First of all a big THANK YOU goes out to Nao from NIS America for sending us an early copy of the game and making this hands on preview possible!!Atelier Rorona "Hands - On"
After playing about one third of the game I can gladly say that I'm impressed. The game is highly addictive. They built up the "Alchemy" system nicely. They’ve made it more accessible and fun. I lost track of time while crafting items to complete quests and assignments but as a result of spending extra time crafting all those extra items I received money from the quests and a good rating on the assignments.
The combat you will experience in Atelier Rorona is also very refined. It's quick, yet simple. You have a party of up to 3 members, 1 being Rorona and 2 of her friends. There is a fee for having some of her friends help you, but it’s usually very minor in cost. The varieties of friends that can help Rorona are also very unique. Each has their own skills that follow the characters personal traits. The voice acting is also quite good and helps show and express each characters personality. As a bonus the visuals are too die for.
The crisp art style and the beautifully hand drawn character portraits and event scenes are nice touches to this wonderful game. The "Alchemy" system has also been tweaked to make crafting more enjoyable. Now there are categories per item used for alchemy. For example, many items have been filed under multiple categories, anywhere from supplements to plants to ores or even oil. That one feature allows you to be able to make the same item many different ways, instead of needing just a pre-set bunch of ingredients.
As for the lasting appeal of Atelier Rorona, there are multiple endings to unlock and I personally would love to see them all. I can gladly say that Atelier Rorona is a great addition to Atelier series. For all of you who have enjoyed the series so far this is a great addition that will keep you coming back for more. The games official release date is Tuesday, September 28, 2010 in North America and Friday October 22, 2010 in Europe. I know this game will be a wonderful addition to anyone’s personal game collection.
After playing about one third of the game I can gladly say that I'm impressed. The game is highly addictive. They built up the "Alchemy" system nicely. They’ve made it more accessible and fun. I lost track of time while crafting items to complete quests and assignments but as a result of spending extra time crafting all those extra items I received money from the quests and a good rating on the assignments.
The combat you will experience in Atelier Rorona is also very refined. It's quick, yet simple. You have a party of up to 3 members, 1 being Rorona and 2 of her friends. There is a fee for having some of her friends help you, but it’s usually very minor in cost. The varieties of friends that can help Rorona are also very unique. Each has their own skills that follow the characters personal traits. The voice acting is also quite good and helps show and express each characters personality. As a bonus the visuals are too die for.
The crisp art style and the beautifully hand drawn character portraits and event scenes are nice touches to this wonderful game. The "Alchemy" system has also been tweaked to make crafting more enjoyable. Now there are categories per item used for alchemy. For example, many items have been filed under multiple categories, anywhere from supplements to plants to ores or even oil. That one feature allows you to be able to make the same item many different ways, instead of needing just a pre-set bunch of ingredients.
As for the lasting appeal of Atelier Rorona, there are multiple endings to unlock and I personally would love to see them all. I can gladly say that Atelier Rorona is a great addition to Atelier series. For all of you who have enjoyed the series so far this is a great addition that will keep you coming back for more. The games official release date is Tuesday, September 28, 2010 in North America and Friday October 22, 2010 in Europe. I know this game will be a wonderful addition to anyone’s personal game collection.
PRE-ORDER NOW Atelier Rorona: The Alchemist of Arland - PS3 (Preorder)
