Again, I found myself in GameStop with an extra 20 dollars on my PowerUp card from trading in a couple of games when this little number caught my eye. From the box art, it looked like a pretty standard Japanese RPG with a gorgeous hand drawn art style. For 17 bucks, I figured I’d give it a shot. Atelier Iris from the same series on the PS2 was a great game, and I figured for a used game it would be hard to go wrong.
What I got was a thoroughly mediocre game. Now, this is by no means saying this is a bad game, nothing about it is blatantly wrong with it. In fact in most areas, it’s perfectly serviceable. The only problem with it is that there really isn’t a whole lot the game does any better than many other games out there.
the story follows a young alchemist names Rorona who suddenly find herself in control of her master’s Alchemy shop – which is in danger of being shut down. To keep the shop open, Rorona has to earn the affection of the villagers of Arland, while doing a series of alchemy jobs for the kingdom on top of it. The story certainly isn’t breaking any new ground, but the cutscenes are fun affairs and the characters are likable enough.
The art is also very good if you take it frame by frame. When the game is in motion, it really does look like a slightly upgraded PS2 game: characters are floaty, textures are basic, and the cahracters are only basically animated. But pros to GUST for the art design as a whole. frame by frame, the game does look like being in a painting. The cell shading looks really good with the game’s aesthetic, and the different areas each look good on their own. It’s just a shame the game doesn’t look better when it’s actually being played.
The art design is actually very good, if only it didn’t look like a PS2 game…
The combat in the game is a standard turn based affair with few bells and whistles to set itself apart from it’s competitors, but it certainly works. The exploration is also pretty standard you move from point to point in a relatively linear area collecting ingredients to use in alchemy to make items for the villagers or the kingdom before the deadline hits. It suddenly becomes rote, but it never really goes completely stale, mostly thanks to an inspired alchemy system.
The alchemy system in the game has you combining ingredients together to form new items, equipment and goods to complete missions, sell to the public, or use while exploring. Every ingredient you use has a stat associated with it that it will pass onto the completed product, so alchemy quickly becomes a process of finding the highest quality ingredient to make the best product. It’s actually quite rewarding, and it really holds the game together to make it something above average. I was able to spend hours at a time messing around with ingredients to make the best possible potion to give to the kingdom; it really is fun. which is good, because it makes up for the rest of the game being relatively lackluster.
All things considered, I actually did enjoy this game. It’s almost a theraputic experience, completing the missions. the deadlines are there for missions, but they almost never get stressful, it’s fun messing around with alchemy to get the best results, and the combat and exploration never hold the fun parts back, even if they don’t stand out on their own merits. It’s a well paced game, it nudges you along at a fun pace, it’s actually a pretty relaxing “cool-down” game to play after a long session of Call of Duty or Assassins Creed.
Final Word: For 17 bucks, I could recommend picking this up. If you are looking for a change of pace from standard RPGs or want a relatively relaxing experience you really can’t go wrong with Atelier Rorona. So long as you aren’t looking for revolutionary combat or exploration, it’s a fun game to just sit down with for an afternoon and just relax.
21 bucks used on amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Atelier-Rorona-Alchemists-Arland-Playstation-3/dp/B003YVP5DE/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1354081609&sr=8-1&keywords=Atelier+Rorona
20 bucks used on gamestop, 17 with powerup card in store: http://www.gamestop.com/ps3/games/atelier-roronathe-alchemists-of-arland/78639
Lost In The Overworld 