Atelier Rorona Plus is an enhanced port of the original Atelier Rorona that was released for the PS3 in 2010. Atelier Rorona is the eleventh installment of the Aterlier series. While the original was heavily criticized in certain aspects such as the time management system providing too much time pressure upon the player, this Plus version attempts to correct a lot of those flaws. These enhancements include updated 3D models, new field maps, additional content including more playable characters and bosses, new Assignment system (this was the biggest criticism of the original), improved battle system and an improved synthesis system.
In Atelier Rorona Plus, Rorona is a young alchemist who inherits a workshop from her master. The catch? The kingdoms wants to close the workshop down and it is up to Rorona in order to keep it afloat. The kingdom is kind enough to give Rorona the chance to redeem herself, if she can pass twelve assignments given to her, then the workshop can stay open. This is only a guise, the kingdom never expected her to complete the assignments but Rorona (predictably) surprises them. Throughout the three years of assignments, Rorona meets many characters who join and help her, forging friendships and exploring new areas. The story is very low profile compared to nearly all JRPGs.
This is not your large scale save the world type of story; it's more much personal and focused upon Rorona's life and her struggles to save the alchemy workshop. It works well here, the main flaws being that the story can get cheesy at times and Rorona is a heavily stereotypical female lead, she has all the typical anime traits: being shy, clumsy, pure and clueless, which the game loads it up too thick at times. Unlike most JRPGs, Atelier Rorona Plus puts the battle system into the background and instead focuses upon alchemy. In order to alchemize, Rorona must have the ingredients, recipe, MP and time to create it.
Ingredients can be purchased from shops or it can be collected from field maps. Similarly, recipes are bought or given. MP can be restored by resting and by using special items. The limiting resource here is time. The whole game revolves around using time as an exhaustible resource that cannot be gotten back once used. The game takes place over three years and every major thing you do will use up days. Travelling to a field map? It'll take four days. Alchemizing an item? It'll take 2 days. Then certain events will only happen on a certain period of days and if you happen to be at the wrong place at the time? Sorry, you've missed the event, which might include locking an ending until you go to New Game Plus.
The missable events was a heavy criticism of the original and they have made this Plus version more lenient in this aspect. There is still a huge potential for missing events but you are given more freedom on completing assignments and doing what you want. You will slowly uncover more areas to explore and once you do, you can have Rorona and two of her companions to that area. Each area has multiple screens, each taking a certain amount of days to explore. Within each subarea, there are gathering points which Rorona can obtain ingredients from.
Enemies roam the subareas; touching one will transport you to a separate battle screen. Aterlier Rorona Plus' battle system is extremely simple. It is turn based and you have the options of attack, defend, use items, use skills or run away. In terms of equipment, you will mainly synthesis your own equipment as the equipment that monsters drop are horrible in comparison to even your starting weapons. Rorona has two levels, an Adventurer Level which governs her stats, and an Alchemy Level which governs the likelihood of alchemizing higher level items. Both use an experience point system and basically the more you do (i.e. battle or alchemizing), the higher your level gets.
Now, as you play through the game, you will also get quests. These quests are given by the townsfolk as Rorona needs to build up her workshop's popularity. These quests involve turning in items, the key here is that you need to only accept quests which you can complete, otherwise you'll be penalized and lose popularity. You also don't want to get more than what you can chew as synthesizing or finding the items might use up precious time you might otherwise could not have afforded. In addition to the main assignment given to you by the kingdom, there are various sub-assignments which gives you "vouchers" and "stamps". Both are used to give you bonus rewards, which can be quite handy.
There is a rudimentary relationship system. The more you spend time with a character including fulfilling their quests, the higher your Friendship Level is. What this influences are the ending requirements. There are over 30 endings available in Rorona Plus and each one has a specific set of requirements. Many endings are also tied to a Trophy and missing one required event in the game can lock you out of an ending permanently. It is recommended to play with a Guide so you don't miss out.
The good news in relation to endings is that the Plus version allows you to view all endings you've fulfilled the criteria for at the end of the game, whereas in the original version, you had to reload your saves multiple times and make sure you don't unlock another ending instead of the one you were aiming for. That being said, it's still really hard to keep track of which endings you've unlocked and you'll most likely end up playing the game twice anyway. There is a lot of take in and it is overwhelming when you first start the game. As the first year (in-game time) goes on, you'll get into the rhythm of doing things and it can become quite addictive.
You will focus on your time management and have to decide whether to stay in the city to see optional events, spend time gathering or use the days to alchemize some equipment or spare items. In this aspect, the game can go by very quickly. Rorona can walk around town but you'll most likely use the menu system to fast travel to where you need to go. The graphics on the Vita version is passable; it is of course nowhere near as beautiful as on the PS3. There were also frequent framerate drops and pop-ins. It doesn't make the game unplayable but it is noticeable.
While the gameplay manages to carry the game for most of the way, you start to lose attention towards the last two assignments where either you'll have more time than you want or not enough to obtain the endings you want. It's also easy to start to lose interest in the story at that point. It can become a huge grind to level up as enemies do not give you a decent amount of experience (normal enemies per battle giving you roughly 300 to 400 experience points but you need 9000 to level up). After you've completed the main story, as part of the additional content of this Plus version, there is an Overtime arc in which Totori and Meruru appear from the future.
In Overtime, Rorona must synthesize a specific item to send Totori and Meruru back to the future. It is quite light on story content but adds in two new dungeons (as well as a small extension to an existing dungeon). You get one year to complete Overtime and there are a number of new superbosses. If you weren't prepared for them, you will be complete and utterly decimated. It can get frustrating when bosses and one shot kill you and in your quest to get stronger, time slips away making it more unlikely to win. You must have a good grasps of the synthesis system, what equipment to forge and what items to exploit.
Unfortunately, there are no comprehensive strategy guides out on the internet and it is really tough for someone who isn't too knowledgeable about the deeper aspects of the game (once you nail the traits of items, you can break the game). The voice acting can be in Japanese or English, the developers have given you the option to choose which one is to your liking. Overall, Atelier Rorona Plus is a fun JRPG but this is definitely not for everyone. You need to put in the time to learn the mechanics and prepare for missing a few things on your first playthrough. If you can get through that, the story can be charming at times, the alchemy system is addicting and the general flow of the game is fun.
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