A few days ago, KOEI Tecmo unveiled its latest title, Atelier Yumia: The Alchemist of Memories & the Envisioned Land. This release has sparked a wave of intrigue, particularly given the mixed reception of its predecessor, Atelier Ryza: Ever Darkness & the Secret Hideout, which was criticized for its subpar optimization on PC. After a six-year hiatus, GUST Studios appears to have made significant strides in delivering a more polished gaming experience.
Performance Insights
To evaluate the performance of Atelier Yumia, I utilized a robust setup featuring an AMD Ryzen 9 7950X3D, 32GB of DDR5 at 6000MHz, and an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090, all running on Windows 10 64-bit with the GeForce 572.70 driver.
The game offers a variety of graphics settings that allow players to customize their experience, including options for Textures, Shadows, Terrain, and LOD Distance. Notably, it supports uncapped framerates, although it does not include NVIDIA DLSS or AMD FSR, opting instead for Intel XeSS.
One of the most significant improvements in Atelier Yumia is the resolution of framepacing issues and mouse camera movement that plagued its predecessor. Upon launching the game, players will notice a shader compilation process that effectively eliminates stuttering during gameplay. The camera controls, adjustable through in-game settings, enhance the exploration experience, particularly for those using keyboard and mouse.
In terms of performance metrics, the game consistently achieved over 140FPS at Native 4K/Ultra Settings. However, it became apparent that the game is heavily CPU-bound, even at 4K resolution. Atelier Yumia efficiently utilizes 10-14 CPU cores/threads, indicating that a modern eight-core CPU with SMT or Hyper-Threading is essential for optimal performance. For context, a six-core CPU without SMT struggled to maintain a playable frame rate, dropping to just 6FPS in open-world scenarios.
Locking the framerate to 60FPS provided a more stable experience, though it still required 10-12 CPU cores/threads. The smoothest gameplay was achieved with the full 16 cores of the Ryzen 9 7950X3D, raising questions about the game’s substantial CPU demands and whether they are justified.
Visual Appeal
Visually, Atelier Yumia does not break new ground. The graphics evoke a sense of nostalgia, reminiscent of the PS3 era, with textures and environmental details that may not meet contemporary expectations. Players should temper their hopes for cutting-edge visuals.
Despite these shortcomings, GUST Studios has addressed many of the frustrating issues that characterized earlier titles in the Atelier Ryza series. The game is now more enjoyable on PC with keyboard and mouse, free from the stuttering that marred previous experiences. However, the demanding hardware requirements cast a shadow over its overall optimization, suggesting that there remains ample room for improvement.
