Koei Tecmo is currently working on Atelier Yumia: The Alchemist of Memories & the Envisioned Land, the first mainline Atelier game to follow the hugely popular Atelier Ryza trilogy. For those unfamiliar with the long-running series, Atelier is a JRPG series that casts the player into the role of an atelier (alchemist). The naming convention of the series is Atelier followed by the name of the game's protagonist and then finally the game's subtitle. The eponymous Reisalin 'Ryza' Stout was the popular leading lady of Atelier Ryza, while Yumia Liessfeldt will head up Atelier Yumia.
A common observation in the Atelier community is that the body proportions of Ryza are not only wider than every one of the series' previous protagonists but also that these proportions grew with each subsequent entry in her trilogy. In a recent interview with 4gamer (translated by Automaton), series producer Junzo Hosoi revealed that this design phenomenon is no coincidence.
"This is just my perception," Hosoi began. "But I think the economy has an influence on what kind of designs become popular. There are certain types of characters that are needed in times of recession, and there are types that are embraced only when...
