Official Japenese website: http://atelier-ps3.jp/rorona/

Story & Playability

Story Introduction
Rorona is the disciple of a famous Alchemist but the thing is , her master is extremely lazy and laid-back , so much so that the imperial officials can no longer avoid the issue of her not handing in her taxes on time.
So Rorona found herself in a state of dileminia , as she find herself thrusted into the role of being the shop's shopkeeper ( Even the shop name was changed to her's ) and have to save the shop from closing down by raising it's rundown reputation and meeting the conditions placed by the officials on time , like handing in a certain alchemical product.

Main Character Introduction

Rorona
She is easily pushed around - not to mention teased , by her master but she is also extremely cheerful , not to mention being "quick to recover from shocks" as her master had indicated.
Other than that , she is pretty much more or less like your average girl.

Story Overview
Truth be told , I'd be lying if I'd say that the story is anywhere near the usual standards of Atelier games.
Most of it is pretty much about handing in assignments on time truth be told , for a total of twelve major assignments segmented through out the year.
However , one difference is that this game bears quite a "Visual Novel-like" experience to a certain extence , allowing the player to have a certain role to the flow of the storyline in a more direct approach.
As usual , it's usually character-related and may prove mildly interesting - though not particularly intriuging not exceptionally emotional.

Whilst the plotline is indeed "feeble" , I suspect it is a game more focused on young female players owing to the context and soft sweetness surrounding the general atmosphere of the game compared to the previous Atelier series.
Older male players and some female players may find the plot and conversations a bore , but one can't deny that this game does get pretty sweet at times.

Rating: 6

Graphics

Artwork Review
The design and artwork style held an even stronger indication that it is a game more meant for girls owing to it's flowy art techniques.

Whilst the drawn portraits of the characters aren't all too remarkable in terms of general design , they leave an extremely deep impression - owing much to the flowy artwork , smooth textures and coloring that makes it all too comfortable for the eyes.
To put it in a nutshell , the artwork is like a gem to the eyes... well , not really a gem but more like a teddy bear that you can't keep your eyes off of.

Graphics Review
Keep in mind that this is indeed the first Atelier that had gone 3D.
Interestingly , they had managed to keep the "girly atmosphere" alive even in combat scenarios and the general 3D image of the game.

Seeing that the girls are displayed in an extremely sweet and adorable way , it's hard to not see why , though of course , the men still look charismatic as always.
Whilst it is not exactly what I would call "breathtaking graphical enchancements" , it is remarkable to see how they have managed to stay on theme on the general atmosphere of the game as well as maintaining the fluid animations of the 3D characters.

Though they do certainly need to brush up in certain areas to make the entire game more interesting.

Rating: 8

Sound

Music Review
I have to admit , the songs doesn't exactly play an extremely strong impression in one's mind nor mark it's existence in one's head , but it's pleasent enough.
At the very least , it doesn't cause some massive headaches owing to the looping , but it isn't a fantastic piece that would stick in your head even if you had stopped playing the games for several months straight.

Voice Review
I can't really say that I can agree upon the choices of all the Seiyus for the respective characters - or rather , the voice acting in question sounds nice , but something about it feels fairly off and even mechanic.
Is it because of the nature of the conversations or is it something else? I can't really point at the flaw but the point is , it is like music without emotions in it - you might find yourself reading through the texts manually rather than listening through the entire conversation.

Rating: 6

Fun

= This is a Review of Atelier Rorona ~Alchemists of Arland~ =
Well , I can't say that this is my favourite game nor can I say it's one that I could find myself to detest.
There are many flaws and yet there are some points about this game which you can't ignore.
Still , it isn't really a game meant for guys nor girls whom prefer more action-related games , for this is seriously one game I've ever encountered in my life which is probably targetted at young girls with a young mind.... Oh , no offence here.

If your a fan of the Atelier series , you may find that the combat system is greatly weakened from what it had used to be and there is a greater focus on the alchemy feature of this game.
This is pretty much a game of meeting the requirements of your assignments on time rather than combat , even the combat scenes are designed in a way that it appears cute in many ways.

Overal : Others

Age Rating : Teen

Gameplay

Combat
Well , battles can prove to be extremely awkward , particularly if your a fan of RPGs with intensive turn based battles.
Atelier Rorona , too , feature a typical Turn Based system as according to most JRPGs , but the thing is , it is so simplistic and displayed in such a cute manner that one can't help but feel their jaws drop in an unpleasent way.
To put it bluntly , it feels as though the game was a port of a DS game.

Alchemy and Assignments
Truth be told , this is where the difficulty of the game comes from.
Alchemy and assignments , as well as jobs come to think of it.
There is both time and HP constraint that the player have to worry their little head off about , such as producing the right Alchemical product on time , providing the right substances to their respective side-jobs on time , keeping an eye on their health points for it reduces not only in combat but alchemical procedures and the limitations of indegrients they have.

Naturally , you can always procure more indegrients or buy them off the shop if your desperate ( But they cost a bomb ) , procuring indegrients means you would have less time left to dilly-dally around with your missions and buying them off the shop means less money for equipments.

It's a painful game of management indeed. For people who rushes into combat with their head without really using it , this may be your greatest enemy....

Trivia
- A sequel called Atelier Totori was made , but I haven't played it

Reviewer's Comment
Not saying that this game is bad and all but , it's more or less focused , in a very specific manner , towards young girls whom are interested in "soft and fluffy games - with a hell lot of responsibilities to boot"
Why , I panicked at times when I realised I may be late for my assignments - it's like realising that you had forgotten to hand in your homework or had forgotten to write that report your boss was talking about.

Rating: 7

Final Verdict

6.6667 (above average)

Reviewed by z827, May 22, 2011

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