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[A Huge Battleship]

I'm extremely good at buying the PS3 Atelier games, but pretty terrible at actually sitting down and playing them.

And so it continues. About 18 months after finishing Totori, I’ve finally gotten around to starting the final game in the Arland trilogy. Mainly because I just bought Shallie and my brain won’t let me begin the Dusk trilogy until Meruru’s been conquered.

From what I’ve played so far (nearing the end of year 2), it’s basically more of its prequel, which is excellent news since I really enjoyed Totori. I’m glad that Meruru maintains a relatively hands-off approach for its 'tasks', since I much prefer being left mostly to my own machinations rather than having deadlines constantly looming over me.

Due to RL time constraints I don’t plan on doing a New Game+, so I’m trying to accomplish everything I want to in a single playthrough, i.e. get the endings for my favourite characters and give some of the optional bosses a good kicking. I gather Makina Domain isn’t available on a 1st playthrough, but I’m fine with that given the likely time / effort it’d take to beat it.

My current and probably permanent party is Mimi and Esty, both of whom hit hard and fast and are just great characters generally. I’d consider using Totori but I feel like having double Alchemists would break the combat a bit, particularly in the endgame.

The main negative for me so far is, oddly enough, the absence of Following the Footsteps (and all its variations) playing across the overworld. Really loved that theme. The story’s also lacking compared to Totori, but then that’s never been the main draw of the Atelier games for me.

So yeah, after the rocky start of Rorona the games have cemented themselves as a strong contender for my favourite JRPG series in recent years. If the Dusk trilogy is up to the same standard then I'll be over the moon.

Spoiler

Cory vs Mimi hasn't gotten any easier to decide. Probably still leaning Cory slightly.

 

[Shiina]

Thread hijack I finally started Rorona+ a few days ago. So far it seems to be the most barebones Atelier title. I'm almost a year in and not a whole lot has happened so far.


Regarding Meruru I used Esty and Sterk. Sterk is just too good to pass up.

 

[Beartruck]

Now you have to go back and play Rorona plus. Completely overhauls the game for the better.

Spoiler

Muwhaha, try to catch up now.

 

[PositiveYorae]

Well if you have hannah as dlc, she's broken as hell. (Same for Rufus). Her, together with Sterk is the best team for me. Without dlc, esty and sterk will do (and do well).

 

[TheChaos0]

Thread hijack I finally started Rorona+ a few days ago. So far it seems to be the most barebones Atelier title. I'm almost a year in and not a whole lot has happened so far.


Regarding Meruru I used Esty and Sterk. Sterk is just too good to pass up.

Sterkenburger is the man, that finisher is really great. I've used in both Totori and Meruru, I've stuck with childhood friends in Rorona though.

Totori's overworld was theme was really great, I would sometimes just stand there listening to it. Meruru's one wasn't bad either but just not as memorable.

I somehow ended up using Gino later in the game (master and apprentice combo) but because of the ability for all the members get exp from battle even if they weren't in the party meant that I've used most of the characters at least for a few hours.

I haven't played E&L yet but Ayesha was only an improvement (aside from the lack of dual audio in the PS3 release but the dub was actually well done).

 

[Shiina]

Well if you have hannah as dlc, she's broken as hell. (Same for Rufus). Her, together with Sterk is the best team for me. Without dlc, esty and sterk will do (and do well).

Really? How so? I never bothered with them even though I got all the DLC for free with Meruru+.

 

[A Huge Battleship]

Now you have to go back and play Rorona plus. Completely overhauls the game for the better.

Spoiler

Muwhaha, try to catch up now.

I bought Rorona+ in the knowledge that I’d love it but probably never play it. Think that says something about me.

Really? How so? I never bothered with them even though I got all the DLC for free with Meruru+.

From memory, Rufus has some ridiculous passive that means he gets extra turns after doing a basic attack. It’s % based, but in practice it’s common for him to be able to do 2-3 regular attacks followed by a skill each time. He also has some great skills, include one that delays the enemy’s turn. I haven’t actually used him myself, because I’m generally not a fan of having obviously OP characters in my party.

Only used Hannah a little, but she doesn’t strike me as being particularly broken. Her regular attack hits all enemies, and her offensive skills smack enemies over multiple turns (in the good way, not the weak Lias / Mimi way). She also has some kind of Bad Breath-lite attack. From what I’ve gathered, much of her appeal comes from one of her passives which basically gives you better drops after battles.

 

[Mauricio_Magus]

Meruru is great, even if I'll never be a fan of them making Rorona a loli...

 

[SliceSabre]

I loved Meruru and its my second favorite game after Rorona+.

However after I just barely missed out on

Spoiler

the normal ending and got the bad ending(Castle Life). I just sorta gave up because I had tried so hard only to miss out by a few people.

 

[PositiveYorae]

I bought Rorona+ in the knowledge that I’d love it but probably never play it. Think that says something about me.


From memory, Rufus has some ridiculous passive that means he gets extra turns after doing a basic attack. It’s % based, but in practice it’s common for him to be able to do 2-3 regular attacks followed by a skill each time. He also has some great skills, include one that delays the enemy’s turn. I haven’t actually used him myself, because I’m generally not a fan of having obviously OP characters in my party.

Only used Hannah a little, but she doesn’t strike me as being particularly broken. Her regular attack hits all enemies, and her offensive skills smack enemies over multiple turns (in the good way, not the weak Lias / Mimi way). She also has some kind of Bad Breath-lite attack. From what I’ve gathered, much of her appeal comes from one of her passives which basically gives you better drops after battles.

Well she's not as broken as rufus, but her mushroom rain is kinda broken (almost never misses, multiple status ailment) and mushroom dance is a solid healing move. (Aside from me being very bias because I kinda like her). Rufus, as stated above, gets multiple turn but sometimes at the cost of too much lp. But no matter how broken these dlc characters, no one even comes close to Sterks badassness.

 

[Shiina]

Meruru is great, even if I'll never be a fan of them making Rorona a loli...

She was actually pretty funny. And there's always:

Spoiler

https://goput.it/v3u.jpg

 

[A Huge Battleship]

Question to anyone who’s turned this game inside out - Who’s the toughest optional boss excluding Makina Domain?

Reason I’m asking is because I’d like to know how crazy I should get with item synthesis. I’ve unlocked the Endless Corridor and can beat 3 of the 4 Maidens, but the last one (Eternity Goddess) is too much for me at the moment. But if she’s the strongest optional boss outside of Makina Domain (which I can’t access on a first playthrough) then I don’t need to make anything too broken, since she seems beatable.

Also the gathering points at the end of the Endless Corridor are silly. Like, really silly.