Atelier Rorona: The Alchemist of Arland

Atelier Rorona: The Alchemist of Arland is a light, colorful adventure that's easy enough to jump into but with combat, alchemy, and 14 different endings to unlock, is also layered enough to satisfy many standard JRPG subscribers looking for something a little different.

Atelier Rorona The Alchemist of Arland is a nice japan RPG with a classic turn based combat system, where you can control a young apprendist alchemist across a variety of situation in the world of Arland. The greatest strength in the game is the crafting system: the player is required to complete certain missions involving the creation of items from ingredients. The Alchemist of Arland is ultimately a good game, especially for fans of the genre.

With multiple endings and an easy but deep synthesis system, this game will easily net you 25+ hours without breaking a sweat.

When it comes right down to it, Atelier Rorona just feels good to play. If you're craving a charming, character-driven game that doesn't involve a looming world-ending crisis and you can deal with a lot of repetition, you'll certainly want to give this game a go.

If you like Harvest Moon, but like making stuff instead of farming it, this is your cup of tea.

There's light and shadow within Atelier Rorona: The Alchemist of Arland. While the presentation as well as the fighting system are a good approach for children, the alchemy system is hard as a rock. WTF dialogue accompanies the game, and so it's not worth a recommendation.

In summary, there are many, many hours of playing time to be had in Atelier Rorona: The Alchemist of Arland; however repetitious game play and time constraints make it an acquired taste, best suited to fans of the series.

Beyond its addictive crafting system, Atelier Rorona doesn't unfortunately possess anything capable of arousing interest of those gamers who aren't familiar with these kind of jRPGs. However, if you define yourself as fan of the genre, you should definitely consider this purchase.

Like labelmate Trinity Universe, Atelier Rorona is a hard game to dislike, but it ultimately feels a little too tied to JRPG convention for its ideas to bear fruit. It might be admirable for a game to promote such a diligent work ethic, but it never quite rewards you handsomely enough for your efforts.

Though Atelier Rorona: The Alchemist of Arland is a charming adventure, its stark simplicity and annoying deadlines narrow its appeal.

The script might be highly distasteful but the rest of the game is a surprisingly enjoyable variant on the Harvest Moon workaholic simulator.

It just isn't that interesting. [Christmas 2010, p.90]