Atelier Meruru: The Apprentice of Arland Review

I think there are several male (as well as female) players in America, a bulk also, who are entirely like I was prior to obtaining Atelier Meruru; completely unconcerned to the Atelier franchise of JRPG alchemy games. And also I believe many would certainly see the charming personalities and the animation, as well as the truth that you play as a lady and immediately compose the franchise off. Directly, that’& rsquo; s just how I was. I & rsquo; ve never been big into Japanese games, specifically because I put on’& rsquo; t like turn-based video games all that much. My only experiences with Japanese parlor games have all been enjoyable however, yet there hasn’& rsquo; t been many of them: Last Fantasy IV, Last Fantasy VII, the Harvest Moon series, and also Rune Manufacturing Facility: Trends of Destiny. In the Last Fantasy video games that I’& rsquo; ve played, you play as a kid personality who lays out to save the globe from putting at risk ruin. Turn based or otherwise, that’& rsquo; s a & ldquo; manly & rdquo; game. In the Harvest Moon video games that I & rsquo; ve played, you play as a young boy(or lady if pick, I never did )and there is no battle; you & rsquo; re farming and also making good friends with the townsfolk and searching for a gal to date and also marry, but after that farming is “& ldquo; manly & rdquo; too. In Tides of Fate, you play as a kid(and a lady, they share a body), as well as combat happens in actual time as well as there’& rsquo; s farming & hellip; It & rsquo; s cute, yet & ldquo; manly. & rdquo; With your first look at Atelier Meruru, if you & rsquo; re not knowledgeable about the series already, you & rsquo; re probably going to be thinking & ldquo; wow, that & rsquo; s extremely girly. & rdquo; There & rsquo; s no refuting it or navigating it: Atelier Meruru is cute overload and does originally(on the surface anyway )seem girly. The globe isn & rsquo; t in danger as well as you aren’& rsquo; t tasked with recovering your grandfather’& rsquo; s farm as well as beginning a household. Rather, you play as 15-year-old Princess Merurulince Rede Arls, much better referred to as Meruru. She’& rsquo; s a bubbly and also optimistic lady that wishes to be a sorcerer, but’she & rsquo; s additionally a bit clumsy as well as overeager causing her to act without assuming. Your work is to use the power of alchemy to develop the kingdom of Arls, and you have 3 years, at first, to do it.

Now before we obtain any kind of better into the game itself, it’& rsquo; s vital to point out that this is like the 15th access into the Atelier franchise business, and also the 3rd and last of the Arland series. However, you do not require to have played any of the previous Arland titles to enjoy this video game. I’& rsquo; ve never ever played Atelier Rorona: The Sorcerer of Arland or Atelier Totori: The Traveler of Arland; these are stand alone titles. That’& rsquo; s not to state you won & rsquo; t enjoy it possibly a bit extra if you & rsquo; ve played the previous 2 titles before. Previous occasions are brought up in conversation, and also it seems that virtually every significant character from the previous 2 video games remain in Atelier Meruru as well as several are able to join your celebration, which can contain 2 other individuals (definition you might enter into fight with a 3 participant celebration of Rorona, Totori, as well as Meruru & hellip; each the star of their very own Arland title).

The battle right here is obviously turn-based, and also timeless style at that (you and also your companions aligned on one side, the firing line up on the other). You can pick which enemy you wish to attack, and some assaults can deal damage to numerous adversaries. Attacks are the standard RPG strikes utilizing a tool, a thing (bombs, salutes, and so on), or a magic strike, although not all characters can make use of a magic attack (or item strike). I in fact do take pleasure in the battle here a great deal despite not truly being a follower of turn-based stuff usually. The layout here is crisp and also the art design as well as computer animation within the battles is stunning. There’& rsquo; s also cheesy, however humorous, lines throughout battles like “& ldquo; suck on this & rdquo; and & ldquo; you & rsquo;

re’dead prior to you can also blink. & rdquo; There & rsquo; s a vast array of adversaries to handle; cute little bunnies to birds, large lizard guys to ghost & hellip; there & rsquo; s a ton of interesting entities to battle with. Some are incredibly very easy at all factors in the video game, yet man several of them are callous. Several times all three event members passed away swiftly while above degree 30 because of an experience with some unpleasant animals. There’& rsquo; s plenty of employers to fight in the process as well. The advantage with fight though, especially considering that this is a JRPG, is that there are no random encounters. If you wear’& rsquo; t intend to battle at a given time, you wear & rsquo; t have as well. Enemies are revealed walking around the map and also you can avoid them pretty conveniently. Even if you obtain drawn right into a fight you really didn’& rsquo; t want, or if points begin getting tricky, you can constantly attempt to leave by utilizing the leave command & hellip; And yes, I used it plenty of times.

You’& rsquo; ll wish to be checking exactly how frequently you’& rsquo; re battling as well as celebration things though. This video game does have a hefty dependence on time management. You’& rsquo; re provided a goal at the beginning of the video game to develop the kingdom to a certain ranking and reach a particular population goal, as well as the days in this game pass incredibly rapid. There’& rsquo; s a meter when you & rsquo; re out in a map searching or gathering, and each time you collect or get in a fight, this meter will certainly go down some. Once it goes all the way down, a new day begins. Include this to the fact that it will certainly take days to walk to the various areas (an issue of seconds on the globe map screen), and also synthesizing things will certainly additionally take days, as well as you can see just how the schedule starts surrendering quite quickly. The good news is, time isn’& rsquo; t always passing. Unless you’& rsquo; re battling, celebration, manufacturing, or resting (which you’& rsquo; ll demand to do periodically to restore HP as well as MP), time doesn’& rsquo; t pass. You & rsquo; re cost-free to walk around as well as invest as much time as you want talking and also taking pleasure in the views in Arls and also any of the maps.

Control sensible, as well as I never thought I’& rsquo;d claim this concerning a JRPG game provided my recent background with them, I absolutely enjoy this game. No, you can’& rsquo; t move the camera around like you might in a Western established third-person title, yet this game’& rsquo; s cam and controls are amazingly liquid. If you’& rsquo; ve played the current Harvest Moon games for Wii, or Rune Factory: Tides of Destiny, you’& rsquo; ll understand how bad the electronic camera is in those games. With this video game, the video camera will certainly never ever when cause you any kind of problem whatsoever. As well as a great deal of that has to do with the presentation itself. This game is absolutely lovely. It has a wonderfully refreshing mix of 2.5 D as well as 3D with anime style computer animation and also impressive use cell-shading. Visually, every little thing concerning this game pops and also is pleasing to check out. It appears like an actually impressive animation in high-definition. It’& rsquo; s very vibrant and also vibrant, and also each map and also location in the video game is various as well as simply a pleasure to consider it. The personalities, opponents as well as the world itself may be adorable, but the actual graphics powering this game are absolutely nothing short of lovely.

Atelier Meruru might seem like it could be rather frightening if you aren’& rsquo; t knowledgeable about the franchise. As somebody is totally brand-new to the world of Atelier games, I can securely state that merely isn’& rsquo; t the situation below. Yes, the game is centered on alchemy and how you’& rsquo; ll requirement to either acquisition or discover active ingredients to make anything the game supplies, but the video game describes all of this to you in a fun and very easy fashion. At no point are you mistaken for an expert of all things Atelier. The video game relieves you into it by presenting aspects at various times, as you would certainly expect from any type of video game, so you’& rsquo; re never bewildered.

Manufacturing products fasts and also simple; you have a checklist of items, as well as you’& rsquo; ll learn more recipes as you accompany and also degree up, and also each item will certainly let you recognize what the ingredients are and how many you’& rsquo; ll demand. If you put on’& rsquo; t have the components for one item, you might be able to synthesize it. If you can’& rsquo; t, you & rsquo; ll have to venture out right into the world and discover the thing, which is quickly completed since the world map lets you understand what active ingredients are in each area. Later, you’& rsquo; ll be able to acquire ingredients wholesale as well as send out Homs out gathering things and also even synthesizing things for you (despite whether you have the ingredients for it or otherwise).

As well as while the alchemy is quick as well as very easy, it isn’& rsquo; t extremely simplistic. Yes, you can take that path and also it’& rsquo; ll be extremely easy, but there & rsquo; s a particular happiness and achievement by looking for the excellent high quality components with specific traits to use together with various other traits to make a high quality thing that has numerous benefits. So while it is quick as well as straightforward, it can additionally be as time-consuming as well as complicated as you intend to make it trying to find the excellent item. Testing is recommended here, so don’& rsquo; t hesitate to make it more complicated.

There’& rsquo; s a TON of cut scenes as well as dialogue to learn right here, and also there’& rsquo; s greater than a couple of doubtful comments made taking into consideration the major personality is a 15-year-old lady with a 14-year-old buddy (one older female character asks if they bathe as well as sleep together, another somewhat older 20-something lady honestly fantasizes regarding both of them generally going at it), however then I’& rsquo; ll never act to comprehend the Japanese society. I missed several of the discussion that wasn’& rsquo; t actually voiced and also put on & rsquo; t seem like I missed anything. Speaking of voiced, the title has the option for either English voices or the original Japanese. A great deal of individuals, particularly JRPG fanatics and anime fans will possibly like the Japanese, but I’& rsquo; m not an anime individual and therefore I found the English voice work to be adequate enough for me.

When it comes to the tale, well there’& rsquo; s not a lot to it and also it certainly isn’& rsquo; t the peak of the video game. Meruru comes off as bland at first as well as like she just chose to seek alchemy since she had nothing else to do. But, in pursuit of coming to be a wonderful sorcerer, she generally does take it seriously as well as strive at it, and also not just for herself to also to far better the kingdom. Doing primary pursuits, growth pursuits, you’& rsquo; ll earn what & rsquo; s called & ldquo; Advancement Information.” & rdquo; These factors are then utilized to develop structures as well as upgrades to enhance as well as establish the tiny Kingdom of Arls right into amazing for when it merges with the Arland Republic. The world map is a stunning illustration that transforms when a brand-new structure or upgrade is completed, allowing you to see all the positive effects and changes that you’& rsquo; re leaving on the Kingdom. There’& rsquo; s additionally a ton of side quests ranging from event, synthesizing, as well as hunting. It’& rsquo; s the sort of video game where there’& rsquo; s constantly something to do and also “& ldquo; another quest & rdquo; ends up becoming 4 even more hours.

Currently it’& rsquo; s time for the part that’& rsquo; s probably going to shock a lot of individuals: the official rating. I’& rsquo; ll beginning this by stating that while this isn’& rsquo; t a ready everybody, it definitely is a game that everybody who isn & rsquo; t acquainted with the series or’perhaps isn & rsquo; t a large JRPG follower need to try no matter. Place your presumptions and also predispositions aside; this video game is an outright joy to play. There’& rsquo; s no such time as an absolutely & ldquo; perfect & rdquo; video game, and thus we believe the highest possible mark we can provide, five stars, should be scheduled for something the customer locates very enjoyable and unique. As such, I am absolutely awarding this game our highest ranking, four celebrities.

There have actually been some really fantastic and also remarkable video games that have actually come out since May 2010, some of which have obtained 5 star from me. Portal 2 as well as Uncharted 3 enters your mind. Yet I can truly as well as honestly say that I have not taken pleasure in a game this much because Red Dead Redemption and also later on its Undead Nightmare expansion. I spent over 400 hours into Red Dead Redemption single gamer and also multiplayer, as well as this is the very first game since then that I can conveniently see pumping that several hours right into at some point; and it doesn’& rsquo; t also have multiplayer. Skyrim, which we sanctuary’& rsquo; t reviewed, is a fantastic Western RPG, yet also it isn & rsquo; t virtually as much enjoyable or addictive as this video game has actually shown to be for me. I & rsquo; m not joking when I state this video game is addictive; I place & rsquo; t wanted to stop playing it, and I never ever expected to be willing to ignore the multiplayer of Max Payne 3 or Starhawk so swiftly. The only various other video game I’& rsquo; ve handled to play given that obtaining this has been MLB 12: The Show, and also then I needed to make myself change simply to maintain my period advancing as the actual routine proceeds (I play one game a day as the Braves).

Playing this video game has actually advised me why you need to never evaluate a game merely by just how it searches in screenshots or even viewing somebody play the video game in Japanese. I went into this video game, completely a noob to the collection, interested in it however not actually expecting way too much from it. Instead of playing it awhile, reviewing it, as well as carrying on, I’& rsquo; ve found myself having a hard time putting it down. I’& rsquo; ve additionally discovered myself being entirely blown-away and also totally surprised at simply just how much enjoyable this video game genuinely is. This video game really makes me want to go back and also grab Atelier Rorona and also Atelier Totori, also if they wind up not being fifty percent as good as this.

I put on’& rsquo; t make a habit of discussing other evaluations in my evaluation, however, for this set I simply couldn’& rsquo; t help yet keep an eye out there and see what my fellow customers were thinking about this title. I’& rsquo; ve seen high marks (a 95/100) as well as lower marks (IGN providing it a 6/10, however after that I usually disagree with IGN). Certainly different individuals have different preferences. You’& rsquo; ll possibly either enjoy this title or hate it, there most likely isn’& rsquo; t a lot in the means of middle ground here. Like I said, this was my extremely initial experience with an Atelier game and also I wear’& rsquo; t have a lot of experience with JRPG’& rsquo; s generally. I can & rsquo; t claim how this game remains in connection to the previews 2 access in the Arland collection. If you’& rsquo; re an Atelier fan wanting to see what an additional Atelier fan/veteran thinks about the brand-new video game, after that I’& rsquo; m not the reviewer for you in terms of letting you know if it’& rsquo; s much better or worse than previous games in the series. I can only state that I, as a total noob to the series, absolutely enjoy it. I’& rsquo; m completely hooked on the discussion as well as the gameplay (the tale is additional to me and I can’& rsquo; t claim I put a high emphasis on it).

Assassin’& rsquo; s Creed III as well as The Last of Us stay my most expected titles of the year, nonetheless I currently locate myself excitedly awaiting an announcement from NIS America informing all of us that they will certainly have the ability to localize the next Atelier video game (Atelier Ayesha, as a result of be released in Japan on June 28th) for us American and European people. Until such time comes, I can quickly claim that this is a title that will certainly stay in heavy rotation in my PS3 for a significant amount of time. I extremely advise you give this one a swirl.

Atelier Meruru: The Apprentice of Arland obtains a four out of 5: GREAT.

A copy of this game was provided by the publisher for testimonial.