Atelier Rorona (Review) Playstation 3

Atelier Rorona finally makes its debut here in the States. Released earlier this year in Japan, Atelier Rorona Alchemist of Arland is a very laid-back role-playing game. Slower in pace than most role-playing games, Atelier Rorona is a unique, and very rare experience. Those who are not accustom to true Japanese role-playing games will not appreciate this diamond in the rough.

Most role-playing games have you adventuring in the wilderness or searching for rare monsters, but that is not the case here. AR centers around Rorona, a young girl who tries to save her alchemy workshop from being closed down (and this is no small task by any means).

On top of having to save your workshop, you must also find time to collect and farm materials for your alchemy recipes. Despite playing at a slower pace than most role-playing games, AR still has its challenges. Time, for example, is your biggest enemy. You will be given assignments that must be completed within a certain time frame.

The game begins with Rorona on the verge of losing her alchemy workshop. Sterkenburg, a royal knight of Arland, proposes a way for Rorona to save her workshop, but only if she agrees to use her alchemy for the greater good of the kingdom.

There is a total of twelve assignments; they are broken up over the course of three years. These assignments will either make or break the alchemy workshop. Since Atelier Rorona has multiple endings, anything is possible. So failing one or even multiple assignments will change things completely.

Besides dealing with main assignments from the Kingdom of Arland, you will also be tackling friend requests (quests) which are needed to raise your friendship level with selected people. Friend requests are not needed, but they do offer additional perks as well as raising your friendship level. These perks can include gifts and lower prices when hiring friends for quests.

You can obtain additional quests not directly related to the main story at the front desk in the royal palace. Even though these quests will not help Rorona save her alchemy workshop, they are an easy way of collecting cash when money becomes tight and to gain popularity with the townsfolk.

If you’re not gathering ingredients or exploring the world around the kingdom, you will be working on your alchemy.

The crafting system is really the meat and potatoes of AR. Most of your gaming time will be spent crafting items using alchemy. Each item you craft will take upwards of a day, but how successful you are in crafting each item is based upon your HP (Hit points). You will lose health for each item or batch of items you create (your success rate will decrease too). Resting will increase your chances of crafting items.

Sometimes you will need to explore for ingredients that can’t be bought in town, and this will cost you precious time. You can waste upwards to a week or more just running around inside caves and forests; it’s very easy to lose track of time, and you must always keep that in mind.

Encounters with creatures can be easily avoided by simply running past them. I really like this feature; this gives you the upper-hand when you decide to engage a creature in combat (there are no surprises).

Once in combat, everything is pretty straight-forward. You can attack with your weapon,  combat skills, or use an item. There is a really unique combat feature not often found in other role-playing games: you can use party members as a shield to protect the main character. You can do this by simply pressing either the R1 or L1 buttons during the enemy’s turn.

There are two different ways of leveling Rorona: You have an Adventurer Level and an Alchemy Level, and each play a very important role. You need to find the right balance for both; a low Adventurer Level will make Rorona weaker in combat, and she will not be able to obtain the higher level ingredients needed for her alchemy. If her Alchemy Level is too low, she will not be capable of crafting higher level items.

Unlike some role-playing games, AR allows you to revisit cleared areas. This makes farming for ingredients – which you may be short on – much easier.  You can always purchase ingredients from the local store(s), but if you are short on cash, farming is the only alternative. Additionally, some ingredients can only be found in the wilderness, so the local stores can’t always help.

The assignments you are given are all ranked with a star system.  There are ten stars total in the star system, and the closer you get to filling all ten stars, the better the result for the assignment. The higher quality ingredients you use during crafting (for your assignments) will produce a better overall assignment ranking.

Some people may argue that Atelier Rorona is too Japanese for the American market, but I disagree. AR is a fantastic role-playing game that belongs here; we need more translations like this in the States.

It’s really sad that some games get passed over and labeled unfit for the American market. Luckily, this didn’t happen to AR. The majority of today’s gamers may not appreciate a game of this caliber from Japan, but there are still gamers out there (myself included) who still appreciate a good JRPG.

Atelier Rorona is around 45-50 hours of actual gameplay goodness. Plus, with the crafting system and multiple endings, AR will last you a very long time. There is plenty of replay value too.

The graphics are stunning; they have a cell shaded, cartoon look that resemble an Anime. The character models are beautifully mastered and the cutscenes are well-drawn. The spell effects are sharp and very colorful, and keep to the Anime theme.

The environments such as the Kingdom of Arland, and the surrounding caves and woods, are enormous with plenty of room for exploring. The graphics and spell effects are subtle, clean in design, and very easy on the eyes; they simply make AR a pleasure to play.

The cutscenes are done in a still-frame format; the backgrounds during the cutscenes blur and the characters will appear with dubbed over voice work. For me this format worked really well; I personally enjoyed this over a 3D rendered cutscene. It seems to capture your attention more than your standard 3D cutscene filled with enhanced special effects.

Atelier Rorona’s narration is top-notch; there is no cheesy dialog or voice acting here. Wonderful voice acting enhances the experience; it makes the game a joy to watch as the cutscenes unfold. The music is tastefully done and very fitting for the environments. There’s always some peppy tune playing no matter where you go, filling the world with life.

The sound effects are perfect. From magic spells to the sound of a frying pan being swung, everything has great impact. You can tell that a lot of time was spent developing AR, and it really shows. The only way to truly appreciate the true beauty of Atelier Rorona is to experience it for yourself. As a game, it gives us  a deep look into the Japanese culture. I am really glad to see this game; hopefully we will see more JRPGs similar to AR.

We’ve been overdue for a good role-playing game. The RPG market has been getting stale as of late, and it was in need of a change. AR offers a fresh perspective on the genre while also offering countless hours of gameplay in the form of replay value.

If you are searching for a fresh role-playing experience – and want something that breaks the standard RPG mold –  then Atelier Rorona is the game for you. Even if you’re not familiar with JRPGs, you’re doing yourself a great disservice by not experiencing this game. AR is not only one of a kind, but well worth the price of admission.

James ‘Daripp3r’ Pittaro
Platform: Playstation 3
Developer / Publisher: NIS America
Price: $59.99
NIS America’s Website

Review Score
Graphics
The cell-shaded graphics are truly stunning.
Sound
I love the voice acting and the narrative; simply some of the best in an RPG.
Gameplay
The crafting system is endless and will keep you busy for months to come. Plus, AR is unlike anything you have ever played before.

Overall
This game is a shining example of why there should be more Japanese RPGs translated for the Western market. AR is a phenomenal game that needs to be recognized for its incredible content and flexible crafting system, and not be dismissed because it seems different.