History VideoGame / AtelierRoronaTheAlchemistOfArland

[[caption-width-right:350: ''Let's make tomorrow even more fun\\

With a mysterious recipe'']]

[[caption-width-right:350: Clockwise from front: [[CuteClumsyGirl Rorona]], [[{{Tsundere}} Cordelia]], [[ShrinkingViolet Lionela]], [[WanderingMinstrel Tantris]], [[BrilliantButLazy Astrid]], [[KingIncognito Gio]], [[FaceOfAThug Sterk]], [[SupremeChef Iksel]].]]

[[caption-width-right:350: Clockwise from front: [[CuteClumsyGirl Rorona]], [[{{Tsundere}} Cordelia]], [[ShrinkingViolet Lionela]], [[WanderingMinstrel Tantris]], [[BrilliantButLazy Astrid]], [[KingIncognito Gio]], [[NotSoAboveItAll Sterk]], [[SupremeChef Iksel]].]]

[[caption-width-right:350: Clockwise from front: Rorona, Cordelia, Lionela, Tantris, Astrid, Gio, Sterk, Iksel.]]

After the series' attempt at a DarkerAndEdgier GenreShift with the ''Iris'' and ''Mana Khemia'' games had resulted in some of the franchise's worst sales at the time, Gust decided to have the series [[RevisitingTheRoots go back to its original roots]] as a SliceOfLife ItemCrafting series. As such, ''Rorona'' serves as a functional callback to the original ''[[VideoGame/AtelierMarieTheAlchemistOfSalburg Atelier Marie]]'', being a TimeManagementGame with a low-stakes, slice-of-life story and a high focus on CharacterDevelopment. The result was a breakout hit that revitalized the series, leading to two immediate sequels in the following "Arland" subseries (''[[VideoGame/AtelierTotoriTheAdventurerOfArland Totori]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/AtelierMeruruTheApprenticeOfArland Meruru]]'') as well as a long line of successors that would follow in its wake.

A game featuring Rorona's daughter, ''[[VideoGame/AtelierLuluaTheScionOfArland Atelier Lulua]]'', was released in 2019.

In 2019, a game featuring Rorona's daughter, ''[[VideoGame/AtelierLuluaTheScionOfArland Atelier Lulua]]'', was released for the Platform/PlayStation4, Platform/NintendoSwitch, and Platform/{{Steam}}.

''Atelier Rorona: The Alchemist of Arland'' is the eleventh (or the sixteenth, depending on how you number them) game in Gust's well-known ''VideoGame/AtelierSeries'' and the first of the lot to sport 3D graphics. Like many ''Atelier'' games, it can be described as one-part {{JRPG}}, one-part TimeManagementGame and three-parts ItemCrafting with a dollop of {{Moe}} for flavour.

''Atelier Rorona'' tells the story of a young lady named Rorolina Frixell (just call her Rorona), an apprentice alchemist who lives in the capital of the Arland Kingdom. One day, a knight delivers a message from the government: due to the recent advancements in [[SteamPunk steam technology]], they will no longer support the art of alchemy and have made plans to shut her workshop down. The only way that Rorona can change their mind is by carrying out a series of tasks over the next three years designed to prove that alchemy can still be relevant in modern day life. With her alchemy teacher being too lazy and apathetic to care, it falls to Rorona to develop her alchemy skills and save her workshop from closure.

The game has three sequels, which (together with this game) make up the "Arland series": ''VideoGame/AtelierTotoriTheAdventurerOfArland'', ''VideoGame/AtelierMeruruTheApprenticeOfArland'', and ''VideoGame/AtelierLuluaTheScionOfArland''. A remake titled ''New Atelier Rorona'' (''Atelier Rorona Plus'' overseas) for Platform/PlaystationVita and the [=PS3=] features completely redone graphics and game system, new costumes for Rorona, and post-game content. Another rerelease, ''Atelier Rorona DX'', was released on September 20, 2018 in Japan and December 4, 2018 in North America as part of the ''Atelier Arland Series Deluxe Pack'' for Platform/PlayStation4, Platform/NintendoSwitch, and Platform/{{Steam}}.

You may find the game's proud old (Japanese) blog [[http://atelier-ps3.jp/rorona/d-blog/index.htm here]].

* TheNicknamer: Whenever Rorona hears someone's name she immediately starts brainstorming possible nicknames:
--> '''Sterkenberg:''' I guess I should introduce myself to you, then. My name is Sterkenberg. I'm a knight of this castle.\\
'''Rorona:''' Sterken...berg...?\\
Sterk...\\
Ster...\\
'''Sterkenberg:''' I know it's a bit long.\\
You can call me...
'''Rorona:''' Sterky! Can I call you Sterky?\\
...Please call me Sterk.\\
'''Rorona:''' Awww, Sterky is much cuter...\\
Oh, and my name is Rorona.\\
Pleased to meet you.

* StreetUrchin: Lionela is a very rare ''female'' example of this trope. She starts the game out as a homeless street performer with only the (relatively ragged) clothes on her back and her puppets for company. [[spoiler: She may or may not also be quite desperately insane as the game opens, as the puppets seem to be fully animated and speak to her and other people, Lionela treats them as separate conscious entities and you might think they are magical or something... and then you realize they don't move or speak when she isn't around.]] It's all a little whitewashed compared to the real [[UsefulNotes/VictorianBritain Victorian]] examples, but it's still there prominently. The player can, of course, decide how much they wish to interact with Lionela and help her out of her situation.

** Rorona's skirt is a little... short, and her dress is a bit generous in the chest, but she isn't in a catsuit or anything. Lionela's outfit ''prominently'' displays her ample chest and bares her stomach, although this is part of the ''point''; Lionela is a street performer and is basically a homeless tramp. She's dressed the way she is since that's practically all she could find, and she's not particularly proud of having to dress that way. The [[http://maigo.jp/rorona.html early concepts]] for Rorona's design featured an outfit that was a good deal less "flattering" and somewhat more realistic for a young woman who often has to do some traveling and lab work - and the outfit was then continuously whittled down for sex appeal. They even took away her ''boots'', in the end, in favor of showing more leg. It is worth noting, especially in regard to Rorona's redesign, that her "stripperific" qualities are almost certainly made to appeal to the ''girls'' who might play the game. The whole outfit was made pink, the knee-high adventurer boots with knee guards were replaced with short, stylish boots with lacy, frilly socks, the plunging neckline is, again, on a lacy blouse with a small black ribbon and several cute accessories. Combined with her hobby of baking and generally passive personality, she's obviously not designed to appeal to customers as an ActionGirl.

The game has three sequels, which (together with this game) make up the "Arland series": ''VideoGame/AtelierTotoriTheAdventurerOfArland'', ''VideoGame/AtelierMeruruTheApprenticeOfArland'', and ''VideoGame/AtelierLuluaTheScionOfArland''. A remake titled ''New Atelier Rorona'' (''Atelier Rorona Plus'' overseas) for UsefulNotes/PlaystationVita and the [=PS3=] features completely redone graphics and game system, new costumes for Rorona, and post-game content. Another rerelease, ''Atelier Rorona DX'', was released on September 20, 2018 in Japan and December 4, 2018 in North America as part of the ''Atelier Arland Series Deluxe Pack'' for UsefulNotes/PlayStation4, UsefulNotes/NintendoSwitch, and UsefulNotes/{{Steam}}.

''Atelier Rorona: The Alchemist of Arland'' is the eleventh (or the sixteenth, depending on how you number them) game in Gust's well-known ''VideoGame/{{Atelier}}'' series and the first of the lot to sport 3D graphics. Like many ''Atelier'' games, it can be described as one-part {{JRPG}}, one-part TimeManagementGame and three-parts ItemCrafting with a dollop of {{Moe}} for flavour.

* RevisitingTheRoots: The game is intended to be this for the ''VideoGame/{{Atelier}}'' series. After the more standard EasternRPG style of ''Atelier Iris'' and ''Mana Khemia'' games, ''Atelier Rorona'' returns to the simulation, alchemy-based gameplay of the first five games, which were only available in Japan until the release of ''VideoGame/AtelierMarie Remake: The Alchemist of Salburg'' in 2023.

* LostTechnology: The game opens up with a backstory of Arland containing ruins of advanced technology that was left behind by an ancient civilization. They were excavated and reversed-engineered by a mysterious traveler who showed the people of Arland how the tech worked, which in turn made their daily lives easier. Not much of the details about the tech is explored beyond the intro cutscene though.

* {{BFS}}: Sterk's weapon-type of choice is a Scots-style claymore; these usually aren't ''quite'' as ridiculously huge as many examples in other games, but he does still favor weapons that are typically equal to his own height. This carries forward into both ''Totori'' and ''Meruru'', and in ''Totori'' he also uses [[BladeOnAStick halberds]] at times.

%%[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/tropes_rorona_7858.jpg]]

* NewGamePlus: After beating the game with a clear save, the player can start a new game with all of the money from the last game. However, they don't keep any of their gear from before and they don't keep anything from their container or basket, so they still have to gather or buy ingredients.

'''???:''' What's wrong with you!?\\

---> '''Sterkenberg:''' I guess I should introduce myself to you, then. My name is Sterkenberg. I'm a knight of this castle.\\

* RiddleForTheAges: What kind of blackmail does Astrid have over Sterk that allows Rorona to continue ever after failing one Assignment, [[ItOnlyWorksOnce but not another]] even if it risks his secret coming to light? Since it's never referenced again in any later games, the world will never know.

* MyNameIsQuestionMarks:

* TheNicknamer: Whenever Rorona hears someone's name she immediately starts brainstorming possible nicknames.

* RevisitingTheRoots: The game is intended to be this for the ''VideoGame/{{Atelier}}'' series. After the more standard EasternRPG style of ''Atelier Iris'' and ''Mana Khemia'' games, ''Atelier Rorona'' returns to the simulation, alchemy-based gameplay of the first five games ([[NoExportForYou which are only available in Japan]]).

* NewGamePlus: Atelier Rorona Plus (New Atelier Rorona in JP) features new dungeons, items, skills, and new scenarios that weren't featured in the original game, the biggest of these scenarios being [[spoiler: Totori and Meruru time travelling to the present from the third game and meeting present Rorona to ask for her help in going back]] and Esty getting an ending of her own. Oh, and both Esty and Astrid are playable now!

* TimeManagementGame: The game is kind of like playing an actual job, except in real life your boss doesn't live with you and molest you while you sleep.

* LowFantasy: The only "standard" element of low fantasy missing is the "grittiness". ''Atelier Rorona'' is as non-epic as a videogame can get, the setting is dominated completely by humanity, the "alchemy" is based on scientific principles, and the setting of the game is tightly confined to Arland City and its environs within no more than a week or two's march. This game brought the ''Atelier'' series back to its low fantasy roots in full.

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/tropes_rorona_7858.jpg]]

* CallForward: ''Atelier Rorona Plus'', which was made after the end of the Arland series, added a cutscene with Cordelia that reveals the original just how the Adventurer's Guild from VideoGame/AtelierTotori was conceptualized ([[spoiler: Rorona gave the idea to Cordelia]]) and even indirectly mentions [[spoiler: Gisela Helmold, Totori and Ceci's mother,]] the troublemaking adventurer from the same game, even if that adventurer wasn't name-dropped.

* ContinuityNod: Or in this case, a CallForward. In Atelier Rorona Plus, a cutscene with Cordelia reveals just how the Adventurer's Guild from VideoGame/AtelierTotori was conceptualized [[spoiler: Rorona gave the idea to Cordelia]] and even indirectly mentions [[spoiler: Gisela Helmold, Totori and Ceci's mother,]] the troublemaking adventurer from the same game, even if that adventurer wasn't name-dropped.