It's no secret that I love Atelier games. I picked up Atelier Sophie way back in 2016 at Ben's recommendation, and I've adored the series ever since. From there I've mostly gone forward, from Sophie to the games that followed it, so I thought it was about time I went back and tried out some of the older entries, especially now that the DX releases have made them available on modern platforms. I'm starting my journey with the Arland series of games, which means that first up is Atelier Rorona, and I figure while I'm at it, I should share my thoughts on the game.
Story
Atelier Rorona is set in Arland, a small kingdom built on ancient ruins centuries ago. At one point unusual machines were discovered in the ruins that the people didn't know what to do with. A traveler to the Arland taught the people how to use them, and as a reward for the prosperity they then granted the kingdom, allowed the traveler to start an alchemy workshop. This was a long time ago, and the workshop is currently inhabited by the alchemist Astrid and her pupil Rorona.
The current Minister and King want to shut the workshop down, likely because Astrid doesn't actually do much for the kingdom. The workshop lacks customers and is mostly just taking up space. They don't shut it down immediately however, and instead assign several tasks to be completed to prove its worth.
Astrid has little interest in completing these tasks herself, to the point she doesn't even bother going to the palace to hear about the shut down situation. She sends Rorona in her place, and upon learning they have a chance to keep it going by completing assignments, passes the workshop down to Rorona, mostly to make it Rorona's responsibility to keep it going.
Visuals and Music
The soundtrack in Atelier Rorona reminds me of most other games in the series. It's pleasant to listen to and fits the generally relaxing vibe these games tend to have incredibly well. It's definitely not the absolute peak of game music, but I like it a lot and think it puts me in the right mindset for playing this sort of game.
The strongest aspect of Atelier Rorona visually is the character design. Mel Kishida is responsible for the character design in all four games in the Arland series of Atelier games, as well as that in Blue Reflection. Characters are distinct, and it's usually pretty easy to tell which characters are alchemists, which is important in a series centered around them.
Other than character design however, the game isn't the prettiest. It's by no means a bad looking game, but it is several generations old and definitely looks like it. The environments get the job done and things are visually discernible as what they were, but you can absolutely tell that this game is from the PS3 era, especially if compared to more recent games in the franchise.
Gameplay
Like I mentioned when talking about the premise of the game, Atelier Rorona primarily centers around the assignments given to you by the kingdom to prove the worth of the workshop and keep it open. Every three months you're given an assignment, usually involving submitting some kind of item, and you get three months to complete it. If you fail to complete an assignment, the workshop closes and the game ends, but if you complete one, you get to move onto the next one. You don't have to get a perfect evaluation to complete an assignment, but even after clearing it, you can continue to turn items in to improve your evaluation, as the type, quantity, and quality of items submitted will impact it.
There are side-assignments as well. These can include things like synthesizing a certain amount of items or a certain kind of item during the assignment period, gathering a certain amount of times, winning a certain amount of battles or defeating certain enemies, and more. There is also a bingo board every assignment period you can earn rewards from, such as stat increases, new recipes, and new equipment by making a line. The center spot is filled upon completing the montly assignment, and you can fill another spot for each side-assignment you complete during the time. There are also side quests you can complete outside of main or side assignments that can increase your reputation with Arland as a whole or with specific characters, as well as earn you some money. They can include things like providing certain items and defeating enemies.
I will admit that at first, I was worried about the time limit to complete assignments since most of the Atelier games I'd played were later ones that didn't have them, and especially since crafting uses both time and SP, resting to recover SP uses time, and traveling between areas uses time, but it ended up being far less intimidating than I thought. The time you get is fairly generous and I didn't have any trouble fully filling out my bingo board every time.
Now let's talk about the things to do to complete those assignments (or to help yourself do those things). Rorona is, first and foremost, an alchemist. Her job is to create various items by synthesizing materials in her cauldron. Recipes for items can be obtained through the story, purchased from shops, or gained as quest rewards. The materials for a recipe may be things within a a category, or a specific item, and these materials can effect the quality, effects, and traits (various bonuses on items that can be inherited by items synthesized from them) available to the final product.
This is all well and good, but you also have to get your hands on these materials in the first place. Some can be purchased from shops (often at a lower quality and without traits), many can be gathered from areas outside of Arland, and some are obtained by defeating the enemies in those areas. You can only carry so many on you at once, so you'll have to pretty regularly make trips back to the workshop to drop off what you've gathered.
Rorona of course isn't a warrior, and some of the enemies out there can be tough, but thankfully she doesn't have to go it alone. Over the course of the game she'll meet various people that can come with her on gathering trips, making combat much easier, but with the exception of her childhood friend Cordelia, most of these people require payment to come along, their time isn't worth nothing, after all! As you get closer to these characters, whether through fighting alongside them, completing their requests, or proceeding through their character stories, their fees may decrease, so it's a good idea to make friends!
The battles themselves are turn based, with a turn order showing up in the corner of the screen. A character's speed and the type of action they take will determine how far down they get sent in the order after an action, with some particularly speedy ones being able to move twice before an enemy does at times! Characters have HP and SP, the former being the damage they can take before falling, and the latter being used for skills. In Rorona's case, SP is also used for synthesis, so it's important not to overuse her skills. Items for offense, healing, and support exist that can be used in battle, but they can only be used by an alchemist like Rorona.
Lastly I'd like to mention the character stories, which I consider to be the highlight of the Atelier series. As you get closer to characters, it's possible for cutscenes and events to occur when you encounter them in various areas in and out of Arland. These events will lead you to get to know the character more and advance their own story in the game, and alongside your performance on the assignments, are a big part of determining how the game concludes for you. And as mentioned earlier, being closer to someone decreases how much it costs for them to come with you on a gathering run. This part of the game is very visual novel-esque, and I think the series as a whole kind of straddles the line between RPG and Visual Novel.
Conclusion
I loved playing through Atelier Rorona DX. I worried about the time limits at first since it was my first game centering around them, but the progression of the game was clearly designed around the limit being achievable, which I think lead to this game having significantly better pacing than some of the later entries I've played. It's a bit dated visually, very clearly from a previous generation, but I still found it to be a whole lot of fun, and I enjoyed getting to know the characters as I worked to keep my workshop alive. If you're a big fan of games centered on crafting, or games with a heavy amount of character focus, the Atelier series is definitely for you, and Atelier Rorona strongly showcases what the series has to offer.
VERDICT: Recommended
Reviewed on PC
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