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Opens on 2026-08-09 (JST)
Alchemy's raw materials come only from monsters. Meeting each one's own battle conditions decides how much you walk away with.
Per Steam's own listing, this is a domestic Japanese JRPG set in Meltria, the birthplace of alchemy, fusing turn-based combat with a simulation game around a single rule: alchemy's raw materials come only from monsters, and each monster type carries its own assigned conditions, satisfy them in battle and you harvest more, satisfy several at once and the yield jumps sharply. Those materials are then refined through alchemy using the 'Qualia' they contain into components, which villagers turn into weapons and armor. The story follows Anisia, one of the last practicing alchemists in an age when the craft has faded, arriving in Meltria to find its people scraping by on scavenged junk, carrying her master's teaching that alchemy is a magic that makes everyone happy, alongside her partner analyst Ruti. Made and self-published by the solo developer Nyahhoiya, whose only two Steam listings are this game and its demo. Priced at ¥2,570, it is Positive at 100 percent across 12 reviews (12 positive, 0 negative), a paid title, not free, fully launched and not in Early Access, with no AI-generated-content disclosure and Steam's content descriptors completely empty. English and Japanese are both supported, so nothing is stopping you. One honest note up front: 12 reviews is about as thin as this site's floor gets, even at a perfect score, and no English-language article about this game exists yet, on AUTOMATON WEST or elsewhere. Of those 12, 7 are in Japanese and 3 are in English.
Published 2026-08-09
01First, the one feeling
- Most JRPGs that make you fight for materials just attach a drop table to a kill. Here the material is earned by how you fight, not that you won, which turns an ordinary encounter into a small puzzle about which condition to chase first.
- Stacking conditions in a single fight is where the design gets its teeth: the difference between meeting one requirement and meeting three isn't additive, it's a visible jump, which makes a well-read fight feel disproportionately rewarding.
- Combat existing to feed alchemy, rather than alchemy existing to support combat, reorders what 'progress' means turn to turn. You are not grinding toward a number going up; you are reading a monster for what it will teach you to make.
02Who this is for (and who it is not)
For you
- You want the Atelier lineage's alchemist-protagonist core, gathering and transforming material as the actual point, with combat feeding that loop instead of the other way around
- You want a design where fighting well is legibly rewarded through stacked conditions, not just a bigger number after the fact
- You want small and self-published: solo developer Nyahhoiya's only two Steam listings are this game and its demo, content descriptors completely empty
Not for you
- You want a settled number; 12 reviews is close to the thinnest this site will feature, even at a perfect score
- You want a game already found in the West; of 12 reviews only 3 are in English, and no English coverage exists yet
03The roots of this taste
100% positiveonly 12 reviews — yet almost no one has found it
Faraway Qualia Buried gem
Per Steam's own listing, this is a domestic Japanese JRPG set in Meltria, the birthplace of alchemy, fusing turn-based combat with a simulation game around a single rule: alchemy's raw materials come only from monsters, and each monster type carries its own assigned conditions, satisfy them in battle and you harvest more, satisfy several at once and the yield jumps sharply. Those materials are then refined through alchemy using the 'Qualia' they contain into components, which villagers turn into weapons and armor. The story follows Anisia, one of the last practicing alchemists in an age when the craft has faded, arriving in Meltria to find its people scraping by on scavenged junk, carrying her master's teaching that alchemy is a magic that makes everyone happy, alongside her partner analyst Ruti. Made and self-published by the solo developer Nyahhoiya, whose only two Steam listings are this game and its demo. Priced at ¥2,570, it is Positive at 100 percent across 12 reviews (12 positive, 0 negative per Steam's own review API), a paid title, not free, fully launched and not in Early Access, with no AI-generated-content disclosure and Steam's content descriptors completely empty. English and Japanese are both supported, so nothing is stopping you. One honest note up front: 12 reviews is about as thin as this site's floor gets, even at a perfect score. Of those 12, 7 are in Japanese and 3 are in English.
Give it your first passAtelier Marie: The Alchemist of Salburg The origin
The origin of this taste: Atelier Marie, the first game in Gust's long-running series, which established the alchemist-protagonist RPG, where gathering material and turning it into something through alchemy is the point, not a system built to support combat. Faraway Qualia is not an official Atelier work, but it carries that same core forward with its own twist, material can only come from monsters, and how well you fight, meeting each one's specific conditions, decides how much you get to work with.
Give it your first pass04Make this gem shine
If it speaks to you, check it on Steam and give it your first pass. Your push is what makes a buried gem shine.
You gave it your pass. The gem just caught the light.
05The bloodline of this taste
- Atelier Marie: The Alchemist of Salburg Root
- Faraway Qualia You are here
- Read-and-build games another taste