Atelier Rorona: The Alchemist of Arland (ロロナのアトリエ ～アーランドの錬金術士～, Rorona no Atorie ~Aarando no Renkinjutsushi~) is the 11th core Atelier title, and the first on the Playstation 3. It is known by the project code "A11" .
It is the first game in the Arland Trilogy, and the prequel to the next game in the series, Atelier Totori: The Adventurer of Arland. Many of the game's characters and locations are a new addition to the Atelier Series, and carry on through to future releases within the Arland Trilogy.
Atelier Rorona is also the first game in the series to feature 3D models instead of sprites.
A remake of the game under the name New Atelier Rorona (新・ロロナのアトリエ はじまりの物語～アーランドの錬金術士～, Shin Rorona no Atorie Hajimari no Monogatari ~Aarando no Renkinjutsushi~) was released on November 21, 2013 in Japan for the PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Vita. A North American and European release for the PlayStation 3 and Vita, under the name Atelier Rorona Plus, was released on June 24 and June 20 2014 respectively. [1]
Plot
The game opens with a brief introduction to the city of Arland-- a city that is slowly being industrialized, but also a city that uses technology possessed by an ancient civilization. We are then introduced to the main character, Rorolina Frixell (Rorona, for short), who is forced to work for a master alchemist (Astrid Zexis) to pay off a debt her parents owe.
One day, Sterkenburg Cranach (Sterk, for short), a knight of Arland, comes to the alchemy workshop and informs Rorona that the shop will be shut down, unless she is able to prove that it can function in the city's economy. Over the next three years, she must pass 12 examinations to assess the ability of the workshop to do this.
Gameplay
Gameplay in Atelier Rorona consists of three parts: working in the alchemy workshop, running errands in Arland, and adventuring outside of town. The primary feature of this game (as with other installments of the series) is time management. The game takes place over a period of three years, which is broken up into twelve assignments. With the exception of two of these, each assignment lasts 90 days (89 plus an evaluation day). The remaining days are spent on two annual festivals, lasting 10 days each.
Workshop
The workshop is where Rorona performs synthesis— creating new items from other ingredients. To synthesize an item, you must first know the recipe for it, which is often contained in a book. Alchemy books are usually bought from stores in town, however some are given to you during the plot, and others are found in various dungeons.
Ingredients for synthesis may be stored either in Rorona's basket, which holds 60 items, or in the container, which holds 999 items. The basket, while limited in size, allows Rorona to carry items with her around town or to dungeons; the container always remains at the workshop.
When items are synthesized, days are added to your calendar, moving you closer to the examination day, and Rorona looses some MP. However, you also gain synthesis experience. Once you have gained enough experience your Alchemy level will increase, allowing you to make more complex items.
Arland
Rorona can travel around the town of Arland by means of a map with several locations in the city on it including shops, the town square, the palace, etc. In each location, Rorona can interact with various NPCs (and playable characters).
At the palace, there are two rooms Rorona can access. The first is the front desk, where the player can accept jobs from the townspeople. By completing these tasks you can earn trust (required to see the multiple endings). Later in the game, additional requirements are added to the requests, which can allow Rorona to earn tickets that can be traded for items, as well. The second room is where Sterk is located. Here, Rorona can report synthesis items that are required for each assignment.
The town also contains three (later four) shops: Sunrise Cafe, Beefy Weapon Shop, and R&T Sundries. Sunrise Cafe carries cooking ingredients, which can be used to synthesize food. Beefy Weapon Shop carries various mineral ingredients, and allows you to order weapons and armor for your characters. R&T Sundries carries various ingredients that can be used for synthesis. Later, by triggering certain events, you can unlock a fourth shop carrying various magical items. As the game progresses, you will be able to use a feature called wholesale. Wholesale allows you to register items you have synthesized to shops, so that they can now sell these items. This allows you to save time by purchasing ingredients or other items rather than having to synthesize them.
Certain NPCs in town have the ability to request items from you (similar to requests from the palace). However, instead of increasing trust, these increase your friendship with that NPC. By increasing friendship you can unlock scenes with these characters, as well as gaining other benefits.
Adventuring
Occasionally, it will be necessary to travel outside to gather ingredients or to complete certain other tasks. Traveling around to different locations adds a days to the calendar, both on the way there and the way back. The earliest locations in the game take only a few days, but later locations can take up to 7 days to travel to.
While exploring an area in a location, search points will appear on the map. These points contain synthesis items, which may be moved to the basket. These search points are marked with a blue star; however, search points marked with a gold star occasionally appear. These search points contain higher quality ingredients than found at normal search points.
Locations outside of town are also filled with monsters— it while adventuring that this game shows elements of traditional JRPGs. Just as each new locations takes more time to travel to, each new location will contain stronger monsters to battle. However, battling monsters gives adventurer experience. Once you gain enough experience, your characters' adventurer level will increase, which increases battle statistics and grants new skills.
The battle system is turn based, with turn order determined by the characters' speed statistic. During a characters turn, the player may attack, use a skill, defend, or attempt to escape. Rorona (who must always be in the party) also has the option of using items from the basket. To use a skill (which may be stronger attacks or healing move), the character must expend HP, rather than a separate "MP" statistic. Additionally, guarding halves all damage taken from enemies. These mechanics make it necessary to think strategically about battles. If a character is reduced to 0 HP, they are knocked out, but can be revived with certain healing items. If all characters are knocked out, rather than receiving a game over the player is immediately returned to the workshop. However, when this happens days are added to the calendar, and each character is revived to 1 HP.
Completing Assignments
Each assignment is clearly spelled out at the beginning of the 90 day period, specifically stating what items can be turned in. In addition to this, there may be additional requirements, such as turning in items of high quality or turning items with strong effects, etc. As you report these items to Sterk, you will receive small golden stars (which can be viewed in the status menu). You can receive 10 such stars, which determine how well you have completed each assignment. Depending on how many of these stars you receive you may receive on of the game's multiple endings. If at any point during the game you fail to complete an assignment, you will receive a game over.
Endings
Depending on how you count the game has four main endings with ten additional endings. The four main endings are obtained based on your performance in completing assignments and the level of trust you gained through job requests. The additional endings are determined based on the completion of certain in game tasks. Among these additional endings are character specific endings, which require the activation of flag events.
Characters
- Main article: List of Characters in Atelier Rorona
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Age Discrepancy
The North American version of Atelier Rorona was released with the ages of several characters changed, which causes a change in the time between Atelier Rorona and it's sequel Atelier Totori: The Adventurer of Arland, and also changes the age of several characters in between the two versions. Their decision was eventually called a retcon, and is not considered to be an official change to the series. However, Atelier Meruru maintains the original ages of all characters, new and old
For all intents and purposes, both ages will be listed for characters that appear in Atelier Rorona and in Atelier Totori. This is to avoid confusion for those players who are not aware of this issue.
Development
Much of the staff responsible for the development was also involved in the development of the Atelier Iris trilogy. The scenario was written by Toshiyuki Suzuki (writer for Atelier Iris 3). Art direction was by Yasuhiro Nakagawa, and character design was done by Mel Kishida. Kishida also provided the in-game character illustration. Music for the game was composed by Ken Nakagawa, composer of the soundtracks of games in the series since Atelier Violet.
Localization for Atelier Rorona was handled by NIS America and NIS Europe. Voice recording for the English version of the game was done by BangZoom! Entertainment.
New Atelier Rorona
A remake of the game under the name 新・ロロナのアトリエ はじまりの物語～アーランドの錬金術士～(Shin Rorona no Atorie Hajimari no Monogatari ~Aarando no Renkinjutsushi~) has been announced for Playstation 3 and Playstation Vita. It is scheduled for release in November, 2013, and a standard edition and a "Premium Box" edition will be available for both the Playstation Vita and Playstation 3 version. The game supports Cross-Save between the two consoles, and the PS Vita version is compatible with the Playstation Vita TV as well. New Atelier Rorona recieved a higher CERO rating than the original Atelier Rorona.
The remake will feature new 3D models and revamped graphics, revamped battle and synthesis systems based on Atelier Meruru Plus, a new "unexpected" playable character, and several more additional new features. The protagonists of the two following games of the Arland series, Totori and Meruru, will make an appearance and be available as playable party members as well[2].
There will be additional benefits for players who possess Atelier Rorona, Atelier Meruru, Atelier Totori, Atelier Meruru Plus, Atelier Totori Plus, Atelier Ayesha, and/or Atelier Escha & Logy save datas[3], and first press copies of the game will come with a download code for an additional swimsuit costume called Peach Vacation.
The PS3 version and PS Vita version differ in content by what bonuses that can be obtained from save datas of previously released Atelier titles, and that the PS3 version's art gallery in the extra section contains additional artwork that were featured in the galleries of Atelier Meruru Plus and Atelier Totori Plus. The "Premium Box" editions of the game also differs slightly in content between the PS3 and PS Vita versions.
New Features
New Atelier Rorona includes several new features, that were not present in or have been changed from the original Atelier Rorona. Minor new features include a message log, and a new function to view events again.
Revamped Graphics
The 3D models of the characters have been revamped in New Atelier Rorona, and now look more similar to the character designer and illustrator Mel Kishida's artwork. The work on the character models will be supervised by Mel Kishida, and backgrounds and maps have been redone as well[4].
Garden
The player will be able to grow items in a garden outside the workshop. The harvested items can be used in synthesis and et cetera.
Time Capsule
The Time Capsule system becomes available as from when the Extra Innings start. By putting items inside a time capsule, they will change into a different item from "the future". There are also new events related to the Time Capsule feature[5]. It has been hinted that if the player possess save data from the Arland series games, there will be more ways the items can change.
Workshop Decorating
The player will be able to decorate the workshop with certain items, which will grant the player benefits such as higher statuses.
Costumes
Like in Atelier Meruru Plus and Atelier Totori Plus, the player will be able to change Rorona's and some of her friends costumes. It has been confirmed that Totori, Meruru, Cordelia, Sterkenburg, and Lionela will have alternative costumes, but it's unknown if more of Rorona's allies will have alternative costumes.
Extra Innings
After the main game has been completed, the game will be extended with the "Extra Innings". The Extra Innings will include new events, illustrations, a new dungeon, new party members, and other content.
New Playable Characters
Several new playable characters have been announced. So far the characters Astrid Zexis, Esty Dee, Totooria "Totori" Helmold, and Merurulince "Meruru" Rede Arls have been revealed. Esty will wear a new outfit in battle[6].
New Dungeons
Two new dungeons have been revealed. A new version of Liechtein Soehnle from Atelier Totori: The Adventurer of Arland will appear as the Old Tower of the Abyss (深淵の古塔), which will also have underwater areas. A variation of Makina Domain, a DLC dungeon from Atelier Meruru: The Apprentice of Arland, will be featured in the game as well.
Gameplay Changes
Battle
New Atelier Rorona features a new battle system based on Atelier Meruru Plus. A new addition to the system are Advance Skills, special assist attacks that can be used when the assist gauge is over two or more. Advance Skills can be used as a follow up to a normal Assist Attack, or to an Advance Skill. The playable characters will also have new deadly skills (special moves).
Synthesis
New Atelier Rorona features a synthesis system based on Atelier Meruru Plus. The player will be allowed to choose from the available traits for the item, as long as the traits are affordable within the "Cost Level" of the item. Two traits can also combine into one single trait with higher effect.
Assignments
Every assignment from the kingdom in New Atelier Rorona consist out of one main goal that is necessary to fulfill, and several minor optional goals. For every goal fulfilled, a stamp is placed in one square of a bingo board with nine squares. Fulfilling the main assignment will place a stamp in the square in the middle of the board. Once three marks make up a vertical, horizontal, or diagonal line, the player will be rewarded with a bonus, such as recipes or stat increases.
Atelier Rorona Plus 3DS
The Japanese version will be released in March 26, 2015.
Gallery
External links
| Atelier Rorona ~The Alchemist of Arland~ |
|---|
| Characters |
| Playable characters |
| Rorolina Frixell • Cordelia von Feuerbach • Iksel Jahnn • Lionela Heinze • Ludwig Giovanni Arland • Sterkenburg Cranach • Tantris • Astrid Zexis (Rorona Plus) • Esty Dee (Rorona Plus) • Merurulince Rede Arls (Rorona Plus) • Totori (Rorona Plus) |
| Shop Owners |
| Tiffani Hildebrand - Hagel Boldness - Iksel Jahnn - Pamela Ibis |
| Others |
| Hom - Meredith Alcock - Cole Dueller - Aranya and Horoholo - Ryan Frixell - Laura Frixell |
| Gameplay |
| Endings |
| Cordelia - Lionela - Iksel - Sterk - Tantris - Gio |
| Maps |
| Nearby Forest - Ortoga Ruins - National Mines - Traveler's Way - Catacombs - Ster Highlands - Nabel Lake - Dark Woods - Lost City - Orthogalaxen - Night's Domain |
| Quests |
| Assignments - Front Quests - Friend Quests |
| Data |
| Trophies - Weapons - Armors - Materials - Consumables - Synthesis Items - Key Items - Recipes - Shops - Monsters - Traits - Effects - CG Set |
| Merchandise |
| Original Soundtrack |
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