Atelier Rorona is the first installment of the Arland series of Atelier games and is the pivotal moment that probably defined all the most recent entries in the franchise. It was originally released back in 2009 and then re-released with an enhanced engine (the same one used in Atelier Meruru) in 2013. This review will cover the new version with the upgraded engine, which I have played three times over the years (once on PS3, once on PSVita, and once on PC).

The Atelier series started as a simulation/management game following the adventures of a female alchemist as she used alchemy to achieve something in her life. During the PS2 era, due to the boom with more standard JRPGs, the series took a side step to handle a different genre with the Atelier Iris and Mana Khemia series. Those were more focused on combat than the alchemy step (I will talk more about them in another post).

Atelier Rorona goes back to the original formula while also allowing for more advanced visuals (now fully 3D during gameplay) and complicated interactions with the world thanks to the hardware power provided by the PlayStation 3 console.

The story follows the life of Rorolina Frixell (called Rorona by everyone), a young girl working for the powerful alchemist Astrid Zexis to pay off her parents' debts. One day, the Arland Kingdom government decides that each establishment needs to prove its benefit to the country or be abolished.

Astrid is lazy and unwilling to do anything for the government for various reasons, so she decides to simply give the entire Atelier to Rorona. She hands her the responsibility to pass the examination and preserve the Atelier. Rorona can't refuse because otherwise, Astrid would need to leave the country and she would be forced to follow.

Sterkenburg Cranach, the knight who delivers the news, explains that the examination is divided into twelve different, increasingly difficult tests that Rorona will have to pass over a period of three years. Rorona, thanks to the help of her close friends Cordelia von Feuerbach (a rich lady) and Iksel Jahnn (a cook), starts her journey to try and preserve her peaceful life.

The gameplay is divided into two different sides. On one side you have the simulation aspect, where Rorona synthesizes items to fulfill requests from various citizens or playable characters to get materials or money as a reward. The other side is the combat and exploration aspect, where Rorona (together with two allies of her choice) goes on a journey to find materials to use in her alchemy.

The three-year limit is an important mechanic as that is an actual hard limit to the story. Every action Rorona takes on the exploration side makes days pass. Some of the scenes are even locked to specific days of the three years, so you will need to be careful not to miss them.

Truth be told, the three-year limit is extremely generous. Unless you are trying to achieve EVERYTHING in one single playthrough, you will be fine obtaining most of what the game offers without too much stress. Just focus on the things you want to do and you'll be fine.

During the journey, Rorona will encounter and befriend various characters that become playable allies in battle:

Cordelia von Feuerbach

A childhood friend of Rorona and probably the closest person to her. She is a responsible girl who gets easily embarrassed and really cares about Rorona, to the point of using her finances to try and support her from the shadows. She has a "classic tsundere" personality and it takes some time for her to fully show her affection to Rorona.

Iksel Jahnn

A hot-blooded chef. He helps Rorona in her travels to get materials to use for his restaurant. He appears in plenty of cutscenes where he explains some new ingredients he found.

Sterkenburg Cranach

He is an extremely loyal and hardworking knight of Arland. He may look intimidating from the outside (which causes Rorona to panic), but he is just trying to do his job and is genuinely trying to help.

Lionela Heinze

A traveling street performer who is actually extremely shy. She is always seen with two puppets called Aranya and Horoholo that seem to have thoughts of their own.

Tantris

The son of the Minister of Arland, who is trying to destroy the Atelier. He is tasked by his father to disrupt Rorona's activities, but he instead takes a liking to her and starts helping.

Gio

The current King of Arland traveling under a false identity. He is currently on the run from the knights as he doesn't want to be forced to do his duties as King and prefers just traveling.

Esty Dee

The Adventurer's Guild receptionist and a senior knight over Sterkenburg. She is strong, fast, and capable of doing almost any job. Unfortunately, that dedication to her job has left her unable to find a husband, which is a recurring joke during the series.

Astrid Zexis

The greatest alchemist of all Arland. She is powerful, but lazy and rude for unknown reasons. She likes to tease Rorona but loves her a lot. You can only recruit her in battle by paying the hefty amount of 9980 cole per trip, but she is a powerhouse against bosses.

My favorite character is definitely Cordelia. The dynamics of her friendship with Rorona are really well written. I can't remember how many times my "yuri glasses" appeared, making me fawn over the two. The only acceptable ending of Rorona is together with her.

The game endings are divided into three categories: Generic Endings that are triggered based on the Assignment Stars (how well you did on the 12 assignments) and Popularity metric; Character Endings that are triggered based on how high the bond was with a particular character; and Special Endings that have particular requirements.

The new version has also a small segment in the post game where you meet Rorona's disciples from the future (Totori and Meruru) and work together with them to send them back into the past. It's just a fun little story, but kind of makes the whole original trilogy close neatly.

If you played a recent Atelier game or like JRPGs, I definitely suggest you give Atelier Rorona a shot. While it is quite old, it still manages to catch the player with a great gameplay loop and an entertaining storyline.