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[Volcynika]

Summary

Arland, a small kingdom located at the edge of a great land; It used to be an isolated kingdom when ancient relics, called "Machines," were discovered among the nearby ruins.

Inside this kingdom stands a forgotten workshop. The workshop was once very busy, but due to the discovery of machines or perhaps the workshop owner's laziness, customers no longer show up.

One day, a messenger from the castle visits the workshop to deliver an order from the king. According to the order, the workshop would be closed down if the owner could not prove, in three years time, that she was capable of doing her job.

However, even after hearing such news, the workshop owner remained unmotivated. After dumping her responsibilities onto her pupil, she leaves the workshop.

Left at the workshop was a girl, bewildered by the shocking news. The girl's name is Rorolina Frixell, but everyone in town calls her Rorona.

Quick Details

Platform: PlayStation 3
Genre: RPG
Publisher: NIS America
Website: Official Atelier Rorona: Alchemist of Arland US Website
Release Dates: September 28th, 2010 (NA) / October 15th, 2010 (EU)
Rating: T for Teen

Features

*Looks like an anime feature; plays like a modern console RPG

*Conquer 12 challenging chapters in an original epic adventure

*Use alchemy to combine items in to rare and powerful weapons

*First in the popular Atelier series designed for play in high definition

Images

Videos

Trailer
Battle Video 1
Battle Video 2
Alchemy
Field and Battle
Field
Story 1
Story 2

Reviews

1UP: B
RPGamer: 4.5/5.0
RPGFan: 8.5/10

 

[notworksafe]

Day one!

 

[Crash Station]

Release date delivery ftw! Gotta love free Amazon Prime.

 

[InfiniteNine]

Looking forward to this! Hope this sells well enough for Totori to get localized.

 

[Solune]

Looking forward to this! Hope this sells well enough for Totori to get localized.

I would say Totori's a lock anyways, looking at NIS' releases in the past it's about a year between each Atelier release(including Mana Khemia) give or take a month. And reading Gaf impressions it seems to improve on Rorona by a large margin so it would be insane to do Rorona and not Totori. That said I am hoping to get the gamestop edition myself.

 

[Ricker]

I think i`ll trade in Trinity Universe and a few other games to try this next week.

 

[Philia]

LMAO DAY ONE.

 

[atomsk]

reserved at gamestop

why is this the same day as dead rising 2 ;_;

 

[Bebpo]

dual-audio?

 

[Tailzo]

Atelier Rorona: The Alchemist of Arland |OT| - Alchemy, Barrels, and Patches for Bugs

Did the japanese version get a lot of patches - or do you mean the american will most likely get a lot of patches?

dual-audio?

Yeah, I would like to know that too. Also, Since I enjoyed Trinity Universe despite not liking most character designs, I might get this.

And here is the answer:

Much as I enjoyed balancing my checkbook though, I had a hard time getting invested in the characters or the world. The game derives much of its humor from Rorona being the archetypal "clumsy but cute" anime girl, which quickly becomes insufferable. The English voice acting is also as shrill and annoying as ever, but thankfully that's easily remedied by switching over to the Japanese voice track.

 

[Vigilance]

Day One purchase!

 

[Kamen Rider Prism]

Pretty excited for this. I really enjoy games with item creation. Sets my completionist side on fire. Was there any DLC for this in Japan? Just curious if we can expect any over here..

 

[Kagari]

Yay dual audio. Already have mine preordered.

 

[lljride]

Nice, feels like I haven't played a game in months. Can't wait to get my hands on this one.

 

[xero273]

Pretty excited for this. I really enjoy games with item creation. Sets my completionist side on fire. Was there any DLC for this in Japan? Just curious if we can expect any over here..

no dlc in jpn version

damn, I don't have my $10 credit yet from dr2.

 

[slaughterking]

Man, I really wish they would've done something with the battle system.

 

[kyo_daikun]

Going to hold out for the european release as Dead rising 2 is coming this week and pokemon black and white arrived today to take up even more of my time.

 

[Hobbun]

I have had this reserved for awhile now, looking forward to it.

Man, I really wish they would've done something with the battle system.

What’s wrong with it? Straightforward turn-based combat, I love it.

 

[kyo_daikun]

Yeah agree, would prefer not to have an over-the-top battle system when im worrying about time to do the kingdom requests and such.

 

[tiff]

looks lovely. can't wait to play it.

 

[Volcynika]

Did the japanese version get a lot of patches - or do you mean the american will most likely get a lot of patches?

Yeah, I would like to know that too. Also, Since I enjoyed Trinity Universe despite not liking most character designs, I might get this.

And here is the answer:

The English voice acting is also as shrill and annoying as ever

*eye twitch* Sounded fine to me...

Anyways!

This part

"Did the japanese version get a lot of patches - or do you mean the american will most likely get a lot of patches?"

Mostly a reference to how Gust games can be a bit buggy, and a throwback to how Ar Tonelico 2 had a game breaker, but now that we've got a PS3 title, things like that can be patched!

 

[Kamen Rider Prism]

Certainly they would've learned their lesson by now and try to avoid game breakers like that, right?

 

[Volcynika]

Certainly they would've learned their lesson by now and try to avoid game breakers like that, right?

You'd think so! But I did hear Rorona was pretty buggy on release in JP, correct me if I'm wrong someone. Also, Japan gets "The Best" version (greatest hits?) in Japan this week, which was expected but still kind of amusing for me.

 

[xero273]

You'd think so! But I did hear Rorona was pretty buggy on release in JP, correct me if I'm wrong someone. Also, Japan gets "The Best" version (greatest hits?) in Japan this week, which was expected but still kind of amusing for me.

You are right. It did get patched up though.

 

[Steroyd]

By the beard of zeus I did not see this coming at all. ;_;

 

[RurouniZel]

Got my LE pre-ordered. Can't wait for next week!

 

[notworksafe]

Also, Japan gets "The Best" version (greatest hits?) in Japan this week, which was expected but still kind of amusing for me.

In fact Japan gets it tomorrow! So they've gotten the game twice before the US! :lol

 

[Dr. Kitty Muffins]

Dang, yet another NIS game to get............

 

[Tailzo]

You'd think so! But I did hear Rorona was pretty buggy on release in JP, correct me if I'm wrong someone. Also, Japan gets "The Best" version (greatest hits?) in Japan this week, which was expected but still kind of amusing for me.

Alright. I assume the US / EU release would be bug-free then.

 

[xero273]

Alright. I assume the US / EU release would be bug-free then.

we can only hope. US version of AT2 had a bug and jp version didn't...

http://www.rpgamer.com/games/atelier/ar/reviews/arstrev1.html

4.5/5

 

[Kagari]

http://scrawlfx.com/2010/09/atelier-rorona-caption-contest-giveaway Scrawl is giving away a few free copies.

 

[Bebpo]

This was in my amazon gold box today for $47 so against my better judgment I'm getting this. I passed on the JP version because it was expensive and the youtube videos made it look like a PS1.5 game (so I'm kind of surprised about the praise on the visuals in reviews so far; maybe you need to see it in HD for the art to shine?)

This is my first time dealing with NIS USA, if they add any bugs in and make the game unbeatable or something it will also be my last.

 

[xero273]

This is my first time dealing with NIS USA, if they add any bugs in and make the game unbeatable or something it will also be my last.

At least they can patch it up. Unlike the PS2 game where we couldn't get patches.

 

[Gravijah]

GOTTA PLAY GOTTA PLAY GOTTA PLAY GOTTA PLAY GOTTA PLAY

GIVE IT TO MEEEEEEEEE

 

[zoku88]

I want this, but I've spent so much this month (Victoria 2 and Civ V) I probably won't be buying this for a long while.

Hopefully they still sell it when I'm able to actually buy it.

 

[shaowebb]

What got me recently wasn't the bugs in a Gust title...it was the audio. My Mana Khemia 2 game has some of the shriekiest damned english I've ever heard. I don't know how this horrifying sound problem occurred, and it may just be my launch version with this problem, but it is definitely not my cables, or TV.

Sigh...nothing worse than a gust title played with the sound off.

 

[cress2000]

NIS store shipped this early. Looks like I'll be getting it today.

 

[Hours Left]

Just ordered it yesterday.

I'm glad that now patches will be readily available if needed.

 

[dolemite]

Number 1 on my list

 

[BoilersFan23]

I just received the game today. However, it's weird that NIS still has my PayPal payment as pending, yet I received it.

I'm about to play it sometime tonight.

 

[Quixzlizx]

Thanks for the thread. I have it pre-ordered at Gamestop due to RQ's horrific shipping charges. I hope I like this like I liked Mana Khemia, instead of how I didn't like Atelier Iris.

 

[Varshes]

I want to order the premium edition, I guess it's this?:

http://www.gamestop.com/Catalog/ProductDetails.aspx?product_id=78639

It doesn't say it is premium but it shows the box and artbook.

 

[Volcynika]

I want to order the premium edition, I guess it's this?:

http://www.gamestop.com/Catalog/ProductDetails.aspx?product_id=78639

It doesn't say it is premium but it shows the box and artbook.

It's a special version being sold at Gamestop. This is the only version they are selling. NISA store had their own one with a soundtrack (select songs probably) but that is already sold out or something.

 

[The Technomancer]

Yeah, knew going in that this was going to be a JRPG in this visual style based on the title alone. Looks interesting, yet another reason I'm considering a PS3.

 

[Varshes]

It's a special version being sold at Gamestop. This is the only version they are selling. NISA store had their own one with a soundtrack (select songs probably) but that is already sold out or something.

Alright, thanks for the info. Guess I'll wait.

 

[Volcynika]

Ok, new review from Diehard GameFAN (never heard of them), but noticed this little bit about crashes and then an issue if you go for the true ending.:

http://diehardgamefan.com/2010/09/27/review-atelier-rorona-the-alchemist-of-arland-ps3/

I did have the game crash on me three times though, two of which were in loading screens and the third was in a boss battle. As well, there are two small bugs.



The second minor issue involves doing trust based quests with Sunny Crystal. Whether you do these successfully or chose to duck out, it will drop your trust rating by five points. This sucks, and it always happened to me with Sunny Crystal quests and never with any others, so DO NOT DO THESE. Especially if you are going for the true ending. Aside from these issues, which range from small (trophies) to annoying (crashes), Atelier Rorona is a well made game. Just remember to save often as you don’t want the game to crash and then discover you’ve lost two months (in-game time) of progress. Oh that was bad.

 

[Alucrid]

Not sure if I can play this and keep the respect of my roommates. Hm.

 

[notworksafe]

Not sure if I can play this and keep the respect of my roommates. Hm.

After having Vanille in my main party for FFXIII, I already know I've lost my roommate's respect. :lol

 

[InfiniteNine]

Not sure if I can play this and keep the respect of my roommates. Hm.

If they can't see the glorious wonder behind the little girls doing magics that's their problem!

 

[Trent Strong]

Looks sexy.