Atelier Rorona: The Alchemist of Arland Image
  • Summary: Atelier Rorona is an all new alchemy RPG developed by Gust the creators of Mana Khemia and Ar tonelico series for the PS2. This all new game adopts a breathtaking anime 3D graphics while retaining the classic RPG feel of the Atelier series. Players can spent countless hours adventuring unexplored lands and synthesize rare items. Expand
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 9 out of 25
  2. Negative: 2 out of 25
  1. 90
    Rorona continues the grand tradition of creating an RPG experience that is all about the simplicities of life, coupled with the usual great cast of characters, and is a complete must for fans of the series.
  2. Feb 8, 2011
    70
    Don't underestimate this game: time will be your worst enemy, and you'll learn to fear the ticking clock. Run Rorona, run!
  3. Play time is kept to a minimum, with most of the development effort put into designing reams of menus for you to navigate...ensuring that you never start to have actual fun. [Issue#51, p.118]

See all 25 Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 6 out of 7
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 7
  3. Negative: 1 out of 7
  1. 10
    Absolutely charming. The looks might be simple in terms of graphical tech but the art direction is great and the characters are really fun and charming plus the OST is amazing. This game focuses on character relations (also determines multiple endings, which adds lots of replay) and synthesizing. The synthesizing is deep and very addicting but does incorporate time management, so if you hate time management better stay away. Combat is very minimal and used only to simulate light dungeon crawling to gather materials to synthesize. If you are expecting a more traditional fight oriented JRPG like the atelier iris games you might want to look elsewhere as the iris series is completely different focus, this game is more like the original atelier games. Also this a planned trilogy so if you like it you can watch your fav characters grow and see new characters added to the family with each installment. If you enjoy simple relaxing story with slice of life feel, great character interactions and addictive gameplay then you should check it out. This game was just a relaxing refreshing experience and very welcome to this gen. I loved it. Expand
    • 2 of 7 users said yes
  2. A charming cast of characters and entertaining script elevate this RPG above the crowd. If you're looking for a save the world story, look elsewhere but if you love character interaction and lovable personalities this is top drawer stuff. As with most Gust games it also boasts a fantastic soundtrack. In gameplay terms the battle system is quite average, standard fare turn based combat. Thankfully combat is not the core of this game. Instead the item synthesis system takes center stage and this is incredibly well fleshed out. The game employs an addictive time management system where you'll hunt for ingredients, use these ingredients to make items, and use these items to fulfil requests for townspeople, improving your reputation and unlocking further quests. Overall a fun slice of life piece of pure enjoyment, free of the melodrama so many RPGs are plagued with. Expand
    • 5 of 10 users said yes
  3. I'm not going to lie I haven't played the pre-Iris days of this franchise. Mana Khemia was what got me into this series. Now I don't mind not having to save the word or playing a game where I'm not going on some grand quest. For the most part you'll be finding ingredients to make a bunch of things for a kingdom, some of your friends, and other people. And I'd be perfectly content doing that. However this game walks in with a serve injury that cripples it the entire time. The imposing time limit which is attached to everything you do. I could only play this game for 4 hours before the seer claustrophobic feeling made never want to touch it again which really is a shame since I might have liked everything else the game had to offer. Now for those who can handle the overbearing feeling of time may enjoy this but I wouldn't recommend this game purely for how overbearing the time limits are. Expand
    • 7 of 12 users said yes

See all 7 User Reviews