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Asks questions so Ezalc doesn't have to
(05-15-2012, 01:25 AM)
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Atelier Meruru |OT| of Atelier Chronicles: My Life as a Princess
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![]() (banner by Rarutos What is Atelier Meruru? Atelier Meruru is the third and final installment of the Arland trilogy of Atelier games, preceded by Atelier Rorona and Atelier Totori. What’s the set up for this installment? Arls Kingdom – this tiny nation is located far to the northwest of the Arland Republic. Compared to Arland, with its highly developed machinery and alchemy, Arls is rather quaint, but with unlimited potential for prosperity. Gio, leader of Arland, proposes to Lord Dessier, King of Arls and Gio’s longtime friend, that Arls join the Arland Republic. But there are many tasks to be completed before their goal can be realized. In order to minimize criticism from opposing parties, Arls begins a development project to increase the kingdom’s influence. To begin, they decide to dispatch a number of skills adventurers to Arls from Arland. Among the delegation is the alchemist Totori Helmond. Meruru, Princess of Arls, soon encounters Totori, and alchemy, for the first time. Impressed by Totori’s alchemic abilities, Meruru forces her way into becoming Totori’s apprentice with aspirations of becoming an alchemist in her own right. However her father, Lord Dessier does not approve of her alchemy studies, viewing them as worthless. After some arguing, they reach a compromise; Meruru will have three years to use her alchemy to develop the kingdom and increase their population to 15,000 people. If she succeeds, he’ll recognize her alchemy study. What’s the gameplay like in Atelier Meruru? Like the prior games, Meruru must become an alchemist by exploring the neighboring lands, gathering materials with which to craft new items via alchemy. Using her kingdom as an atelier, she synthesizes items, completes quests for the kingdom, and gains further recipes. Like in Rorona and Totori, whenever Meruru does alchemy, explores lands, etc. she uses a certain number of days to do so, and every assignment has a deadline. Part of the fun of the Arland trilogy is learning how the system works to best manage your schedule and learn to complete the maximum amount of tasks in as little time as possible. ![]() ![]() ![]() Okay, this is sounding exactly like the other two games. So what’s different this time? Where Rorona earned store reputation and Totori earned adventurer license points for completing quests, tasks, and alchemy requests, Meruru earns development points that she can use to develop her kingdom by creating new buildings and upgrading existing ones. Gaining points will increase Meruru’s Kingdom Rank, which is very much the same style of system as Totori’s Adventurer Rank. Developing facilities will actually affect the terrain of the world map, so plan carefully! Additionally, now some party members will attack groups of enemies in battle, rather than just one (Sterk and Mimi still only attack one). Otherwise the battle system is very similar to Totori’s. Characters: ![]() Merurulince Rede Arls (Meruru) Meruru is the Princess of Arls Kingdom and Totori’s apprentice. She’s bright and optimistic, but has a tendency to act without thinking. She admires Arland, but wishes for her own kingdom to become equally as prosperous. Because of this, she decides to set out and use alchemy to develop the land. ![]() Totooria Helmond (Totori) This heroine from the previous game has become a full-fledged alchemist after finishing her adventure searching for her mother. She’s also become pretty famous all across Arland. Originally, Rorona was supposed to come to Arls to assist in the development project, but for reasons unknown Totori was sent on her behalf. She’s still brutally honest at times, although she does seem to be trying harder to watch what she says. ![]() Rorolina Frixell (Rorona) Rorona is the heroine from the first game in the series, and also Totori’s alchemy teacher. Her personality hasn’t changed all that much – she’s still a total airhead and still really loves Totori. But she’s a true genius, and her knowledge of alchemy is beyond comprehension. Before the game begins, Gio ordered Rorona to head to Arls. But due to some sort of disruption, she was forced to stay behind in Arland. Eventually, she’s able to make her way to Arls and shows up in this form. What happened, exactly, remains a mystery… ![]() Keina Swaya Keina is our heroine’s best childhood friend. She also works as a maid at the castle and can do anything, from cooking to cleaning and all things inbetween. She serves as Meruru’s devoted caretaker and best friend. Being forced to deal with Meruru’s constant state of pandemonium has made her very mature for her age. ![]() Dessier Hahlsner Arls Lord Dessier is the king of Arls and Meruru’s overprotective father. He’s an old friend of Gio and has gone on a number of adventures with him in the past. He entrusts Rufus with all of his kingdom’s political issues, meaning his public profile is at a minimum. Regardless, he remains popular among the people of Arls, which attests to his commanding presence. ![]() Rufus Falken Rufus acts as the official butler of Arls Kingdom. He’s very intelligent, he handles nearly all of the kingdom’s political issues single-handedly, and he’s also Meruru’s private instructor. Because of these talents, Meruru doesn’t stand a chance against him. Rufus is highly protective of Meruru, but instead of pampering her, he expresses his concern by being ruthlessly strict with her. Rufus is a borderline-tyrant and very stingy when it comes to time and money. He never shows his true emotions and tends to talk in a calm, indifferent manner. ![]() Lias Falken Rufus’s younger brother spends his days serving as a castle gatekeeper. He basically worships the ground Rufus walks on, and his ultimate goal is to become as much like Rufus as possible (though he’d never admit it). Meruru tends to occupy most of Rufus’s time, which makes Lias more than a little jealous. But at the same time, Rufus asks him to act as Meruru’s personal escort. ![]() Mimi Houllier Von Schwarzlang Mimi is an Arland Adventurer Guild member and a good friend of Totori’s. She appears in Arls as if she only has Totori on her mind. She’s certainly gained plenty of experience since her last adventure and has gotten much stronger. She’s made an effort to become more ladylike, but her true character comes out whenever she interacts with Totori. ![]() Gino Knab Totori’s childhood friend once claimed to be the strongest adventurer around. He may not be able to back that up just yet, but he’s certainly earned the right to call himself a real adventurer. After Totori left for Arls, he partnered up with Mimi. But eventually he decides to follow Totori into this new land. He’s certainly matured, but his playfulness shows itself whenever he’s around his old friends. ![]() Filly Dee Filly worked as a receptionist in Arland and came to Arls with Totori. She used to get really nervous around strangers, but her job has forced her to deal with her phobia. Her powers of imagination have also powered up, so any regular relationship becomes a target of her delusions. ![]() The Homs The Homs are utterly loyal to their master(s) and assist in a variety of tasks, including alchemy. Their primary order is to look after the tiny Rorona, but they receive another order to help out Meruru while Rorona is left in her care. They’ve also started to display a small amount of emotion, bringing them one step closer to real humans. ![]() Hanna Olses Hanna manages a shop in Arls. She doesn’t fret over tiny details and she considers herself a good friend of Meruru. ![]() Sterkenburg Cranach A former knight of Arland, Sterk still lives as a self-proclaimed knight. He acts as a guardian of the local adventurers while he continues to search for the retired king who seems to have wandered off. Meeting Princess Meruru has awakened his knightly desires once more. ![]() Esty Dee Acting as Arland’s secret investigator, Esty has left the guild in her sister Filly’s hands to pursue a career in espionage. She also has no choice but to act as Gio’s chaperone in Arls. ![]() Gio The head of the Arland Republic and the world’s greatest known swordsman still enjoys wandering the land aimlessly. For whatever reason, he has decided to make Arls his base of operations for the time being. Release info: Japan Release Date: 6/23/2011 USA Release Date: 5/29/2012 Europe Release Date: 5/24/2012 ESRB Rating: T for Teen Developed by: GUST Corporation Published by: GUST (Japan) and NIS America (US and Europe) DLC Schedule: 5/29 - VGM pack and Rufus (optional party member) $2.99 6/5 - Hanna (optional party member) $3.99 6/12 - Pamela (optional party member) $3.99 6/19 - Makina Domain (gathering spot) Free Reviews: Technology Tell – 95/100 http://www.technologytell.com/gaming...rland-for-ps3/
Originally Posted by Technology Tell:
http://diehardgamefan.com/2012/05/10...of-arland-ps3/
Originally Posted by Diehard Gamefan:
http://www.gamrreview.com/review/88939/atelier-meruru/
Originally Posted by GamrReview:
http://www.ztgd.com/reviews/atelier-...ice-of-arland/
Originally Posted by ZT Game Domain:
http://www.rpgamer.com/games/atelier...urustrev1.html
Originally Posted by RPGamer:
http://www.egmnow.com/articles/revie...ice-of-arland/
Originally Posted by EGM:
http://www.t-ono.net/Game-Reviews/At...S3-Review.html
Originally Posted by The O-Network:
http://www.ign.com/articles/2012/05/...-arland-review
Originally Posted by IGN:
Last edited by RurouniZel; 05-26-2012 at 10:50 PM.
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Member
(05-15-2012, 01:41 AM)
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#4
Great OT! I called it in the OT calling topic a while back though... I worked on it some already too. But since you already posted I guess there's no point in me doing mine anymore? :o
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Asks questions so Ezalc doesn't have to
(05-15-2012, 01:59 AM)
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#8
(feels bad) |
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Member
(05-15-2012, 02:06 AM)
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#9
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Asks questions so Ezalc doesn't have to
(05-15-2012, 02:37 AM)
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#15
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Junior Member
(05-15-2012, 02:40 AM)
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#16
Also I wrote and published a review if you'd like to include it. My site used to be banned around here it was a subsite of a very disliked sales site but we've split off and have our own url which isn't banned. I informed the moderation team about this and they didn't get back to me and didn't ban the site so I think I can talk about it. http://www.gamrreview.com/review/88939/atelier-meruru/ All that said, if you don't like me or my site then feel free to not use it, no hard feelings.
Last edited by Torillian; 05-15-2012 at 02:48 AM.
Reason: adding in a review link
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Member
(05-15-2012, 02:53 AM)
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#17
Unlike most of their peers, Gust actually has some talent, so it'd be nice to see them pander a little less to the creeper sect as time goes on. Besides, it was fun to see the characters age, even if it was anime aging and christ almighty does Rorona look fucking ANNOYING in the trailers for this.
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Last edited by Alex; 05-15-2012 at 03:05 AM.
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Member
(05-15-2012, 03:05 AM)
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#19
I haven't seriously played Rorona or Totori yet, otherwise I'd probably be inclined to get this sooner that later. Well, I also managed to get the LEs of both at a discount, but unless stock stays at NISA's store for awhile it'll break here. |
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Member
(05-15-2012, 03:08 AM)
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#20
Last edited by Alex; 05-15-2012 at 03:11 AM.
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Member
(05-15-2012, 03:08 AM)
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#21
I'm glad Gust is a niche developer and I hope they stay that way, by the way. :) Is the kingdom development aspect similar to the development aspect in Atelier Annie? That was a ton of fun and I'm really hoping they use that idea, or at least include more NPCs, like they did in Annie. |
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(05-15-2012, 03:10 AM)
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#22
I sorta want, but I never played a game from this series before. Would this game be a good entry point?
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Asks questions so Ezalc doesn't have to
(05-15-2012, 03:14 AM)
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#24
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Member
(05-15-2012, 03:16 AM)
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#26
Last edited by Eusis; 05-15-2012 at 04:01 AM.
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Member
(05-15-2012, 03:19 AM)
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#27
Rorona is pretty... iffy though, they made huge leaps with the sequels. Totori doesn't require any knowledge of Rorona at all so I'd imagine Meruru will be the same to Totori. If you're unsure you could just nab a cheaper copy of Totori and give it a spin.
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Last edited by Alex; 05-15-2012 at 03:24 AM.
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Member
(05-15-2012, 03:21 AM)
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#28
Yeah, I guess that's true. One of the girls is 14, but for the most part the characters in Ayesha are pretty old as far as JRPGs go IMO.
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(05-15-2012, 03:25 AM)
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#30
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Asks questions so Ezalc doesn't have to
(05-15-2012, 03:28 AM)
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#31
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Member
(05-15-2012, 04:03 AM)
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#33
This is what motivated me to still play through EO1 while I had EO2 (well, and having an inkling of how the plot would twist for the final part.) I don't believe the game's particularly long or hard either, so unless I ignore Rorona for forever or try again only to get bored I'll finish that first before Totori, and it sounds like Totori's good enough I'd definitely want to get through that before Meruru. If I got bored with Totori... well, then Meruru's probably not worth getting for me.
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Member
(05-15-2012, 04:04 AM)
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#34
If you really want! Guess it won't see any use otherwise anyway~
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Member
(05-15-2012, 04:09 AM)
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#35
Opinions are opinions, but I'm not the kind of person who believes it's worth playing an entire series of games just because you're interested in one. It's not a scenario like a movie, we're talkin' 'bout long (well, these aren't that long by contrast but its still a lot of time) reiterative RPGs, so I'd just pick a good starting point and go at it.
You can always go back if you become weirdly obsessed or something, and if someone says that "but you wont want to go back after ____" that just means it wasnt worth your time! I had fun with Rorona because I liked the time management and certain other aspects but it really is a middling game at best and suffers from a lot of jank that up and vanished entirely in Totori. I just don't view it as really being worth it for an unsure new comer when there are now two vastly superior ones to pick from that dont need prior knowledge or experience.
Last edited by Alex; 05-15-2012 at 04:15 AM.
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Member
(05-15-2012, 05:31 AM)
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#39
I would, however, not really care for Ayesha if it came to that, just as I'm not ever bothering Iris 2 and 3 since the first bored me somewhat and that series ran from what sounded interesting about Atelier in the first place (more relaxed pace adventure focused more on making stuff and running a business.) |
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Member
(05-15-2012, 05:55 AM)
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#40
Gah is it getting that close already @_@.
Guess I will pick back up Neptunia 2 and finish it this week so I can jump right into this game guilt free. Anyways really looking forward to this. I have really started to fall in love with the series. If they keep improving it could easily become one of my favorite rpg series of all time. |
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Member
(05-15-2012, 06:20 AM)
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#42
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Banned
(05-15-2012, 10:39 AM)
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#47
Delightful. |
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Asks questions so Ezalc doesn't have to
(05-15-2012, 11:04 AM)
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#49
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