Like most Sundays (when it's already Monday in Japan), Gust released a new batch of screenshots and information of Atelier Lydie & Suelle: The Alchemists and the Mysterious Paintings.

First of all, we get to meet three new characters.

Mirelle Ferrier Adalette, 25 years old, is the receptionist at the royal castle of Melville. On top of her normal job, she also handles the Atelier ranking system on her own. Yet, she has a secret. She is actually the first princess of the Kingdom, and Mathias' older sister. She's an awesome princess with a bright and friendly personality, next in line to succeed to the throne. She is the typical "older sister that you can rely on" stereotype, and Lydie and Suelle often seek her counsel.

Annette Maren was Lydie and Suelle's mom. She had a frail constitution, and she passed away three years before the events of the game. She used to pray for the safety and happiness of her family.

Sister Grace is a woman serving the local church. She is pious and devout, and she often hosts various events for the locals. Yet, she appears to be regretting something from her past. She has a youthful appearance, but she is actually 55 years old. Yeah... I can totally see that (not really).

As we heard before, the battle system is based on the combination of three teams of two, one of which will be the front line, and the other will be the rear guard. Rear guard characters can have follow-up skills including attacks, healing, support and more, depending on each character.

They can also perform combo attacks when the combination gauge is full. Having a formation that facilitates a lot of combo attacks is very advantageous.

We also see more of the Battle Mix features, that lets you select the item you want to create directly during battle, with additional effects activated only via a battle mix or a extra mix. It's important to select the right items to create depending on the enemy composition and weaknesses.

It's also possible to create and strengthen weapons and armor at the blacksmith. The variety of items you can create grows with the progression of the story. For weapons, you need core parts (that determine damage) and sub-parts, that determine special effects.

Last, but not least, we get to see a giant enemy, another world within a painting named Star Plains, and story events.

You can check out all the screenshots below, and if you want to see more, you can also enjoy the first gameplay, a recent gallery of images and more screenshots from a couple of weeks ago.

The game will launch in Japan on December 21st, 2017, for PS4, Switch, and PS Vita. The Japanese Vita release will, regrettably, be the only one playable on Sony’s portable, as the western version, which will come in early 2018, will skip it in favor of PC.