Atelier Lydie & Suelle introduces Plachta and many more characters

The latest Dengeki PlayStation magazine has a new information batch on Atelier Lydie and Suelle, which introduces more new and returning characters, as well as new gameplay features on the game's mixing system. We have translated the details from the magazine article right below.

New Characters

• Alto (voiced by Takuma Nagatsuka)
  An alchemist who suddenly opens up a new atelier in Merveille. He is a cool young man whose age is unknown and doesn't get close to other people. He is proud of his alchemy skills, and he looks down on half-witted alchemists. Alto is confirmed to be able to join in fights as a party member.
• Lucia Voltaire (voiced by Reina Ueda)
  The single daughter of the family who owns Atelier Voltaire, the currently best atelier in Merveille. She is also a childhood friend to Lydie and Suelle. She was considered by people like a rich lady due to her good looks, but she is actually very ambitious. She considers Lydie and Suelle as her rivals, but she actually feels very lonely.

Returning Characters

• Plachta
  An alchemist who is traveling with Sophie. She is Sophie's master, friend, and family. Although she looks serious, she can also get airheaded sometimes.
• Fritz Weissberg
  A traveling puppeteer and swordsman, now aged 59 years old. Together with his daughter Drossel, they stop by at Merveille in the middle of their journey. He continues to improve as both a puppeteer and a swordsman. Although he is known to be calm and intellectual, his personality still changes when he sees puppets.
• Drossel Weissberg
  Fritz's daughter, now aged 30. A screenwriter who dreams of making the best puppet theatre. With an innocent, bright, and noisy personality, she has the same degree of affection towards puppets as her father. She has been improving her career and has recently made her debut as a novelist.

New Gameplay Features

• Activation Items
  By inserting these new items to the mixing puzzle at any time, various effects can be activated, such as changing the slot elements. If players can make good use of them, they can produce more powerful items.
• Battle Mix
  This feature lets players mix items in the middle of battles. If Lydie or Suelle are placed at the rear line, they can use Battle Mix provided their front member has fulfilled a certain requirement. Lydie and Suelle have each different requirements to do Battle Mix, but they both will require the Alcheus Anima item to initiate the process.
• Extra Mix
  This refers to Battle Mixes that use battle items as materials to produce even stronger items. A lot more Alcheus Anima items are needed in the mix, but players can include more Alcheus Anima than the minimum requirement to further increase the effects. This feature will be particularly useful on boss fights.

Atelier Lydie and Suelle: Alchemists of the Mysterious Paintings will be released for PlayStation 4, PlayStation Vita, and Nintendo Switch in Japan on December 21. An English localization for the West has also been announced in 2018, which replaces the Vita with a PC release. You can also read the previous information batch, which also introduced the prequel's protagonist Firis, right here.