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What is Atelier Meruru?
Atelier Meruru is the third and final installment of the Arland trilogy of Atelier games, preceded by Atelier Rorona and Atelier Totori.
What’s the set up for this installment?
Arls Kingdom – this tiny nation is located far to the northwest of the Arland Republic. Compared to Arland, with its highly developed machinery and alchemy, Arls is rather quaint, but with unlimited potential for prosperity. Gio, leader of Arland, proposes to Lord Dessier, King of Arls and Gio’s longtime friend, that Arls join the Arland Republic. But there are many tasks to be completed before their goal can be realized. In order to minimize criticism from opposing parties, Arls begins a development project to increase the kingdom’s influence.
To begin, they decide to dispatch a number of skills adventurers to Arls from Arland. Among the delegation is the alchemist Totori Helmond. Meruru, Princess of Arls, soon encounters Totori, and alchemy, for the first time. Impressed by Totori’s alchemic abilities, Meruru forces her way into becoming Totori’s apprentice with aspirations of becoming an alchemist in her own right. However her father, Lord Dessier does not approve of her alchemy studies, viewing them as worthless. After some arguing, they reach a compromise; Meruru will have three years to use her alchemy to develop the kingdom and increase their population to 15,000 people. If she succeeds, he’ll recognize her alchemy study.
What’s the gameplay like in Atelier Meruru?
Like the prior games, Meruru must become an alchemist by exploring the neighboring lands, gathering materials with which to craft new items via alchemy. Using her kingdom as an atelier, she synthesizes items, completes quests for the kingdom, and gains further recipes. Like in Rorona and Totori, whenever Meruru does alchemy, explores lands, etc. she uses a certain number of days to do so. Part of the fun of the Arland trilogy is learning how the system works to best manage your schedule and learn to complete the maximum amount of tasks in as little time as possible.
Okay, this is sounding exactly like the other two games. So what’s different this time?
Where Rorona earned store reputation and Totori earned adventurer license points for completing quests, tasks, and alchemy requests, Meruru earns development points that she can use to develop her kingdom by creating new buildings and upgrading existing ones. Gaining points will increase Meruru’s Kingdom Rank, which is very much the same style of system as Totori’s Adventurer Rank. Developing facilities will actually affect the terrain of the world map, so plan carefully!
Additionally, now some party members will attack groups of enemies in battle, rather than just one (Sterk and Mimi still only attack one). Otherwise the battle system is very similar to Totori’s.
Characters:
Merurulince Rede Arls (Meruru)
Meruru is the Princess of Arls Kingdom and Totori’s apprentice. She’s bright and optimistic, but has a tendency to act without thinking. She admires Arland, but wishes for her own kingdom to become equally as prosperous. Because of this, she decides to set out and use alchemy to develop the land.
Totooria Helmond (Totori)
This heroine from the previous game has become a full-fledged alchemist after finishing her adventure searching for her mother. She’s also become pretty famous all across Arland. Originally, Rorona was supposed to come to Arls to assist in the development project, but for reasons unknown Totori was sent on her behalf. She’s still brutally honest at times, although she does seem to be trying harder to watch what she says.
Rorolina Frixell (Rorona)
Rorona is the heroine from the first game in the series, and also Totori’s alchemy teacher. Her personality hasn’t changed all that much – she’s still a total airhead and still really loves Totori. But she’s a true genius, and her knowledge of alchemy is beyond comprehension. Before the game begins, Gio ordered Rorona to head to Arls. But due to some sort of disruption, she was forced to stay behind in Arland. Eventually, she’s able to make her way to Arls and shows up in this form. What happened, exactly, remains a mystery…
Keina Swaya
Keina is our heroine’s best childhood friend. She also works as a maid at the castle and can do anything, from cooking to cleaning and all things inbetween. She serves as Meruru’s devoted caretaker and best friend. Being forced to deal with Meruru’s constant state of pandemonium has made her very mature for her age.
Dessier Hahlsner Arls
Lord Dessier is the king of Arls and Meruru’s overprotective father. He’s an old friend of Gio and has gone on a number of adventures with him in the past. He entrusts Rufus with all of his kingdom’s political issues, meaning his public profile is at a minimum. Regardless, he remains popular among the people of Arls, which attests to his commanding presence.
Rufus Falken
Rufus acts as the official butler of Arls Kingdom. He’s very intelligent, he handles nearly all of the kingdom’s political issues single-handedly, and he’s also Meruru’s private instructor. Because of these talents, Meruru doesn’t stand a chance against him. Rufus is highly protective of Meruru, but instead of pampering her, he expresses his concern by being ruthlessly strict with her. Rufus is a borderline-tyrant and very stingy when it comes to time and money. He never shows his true emotions and tends to talk in a calm, indifferent manner.
Lias Falken
Rufus’s younger brother spends his days serving as a castle gatekeeper. He basically worships the ground Rufus walks on, and his ultimate goal is to become as much like Rufus as possible (though he’d never admit it). Meruru tends to occupy most of Rufus’s time, which makes Lias more than a little jealous. But at the same time, Rufus asks him to act as Meruru’s personal escort.
Mimi Houllier Von Schwarzlang
Mimi is an Arland Adventurer Guild member and a good friend of Totori’s. She appears in Arls as if she only has Totori on her mind. She’s certainly gained plenty of experience since her last adventure and has gotten much stronger. She’s made an effort to become more ladylike, but her true character comes out whenever she interacts with Totori.
Gino Knab
Totori’s childhood friend once claimed to be the strongest adventurer around. He may not be able to back that up just yet, but he’s certainly earned the right to call himself a real adventurer. After Totori left for Arls, he partnered up with Mimi. But eventually he decides to follow Totori into this new land. He’s certainly matured, but his playfulness shows itself whenever he’s around his old friends.
Filly Dee
Filly worked as a receptionist in Arland and came to Arls with Totori. She used to get really nervous around strangers, but her job has forced her to deal with her phobia. Her powers of imagination have also powered up, so any regular relationship becomes a target of her delusions.
The Homs
The Homs are utterly loyal to their master(s) and assist in a variety of tasks, including alchemy. Their primary order is to look after the tiny Rorona, but they receive another order to help out Meruru while Rorona is left in her care. They’ve also started to display a small amount of emotion, bringing them one step closer to real humans.
Hanna Olses
Hanna manages a shop in Arls. She doesn’t fret over tiny details and she considers herself a good friend of Meruru.
Sterkenburg Cranach
A former knight of Arland, Sterk still lives as a self-proclaimed knight. He acts as a guardian of the local adventurers while he continues to search for the retired king who seems to have wandered off. Meeting Princess Meruru has awakened his knightly desires once more.
Esty Dee
Acting as Arland’s secret investigator, Esty has left the guild in her sister Filly’s hands to pursue a career in espionage. She also has no choice but to act as Gio’s chaperone in Arls.
Gio
The head of the Arland Republic and the world’s greatest known swordsman still enjoys wandering the land aimlessly. For whatever reason, he has decided to make Arls his base of operations for the time being.
Release info:
Japan Release Date: 6/23/2011
USA Release Date: 5/29/2012
Europe Release Date: 5/24/2012
ESRB Rating: T for Teen
Developed by: GUST Corporation
Published by: GUST (Japan) and NIS America (US and Europe)
Looks like the LE is sold out now!
DLC Schedule:
5/29 - VGM pack and Rufus (optional party member) $2.99
6/5 - Hanna (optional party member) $3.99
6/12 - Pamela (optional party member) $3.99
6/19 - Makina Domain (gathering spot) Free
Reviews:
Technology Tell – 95/100
http://www.technologytell.com/gaming/91991/review-atelier-meruru-the-apprentice-of-arland-for-ps3/
Technology Tell said:How fitting that the last game in the Arland Atelier trilogy is the best.
Atelier Meruru is a fantastic way to wrap up the Arland segment of the Atelier story while also providing gamers with proof that it is still possible to have an engaging, well made JRPG in this console generation. It encourages collection, creation, battling and relationship building, while also requiring players to maintain a careful balance of each to ensure a fantastic ending is achieved. While people who are familiar with the Atelier series, specifically Atelier Rorona and Atelier Totori will get the most out of Atelier Meruru, it’s also quite welcoming and a good experience for anyone who has a hankering for a lighthearted JRPG.
Diehard Gamefan – Final Score: Great Game (no number provided)
http://diehardgamefan.com/2012/05/10/review-atelier-meruru-the-apprentice-of-arland-ps3/
Diehard Gamefan said:Atelier Meruru turns out to be more than I expected it to be. If you can manage to get past the slow beginning, it ends up becoming quite an addicting game with a fun alchemy and combat system. The town growing simulation is a nice feature that is sure to keep you heavily involved. While at times the dialogue cutscenes do kill the game’s momentum, it isn’t enough to ward you away from your pursuit of your main objective. Despite Atelier Meruru being relatively short, it does warrant multiple playthroughs and offers plenty of content, so you are sure to find something new each time. On top of that you have 30 possible endings, so you can try to improve upon each playthrough with a new incentive each time. Atelier Meruru is the first Japanese RPG that I have played since Dragon Quest 9 that I thoroughly enjoyed and I highly recommend it.
Gamrreview - 8/10
http://www.gamrreview.com/review/88939/atelier-meruru/
GamrReview said:The last couple of months have been quite great for JRPG fans like myself. With all these long awaited games finally making it to western shores, it's easy to forget or take for granted the series and companies that have been consistently giving us enjoyable and unique experiences like Atelier, but that would be a mistake. While it isn't the standard ideal for the JRPG genre, these item synthesis focused games can be incredibly addicting and no developers can come close to how well Gust does it. This is definitely the best of the lot, and I hope Gust and NISA continue their work for years to come.
ZT Game Domain - 8.5/10
http://www.ztgd.com/reviews/atelier-meruru-the-apprentice-of-arland/
ZT Game Domain said:For fans of the series, you will not be disappointed. Almost every character you have known in the trilogy will return, and the new characters you come across are as goofy and loveable as the older ones. For new comers, I would suggest playing the first two games, but Meruru does offer some good back story in the menus for the ones not too familiar with the series. I have to say, JRPG fans should really look into this game. There is enough here to keep players busy for well into the 30 hour mark. The game really can get addicting for players wanting to do “just one more quest.” The trilogy really goes out with a bang with Meruru, and amine fans and JRPG players should not miss out on it.
RPGamer - 4/5
http://www.rpgamer.com/games/atelier/ameruru/reviews/amerurustrev1.html
RPGamer said:It's heartbreaking to have to say farewell to the Arland trilogy with Atelier Meruru. It's not easy to say goodbye to a world you've grown so fond over the course of three games. However, Atelier Meruru gives me faith that the Atelier series will continue to grow and mature. Fans of the Arland trilogy will surely adore their experience with Meruru, but for newcomers, this may not be the best place to start if you want to get a feel for the entire world. Still, Meruru is the silver lining at the end of this wonderful trilogy, and it will no doubt bring joy and closure to the long-time fans who stayed along for the journey.
EGM - 7.5/10
http://www.egmnow.com/articles/reviews/egm-review-atelier-merurur-the-apprentice-of-arland/
EGM said:SUMMARY: Though the Atelier series might not be the epitome of Japan’s RPG industry, I’ve always had a soft spot for its various chapters. Atelier Meruru isn’t “epic,” “intense,” or “exhilarating”—it’s charming, friendly, and fun, and it’s not ashamed of it.
The O-Network - A-
http://www.t-ono.net/Game-Reviews/Atelier-Meruru-the-Apprentice-of-Arland-PS3-Review.html
The O-Network said:Although the game remains a relatively niche title, those who are looking for a traditional JRPG or are fans of the series will love it. With its fine-tuned battle and synthesis systems, fantastic soundtrack and fun characters, the game is a definitive conclusion to the Arland series. Atelier Meruru has easily been the most fun that I’ve had with a role playing game this year.
IGN - 6/10
http://www.ign.com/articles/2012/05/24/atelier-meruru-the-apprentice-of-arland-review
IGN said:I had high hopes for Atelier Meruru. The way the series shuns world-threatening evils for personal conflicts is refreshing, and the crafting system is so deep I could get lost in it forever. But this latest entry makes changes to the overall structure that obscure the game's best elements instead of accentuating them, and the lack of any central conflict left me completely uninterested in the story and characters. All that's left is an occasionally fun grind to finish your chores and an overall aesthetic that you will either love or hate.