The Atelier series is truly a strange beast. Simplistic battle systems and minimal story make room for the almost disturbingly complex item creation system that is the hallmark of the series.

It's no secret that Japanese RPGs tend to tread a lot of familiar ground. There's nothing inherently wrong with that, but it makes those that tell more unique stories all the more memorable, notwithstanding their flaws. Atelier Totori: Adventurer of Arland is one such memorable game.

Last year, I reviewed Atelier Rorona. It was the first game of the long-running series that I had played. I found it to be a refreshing take on the standard turn based RPG. Now, a year later, almost to the date...

+ Alchemy is complex and fun; + Simple turn-based battles; + Decent story

Characters can become annoying; Quests can get old after a while

Oh, Totori, you're too cute for words. You've got a heart of gold and we can't help but root for you. You capture the essentials that make a JRPG tick perfectly – tons of exploration, quirky party banter intermingled with deep characterization, and you pull us in with your addictive time management...

Fun with alchemy; Bonding cast members; The beautiful art-style

Repetitive quests; Slow pacing; Boring battles

Growing up as a social outcast in the god-forsaken 90s, I found myself quickly drawn into the world of Japanese animation, helping to brand myself as a mega-nerd for the rest of time.

Gust has been developing Atelier titles since the early days of the PlayStation. It wasn't until the PlayStation 2 era that we English-speaking gamers could finally get a chance to play the series.

–

+Quirky Characters and Interesting Story Once it Really Gets Going; +/-Combat is Good but Lacks Anything to Make it Great

+/-Combat is Good but Lacks Anything to Make it Great; -Quests are Repetitive and Get Boring Fast; Leaving a Sometimes Boring Grind

So good!

The first time I played through it, it was really good, but it get too repetive too fast and when I played through it for the second time, it got too boring.

Atelier Totori is the latest game in Gust's Atelier series of games to be released in english and the sequel to last years Atelier Rorona. The game take place after the first game in the series and features Totori, a student of Rorona's as the main character.

Decent gameplay; good replayability

The time limit is weird and puts no real pressure on the player