Plotting Points by Tan(x)
Video Game Reviews by a Very Busy Math Teacher
Game: Atelier Rorona
Platform: PS3
Played For: 12 hrs
Atelier Rorona is the newest in the Atelier brand of Japanese Role-Playing Games (JRPGS), and the first one to be both HD and to use a 3D graphics engine. Atelier Iris 1, 2 and 3, as well as the spin-off games Mana Khemia 1 and 2, represent in my mind some of the best JRPGs to have come out on the PS2. While Atelier Rorona doesn’t quite capture the alchemical magic of the previous games, it still creates an incredibly idyllic world populated by good-intentioned and hard-working people. In terms of video game fantasy locales that you’d actually like to visit, this game ranks pretty high. But one word of warning: if you are a fan of the previous games you might have to adjust your expectations… Rorona is much more of a strategy game than the standard exploration-based RPG models that proceeded it.
Rorona, the heroine of the game, is a young girl who works as an apprentice to the town alchemist. Business hasn’t been grand, and the town officials are considering closing her shop to make more space for a developing industrial revolution. As it happens, the town royalty hasn’t entirely bought into the prospect of more factories and smog (why anyone would want an industrial revolution when magic is around as a clean alternative to technology is a mystery to me.) It is proposed that the alchemy shop can stay open if quarterly alchemy assignments can be completed for the next three years. Rorona's oddball mistress immediately bails on the project, leaving Rorona with ownership of the shop and solely in charge of its future.
In order to meet each deadline Rorona has to balance time spent concocting new alchemical items in her cauldron and time dedicated to gathering ingredients and fighting monsters outside of town. Rorona also needs to make money by fulfilling requests from the town clerk, and if she wants to increase her friendship level with various merchants and local personalities she has to take jobs from them as well. All of this will keep Rorona running around like a crazy person, as everything has a deadline and every significant action eats up time within the game. This makes the primary focus of the game a time and resource management challenge. And while it is easy to meet the minimum requirements of each quarterly task, in true Japanese fashion Rorona needs to do her work ten times over in order to obtain the best reviews.
While I was charmed right away with the vivid character illustrations and bright colors of Atelier Rorona, the drawbacks of switching from 2D to 3D are abundantly apparent. 3D models of characters are detailed but oddly stylized, as if each person is represented by a playmobile figure. Sterkenburg, the great germanic knight and evaluator of Rorona’s quests, comes across looking like a 9 year old, which is particularly jarring whenever you hear his deep adult male voice. The world which the characters inhabit has also lost quite a bit of detail, resembling more a series of stage set pieces or representational spaces rather than real locations. The number and variety of places to visit has also been restricted, as there are only a handful of gathering places outside of town and individual maps are short and self-similar. There is story and character development, and new locations do appear, but all of the action is centered on Rorona’s home town and her quest to cook up concoctions for her king.
Rorona is the typical Japanese school girl idea of charming (high pitched voice, energetic “genki” attitude and given to clumsiness.) This for me was a bit of a disappointment, as previous Atelier games have featured more adult and capable female protagonists (most notably the eponymous Iris of Atelier Iris 3.) The game also seems to have fewer character interactions than before… in Atelier Iris 1 every new synthesis sparked a brief, sometimes inane but always funny conversation. Rorona mostly learns her synthesis formulae from books, and all the time that passes while mixing things at the cauldron gives an uncomfortable impression that Rorona needs to get out more.
Atelier Rorona is a game that is meant to be replayed, as having different people in the party at different times (and maintaining friendship levels) leads to different interactions. Plus, there are something like 10 different endings that can be achieved. I prefer a more straightforward adventure, where a single playthrough won’t make you feel as if you are missing out on half of the available content.
There are also no extras, movies, costumes or other unlockable content offered on the title screen. In the days of the PS2 these features were always present… I suppose the current culture is for niceties such as these to be offered only as direct download content for an extra price. The absence, however, makes the game feel less well-rounded, like a DVD movie with no bonus features.
What Rorona does still have, however, is charm. This is a polite fantasy world where the village tea shop is as important a destination as the weapon dealer. Doilies and other lacey patterning are common themes in dress and accoutrements, and while some characters may be misguided, none have emerged with genuine evil intent. My favorite cutsey slime monster the Puni is back in spades, and other critters often resemble Pokemon outcasts. I like the fact that a game can be this friendly while still holding a challenge for completionists or other players who like to reach a “good” ending rather than one that is normal or blah.
As of this review I have finished the first of the three years of tasks that encompass the main storyline of the game. New characters are being introduced, and new options are also appearing such as special monster bounties and bonus quest conditions. The last two main story quests left a good deal of time for Rorona to pursue her secondary goals, but there will probably never be a moment that it feels safe for Rorona to rest. In a way, playing Atelier Rorona is a lot like real life… time becomes the major limiting factor, and each day you have to choose which projects are most important to address.
Rorona is oddly addictive despite its repetitive monster fights, lack of exploration and scaled down character interactions and level of detail. It shows the strength of the alchemy game mechanic that an experimental design such as this can still be so much fun. I just hope Rorona grows up a bit over the next two years in the game.
