Atelier Totori: The Adventurer of Arland Review

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

A treat for fans and the perfect place for newcomers to start with the Atelier series.

Addictive achievement-like system; gorgeous graphics and art; improved combat; open-ended gameplay

Some recycled music; some bad voice acting; noticeable absence of overarching plot

Review: Atelier Totori: The Adventurer of Arland (Sony PS3)

I had never been impressed with the Atelier series before Atelier Rorona . The Marie and Iris games just kind of bored me. So I was surprised that I not only loved Atelier Rorona , but that at the end of 2010, I considered it the second best game of the year.

Review: Atelier Totori: The Adventurer of Arland for PS3

As much as I loved Atelier Rorona: The Alchemist of Arland , it had some serious flaws. Gathering locations were linear, forging weapons and armor was infuriating, it looked like a PS2 game, the battles weren't well thought out and deadlines seemed to be constantly popping up.

You get more time to play (five years versus three in

Some of the voice acting may scar your ears (Peter); difficulty level for battles jumps after you reach Arland and after you build the boat; can be quite difficult to earn money and only equipped items and money carries over for New Game+.

Atelier Totori: The Adventurer of Arland (PS3) - Review

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.