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Atelier Meruru: The Apprentice of Arland DX

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Atelier Meruru: The Apprentice of Arland DX
Atelier Meruru: The Apprentice of Arland DX cover
Developers
Gust Co. Ltd.
Publishers
Koei Tecmo
Engines
PhyreEngine[1][2]
Release dates
Windows December 4, 2018
Taxonomy
Monetization One-time game purchase
Microtransactions None
Modes Singleplayer
Pacing Turn-based
Perspectives Third-person
Controls Direct control, Menu-based
Genres JRPG
Art styles Anime
Themes Fantasy
Series Atelier
Atelier Meruru: The Apprentice of Arland DX on HowLongToBeat
Atelier Meruru: The Apprentice of Arland DX on IGDB
Atelier Meruru: The Apprentice of Arland DX guide on StrategyWiki
Atelier Meruru: The Apprentice of Arland DX on MobyGames
Atelier Meruru: The Apprentice of Arland DX on Wikipedia
Atelier Marie: The Alchemist of Salburg 2000
Atelier Elie: The Alchemist of Salburg 2 2000
Atelier Sophie: The Alchemist of the Mysterious Book 2017
Atelier Firis: The Alchemist and the Mysterious Journey 2017
Atelier Lydie & Suelle: The Alchemists and the Mysterious Paintings 2018
Atelier Rorona: The Alchemist of Arland DX 2018
Atelier Totori: The Adventurer of Arland DX 2018
Atelier Meruru: The Apprentice of Arland DX 2018
Nelke & the Legendary Alchemists: Ateliers of the New World 2019
Atelier Lulua: The Scion of Arland 2019
Atelier Ryza: Ever Darkness & the Secret Hideout 2019
Atelier Ayesha: The Alchemist of Dusk DX 2020
Atelier Escha & Logy: Alchemists of the Dusk Sky DX 2020
Atelier Shallie: Alchemists of the Dusk Sea DX 2020
Atelier Ryza 2: Lost Legends & the Secret Fairy 2021
Atelier Sophie: The Alchemist of the Mysterious Book DX 2021
Atelier Firis: The Alchemist and the Mysterious Journey DX 2021
Atelier Lydie & Suelle: The Alchemists and the Mysterious Paintings DX 2021
Atelier Sophie 2: The Alchemist of the Mysterious Dream 2022
Atelier Ryza 3: Alchemist of the End & the Secret Key 2023
Atelier Marie Remake: The Alchemist of Salburg 2023
Atelier Resleriana: Forgotten Alchemy and the Polar Night Liberator 2024

Atelier Meruru: The Apprentice of Arland DX[Note 1] is a singleplayer third-person JRPG game developed by Gust Co. Ltd. and published by Koei Tecmo. It is part of the Atelier series.

The game itself is an enhanced re-release of the 2013 PlayStation Vita game Atelier Meruru Plus: The Apprentice of Arland[Note 2], which itself is an enhanced port of the original 2011 PlayStation 3 game Atelier Meruru: The Apprentice of Arland[Note 3], the third entry in the Arland tetralogy that chronologically takes place a year after Atelier Totori.

The DX re-release includes content and gameplay additions from the Plus re-release, integrate DLC contents from prior releases into the base game as well as some quality-of-life adjustment such as abilities to dash in the free roam and fast forwarding during battle. Initially released on PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch in Japan on September 20, 2018, it was ported to PC and released on December 4, 2018 alongside the console versions' oversea releases.

General information

Steam Community Discussions

Availability

Source DRM Notes Keys OS
Green Man Gaming
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Windows
Humble Store
Icon overlay.png
Windows
Steam
Icon overlay.png
Windows
All versions require Steam DRM.

Monetization

Type Notes
One-time game purchase Requires an upfront purchase to access.

Microtransactions

Type Notes
No microtransactions The game has no microtransactions.

Essential Improvements

Atelier Sync Fix

Improves GPU utilization in D3D11-based Atelier games and can dramatically improve performance as a result.
Fixes the game from being locked to an internal maximum resolution of 1080p.
Adds an external configuration for anti-aliasing (MSAA and SSAA) and anisotropic filtering.
Instructions[3]
  1. Extract into <path-to-game>.
  2. Add as a command line argument WINEDLLOVERRIDES="d3d11=n,b" %command%. Only required on Linux/Steam Deck.

Game data

Configuration file(s) location

System Location
Windows <path-to-game>\ArlandDX_Settings.ini[Note 4]
Steam Play (Linux) <Steam-folder>/steamapps/compatdata/936190/pfx/[Note 5]

Save game data location

System Location
Windows <Steam-folder>\userdata\<user-id>\936190\remote\SAVEDATA
Steam Play (Linux) <Steam-folder>/steamapps/compatdata/936190/pfx/[Note 5]

Save game cloud syncing

System Native Notes
Steam Cloud

Video

Launcher options
Launcher options

Graphics feature State Notes
Widescreen resolution
Multi-monitor
Ultra-widescreen
Only natively supports 16:9 resolutions. See Ultra-widescreen for instructions.
4K Ultra HD
Requires the Atelier Sync Fix. Only natively supports 16:9 resolutions. Manually change the values of ScreenWidth= to 3840 and ScreenHeight= to 2160 in the configuration file.
Field of view (FOV)
Windowed
Borderless fullscreen windowed
Confirmed to work with Borderless Gaming. You need to manually set the values of ScreenWidth= and ScreenHeight= to the desired height and width (your desktop's) in the configuration file.
Anisotropic filtering (AF)
Requires the Atelier Sync Fix. Open the atfix.ini (created after starting the game with the fix installed) in <path-to-game> and change the value of AF = to a number from 1 to 16.
Anti-aliasing (AA)
Requires the Atelier Sync Fix. MSAA and SSAA are available with the fix. Open the atfix.ini (created after starting the game with the fix installed) in <path-to-game> and change the value of FullSSAA = to 1. MSAA is enabled by default with the fix installed.
High-fidelity upscaling
See the glossary page for potential workarounds.
Vertical sync (Vsync)
See the glossary page for potential workarounds.
60 FPS and 120+ FPS
High dynamic range display (HDR)
See the glossary page for potential alternatives.
Ray tracing (RT)

Ultra-widescreen

Set custom resolution without fitted UI[4]
Can be used together with the Atelier Sync Fix.
Changing the aspect ratio can cause UI elements and the game screen to compress or stretch.
  1. Back up the game executable (A13V_x64_Release_EN.exe) in <path-to-game> before doing anything else. Place the backup in another location.
  2. Use Steamless to de-obfuscate the game executable. If no exe.unpacked is created, skip to the next step. Delete the A13V_x64_Release_EN.exe in <path-to-game>. Rename the A13V_x64_Release_EN.exe.unpacked to A13V_x64_Release_EN.exe.
  3. Go to this website for common hex values.
  4. In the resolutions table, find the row where "Value" matches the desired screen width.
  5. Find the "Formatted Value" of the row which contains the desired screen width. As an example, the "Formatted Value" for a width of 2560 is 000A.
  6. Put a space between the two middle characters and remember this value. As an example, the value which needs to be remembered for a width of 2560 is 00 0A
  7. Go to this hex editor website.
  8. Select the "Open file" option near the top left corner.
  9. Select the A13V_x64_Release_EN.exe, which can be found in <path-to-game> and open it.
  10. In the "Search" part at the right, enter 80 07 00 00 C7 87 C4 08 00 00 38 04 in the field for "Search for".
  11. Check the "Enable Replace" checkbox under the "Search type" near the bottom right.
  12. In the "Replace by" field right under "Search type", enter the value you had to remember, followed by 00 00 C7 87 C4 08 00 00 38 04. As an example, the complete text which needs to be entered for a width of 2560 is 00 0A 00 00 C7 87 C4 08 00 00 38 04
  13. Click on the "Find next" button near the bottom right.
  14. Once the values have been found, click on "Replace" button near the bottom right.
  15. After the values have been replaced, click on "Export" near the top right. Download and save the file as an executable (.exe format).
  16. Delete the A13V_x64_Release_EN.exe in <path-to-game>.
  17. Put the newly created executable in <path-to-game> and make sure that this new executable has the exact same name as the original A13V_x64_Release_EN.exe. Rename the new executable if this is not the case.
  18. Open the configuration file.
  19. Change the ScreenWidth= and ScreenHeight= values to that of the desired resolution.
Set custom resolution with fitted UI[4]
Note that this fix can require a substantial amount of tinkering.
Fixes some UI issues when changing the aspect ratio.
Cannot be used together with the Atelier Sync Fix.
Changing the aspect ratio can cause UI elements and the game screen to compress or stretch, and this fix will not solve all issues.
  1. Back up the game executable (A13V_x64_Release_EN.exe) in <path-to-game> before doing anything else. Place the backup in another location.
  2. Use Steamless to de-obfuscate the game executable. If no exe.unpacked is created, skip to the next step. Delete the A13V_x64_Release_EN.exe in <path-to-game>. Rename the A13V_x64_Release_EN.exe.unpacked to A13V_x64_Release_EN.exe.
  3. Go to this website for common hex values.
  4. In the resolutions table, find the row where "Value" matches the desired screen width.
  5. Find the "Formatted Value" of the row which contains the desired screen width. As an example, the "Formatted Value" for a width of 2560 is 000A.
  6. Put a space between the two middle characters and remember this value. As an example, the value which needs to be remembered for a width of 2560 is 00 0A
  7. Go to this hex editor website.
  8. Select the "Open file" option near the top left corner.
  9. Select the A13V_x64_Release_EN.exe, which can be found in <path-to-game> and open it.
  10. In the "Search" part at the right, enter 80 07 00 00 C7 87 C4 08 00 00 38 04 in the field for "Search for".
  11. Check the "Enable Replace" checkbox under the "Search type" near the bottom right.
  12. In the "Replace by" field right under "Search type", enter the value you had to remember, followed by 00 00 C7 87 C4 08 00 00 38 04. As an example, the complete text which needs to be entered for a width of 2560 is 00 0A 00 00 C7 87 C4 08 00 00 38 04
  13. Click on the "Find next" button near the bottom right.
  14. Once the values have been found, click on "Replace" button near the bottom right.
  15. After the values have been replaced, click on "Export" near the top right. Download and save the file as an executable (.exe format).
  16. Delete the A13V_x64_Release_EN.exe in <path-to-game>.
  17. Put the newly created executable in <path-to-game> and make sure that this new executable has the exact same name as the original A13V_x64_Release_EN.exe. Rename the new executable if this is not the case.
  18. Open the configuration file.
  19. Change the ScreenWidth= and ScreenHeight= values to that of the desired resolution.
  20. Go to the download page for 3Dmigoto.
  21. Find the latest release and download 3Dmigoto by clicking on the latest 3Dmigoto-X.X.X.zip under Assets (NOT the Source code (zip) or the cmd_Decompiler.X.X.X.zip).
  22. Put the 3Dmigoto-X.X.X.zip in a temporary folder and extract it.
  23. Go to the x64 which has been extracted.
  24. Copy all of the content inside this x64 folder and place it in <path-to-game>. Only those files are necessary and all other folders and files of the 3Dmigoto-X.X.X.zip, including the 3Dmigoto-X.X.X.zip itself, can be deleted.
  25. Open the d3dx.ini in <path-to-game>.
  26. Search for the where "[Constants]" is on a line without any other text or characters besides it (Use Crtl + F to search).
  27. Replace "[Constants]" with the all of the text which can be found here.
  28. Search for hunting=1 and change it to hunting=0.
  29. Save the changes.
  30. Go to this place for the first shader file.
  31. Click on the download button near the top right and save the text file.
  32. Make sure that file is exactly named c69576920d5de625-vs_replace.txt and not c69576920d5de625-vs_replace.txt.txt. Rename the file if this is not the case.
  33. Do the same for the other two shader files, which can be found here and here.
  34. Make sure that the files are exactly named e395a8df038f3d89-vs_replace.txt and 3bc4c30dde05f9ef-vs_replace.txt respectively. Rename the files if this is not the case.
  35. Put the c69576920d5de625-vs_replace.txt, e395a8df038f3d89-vs_replace.txt and 3bc4c30dde05f9ef-vs_replace.txt in <path-to-game>\ShaderFixes folder.
  36. The three shaders files are pre-configured for a 3840x1080 resolution. For other resolutions, the files need editing.
  37. 2560x1080 only: Edit the c69576920d5de625-vs_replace.txt by changing line 24 from if(o0.x <= 0.5) {o0.x += 0.5;} to if(o0.x <= (16/21)) {o0.x += 0.5;}.
  38. 2560x1080 only: Edit the e395a8df038f3d89-vs_replace.txt by changing line 27 from o0.x *= 0.5; to o0.x *= (16/21);.
  39. 2560x1080 only: Edit the 3bc4c30dde05f9ef-vs_replace.txt by changing line 30 from o0.x *= 0.5; to o0.x *= (16/21);.
Starting the game might take a bit longer. Both the intro screen and the background during cutscenes might turn black. If this happens, restart the game and it should resolve itself.
The UI Fitting can now be toggled on and off by pressing F4.

Other resolutions require different values which are not known. See the original source for more information.

Input

Keybind options
Keybind options

Keyboard and mouse State Notes
Remapping
Basic controller buttons-based remapping. Doesn't allow for remapping individual in-game actions.
Mouse acceleration
Mouse sensitivity
Mouse input in menus
Only the launcher has mouse support.
Mouse Y-axis inversion
Controller
Controller support
Full controller support
Launcher requires mouse input.
Controller remapping
See the glossary page for potential workarounds.
Controller sensitivity
Controller Y-axis inversion
Controller types
XInput-compatible controllers
Xbox button prompts
Impulse Trigger vibration
PlayStation controllers
See the glossary page for potential workarounds.
Generic/other controllers
See the glossary page for potential workarounds.
Additional information
Controller hotplugging
Haptic feedback
Digital movement supported
Simultaneous controller+KB/M
Steam Input
Steam Input API support
[5]
Hook input (legacy mode)
[6]
Official controller preset(s)
[7]
Steam Controller button prompts
Cursor detection
[8]

Audio

Game options
Game options

Audio feature State Notes
Separate volume controls
BGM, SFX, Background Sound, System Voice, Event Voice, Battle Voice and Movie sliders.
Surround sound
Subtitles
Closed captions
Mute on focus lost
Royalty free audio

Localizations

Language UI Audio Sub Notes
English
Only partially voiced.
Simplified Chinese
Traditional Chinese
Japanese
Fully voiced.

Issues fixed

Heavy stutters without a controller

The game will stutter every few seconds if a controller cannot be found. Solutions:

  • Physically plug in any controller to your computer.
  • Simulate a "fake" virtual XInput controller using vJoy, Special K or Key2Joy.

Note: Special K does not work with Atelier Sync Fix.

Other information

API

Technical specs Supported Notes
Direct3D 11.4
Executable 32-bit 64-bit Notes
Windows
Only contains a 64-bit executable.

Middleware

Middleware Notes
Cutscenes Windows Media Video Only applies to opening and ending FMVs.

System requirements

Windows
Minimum Recommended
Operating system (OS) 7, 8.1, 10
Processor (CPU) Intel Core i5 2.6 GHz
System memory (RAM) 4 GB
Hard disk drive (HDD) 17 GB
Video card (GPU) Nvidia GeForce GTX 660
2 GB of VRAM
DirectX 11 compatible
Sound (audio device) 16-bit stereo 48 kHz WAVE file compatible
Other 1280x720 resolution
Broadband Internet connection
A 64-bit system is required.


Notes

  1. Known as Meruru no Atorie: Ārando no Renkinjutsushi 3 Derakkusu (Japanese: メルルのアトリエ 〜アーランドの錬金術士3〜 DX) in Japan.
  2. Known as Meruru no Atorie Purasu: Ārando no Renkinjutsushi 3 (Japanese: メルルのアトリエ Plus 〜アーランドの錬金術士3〜) in Japan.
  3. Known as Meruru no Atorie: Ārando no Renkinjutsushi 3 (Japanese: メルルのアトリエ 〜アーランドの錬金術士3〜) in Japan.
  4. When running this game without elevated privileges (Run as administrator option), write operations against a location below %PROGRAMFILES%, %PROGRAMDATA%, or %WINDIR% might be redirected to %LOCALAPPDATA%\VirtualStore on Windows Vista and later (more details).
  5. 5.0 5.1 File/folder structure within this directory reflects the path(s) listed for Windows and/or Steam game data (use Wine regedit to access Windows registry paths). Games with Steam Cloud support may store data in ~/.steam/steam/userdata/<user-id>/936190/ in addition to or instead of this directory. The app ID (936190) may differ in some cases. Treat backslashes as forward slashes. See the glossary page for details.

References

  1. 誰も見ていない時間 - ゲームエンジンとは?。ゲーム開発に使われているゲームエンジンのまとめ - last accessed on 2024-02-22
    "Phyre Engineで作られた主なゲームタイトル...アトリエシリーズ(ロロナ、トトリ、メルル、アーシャ)"
  2. Gamer - エスカ&ロジーのアトリエ総力特集】第5回は制作秘話や今後の展望についてディレクター・岡村佳人氏にインタビューを敢行! - last accessed on 2024-02-22
    "これまではソニーさん内製の「PhyreEngine」を使っていたのですが、今回から「KTGL」というコーエーテクモグループの自社エンジンを使っての開発にシフトしました。"
  3. Atelier Sync Fix Install Instructions
  4. 4.0 4.1 Atelier Meruru The Apprentice of Arland DX Widescreen Fix + UI Fitting
  5. Verified by User:Enyufiro on 2024-02-21
    Checked with a PS4 controller. The controller layout does not support binding to game actions.
  6. Verified by User:Enyufiro on 2024-02-21
    Checked with a PS4 controller. The game responds to controller input and respects changes made in the controller layout.
  7. Verified by User:Enyufiro on 2024-02-21
    Checked with a PS4 controller. An official controller layout is provided by the developer.
  8. Verified by User:Enyufiro on 2024-02-21
    Checked with a PS4 controller. Switching between action sets does not occur when the cursor becomes visible or gets hidden.