Last week, Koei Tecmo’s studio Gust launched a somewhat unusual user survey concerning Atelier Karia: The Night Kingdom & the Guide of Memories, a brand-new mainline entry in the Atelier series and the sequel to Atelier Yumia.
With Karia being a big foodie, the gameplay of Atelier Karia will heavily revolve around an “eating mechanic.” The heroine will develop her powers and change her appearance (over 100 different forms) based on what she eats, and she’ll be able to eat pretty much everything in the game.
As an extension of that mechanic, the developers at Gust are considering adding an alternate, somewhat chubbier appearance for Karia, which she will switch into, presumably after eating a bunch of food (think Rorona in Atelier Resleriana). The main goal of the survey is to let the devs know how on-board players are regarding this potential feature, and what about it can be improved.
Perhaps predictably, the reactions to chubby Karia have been extremely positive both on the English-speaking and Japanese-speaking sides of X. All the GTA San Andreas memes aside, it seems like most players (and passers-by just who found out about the game through the viral survey) will be casting their votes in favor of Karia getting a nice plump belly.
“Of course we love it!! Now make her legs even fatter!”
“God-tier mechanic!?”
Interestingly, one common criticism regarding the hypothetical chubby Karia design which stands out in both communities seems to be: “Not enough tummy; Not enough thighs.” “If you’re going to make her plump anyway, I want her to be a bit plumper,” one Japanese user wrote. Some even suggested Gust should fully commit to the concept and go as far as giving her neck, upper arms and even fingers a bit of fat to them.
Of course, the illustration shown in the survey is merely at the concept stage, and there is a possibility that the final design will look different. However, as studio Gust is very open about player feedback, this also means that, if there is player demand for an even chubbier Karia, they might consider implementing it along the line. This all depends on the final results of the survey though – so if you’re interested in seeing the new Atelier heroine getting a bit plumper, make sure to cast your vote.
The survey is open until August 23.
Atelier Karia: The Night Kingdom & the Guide of Memories is set to release in Early 2027 for PC (Steam), PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and Nintendo Switch 2.
