Atelier Marie: The Alchemist of Salburg

Atelier Marie: The Alchemist of Salburg (マリーのアトリエ ～ザールブルグの錬金術士～) is a role-playing video game developed by Gust Co. Ltd., and the first title within the Atelier game series. It was first released on the PlayStation and, soon after, ported to the Sega Saturn and Microsoft Windows, eventually being bundled alongside Atelier Elie for the Sega Dreamcast and later PlayStation 2. It has not been released outside Japan.

Plot
Marie is a 19-year-old student in Salburg, a make-believe medieval-style city. She is the worst student in her entire class, and is at the risk of expulsion. However, her teacher offers her a chance at salvation; Marie is given her own workshop (Atelier) in which she is given five years to produce something outstanding.

Characters

 * Marlone / Marie (マルローネ)
 * The protagonist of the game. She has poor concentration which affects her academic performance, but she is nonetheless a clever alchemist.
 * The protagonist of the game. She has poor concentration which affects her academic performance, but she is nonetheless a clever alchemist.


 * Schia Donnerstage (シア・ドナースターク)
 * A 19-year-old girl from a wealthy family, who is Marie's best friend. She suffers from poor health.
 * A 19-year-old girl from a wealthy family, who is Marie's best friend. She suffers from poor health.


 * Kreis Kuhl (クライス・キュール)
 * 17-year-old apprentice alchemist and one of the academy's most talented students. He has a rude and arrogant attitude.
 * 17-year-old apprentice alchemist and one of the academy's most talented students. He has a rude and arrogant attitude.


 * Ruven Filnir (ルーウェン・フィルニール)
 * A 17-year-old adventurer seeking his parents, who were lost due to war between the Shigsal and Domhaid kingdoms.
 * A 17-year-old adventurer seeking his parents, who were lost due to war between the Shigsal and Domhaid kingdoms.


 * Hallesch Sleiman (ハレッシュ・スレイマン)
 * A 23-year-old adventurer who desires to become a knight, though he does not feel confident in his strength.
 * A 23-year-old adventurer who desires to become a knight, though he does not feel confident in his strength.


 * My Sextans (ミュー・セクスタンス)
 * A 20-year-old adventurer from the southern kingdom with a cheerful personality.
 * A 20-year-old adventurer from the southern kingdom with a cheerful personality.


 * Enderk Jad (エンデルク・ヤード)
 * The 23-year-old commander of the royal guard, who is considered the most powerful of the kingdom's knights.
 * The 23-year-old commander of the royal guard, who is considered the most powerful of the kingdom's knights.

Gameplay
The game is centered around collecting ingredients, usually outside of town, creating items, and using the items for various quests or for use in battle. In battle, the player can have a maximum of two allies. Like Marie, these allies can attack, defend, use a strong attack, use items, or flee.

Music
The music was composed by the "G.S.T. Gust Sound Team Atelier So-La" consisting of Akira Tsuchiya, Daisuke Achiwa, and Toshiharu Yamanishi. Tsuchiya went on to contribute towards all the Atelier titles up to Atelier Iris: Eternal Mana along with Gust's other prominent franchise, Ar tonelico. Yamanishi contributed to Atelier Elie as well, and Achiwa has contributed to most of the titles in the series since then.

Development and release
Atelier Marie was released on various different platforms, with each succeeding port presenting additional feature updates. The Sega Saturn port, known as Atelier Marie version 1.3, added internal clock functionality which allowed specific messages to be played at certain times, such as during late nights, on holidays, or on Marlone's birthday. In addition, a number of additional events and a mini-game are also added. An enhanced edition titled Atelier Marie Plus was released on PlayStation on June 4, 1998. This version featured the additions from the Sega Saturn version with the exception of the internal clock (which was not supported by PlayStation), with the only new addition being DualShock rumble functionality support.

The game was bundled alongside Atelier Elie on the Sega Dreamcast and released on November 15, 2001. The first-print copies of the Dreamcast game were infected with the Kriz computer virus, which infected Microsoft Windows-based computers when the game disc was inserted and had no effect on the Dreamcast system itself. The screensaver virus erased the CMOS and BIOS settings, and attempted to overwrite files located on hard drives and the local network. The game was recalled by the publisher due to the virus. A bundle with Atelier Elie was also released on PlayStation 2 on October 27, 2005. On December 26, 2007, the game was released digitally on the PlayStation Network.

Reception
Famitsu gave the original PlayStation version a review score of 36/40, the highest score for an Atelier title prior to Atelier Escha & Logy: Alchemists of the Dusk Sky. Atelier Marie Plus received a rating of 34/40 from Famitsu.