October 29, 2019 and in Europe on November 1, 2019. We got a look at the Season Pass schedule recently here.