Nelke & the Legendary Alchemists: Ateliers of the New World devs talk Nelke design, potential for sequel

Nelke & the Legendary Alchemists: Ateliers of the New World is heading to the Switch later this year, and is a spin-off of the other Atelier games. In an interview with DualShockers, producers Keisuke Kikuchi and Junzo Hosoi talk about Nelke's design herself, as well as the potential for a sequel.

DS: What was the inspiration for Nelke’s design? She looks very different from many of the protagonists we have seen in previous games.

Junzo Hosoi: She comes from a family of aristocrats, so we thought she should have a style that felt more European. We worked closely with Character Designer NOCO in order to come up with the final version of the design. We thought there had to be some similarities with previous Atelier games, like her wearing a hat of some sorts, even if it’s a style of hat that we never used before. Yet, our aim was certainly to come up with something different.

DS: Is Nelke a game that you strictly see as a one-off, or maybe it could become its own trilogy in the future? What I mean is, could there be a Nelke & the Legendary Alchemists 2?

KK: This title is meant as a celebratory game for the 20th anniversary. About what comes next, we’re more looking forward to the next main Atelier game. Maybe for the 25th or 30th anniversaries, we might consider it if there are even more characters that we could include in this kind of game. It’s definitely not decided yet.