This nation has a job called "adventurers." It all happened before Arland became a republic. People wanted to explore, adventure, or develop the frontier. The knights of Arland were weak, so the citizens joined them and helped out. It happened gradually, but that system was later institutionalized. Adventuring is now a real job. My mother was one of those adventurers. I hear she's actually famous, too, but we haven't heard from her in years. My father and sister both think she's already... but I don't think so.
—From the Story in the game's manual
Atelier Totori is the second Atelier Series game in the Arland series, preceded by Atelier Rorona: The Alchemist of Arland and succeeded by Atelier Meruru: The Apprentice of Arland. It was released in 2010 and in late 2011 in the West. Like many Atelier games, it can be described as one-part JRPG, one-part Time Management Game and three-parts Item Crafting with a dollop of Moe for flavour.
Atelier Totori tells the story of Totooria Helmold (just call her "Totori"), a young adventurer travelling across Arland on a grand quest to discover what happened to her Missing Mom. Having been taught the art of alchemy by Rorona Frixell (the protagonist of the previous game), Totori slowly develops her skills as an alchemist to aid others and her own journey, with the goal of becoming a famous adventurer firm in her mind.
As a direct sequel to Atelier Rorona, the game plays very similarly with some noticeable improvements to the interface, balance and general design. It also possesses a somewhat more adventurous story than is typical for a main series Atelier game, with a clear and serious goal from the start and several climactic, plot-central battles.
A PlayStation Vita Updated Re-release titled "Atelier Totori Plus" was released in Japan in November 2012, and American/European territories in March 2013 over the PlayStation Network. It made headlines when the Australian Classification Board classified it
as R18+* for "High Impact Violence" and "References to sexual violence", despite the fact that the original version of the game was rated as a relatively innocent PG. (In contrast, the ESRB rated Totori Plus as T, and PEGI gave it a "12".) Another rerelease, Atelier Totori 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 PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, and Steam.
The game provides examples of:
- Actor Allusion: A pair of side events revolves around Totori telling Hagel that he’s very similar to Gerhard. Hagel insists on meeting him. The two finally do meet and are struck by
how similar they sound. This is an injoke about both characters sharing a voice actor, a joke that is present in both the Japanese and English track. - Adventurous Irish Violins: This trope is invoked in the game's heartwarming musical score to accentuate Totori's innocently enthusiastic idealism.
- Alchemy Is Magic: Marc thinks Alchemy is like this, Totori insists that Alchemy is nothing like magic.
- Anti-Frustration Features: Unlike in Atelier Rorona:
- The player no longer has to pay anything to have party members help them.
- The player can skip the ending credits.
- The player keeps all of their gear the characters were using in New Game Plus instead of just the money.
- Bag of Holding: Totori can carry all the components of a ship in her basket and still have room for puniballs!
- Bag of Sharing: Averted with the party members, you only have access to those who are currently in your party. Justified between Totori's and Rorona's shops. Rorona is a master alchemist and set them up.
- Big Damn Heroes: Totori jumps in to save Ceci and Melvia at the last second, but if the player is unprepared she may end up in the exact same situation.
- Cooking Duel: Iksel just won't give up.
- Curb-Stomp Battle: Gino is constantly on the receiving end from Sterk but Sterk himself suffers one at the hands of Gio.
- Date Peepers: Rorona and Sterk do this to Totori and Gino in Gino's ending. However, Gino and Totori are actually out adventuring and Sterk and Rorona are just looking out for their respective students.
- Death Is Cheap: Whenever the party is wiped out, they just go back to the last Atelier visited. Of course, the return adds a lot of days to the calendar, and even then every character is at 1 HP and will require more days to recover. If you're really far out there, you may wish you just died.
- Determinator: Totori might be the weakest main character in the series, but she won't give up and has the most LP of all characters.
- Downloadable Content: For the PS3 version. Adds Ceci, Iksel and Cordelia as playable party members.
- Drowning My Sorrows: When meeting Gerhard for the first time, after Totori causes the game's opening explosion he jokes about the option:Gerhard: Did you need something?
You here to drink your problems away?
Totori: N-No! I'm still too young for that.
I just wanted to drop by for a bit.
Gerhard: A tavern's no place for kids, you know?
Gino: Oh, who cares about that?
It's not like you have any real customers to tend. - Evil Costume Switch: Subverted - Sterk as a mercenary now wears a black suit and looks so scary he makes children cry, but he's still the same nice but misunderstood frowner from Rorona.
- Evil Tower of Ominousness: Liechtein Soehnle, it holds a monster who is more than willing to gobble up a village or two every time he breaks out.
- Fanservice: A majority of Totori's costumes in Plus are swimsuits. Some of the new CGs invoke this as well.
- Fetch Quest: The player can get a lot of money by doing different quests in both towns.
- Final Boss: The Flauschtraut, a sea monster which has blocked sea travel between Arland's continent and the rest of the world. Totori's mother Gisele disappeared on a voyage to slay it and was given up for dead before the start of the game.
- Gameplay and Story Segregation: The opening of the game involves a sequence in which Peter tries to put Totori and Gino over a barrel by telling them that it costs 100,000 cole to hire his carriage, an amount they can't possibly raise in time before the next carriage rolls out. In New Game Plus, however, you can easily have this amount and more because cole carries over a on a New Game Plus playthrough. Events, however, still play out exactly as if Totori and Gino don't have the money. Apparently the development team didn't think of everything, or they were just expecting the player to choose the option you get when you start a New Game Plus to skip this portion of the game.
- Gratuitous German: Many move and weapon names. The tower Liechtein Soehnle at least sounds German.
- Guide Dang It!: This is the second worst game in the series (second only to the original version of Rorona) for unlocking all the endings as not only are the requirements impossible to work out, it is very easy to lock yourself into an ending you didn’t want without realizing it. It is mandatory to look up guides if you intend to minimize the number of very lengthy playthroughs needed to clear every ending without accidentally locking yourself into the wrong one.
- Human Sacrifice: The village Piana came from is made of women who were meant to be this for a devil sealed in a tower.
- Humongous Mecha: Marc eventually gets his hands on an ancient giant robot that he modifies to be even bigger in his ending. He even considered adding a cockpit to it but decided against it due to lacking the necessary technology.
- Immortal Life Is Cheap: To enter the tower you need a human sacrifice, thanks god Pamela is already dead.
- Improbable Weapon User: Averted with the standard characters, all of whom use typical RPG weapons (though Marc's Rocket Punch machine is a little strange). However, the DLC will allow you to fight with Iksel, who uses a frying pan, and Ceci, who uses a broom.
- Item Caddy: Totori and Rorona's main use in battle.
- Missing Mom: The entire reason Totori goes on her quest.
- Multiple Endings: As with its predecessor and previous Atelier games, there are multiple endings depending on what you accomplish in the game, and your relationships with the other characters. The ending obtained is revealed by whomever is at the door when Totori opens it after the credits.
- My Name Is ???: At the start of the second day, when flashing back to Totori's first successful bit of alchemy with the help of her teacher ???, who gets named as Rorona after Totori first calls her teacher, "Teacher".
- New Game Plus: Clearing any ending (including the bad ending) allows you to create a clear game save in which you carry over everyone's equipped gear and all of your cole.
- Non-Standard Skill Learning: All of Gino's skills are obtained through doing his character events.
- Not Allowed to Grow Up: While the game takes place over five years, the characters look exactly the same throughout.
- Only Known by Their Nickname: Totori, Rorona and Sterk are almost always called by their nicknames as opposed to their real first names.
- Pre-existing Encounters: As the tutorial says, monsters to fight can be seen on the field map.
- Prolonged Prologue: In all, it's over three months before your characters return home after getting their adventurer's licenses and really get going on things. Though you can skip straight to having your Adventurer's License on New Game Plus.
- Rock–Paper–Scissors: If you get Sterk's ending, Sterk suggests this as the method of choosing when Rorona and Totori have an argument over which of them should get to take him out for the day. They insist he has to make the choice. He suggests a compromise that works for both of them.
- Side Quest: The game is nothing but side quests until you get your license extended.
- Spit Take: Sterk's reaction at Totori's question regarding "teacher's teacher" (which is, Astrid).
- Starter Equipment:
- Totori starts with her Alchemy Staff and Alchemy Costume.
- Gino starts with a Shortsword and Port Outfit.
- Sudden Soundtrack Stop: When Peter's called a pansy by Gino in the beginning, the soundtrack stops when Peter registers it:Peter: P-Pansy?!
Gino: I don't really get what it means, but it rolls off the tongue. Pansy.
I think I'll just call you Pansy from now on, like a nickname.
Peter: ...
Gino: Something the matter, Pansy?
Totori: M-Maybe you should quit it...
He looks like he's frozen in shock.
Gino: Why? What's so shocking about me giving him a nickname?
Totori: Geez. Come on, let's go, okay? - Tentacle Rope: The CG that you get when you catch the Guardian. Which attacks both Totori and Sterk.
- True Final Boss: Evil Face, the demon that killed Totori's mother. Totori is told in the village that Gisela managed to cripple it but died in the attempt, fortunately preventing any sacrifices from being taken for some time. Years later, Totori chooses to fight it and defeat it herself to save the village forever and avenge her mom.
- Time Management Game: The game is split up over five years, with Totori initially given three years to upgrade her license to Diamond, at which point the game is extended for additional two years. In the field maps, the days are now divided up into segments, with those segments consumed by gathering and combat actions. While you have a lot more control over how much time you use vs Rorona where all field maps consume a flat number of days regardless, it does mean Totori requires you to be smarter about what you do and especially early on it can be easy to actually burn too many days. That said, it's very hard to actually reach the Game Over ending - the time management is more of a challenge for reaching certain endings or having enough time to craft ultimate gear and items for clearing endgame dungeons.
- Unmanly Secret: Hagel doesn't like anyone to know that he designs and sews his own outfits. "You gotta keep it a secret, kiddo!"
- Updated Re Release: The Plus and DX versions. Totori Plus feels a bit barebones versus Rorona Plus, as most of the game is the same. Plus included all of the DLC from vanilla in the base game, adds an event viewer, illustration guide, model viewer, and costume changes, as well as few new costumes if you pre-ordered. The Music menu also added music from Atelier Ayesha due to being released at the same time as Ayesha's initial release. Orthogalaxen from Rorona was added as a bonus dungeon with new superbosses as well as a few end-game recipes for tackling it. DX is virtually identical to Plus save for the inclusion of the previously pre-order only costumes in the base game and the addition of sprinting and fast-forwarding combat.
- Vague Stat Values: Traits are listed in the Library and while some have Percent-Based Values about their effects, but others don't and just use adjectives. For comparison:
- Big: Effect: Slightly raises quality or enhances effects.Quality S: Effect: Increases item quality by 20%.
- Visual Initiative Queue: A very simple version compared to Meruru and Rorona Plus.
- Warp Whistle: Totori eventually gains the ability to make a warp gate that will teleport her back to either alchemy shop.
- Yuri Fan: A canon one in Filly, though it turns out in Meruru that she seems to put people of any gender in the same types of intense romantic fantasies.
