Retail alchemy- the home game!

What They Say

The Alchemist of Arland is a classically styled role-playing game, set in a realm of alchemy and magic, with turn-based battles and complex character development. Based on a long-running Japanese series, it is the fourth console game in developer Gust’s Atelier series to be released in North America, and the first developed for PS3. The game’s graphics employ cel-shaded 3D characters and finely detailed 2D backgrounds, to create the effect of playing through a high-definition anime feature. Combat plays out with each character and enemy making its attack in turn. Positioning is not important in the abstract battles, but using the most effective attacks at the right times, against creatures with different elemental strengths or weaknesses, can make a significant difference in a close fight. The game’s alchemy interface allows players to combine quest rewards and found objects into tools, armor, and weapons of great power or specific use. The game’s ultimate challenge is to create the rarest object in the world – an object perhaps powerful enough to save the realm, or destroy it — using exceptional ingredients and alchemistic expertise gathered throughout the adventure. The plot plays out as a series of 12 great tasks, each of which must be accomplished within a limited amount of game time, in order to proceed to the next. The story branches, according to the player’s role-playing decisions, to multiple possible endings.

The Review!

Graphics:

The graphics in Atelier Rorona are for the most part solid and well defined as the game uses an animation style approach for its character designs rather than a more realistic one that can be seen in other games like Halo which gives a less “realistic” appearance to the graphics but when combined with the idealized European walled city designs they grant a tremendous warm look to the game. The game uses a pair of scene types to convey its story points with the most common type used for visiting shops and the like using a format where the characters are displayed in a visual novel type method where they drawn with a look that suggests they are more than just flat paper dolls that don’t move and which is clearly done in a manner that makes them look hand drawn but swaps out images to convey changes in emotion that come from the dialogue. The other type of cut scene uses the 3-D modeled character animations that the player uses the vast majority of time as they travel around the various locations found in the game and which are a bit less well defined than their hand drawn opposites but which do allow for some motion to be present in their scenes and they also tend to have a far smaller problem when it comes to jaggies being present than the other version’s style presents.

Most of the visuals in the town are done to compliment the animation inspired style with backgrounds, levels and the screen character in exploration mode having a fairly well developed 3D look to them though the difference between the 3-D and more traditional animation is noticeable if not overly distracting though it does give a sense that the two parts come from separate worlds on occasion. Along those lines while traveling and in combat the character’s clothing reflects the standard character designs no matter what they are equipped with but during battles the difference in weapons is represented, even if on the field screen Rorona is always swinging her initial staff when it comes to attempting to gain an advantage attack. The palate of colors is also sizable though the difference between the more pastel and soft colors used for the characters and town in the 3-D and animation 2-D parts is again noticeable which also plays into the not quite in the same world feelings that the graphics create but overall the two work reasonably well together to create a pleasant feel.

Audio:

The game includes both the original Japanese voice acting for the game and the English language version that NISA created for English speaking markets though both tracks are only available in stereo which makes the game feel a little old even when it isn’t, though this does slightly help set up the old world feel that the game attempts to establish visually. For the purposes of this review the Japanese language track was used during the play through and it is a decent track that conveys most of dialogue at a comfortable level without having to constantly adjust the audio settings though some effects may need adjusting depending on how one typically has their sound level set in order to make them easier to here. In order to do this the game lets you customize the sound across the several types of sounds present so one can boost or lower dialogue, effects and background music to whatever level one might require. The voice actors themselves are rather solid which allows for the characters to get quite a bit conveyed through their vocal work and for the most part the music used helps to underscore the world that the visual and story establish and it works to sell the complete package though the effect is that the sound track is a more mellow and subdued one than some games use reflecting the more laid back nature of the games theme.

Control:

The environment that the player will be navigating in Atelier Rorona largely breaks down into two separate types based on location- actions inside the city walls and those that take place in the various fields that open on the world map as the game progresses. In the city the player will be able to select from 7 different areas to visit off of a flat map which will allow the player to either talk with friends, obtain quests or witness cut scenes when specific conditions are met or visit various locations to listen to the NPCs chat though they generally have almost no variation within what they say in each game chapter which usually has updates for a number of the NPCs. The town map takes the place of having streets to navigate for the most part, and though a few areas still have a bit of street aspect to them one can’t navigate along these to move to other areas, they are just used to access other characters or shops that may be on that same street or to return to the town map. A good deal of the time in the game will be spent inside the city’s walls as the player navigates among the various characters looking to assemble the items needed to fulfill the main quests that are given to Rorona each quarter as well as any quests the player may take on from individual characters in order to improve her friendship rating with them and gain the benefits from having a higher rating with each that can result in unlocked cut scenes and lower cost to hire them to travel with Rorona. In addition the castle’s front desk also serves as a distribution location for quests from the general population of the game that can be taken in order to raise her popularity among the city as a whole which in turn helps to determine which ending the player is on course for and can provide various rewards in return as well, usually in the form of money though there are some bonus payouts that appear later in the game.

As Rorona spends a fair amount of time running around town to ascertain quests or gather information probably the most important location at which time will be spent is at her own workshop where she takes the various materials that she has gathered whether through exploring and fighting outside the city’s walls or from purchasing from the various shops to synthesize new items based off the recipes that she has obtained. This synthesis creation will allow the player to create items that will sometimes fulfill her requirements for the quarter that she is in and which may also aid her on her quest and often which will also be requested from various NPCs in the game in addition to having the potential to make some items that are higher in quality than those found initially in the shops. The act of synthesis can only be done inside the workshop and it can be accessed either from the semicircle menu that only appears inside the shop’s walls or by walking up to the giant (stereotypical) cauldron that is present opposite the workshop’s door.

The act of synthesis can be a tricky one though as in addition to needing to have the recipe and required materials to fulfill it the player will also need to factor in that each item has its own requirements as to how much game time and Rorona’s hit points the act will consume and in addition to that each recipe has its own difficulty rating which will affect the chances of Rorona actually creating the item she wishes to or winding up with a failure that wasted time and materials. Each item created through synthesis will have a quality level (up to 120 maximum) that is impacted by factors such as Rorona’s Alchemy level and the quality level of the materials that were used in the making of the new item. Just to add some fun into the mix many consumable items will degrade over time at varying speeds which will lower their quality and the only way to combat this is to place them into the container located in the workshop which has the ability to hold up to 999 total items and which can be accessed off the menu when inside the workshop as well to place items from the container into Rorona’s basket and vice versa.

In order to reach the various fields of combat present on the world map a certain number of days must be used in travel that varies according to each field and once there the sub fields within also consume days which may require players to carefully plan out how they will be visiting these areas as they may find themselves running out of time to finish the current periods assignment or missing certain events if they aren’t careful. Items are then obtained either from gathering points (marked with a blue or gold star in a speech bubble) or from enemy drops after they are defeated (though certain items can only be found after having specific characters come along to certain levels and point out the existence of these otherwise hidden items).

Combat itself is incredibly basic as the player is allowed (a usually fairly limited in space) to wander each subfield (dungeon) encountering enemies that are represented by a singly creature that usually roams in a set pattern, though a few enemies are sedentary and may rush the player when approached, and it is initiated in two ways as the player and monster can either collide or the player can swing Rorona’s staff down and if it (or the stars that bounce off it) hit the enemy first the player will gain an advantage attack in combat, though that effect is rather minimal. When in combat the player has the option of using “Attack,” “Skill,” “Defense” and “Escape” for all the friend characters in the party (up to two can be present at a time) while Rorona alone has access to “Items” which can allow her to use whatever various restore, attack or support items that she may have on hand in her basket. While the “Attack” command is basic and has no penalties the “Skills” command allows access to a much larger variety of options as the characters level up and unlock them, though each skill comes at a cost as using them consumes hit points that vary based on the skill, the level of the skills power and the character’s level. Many of these skills are linked to elements which a graphic on the screen keeps track of and if a particular element gets leveled up significantly it can allow for the unleashing of some new and very powerful skills by the player (though the enemies attacks of that same element also power up) though the use of an opposite skill lowers the power of the other element as well and can play a part in just how the player decides to create the makeup of their party.

Also present is the ability for Rorona’s friends to help her out as each time that any of them take action or damage (particularly Rorona) their combat friend meter (measured as three diamonds above the character’s names) gathers a certain percentage toward being filled and when a diamond fully turns green that character can spend that energy following Rorona after she makes an attack (if the enemy is defeated the extra attack isn’t wasted as the character than attacks another on screen enemy) or to take a hit in front of her if an enemy has her targeted if the player so desires. The player also has the ability to chose party members based on available options from visiting characters in the city and can invite those specific characters to come along provided the player has the funds to hire them as each friend has their own cost for joining the party (though the cost goes down as Rorona completes tasks for them and raises her friendship level with them) based on whatever reasons they may wish be it to experience cut scenes, the power of certain characters in battle or simply a fondness for the characters.

Text:

The text for the majority of the game appears in a black, easy to read font that isn’t crowded in a dialogue box that features the name of the character speaking just above the box on the upper left side, behind which the game inserts the images of the character in whatever expression has been designed to highlight the text. The text itself was found to be without any memorable errors and the dialogue flows smoothly throughout the game as it seems to capture the flavor of the dialogue delivered if not always all the subtleties with which the voice acting presents the dialogue (which is less of a problem in a game than it would be a novel, it just serves to underscore how lines can take on more meaning from inflection that simple dialogue translations or the script lines being present aren’t able to replace or convey).

For the purpose of this review the Limited Edition release of Atelier Rorona was used which arrives packaged in a larger than game case sized box with a special inlay for the game and a 32 page hardcover book beneath the game. The front of the box contains an image of the protagonist of the story as she stands with a vial in her left hand while she holds her staff in her right hand and balances it against the crook of her arm and behind her is a mix of images of different items/locations in the game as well as equations probably meant to be alchemic in their origin and the game logo is placed over her near the bottom of the box. All four side panels feature the PS3 logo and the title written in orange fading to a red using the stylized game logo in the same manner which is present on the front cover though the side panels move the subtitle of “-The Alchemist of Arland-‘’ to follow the title rather than being present under it like on the front of the box. The back features illustrated images of two of Rorona’s friends, Sterkenberg and Cordelia, on either side of the space with an illustration of a building between them over which is laid the description of the game in both English and French. In addition to that, two screen shots are present on the left under Sterkenberg and are placed just above an image showing off the game case and the book while the right side has four screen shots from the game under Cordelia and is somewhat customary with these oversized boxes the bottom quarter of the box displays the different logos of the companies involved, technical specifications and assorted other info that appears on game packaging. The book itself uses an image of the town over which it lays a large image of a smiling Rorona who is placed on the right side of the cover as she looks out toward the viewer over her right shoulder while her body is pointed to the right and the book contains of character sketches, bios and color images of the characters as well as close ups of some of the areas and cut scenes from the game.

The game case cover is one that caused some grumbling in certain areas of fandom when it came out as it forgoes showing its protagonist in favor of having a shot of some close up locals from the game with the games title in the center and Rorona’s staff being present at an angle behind that. The back of the case features a different image from the box as it contains the same six game stills but it uses a close up image of the ruins from the game for its background as well as an image of the protagonist Rorona being present on the right with her arms spread. Apparently in order to keep the print from overwhelming the back, the game write up was dropped with only the bullet point highlights of some of the game specifics being present (again in English and French) with the various technical and copyright info absorbing over a third of the area at the bottom of the cover. The manual for the game uses the same image from the Limited Edition’s hardcover book though the image of Rorona is set more to scale and placed in the center of the picture rather than off to the side. The manual contains some of the same character bio and illustrations as the hardcover though these, along with the present game stills, are all presented in black and white (and shades in-between) and much like the info on the case the manual is written both in English and French with the English version printed first while the disc label uses a close up image of Rorona from the Limited Edition box cover art.

Content (Please note that content portions of review may contain spoilers)

The land of Arland is a small kingdom set off from the rest of the world to some degree and which was built around some ancient ruins that rise high into the sky. One day the people discovered some machines in the ruin but had no idea how to operate the devices until a traveler arrived and showed taught them the secrets to making them work which lead to a boom for the kingdom. A grateful king told the traveler that he could have any request he wanted fulfilled, to which the traveler replied that he wanted to open an alchemy workshop in the kingdom. Many years have passed and the ownership of the shop has passed to a woman named Astrid who shares the space with her apprentice Rorona though the shop has become unpopular as Astrid has a disdain for the city’s residents, rarely making anything for the people who come for her services and as such its business is practically nonexistent. This situation suits Astrid as she spends he days sleeping and making comments laced with innuendo at her apprentice and generally working to provoke reactions from Rorona rather than teaching her any skills in the art of alchemy.

All that changes at the beginning of one year though when a messenger from the kingdom arrives and announces that it has been decided that the shop is to be closed down because it no longer serves the public and there are plans that involve a new use for space inside the city walls that the workshop inhabits. While Astrid takes this proclamation in stride Rorona is going to be unable to just let things go that easily- especially since she became Astrid’s apprentice when Astrid made a rare act of actually using alchemy to make some expensive medicine for Rorona’s family which was exchanged for the girl’s service and if her master leaves the kingdom Rorona will have to go with her. In order to escape this fate Rorona attempts to motivate her master to go to the castle and argue for the shop’s continued existence (and rather expectedly given her master’s personality) everything is dumped into her lap as her master is going to pass the work on to Rorona along with the title for the workshop (which was unexpected) along with a basic book of alchemy passed on to Astrid by her mentor to give Rorona a start in learning the ways of the craft.

With the weight of the kingdom’s edict and her newly acquired shop on her shoulders Rorona discovers that the decision isn’t one without a clause for the shop to stay open- for the next three years the castle will be making a quarterly assignment that will have to be passed in order to avoid having the workshop closed. In order to meet these goals Rorona is going to have to rely on her friends- both old and ones she makes along the way- to help her travel throughout the kingdom gathering materials for her alchemy to craft the required items. Some of these journeys will take her into some very dangerous places but the rewards may be more than a match as the people she meets and skills she learns along the way may turn her into a first class alchemist who is able to help those in need as well as go a long way toward establishing her shop as a place worth doing business once again while also on a personal level learning far more about her friends and mentor as she works to meet the goals before her.

Atelier Rorona combines a couple of different game play mechanics together to spin is tale as the game mixes RPG elements in its adventure/level up portion of the game to which it adds the need to search for materials for item synthesis/alchemy while trying to add a very visual novel like style for relating the interactions of Rorona and her friends to the mix as it attempts to blend all of these elements together into a single package. To the extent that this works as well as it does is largely attributable to the story telling elements that are brought out as the mechanics used for the RPG portion and the alchemy are on the extremely basic end of such mechanics with a battle system that offers little real challenge or innovations to those who have played almost any RPG in at least the last decade or who have some tactical sense and the various combat fields are rather generic and, though colorful, colorful they come across as generic across the length of the game. The alchemy side fairs little better with no ability to really try to mix and match to create new objects on whim as everything that can be attempted can only be done so after finding a recipe for it which seriously undercut any feeling of trial and error and exploration of this key part of the game that might otherwise have been possible if the system was more open to experimentation. In fact about the only challenge the alchemy really provides is in trying to get the alchemy level of Rorona high enough to have a statistical probability of success as well as trying to figure out just how to initially use the system as the game walk through is rather anemic when it comes to explaining some of the depth of things when it comes to the synthesizing of certain types of objects.

The game’s only real challenge as far possibly stopping an experienced player really comes from the limitations that the designers placed in the way of the player from the onset in which a player will find their greatest challenge to be trying to figure out how to get the events needed to get the game ending they want while trying to accomplish the various tasks that consume the game days that are available to them ,some of which can make the difference in character relationships and some mean the difference between having the full narrative or suddenly having the story left hang in- particularly in the case of one character who is as close to an antagonist as the game has and whose disappearance leaves the player essentially just playing against the clock for much of the game.

Early on the game also limits the player to being able to carry 60 items total at a time creating a dilemma for those setting out to gather materials as they need to balance just how many support or attack items they will need for the war of attrition that the initial levels of battle are until they can synthesize new weapons and armor and find party members that are able to gain healing skills, after which with the exception of perhaps some almost boss-like characters healing items will largely become an item that just gathers virtual dust as their usefulness plummets dramatically due to character skills being able to handle the majority of encounters that a decently level party would encounter or a judicious creation of items that can provide some healing at the start of each character’s turn.

That the game manages to both overcome these negatives in mechanics and still shine is a testament to the staff that was behind assembling an eclectic and at times somewhat eccentric cast of characters whose antics and struggles draw in the player to the drama experienced by Rorona and her friends as they attempt to help her keep her shop open while dealing with the surprises that pop up along the way. How well one reacts to this game is going to depend to a large degree on one’s level of enjoyment of the sense of humor behind the game which borrows heavily from some of the major themes prevalent in Japanese RPGs as well the kind as which pops up a lot in the more humor oriented anime series. Probably the best representation of this humor is found in the game’s 17 year old protagonist who tends to be on the somewhat spacey side of things as she uses a lot of delayed and exaggerated reactions to events in her mannerisms which may tickle the fancy of some while irritating others who don’t care for this archetype which is a key component as the majority of cut scenes in the game as the events plays off of her and her reactions to a great extent with a number of characters intentionally setting up their actions in order to provoke her responses. These provocations will come from some varied sources as the game works in a number of characters that it develops beyond just some simple tropes into something a bit more for even some of the more minor reappearing characters that populate the town in the game.

It is in the careful crafting of the interactions between the various personality types in the game that the game truly finds its stride as it plays these characters off Rorona and each other as it reveals the heart that exist behind the various characters and which provides a sense of life behind the encounters that they have with each other. In some ways the game feels like it might have been best suited if it had forgone the inclusion of the active potions of the game and had focused on the visual novel portion that allows for some truly wonderful moments that cause the game to stand tall on the shelves with games whose mechanics overwhelm it but whose narrative can’t keep up with this game’s somewhat sweet story of a person dedicated to keep her workshop open and the people who gravitate around her to help her in her cause. Players looking for more action or complicated mechanics may find this game to be not their cup of tea but those looking for a tale that believes the story carries more weight both in the immediate feelings toward a game and how it is remembered long after playing will find a gem of a title to add to their collection.

In Summary:

Atelier Rorona is the story of a young woman who suddenly has the burden of saving an unpopular shop on her shoulders and who is going to have to grow a whole lot in her alchemy skills as well as learn to be a resolute adventurer to stand a chance of succeeding in her quest. Luckily this young woman will turn out to be the type of person that many want to rally around and help as she collects both a number of friends who will actively travel with her as well as having the ability to win the hearts of the citizens of the city of Arland who aren’t particularly fond of her master as long as she strives hard enough. With its entertaining cast and heartwarming story players will find they may also fall for Rorona’s charms, though if they don’t the going may be a bit rough as the simplistic combat and field designs in addition to the incredible number of fetch quests that have to be fulfilled to maximize Rorona’s chances of obtaining the game’s true end may prove to be rather frustrating for some, and even those who love the characters may find they wish they could jettison those aspects when trying to collect all of the various unique endings that the game has.

Content Grade: B

Graphics: B+

Sound: B+

Text/Translation Grade: B-

Packaging: A