Atelier Meruru Plus: The Apprentice of Arland

 PlayStation Vita
User Score
8.1

Generally favorable reviews- based on 42 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 31 out of 42
  2. Mixed: 7 out of 42
  3. Negative: 4 out of 42

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  1. Zemeckis
    Jan 9, 2014
    8
    This is the second game that I've played in the franchise. I got a bad ending in Atelier Totori Plus and I understood that I had to be careful with the time system. With that in mind, I was able to avoid the bad ending in Atelier Meruru Plus without a guide. I had a great time playing the game but something was still missing when I finished it.

    Atelier Meruru is an improvement of the    This is the second game that I've played in the franchise. I got a bad ending in Atelier Totori Plus and I understood that I had to be careful with the time system. With that in mind, I was able to avoid the bad ending in Atelier Meruru Plus without a guide. I had a great time playing the game but something was still missing when I finished it.

    Atelier Meruru is an improvement of the previous title. Many things were changed in a good way, like no deadlines to report quests, no pies to feed the homunculus and bonuses acquired by constructing buildings to the kingdom. These things help you to be less worried about leveling up, gathering and synthesizing.

    Graphics are beautiful. Battles have fun mechanics, dynamic actions and cool special effects. They are the prove that the turn-based system can still be relevant. If you played Atelier Totori you'll be happy to see the return of some characters. The synth system continues beeing good and basically the same. Soundtrack is great but I prefer from Atelier Totori, which I find more catchy. Story is simple, nothing innovative. But I think that's the charm of the franchise. They focus on the characters and the events between them, so you get more involved in their relationship. The cast is memorable.

    There's some things that I personally don't like about the game. First, events that occur unexpectedly. Sometimes I needed to be focused synthesizing a sequence of items and after each one I had to stop and watch a cutscene. This kind of event breaks the immersion and it only happens because of another thing that I don't like about the franchise: the time system. Maybe it is necessary so the game can be unique, but it should at least be longer. The fact of beeing so short to do a lot of stuff leads to the third thing that I dislike: unfair endings. I was able to get a population of 30.000 people in time to avoid the bad ending, but even with that I got an ending that was not satisfactory. Fair endings should be reached with a normal play and that's not what happens in the game. You see, after avoiding the bad ending you can do a lot of efforts that lead to nothing. So what's the point? In the end, you have two choices: avoid the bad ending or play in a hardcore way with a guide to get the true ending. Cause you won't be satisfied with the not-bad-in-theory ending.

    I'd still recommend the game for the experience and fun, but if you're someone who really gets involved in gaming then you should use a guide to make sure you'll get the best ending.    … Expand

Awards & Rankings

26
#26 Best PS Vita Game of 2013
36
#36 Most Discussed PS Vita Game of 2013
36
#36 Most Shared PS Vita Game of 2013

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
74

Mixed or average reviews - based on 8 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 4 out of 8
  2. Mixed: 4 out of 8
  3. Negative: 0 out of 8
  1. GameCritics
    Mar 7, 2014
    90
    Atelier Meruru is brilliant, and only a coal-hearted misanthrope could fail to be utterly charmed by it. This entry cements my opinion that the Atelier Series may well be the best-kept secret in the entire JRPG genre.
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  2. The Digital Fix
    Oct 7, 2013
    80
    It’s taken them long enough, but the Atelier series is finally entering a space where you would be happy to recommend them to any RPG-loving friend, rather than leave them to that one guy we all know who only plays games with suspiciously young and underclad heroines.
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  3. Meristation
    Sep 27, 2013
    70
    Meruru Plus is an interesting pick for those who are looking for a nice and entertaining JRPG experience in PSVita, although it might be disappointing for the owners of the original PS3 version.
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