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After admitting he was a Master Chief fanboy years ago, Atelier Yumia producer says the crafting JRPG's 'biggest reference' is Halo

Atelier Yumia, the 26th mainline game in the long-running alchemy-focused JRPG series, is releasing on Xbox for the first time, and its producer revealed that Halo: Combat Evolved inspired the game's sense of open-world exploration.

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Here's a connection I'd never have made myself. Halo: Combat Evolved was apparently the "biggest reference" for JRPG Atelier Yumia: The Alchemist of Memories and the Envisioned Land. 

Atelier Yumia is the whopping 26th mainline game in the relatively niche alchemy-oriented series that basically enjoys a new entry every single year, but the next one is actually the first to ever come to Xbox consoles. To celebrate the occasion, series producer Junzo Hosoi delved deeper into the game at Xbox's Tokyo Game Show stream.

"My biggest reference was the first Halo game," Hosoi says in the clip below. "When I first experienced an open-world FPS, it made me realize how big the world can be. In this brand new experience, even as a kid, it gave me a lot of excitement." Combat Evolved isn't a straight-up open-world game, but levels like The Silent Cartographer are still famous today for how much freedom they put in players' twitchy fingers.

"This experience has played an important part in Atelier Yumia as well," Hosoi continues when talking about the games "vast" explorable fields. "The experience of stepping into a field for the first time and feeling the excitement is so important." 

It's a quirky little anecdote since I doubt most people would have made the connection between a serious military shooter and a cozy JRPG series that's been quietly chugging alongside it for more than two decades. But hey, Halo's iconic for a reason.

Hosoi wasn't just complimenting Xbox's crown jewel just to be nice on the platform holder's stage, though. Funnily enough, he was asked about the possibility of an Xbox port years ago in an interview with RPG Site. His response? "I personally love Master Chief, so if there is a change, we'd like to release it on Xbox." Savior of humanity, bringer of JRPG ports - Master Chief's impact has to be admired. 

After 27 years as a cult classic, crafting JRPG series Atelier shoots for global appeal with a seamless open world, “action-like” combat, and a series-first housing system.