Today, I’m adding more games to the list of games that have seen improvements when played on Nintendo Switch 2. Let’s have a look!

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Atelier Yumia: The Alchemist of Memories & the Envisioned Land – Nintendo Switch 2 Edition

Genre: Open-World Action-RPG

Players: 1-2 Co-Op (Local Wireless), GameShare Support

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Review:

As of this writing, the only Atelier franchise series games to get actual Nintendo Switch 2 releases are the Atelier Ryza trilogy and Atelier Yumia, and Atelier Yumia is unique in that it is the only game in the franchise to receive an upgrade path, in the form of a $10 Nintendo Switch 2 Edition Upgrade Pack. Unfortunately, in its initial release, this upgrade was heavily maligned for causing some nasty performance issues in the game. Well, it’s a few months later, and this game has received additional patches on Nintendo Switch 2, so I felt it was time to see how well this release fares compared to the original Nintendo Switch version of the game.

Of all the games in the franchise, Atelier Yumia is the one I most hoped to see a Nintendo Switch 2 Edition release because it has so much potential, but its Nintendo Switch release is so clearly compromised. In my original review, I complained of resolution and framerate issues, ugly shadows, absolutely terrible aliasing, sometimes blurry textures, clipping, and an overall lack of polish. So, how does the Nintendo Switch 2 Edition address these issues?

Well, I can say that I’m quite pleased with what this game has to offer, though it’s not perfect. The options menus provide players with two different settings that can be swapped between graphics and quality modes, and players can toy around with these to find the best combination. No matter which you choose, you’ll be looking at much more stable framerates than the Nintendo Switch version, and better resolutions with less aliasing. However, favoring the performance will lead to fast, smooth framerates I would estimate are around 60FPS, and favoring performance will make for a much higher resolution with more character detail.

However… there are a few caveats here. Choosing performance mode will result in your characters having an oddly blurry look to them that takes a lot of getting used to, even for players familiar with the Nintendo Switch visuals. Additionally, no matter which mode you choose, the cel shading looks off at times, and depending what’s behind characters it can cause an ugly flickering effect. I still think the cleaner visuals and more stable framerates are far preferable to the visuals on Nintendo Switch, but it does feel like this version has some odd quirks that you’ll need to get used to.

This release also adds in a tiny new amount of content in the form of a “backpack set” to customize Yumia’s backpack and her floating sidekick Flammie’s smoke effect. It’s a very minor thing, but still deserving a mention.

Additionally, this version of the game actually makes use of GameShare on Nintendo Switch 2 to play co-op, though the way it’s implemented here is odd. A second player joining via GameShare can take control of Flammie, who can really only do occasional scans for nearby treasures or refill some of Yumia’s energy. Players can opt to swap roles with the primary player controlling Flammie instead, but otherwise, the second player just doesn’t have a lot to do, and what little they can do is extremely limited by cooldowns.

Finally, let’s talk about loading times. On Nintendo Switch, it took a whopping 1 minute 50 seconds to load this game to the title screen, an additional 47 seconds to load a game save, and 4 seconds to fast travel. On Nintendo Switch 2, those times are cut down to 28 seconds, 26 seconds, and 2 seconds, respectively. This is a pretty significant improvement all on its own.

Overall, I think this Nintendo Switch 2 Edition upgrade definitely has its problems. The oddly blurry characters in performance mode, the flickering cel-shading, and the largely useless GameShare feature all seem like they could have spent a bit more time in testing. However, even with these odd quirks, it’s impossible to deny that Atelier Yumia looks and plays worlds better on Nintendo Switch 2, and I would go so far as to say that if you’re looking to play this game on a Nintendo platform, the Nintendo Switch 2 Edition upgrade should be considered absolutely essential. This upgrade transforms a game that had a lot of potential that was soiled by a sub-par port into a game that very nearly reaches that wonderful potential. And if you enjoy JRPGs and Open-World games on Nintendo Switch, this is one well worth picking up.

tl;dr – Atelier Yumia makes some major changes to the Atelier franchise, and mostly these are all excellent, bringing the Atelier games fully into Open-World territory, with a gorgeous soundtrack, wonderful story and characters, and largely enjoyable gameplay, albeit with a few issues that still need tweaking. The Nintendo Switch 2 Edition of the game fixes many of the graphics and performance problems the Nintendo Switch version had, and though it still has a few issues, it is overall a much better experience. If you’re a fan of RPGs and especially this series, this is absolutely worth playing, especially with the improvements made on Nintendo Switch 2.

Grade: A-

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Nelke and the Legendary Alchemists ~Ateliers of the New World~

Genre: Management Simulation / Turn-Based JRPG

Players: 1

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Review:

As of this writing, the only Atelier franchise series games to get actual Nintendo Switch 2 releases are the Atelier Ryza trilogy and Atelier Yumia, but nevertheless I wanted to look at the entire series and see what benefits the Nintendo Switch versions of these games received playing on Nintendo Switch 2. Let’s have a look!

In my original review, I made it clear I felt this game’s visuals weren’t impressive, and additionally they suffered from a lot of aliasing and slowdown. On Nintendo Switch 2, I didn’t notice the resolution or the aliasing to be any different as far as I could tell, but the slowdown that permeates this game seems to be completely gone, making this game all-around pleasant to play just because the choppy framerates aren’t such an eyesore.

Aside from that, we do have a change to loading times. On Nintendo Switch, it took me 25 seconds to load to the title screen, 10 seconds to load a game save, and 6 second to transition into an “expedition”. On Nintendo Switch 2, those times are cut down to 18 seconds, 6 seconds, and 3 seconds.

Honestly, the improvements to the framerates are significant enough here that I would say Nelke is the Atelier game that benefits the most from Nintendo Switch without getting a Nintendo Switch 2 Edition or a Nintendo Switch 2-specific release. Now, that still doesn’t make it a great game, but at the very least on Nintendo Switch 2 it’s problems aren’t due to poor performance. This is still only a game for series diehards, but I do think you’ll enjoy it more on Nintendo Switch 2.

tl;dr – Nelke and the Legendary Alchemists is a Spin-Off game within the Atelier universe, but not a part of the mainline series, and unlike other games in the series, this is a Management Simulation with only light Turn-Based JRPG elements. It’s a promising idea, but this game is both too over-complicated and too limiting and simple, a bad combination for Management Simulations. Fans of this franchise may thrill at the opportunity to see all their favorite characters again in a different setting, but most players are better off skipping this one.

Grade: C+

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I hope you enjoyed this latest batch of Nintendo Switch 2 Difference Mini-Reviews, and found them to be helpful! Want to see all Nintendo Switch 2 Difference comparisons? Check out this page for links to every article where I’ve included these comparisons!

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