Atelier Yumia Nintendo Switch 2 Edition Impressions – Upgrade Comparisons & More

Following the Nintendo Direct, Koei Tecmo released a Nintendo Switch 2 Edition Upgrade pack for Atelier Yumia: The Alchemist of Memories & the Envisioned Land. I already covered how Atelier Yumia felt on Switch pre-release where I also discussed how the PS5 and PS4 versions were. You can read it here. For the Switch 2 Edition, I was originally planning on seeing how Atelier Yumia scales across Switch 1, Switch 2, PS5, PS4, and PC handhelds as I normally do, but the state of the Switch 2 Edition is so bad right now, that I decided to just focus on Atelier Yumia for Switch 1 and Switch 2 Edition to see what it even changes and what needs to be fixed as soon as possible.

Atelier Yumia Nintendo Switch 2 Edition vs Switch 1 visuals and resolution

Atelier Yumia on Switch was the worst verison of the game. This isn't just me saying that because it was the lowest spec platform supported for the game, but because it was a big step down from prior Atelier games. If you haven't kept up with the series, games like Atelier Ryza (1,2) and Sophie (2) were very good on Switch all things considered. Atelier Ryza 3 was pushing things a bit too much while Atelier Yumia was not in a good state on Switch. Atelier Yumia on Switch 2 via backward compatibility sorted out the major frame rate issues and improved load times, but it still wasn't ideal with the many visual cutbacks. 

Atelier Yumia Nintendo Switch 2 Edition (the base game with the paid upgrade pack) docked has clear upgrades in resolution, textures, foliage, post-processing, and effects. It is a notable visual upgrade over Switch 1 even when comparing handheld boost mode compared to the native Switch 2 Edition. While the image quality docked and handheld is not as good as I had hoped, it delivers a big upgrade over Switch 1 in everything but performance. 

Note: For the comparisons above, I used 4K capture of the Switch 1 version running on Switch 2 docked and the new Switch 2 Edition of Atelier Yumia.

Atelier Yumia Nintendo Switch 2 Edition performance impressions

Atelier Yumia's Switch port on Switch 2 was solid, but Atelier Yumia Nintendo Switch 2 Edition is what I consider unplayable. The camera movement feels awful with constant hitching and the visual modes don't seem to be working right now. The eShop page mentions "improved framerate" and "shorter load times". I would argue the performance on Atelier Yumia Nintendo Switch 2 Edition feels much worse than the Switch 1 game on Switch 2. It is not even worth considering until this is fixed. 

Camera movement, general movement, and basically anything that involves the scene or you moving results in constant stuttering and hitching. It gave me motion sickness in less than a minute of playing. This happens both docked and handheld. I assume this is a broken upgrade or bugged because the trailer did not look like this at all and I would rather play Atelier Yumia Switch 1 on Switch 2 even without the visual upgrades just so I don't feel sick playing it. 

Note: For the comparison images above, I've used off-screen photos and the Switch 2 accessibility zoom options to properly show the differences given the handheld capture limitations on Switch 2. While this is obviously not how you will see things on the console since they will not be as zoomed in, it is a great way to showcase the differences and visual improvements using handheld boost mode.

Atelier Yumia Nintendo Switch 2 Edition vs Switch 1 load times compared

When testing load times, I revisted the original game and noticed the Switch 1 load times are longer than they were at launch. I retested and redownloaded the game on the internal storage on Switch 1 to verify my results below. I also tested the Switch 1 version without the upgrade pack on Switch 2 (internal storage) and then Atelier Yumia Nintendo Switch 2 Edition on the Switch 2 internal storage. I measured the time taken to load the title screen from the console dashboard and the time taken to load a save. The results below are in seconds.

As you can see, load times have improved even via backward compatibility. I'm surprised the Switch 1 load times went up compared to the launch version. 

My recommendation right now is to not buy Atelier Yumia Nintendo Switch 2 Edition. If you only play on Switch 2, play the Switch 1 version on Switch 2 instead. Atelier Yumia Switch 2 Edition feels awful right now with its camera movement and general frame rate. I cannot recommend it at all. While the upgrade did deliver improvements to the visuals, the abysmal performance means I cannot recommend it right now. While it isn't as bad as Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader, this is definitely the worst paid upgrade I've tested on Switch 2.

If you already bought it, follow my guide on removing the Switch 2 Edition upgrade here. The guide was for Xenoblade Chronicles X, but the steps are the same for this or any other Switch 2 Edition upgrade pack. Hopefully Koei Tecmo can patch Atelier Yumia on Switch 2 soon because I was looking forward to replaying it on the go after enjoying it on PS5 before.

Atelier Yumia: The Alchemist of Memories & the Envisioned Land is out now worldwide for PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and PC (Steam). You can read our full review here, console comparison feature here, and PC port feature here. The Switch 2 Edition is now available.