Atelier Lulua: The Scion of Arland

This is the fourth game of the Arland series. One could easily get into the Atelier series as a whole with this as their first game. It has no time management so it's chill. Still, it's definitely true that you get so much more out of this game if you've played the Arland trilogy before playing this.

Meeting all the characters again is always so much fun in any of them, and seeing how they've grown etc. Arland has so many great characters. Sadly, you don't get to meet them all again. Hagel and Iksel have been replaced by their apprentices, for example, which was a bit disappointing. And many others are only referenced in passing conversation like Cordelia. Some barely even get mentioned, and not even by name, like Gino. I liked him cuz he was always so honest even if it was offensive which was hilarious. I was hoping to learn how he's doing. I had also hoped to get Iksel pissed off again by beating him in a cooking contest again because that was always so funny, too. But alas. Would have been so good for nostalgia, yanno.

Luckily, you do get to have Sterk around again, the best male side character in all of the Arland games, potentially, all Atelier games imo. Some of the new characters are fun too. Some are kind of boring. It's a bit of a mixed bag. But at least that means there's at least one or two that can be enjoyed, I think.

Lulua is pretty boring, just a basic I am cute and happy type of girl. There's nothing unique about her. Her love for curry would be the only thing I feel, and that's not all that riveting. Everyone has a food pref. But even that isn't standing out so much in this game because everyone and their mother in this game seems to be very much into curry and eats it at every bend and turn other than Aurel.... Literally, every time they eat at the orphanage it's curry. Wot.

Graphics wise, I don't enjoy the artstyle at all for the 3D models in this game. Their mouths look weird when they talk, no teeth and the way they were given 'lips' just makes it look worse. Their faces look too dead, with big empty soulless eyes, and their hair looks weird too. Especially on the females, it looks like it's wet as it is way too shiny and lacks volume, and is overly straight The edges are cut off straight too making it look unnatural/ugly. Long hair also often spasms around or glitches through their body parts. Even all of Atelier's older title has more appealing looking character models imo. I also have no idea why they decided to make the characters look up with their eyes so much to the point their pupils are nearly invisible, making them look really weird (especially happens with Sterk). It's just really weird and ugly.

Furthermore, animation wise, it's mostly static. Characters do some basic emotes, and mostly stand around stationary during cutscenes. I expected a little more coming straight out of wrapping up the Dusk trilogy, as this was a somewhat newer title. But it's really low production value making me question the price of this game. It feels like too steep a price to me. While the game is fun and as an Arland and Atelier fan I feel it was worth my time, I did get it on sale and I am glad I did. Definitely wait for a sale or you might feel kinda cheated.

Other than that, the game offers the same satisfying gameplay loop Atelier games are known for. Explore, gather, craft. You know the drill if you know Atelier.

Was fun but, finished the game in nintendo switch.
Good crafting system and it has time too.
Still my favorite atelier is still escha and logy.
Overall very fun
Gameplay : 7/10
Sound : 8/10
Art : 6/10
Character : 7/10
Note : this game can get expensive buy it on sale also recommended.

Atelier Lulua: The Scion of Arland feels like a swan song for the series in many ways, offering a nostalgic return to the Arland world. As the adopted daughter of Rorona, Lulua’s journey to become a great alchemist is a charming and fitting way to revisit these beloved characters and locations. The graphical advancements make exploring Arland feel fresh and exciting, and seeing where characters like Meruru (now a queen), Rorona (a world traveler), and Totori (an extremely skilled alchemist) are years later is a major highlight.
The gameplay remains a familiar and enjoyable mix of alchemy and JRPG combat. A new back-support system adds a fun layer to battles, allowing for new character combinations and strategies. The difficulty felt fair for most of the game, though the end has a notable difficulty spike that can be challenging.
While the main plot, which involves time travel and parallel worlds, can feel a bit convoluted and silly, the rest of the cast is excellent. Lulua's best friend Eva is funny and supportive, her teacher Piana is a fun kind of crazy, Aurel is a smooth swordsman, and Nico is a hilarious pirate. The strong ensemble cast makes the adventure consistently engaging.
One of the game's biggest drawbacks is the lack of quality-of-life improvements found in the DX versions of the earlier games. Features like a fast-forward button for battles are sorely missed, especially during the grind.
Despite these issues, Atelier Lulua is a great game and a worthy addition to the Arland saga. It's a wonderful journey filled with memorable characters and a solid gameplay loop. For fans of the series, this is an excellent return to a beloved world.
Overall Score: 8/10

Big step up from previous arland games
Previous arland games the story was pretty much non existent for most of the game, Lulua on the other hand has a more engaging story that is prominent throughout the whole game. The need to do request board has been drastically reduced as enemy drops provide more money and the overall reward from request board has been increased. The alchemy system has been improved from past arland games, more mechanics are introduced creating more depth to the system.
What I didn't like about the game
Most of the recipes are hidden behind a 2 riddle system, similiar to sophie and lydie & suelle. If you solve both riddles for that 1 recipe you unlock the recipe. The problem is the riddles are vague so you end up just looking up online on what the requirement is because it doesn't feel good wasting materials on synthesising something that doesn't end up matching the riddle.
Story is kind of bad. Relative to atelier games its ok but relative to other jrps the story is terrible but its better then barely any story like past arland games.
Probably most grindy atelier game to date. Balancing is kind of off. The very first boss is way too hard and you have to grind exp/money (to buy accessories) to beat it. Prior to the final boss, the game doesn't really challenge you. It's only in the last chapter where the difficulty spikes through the roof and you have to lock in and build the best gear possible. If you are just killing enemies for bounties only, you will be 40lvl under the final boss, and at that point grinding mobs isn't viable so you have to craft the best gear to compensate.
Overall if you enjoyed the past arland games you will enjoy this one(and you don't mind some grind), if you are not a fan of the riddle system to unlock recipe I recommend you stay away from this game. If you play atelier games for the synthesis system and the power fantasy of being op like modern atelier games then i recommend you stay away from this game too. If your new to atelier series I redirect you to more modern atelier games or other jrps that have better story.

If you enjoyed Arland story and characters this is a good game and will recommend for that case. Sadly as an standalone Atelier game, it is just medicore.

Early game, common enemies have way overinflated HP, and bombs and equipment is weak. This makes early fights a chore, leading to strategy of pickup runs when you try to avoid any and every combat and just harvest materials. You also don't unlock restock until 1/3 into the game so you have to contantly remake consumables. Eventually it does get better, but that's when second issue starts to appear.

Awakening and counter-elements make alchemy system overly complex, frustrating to work with and impossible to predict without stupid amounts of time documenting it. Its simply not as fun as it used to been in older games. If you want to make a good item you have to spend an hour planning every element, awakening path and traits interactions, and then you will find out that because devs put a single ice element on one item it all goes to $&^%!/.

A charming JRPG with a simple to get into, yet deceptively complex crafting system. Had a lot of fun with this one.

挺好玩的，但是画面有点差劲，不像19年的游戏，技术力还是太差了，不过玩法还是不错的