Furthermore, Totori outdoes its predecessor in nearly every aspect, showing that Gust is always trying to one-up itself with each new release. Atelier Totori shines for its honesty, and has a lighthearted feel that the majority of RPGs don't match.
While gamers new to (or averse to) anime style may not enjoy Atelier Totori, the committed JRPG audience will likely be pleased with what the game has to offer. For us JRPG enthusiasts, a good game means beautiful anime-style graphics, expressive musical scores, eccentric characters and dialog and complex gameplay mechanics; despite its somewhat simplified approach to combat, Atelier Totori scores on all points.
I loved Atelier Rorona. It was fun and extremely innovative, but weak graphically speaking. Thus I was looking forward for Atelier Totori with much excitment. When I saw the dreadful marks it received from French websites, I was furious (I crossed the line and got banned by the way). But at the beginning of the game, I slightly wondered whether I was the one wrong.
The 3D animated characters do look better than in Rorona, but it really depends on the characters : Sterk, Melvia and Totori are near perfect but Rorona and Mimi look weird. Of course, the general design is still one of the best in JRPGs. Backgrounds also are still a bit awkward, but more impressive then in the previous game.
At a first glance, the battle system seems unchanged : your characters still disappear when another attacks and your alchemist can be protected by her companions just like before. But when you have to fight harder battles, youâ
Totori irons out all of the kinks in Atelier Rorona, while continuing to deliver the qualities that makes the series so endearing to fans. Best JRPG this gen.
A game with anything remarkable, but without flaws. One of those Japanese roleplaying game that are very classic and follow the tradition, without evolving the gameplay, but with compelling graphics, a good story and a nice blend of elements that doesn't focus solely on combat. It won't make history, but is a fun game.
For fans of the franchise, Atelier Totori is a complete success. It improves upon Atelier Rorona in almost every conceivable way and delivers all of the gameplay, art style, characterizations and special brand of cuteness that the series' fans have come to expect.
Fans that have played the games before won't need any introduction, they will know what to expect in an Atelier game, and it's a good game in that respect for them. As mentioned it's not an epic adventure, but it never tries to be. This story is a personal one of one girl's emotional ride to becoming experienced in alchemy and adventuring and her quest to find her mum. It's not an RPG for everyone who likes the genre, but it is fun, and if you can get into it once you've passed the initial couple of hours then you'll have found yourself one of the most relaxing and easygoing RPGs on the market today.
For everything that Altelier Totori: The Adventurer of Arland does right though, it fails to deliver on another key element of the genre. I never felt fully connected to the world.
Atelier Totori is a surprising game. It hits all the right notes, with its charm, that which many games lack nowadays. Make no mistake; this is not an elaborate journey where bloodshed and betrayal will befall upon you, the player. It's, instead, a heartwarming, lighthearted adventure about a youngster's pilgrimage. A tale about maturity, about experience. However, its charm is yet its biggest flaw: it's a niche game, first and foremost. A game that's just simple and honesty, and thus, not many people will like it. It pushes away connoisseurs of the japanese variation of the genre, with its open-ended gameplay and choice as far as the eye can see. It also pushes away fans of the western variation of the genre, with its cutesy charm and bubbly presentation. It's a game that appeals to no-one, and, instead, it does its own thing.
That's also why it's so engrossing, and so fun. It's a relaxing, sometimes touching experience that gives the player what others don't offer: an RPG that does something truly different.
It's a game that's just playful, and endearing. It's not flawless, however. The narrative (or lack thereof, for half the game), certain bugs, weak backgrounds and standard combat are all there. Yet, it's fun to play. It's TONS of fun to play. It's just a joy to go through. To laugh along, and to cry along. To engross yourself into the standard, yet beautiful world of Arland, and its plains, catacombs, forests and caves. To explore, and be rewarded. To fail, and be rewarded. To simply enjoy, something not many games of this generation focus on.
This is the first of the Atelier Series that I played and I found this addicting for the 1st hours resulting to a BAD ending. Yes, BAAAD, like I wasted several hours of playtime for I have no Idea that this game has a strict Time Constraint.
The story is so fun especially when doing quests, hunting monsters, gathering and synthesizing materials. What I don't like is the English Dub but you can change the setting to Japanese which is very Animeistic.
Totori's main quest is to find out what happens to her mom. She needs to roam Arland and the peninsula just to gather clues.
This game is not replayable. I would like to kill all the boss monsters after I found out what happened to Totori's mom but time is the factor. You can't have your character level after finishing the game but you can have your Coles (money) and equipment back when you start a new game.
This game should be really addicting but the time constraint REALLY a FUN/JOY KILLER. I should have love this game but can't because of this. :(
Hopefully, Atelier Ayesha has no Time Limit.
Overall I initially love this game but the Fun factor failed when you reached the end of the Time limit.
Basically the same game as Aletlier Rorona with minor improvements throughout the game. The biggest improvement is there are no longer 'assignments', instead you have one main goal and the entire timelimit can be spent reaching that however you like. It feels much more open ended than Rorona. Little things like being able to turn in quests with items in your storage help game flow, and the art is better.
However the some of the main problems Rorona had return. Combat is still bland, the game is still very easy, and the plot and dialogues are still mostly pointless. I understand they wanted to avoid a cheesy 'save the world' plot with these games, but having almost nothing going on isn't any better. While the art is nice, the in-game models are still sub-par for modern RPG standards. Sound and voiceovers are okay, but nothing special. As a fair warning, this game had day 1 DLC which I feel is a !@#$ move for any company.
All in all if you loved Rorona, you'll enjoy Totori. If you thought Rorona was a below average game, Totori won't change your opinion of the series.
I didn't finish the game. Everything in it made me hate the game. Story, gameplay, Alchemy mechanics and exploring the dungeons. dropped the game after 20 minutes of starting. Not even bothering to play anymore since I got bored watching the intro/tutorial.