Atelier Rorona Plus: The Alchemist of Arland

 PlayStation 3
User Score
8.0

Generally favorable reviews- based on 45 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 35 out of 45
  2. Mixed: 3 out of 45
  3. Negative: 7 out of 45
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  1. TheDestroyer
    Dec 10, 2014
    2
    This is an angry rant on Atelier Rorona Plus because the original review posted got taken down. And this will continue to be reposted because I paid 50$ for this game on the playstation store, and played this nightmare through to the end so I earned the right to speak out. Everyone will know how bad this game truely is.

    - Right off the bat, the game begins with a 30 minute tutorial,    This is an angry rant on Atelier Rorona Plus because the original review posted got taken down. And this will continue to be reposted because I paid 50$ for this game on the playstation store, and played this nightmare through to the end so I earned the right to speak out. Everyone will know how bad this game truely is.

    - Right off the bat, the game begins with a 30 minute tutorial, explaining synthesis, and how to recruit party members. Doesn't even give time for the player to collect their thoughts or look around as all areas are blocked off with invisible walls until it's over. Don't start your games like this!!! It makes new players feel uncomfortable having to process so much information at once. And not everyone can. And if skipped, they won't know what they're even doing. Break up your tutorials piece by piece; don't dump it all at once!

    - This game has good story, graphics, voice acting, and atmosphere, but fails to do everything else right.

    - A knight named Sterk gives you assignments to complete throughout the game. They range between crafting and killing monster. Miss one assignment within the in-game timer and it's game over, and you have to reload a save. All of this is just house chores! Here's what gameplay is like: you go out and kill monsters, collect ingredients, return to watch cut-scene, synthesis, then turn in assignments for your next headache! Rinse & repeat about 200 times! This isn't fun!!! Any real gamer can see that these are mini side-quests forming into the main quest storyline. You have to do them too, which is the torture of it all. It is boring and unacceptable for today's gaming. The game attempts to color it's synthesis menu by giving you a variety of things to make. But the problem is you end up making the same thing 20 times during gameplay. And when you run out of ingredients, you'll magically notice an assignment involving an item you just did 10 minutes ago!!! **** ARP!

    - This game continues to taunt players with what could have been a really enjoyable battle system. But it's destroyed by the in-game timer described above!

    - The deafening soundtrack will destroy you if you don't download the free BGM DLC on the store, because the few good songs isn't worth sticking it out for.

    - There is no enjoyment for doing anything outside of cut-scenes. I paid 50$ of my own money on the playstation store to tell everyone if this game was worth it, and it was some of the worst 30 hours of my life.

    Fortunately, Atelier Rorona Plus isn't the worst game I've ever played, but it's still pretty bad. I feel sorry for the developers who actually had to make this crap because this game isn't fun. No one should buy this game. No one needs to endure this torture.    … Expand

Awards & Rankings

18
#18 Best PS3 Game of 2014
60
#60 Most Discussed PS3 Game of 2014
20
#20 Most Shared PS3 Game of 2014

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
80

Generally favorable reviews - based on 18 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 11 out of 18
  2. Mixed: 7 out of 18
  3. Negative: 0 out of 18
  1. RPG Fan
    Aug 4, 2014
    72
    It's better than the original Atelier Rorona, but I'd still rather be playing any other Atelier game.
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  2. PlayStation Universe
    Jul 12, 2014
    75
    Atelier Rorona Plus is good value for those wanting to enjoy the end of the Arland trilogy on PS Vita. If you have purposely skipped this game the first time around, nothing about this version will change your mind. Still, Koei Tecmo and Atelier fans will not regret picking it up.
    Read full review
  3. RPGamer
    Jul 9, 2014
    80
    If the original Atelier Rorona's major drawbacks and barriers to entry were its difficulty and time-consuming crafting, then Rorona Plus fixed one and made the other less relevant.
    Read full review
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