The sky is blue, the earth still orbits around the sun, and Gust and Koei Tecmo are still making Atelier games, I guess. That’s a victory for a subsection of JRPG fans who crave melancholy adventures, hot alchemy synthesis action, and some turn-based combat goodness.

The latest one, Atelier Ryza, is slated for Fall 2019 in Japan and will be written by Shakugan no Shana manga creator Yashichiro Takahashi. If you’re wondering why the characters have a “toi8 but cleaner” art style, that’s because it’s done by Toridamono, one of the many talented artists from the Pixiv community.

The game’s story is a coming of age tale where our protagonist Ryzalin Staud wants to break free from her tranquil and mundane life, so she ends up learning alchemy. The game’s features include:

• A skill tree-based synthesis system instead of a tile-based system when crafting items like bombs and potions.
• A faster-paced and aggressive turn-based command system.
• A realistic graphic style and life-like character proportions. The devs even allowed Toridamono to take his time to get Ryza’s thighs right. This was on the Dengeki preview, I swear (via Ryokutya2089).
• A PS4, Switch, and PC release. While the first two consoles are slated for Fall 2019, the PC dates have yet to be revealed.

The game’s main core of synthesis, gathering, and battle are still left unchanged, but now it comes with its coming of age storyline that many fans asked for. I’ll admit: this game does look darn good so far. Check out the screenshots and Dengeki PlayStation scans below for more.