Atelier Lulua: The Scion of Arland

Extensive review of the Entire Arland-Series
Introduction
I like playing franchises chronologically, so I started with Atelier Marie Remake, which is the first game in the Atelier-series. But as the other games are not available on Steam, my first real experience with the Atelier-Series was with the Arland-Quatrology.
In my opinion Marie is actually a really good starting point, as it introduced the Alchemy-system, which Atelier is famous for, without making it too complicated. It was a cute little game, that can be beaten in under 20 hours.
Gameplay it was a seemless transition from Marie to Rorona, as both use the same Alchemy-system, but it was just improved and expanded upon, so there were no issues there.
Gameplay
While playing through Rorona-Totori-Meruru was a mostly seemless experience (Totori was a small downgrade in comparison to Rorona, as Rorona was apparently a Remake and not a Remaster as the other two), but I got used to it relatively quickly, Lulua is where my problems were.
Characters
Considering Atelier Lulua is (probably) the final game of the Arland Series, they should have brought more characters back. So many characters are missing (Gio, Cordelia, Astrid, Esty, Iksel, Hagel and many more, to many to list them all) and some characters that are in the game are not playable for whatever reason, like Mimi, Jeltje.
Another weird thing is, that they changed to the voice actor of Keina for whatever reason. It was weird booting up Lulua after Meruru and hearing her voice being different.
Plot/Story
While earlier games had a relatively simple story, this changed with Lulua. Time travel plays a big role. They first introduced it in the DX-content of Rorona, which released in Decemeber 2018 (Lulua was 100% in development back then). Astrid played a significant role in the post-game content. She was also teased to have an important role in a sequel in the true ending of Meruru, which was also introduced with the DX-remaster.
While it's nice, that Piana is in the game, it feels like, that Astrid should have been the mentor of Lulua. It's would have fit more with the theme of the game being time travel and also her finally taking things seriously, that was teased at the end of Meruru.
Even after playing all 4 games, there are still some open questions:
Why is Astrid not in the game? Before it was revealed, I was 100% convinced, that Astrid wrote the Alchemyriddle, as she is the only truly capable Alchemist in Arland.
Why is Gio not in the game? Sterk said, that he finally beat Gio, but it should have been in this game, as this was a reacuring plot-point for Sterk since Rorona.
What happened to Alanya? Why is it not in this game? Totori mentioned it once, but I find it really weird, that every major location from the earlier games are present in Lulua except Alanya.
Is it just me or does this game feel incomplete? Is there any more information I can find about Lulua? Basically there is so much missing content and nothing has been wrapped up, it doesn't feel like the final game of the series. The first three Arland games felt complete and had a good ending but I don't feel the same about Lulua.
Endword
But unfortunately, considering I could barely find any information about Lulua on the internet (there is only one guide), the older games had a lot more information you could find, Atelier Lulua probably did not sell well.
And also despite me not having played them yet, I know, that the franchise blew up in popularity with the release of Ryza, which was the next game after Lulua, so it's very unlikely that we will ever see a return of the Arland-Series again.
But if it happens, a prequel playing as Astrid (when Sterk and Astrid worked together) would be really cool.

Another fun atelier game, albeit with its own flaws. Im not a fan of the new 2D models of reoccuring characters and as the 4th Arland game i was wishing for a bit more cameos. Great synthesis system. Great combat on the surface, but it quickly evolves in watching the same animations over and over again. Progression is very weird and the timing at which chapters end and begin seem random. And that last point is what keeps me from truly liking this game. Still a fun game and a must play for atelier fans.
P.S a much better pc port compared to the 2 prior games, just wish the anti-aliazing was done better

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

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

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.