Title: Atelier Rorona: Alchemist of Arland
Developer: Gust
Platform: PlayStation 3 (PS3), XBOX 360
Genre: Japanese role playing game [jrpg]
Release date: June 2009 [Japanese], September/October 2010 [NA/EU]
In a small kingdom build upon ancient ruins, Arland, lies an alchemy workshop run by a genius but lazy alchemy master named Astrid, and her apprentice Rorolina Frixell [aka Rorona]. The carefree and lazy nature of Astrid brought trouble to the workshop as the Imperial Castle eventually decided to close the workshop down, unless the workshop fulfill specific assignment given over the course of three years. Knowing this, Astrid decided to hand over the workshop to her apprentice Rorona, which also meant Rorona had to complete all these assignments to keep the workshop alive. And so begin Atelier Rorona - The Alchemist of Arland - the quest of Rorona to prevent the shop from closing down by completing assignments given by the authorities.
To be honest, I'm not really a fan of Gust's Atelier or Mana Khemia series because of the generic turn-based gameplay used in most of their title [except Grand Phantasm, which I like a lot :3]. Seeing Atelier series finally made into 3D with Rorona, I decided to give this game a try. Currently I've just finished Assignment 2 [year 1, July] and although I'm not really fancy the combat system, I would say that the game wasn't as bad as I initially thought, since the focus of the game isn't really the battle, but rather, item synthesis.
The game runs over the course of three years, in which Rorona will be given a specific assignment which runs for three months [making a total of 12 assignments in 3 years]. These task mostly required Rorona to synthesize specific items listed in the assignment through alchemy. As she submit the items, she will be given rating on how well she performed, based on type, quality and quantity of synthesised items, although generally we can increase the rating by simply focusing on quantity.
Being the first Atelier series in full 3D, the graphic doesn't disappoint me. Easy to the eyes, much as how I love Eternal Sonata and Tales of Vesperia's graphic. All character was neatly designed too. In term of story, I like the fact that it doesn't deal with "adventure together and save the world by beating the ultimate boss" theme found in so bloody many jrpgs these days. I also thoroughly enjoyed the humor added to the story, especially when it comes to Rorona's clumsiness and getting teased by everyone, and Cordelia's tsun :3 On a side note, the game also comes with English and Japanese voice option. I really love Mai Kadowaki's voice as Rorona, as well as Kitamura Eri's tsun Cordelia. Not to mention, Rina "misaka" Satou, Kei Shindou, and Ui Miyazaki also in :3 Truth be told, the English voice was terrible, nuff said.
The game was very time-sensitive. Synthesizing and exploring dungeons to collect materials both cost time, and given Rorona only has 3 month to fulfill specific time, each day is as important as others. Not to mention there are some events that were triggered within specific time limit, so if you want to get specific ending while balancing synthesize/exploring dungeon, it's recommended to do some planning ahead of the coming month. Oh, did I mention that this game has has FOURTEEN different endings?
As mentioned, the combat system really isn't the focal point of Rorona. The battle basically use simple [and I mean really simple] turn-based system where characters can attack, use skills or defend. Elemental attacks can affects some attacks, and in certain situation, allow greater skills to be used. Only Rorona can use items because she carry around basket to fill items she collected for synthesizing purpose. There are limited number of space available to store item in the basket, and this kinda limit the freedom of exploration.
Item synthesis. Unlike previous Atelier series, Atelier Rorona is very item-synthesize extensive. Everything you do is for the purpose of keeping the workshop alive, and that's by synthesizing, and more synth. The good thing is, the synthesize/alchemy feature in Atelier Rorona was great. Each items/material has specific quality/trait that affect the outcome of synthesis. Sometimes better quality item has bad trait, and vice versa. These can be fixed by combining materials with various traits to give better trait, high quality items. Though personally, I thought quality doesn't mean much except increase selling price, or if the quest specifically asked for high quality items.
Overall, based on the first 2 assignments I've complete, I would say that Atelier Rorona can be enjoyable even for non-Atelier fan like myself. The story offer something different than the generic jrpgs, and while the combat system was average at best, this was kinda compensated by the detailed synthesis mechanics. Though, having lots of different endings and time-sensitive synth/dungeon exploration can make the game a bit tedious. Some sort of guide is definitely needed if you want to go for specific direction rather than enjoying the game at leisure.
To be honest, I'm not really a fan of Gust's Atelier or Mana Khemia series because of the generic turn-based gameplay used in most of their title [except Grand Phantasm, which I like a lot :3]. Seeing Atelier series finally made into 3D with Rorona, I decided to give this game a try. Currently I've just finished Assignment 2 [year 1, July] and although I'm not really fancy the combat system, I would say that the game wasn't as bad as I initially thought, since the focus of the game isn't really the battle, but rather, item synthesis.
The game runs over the course of three years, in which Rorona will be given a specific assignment which runs for three months [making a total of 12 assignments in 3 years]. These task mostly required Rorona to synthesize specific items listed in the assignment through alchemy. As she submit the items, she will be given rating on how well she performed, based on type, quality and quantity of synthesised items, although generally we can increase the rating by simply focusing on quantity.
Being the first Atelier series in full 3D, the graphic doesn't disappoint me. Easy to the eyes, much as how I love Eternal Sonata and Tales of Vesperia's graphic. All character was neatly designed too. In term of story, I like the fact that it doesn't deal with "adventure together and save the world by beating the ultimate boss" theme found in so bloody many jrpgs these days. I also thoroughly enjoyed the humor added to the story, especially when it comes to Rorona's clumsiness and getting teased by everyone, and Cordelia's tsun :3 On a side note, the game also comes with English and Japanese voice option. I really love Mai Kadowaki's voice as Rorona, as well as Kitamura Eri's tsun Cordelia. Not to mention, Rina "misaka" Satou, Kei Shindou, and Ui Miyazaki also in :3 Truth be told, the English voice was terrible, nuff said.
The game was very time-sensitive. Synthesizing and exploring dungeons to collect materials both cost time, and given Rorona only has 3 month to fulfill specific time, each day is as important as others. Not to mention there are some events that were triggered within specific time limit, so if you want to get specific ending while balancing synthesize/exploring dungeon, it's recommended to do some planning ahead of the coming month. Oh, did I mention that this game has has FOURTEEN different endings?
As mentioned, the combat system really isn't the focal point of Rorona. The battle basically use simple [and I mean really simple] turn-based system where characters can attack, use skills or defend. Elemental attacks can affects some attacks, and in certain situation, allow greater skills to be used. Only Rorona can use items because she carry around basket to fill items she collected for synthesizing purpose. There are limited number of space available to store item in the basket, and this kinda limit the freedom of exploration.
Gameplay of Atelier Rorona. Who want some grilled meat? by the way, the English voice sucks. big time.
Item synthesis. Unlike previous Atelier series, Atelier Rorona is very item-synthesize extensive. Everything you do is for the purpose of keeping the workshop alive, and that's by synthesizing, and more synth. The good thing is, the synthesize/alchemy feature in Atelier Rorona was great. Each items/material has specific quality/trait that affect the outcome of synthesis. Sometimes better quality item has bad trait, and vice versa. These can be fixed by combining materials with various traits to give better trait, high quality items. Though personally, I thought quality doesn't mean much except increase selling price, or if the quest specifically asked for high quality items.
Overall, based on the first 2 assignments I've complete, I would say that Atelier Rorona can be enjoyable even for non-Atelier fan like myself. The story offer something different than the generic jrpgs, and while the combat system was average at best, this was kinda compensated by the detailed synthesis mechanics. Though, having lots of different endings and time-sensitive synth/dungeon exploration can make the game a bit tedious. Some sort of guide is definitely needed if you want to go for specific direction rather than enjoying the game at leisure.
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