The Atelier games are a series of Japanese role playing games in which you play as an adorable little girl (at least it's usually a girl) trying to make it as an alchemist in a world as designed by Gust Corporation of Japan, who brought us Atelier Marie, Atelier Elli, Atelier Rorona…. Actually, few games are produced by gust other than their Atelier franchise, and even fewer are those that actually make it across to the U.S..
In short, the Atelier series could be called Gust's flagship, starting with Atelier Marie in 1997. I've never played Atelier Marie because it was never localized in the U.S., and the last time I had to speak Japa