Lets talk Atelier

[suppadoopa]

My favorite being Atelier Rorona along with Escha and Logy

Let's discuss this wonderful methlab simulator - lowkey one of the better jRPG series out there.

[Great Rumbler]

I'd probably put Shallie at the top of the ones I've played [Rorona, Ayesha, Esch & Logy, and Shallie], mostly because I thought Shallote was the most interesting out of all the main characters in those four and seeing a lot of the story elements in the Dusk trilogy finally get tied up.

[Joe Molotov]

I just finished Rorona Plus a few weeks ago, it's good. I have the rest of the Arland Trilogy for my Vita, I might play through them this summer.

[The Legend of Sunblade]

I have the PS3 collector's edition for the Arland trilogy + Ayesha but haven't played a single one. Meruru and Totori's are still sealed. 

[tiesto]

I have all of the games except the 2 latest, but the only one I've played is Atelier Iris: Eternal Mana on PS2. Really want to get into them, I love love love the art. It's so pretty and floral

[Kara]

When you drive through rural Quebec you see lots of ateliers.

[shidoshi]

Rorona needs to die in a fire. She's horrible moe garbage so far as I'm concerned. Liked Totori, liked Meruru, but I might go with Ayesha as my favorite from that group. Also enjoyed the handful of older ones I played. Haven't touched Escha & Logy, and I do have Shallie, but haven't gotten to it yet.

Atelier is such a love/hate relationship for me. I love the idea, and I love a lot of things about the game, but I'm kind of getting tired of the totally budget production values, and I want more characters that are really made for female players, not just "my waifu" guys. I want heroines that I'd want to be,  or can better relate to, but too often, the MCs in these games are airhead klutzes who have no business attempting alchemy. That's one reason I liked Ayesha, because she bucked that recent trend a little.

Edit: Oh yeah, one of my favorites was Atelier Annie. I loved how it eschewed combat for the most part in favor of just the collection and creation side of things.

[suppadoopa]

Rorona moe garbage? Are we talking about the character or the game itself?

If we are talking about the chracter, then Meruru would be more "moe" than Rorona imo

[shidoshi]

Character herself. And I'd disagree on Meruru. Is she cutesy? Definitely. A little too fanservice-y to make fans? At times, definitely. But she doesn't act like a brain damaged child like Rorona does, nor is Meruru age regressed to pander to a particular crowd.

[archnemesis]

Totori is my fave and overall I like the Arland trilogy better than the Dusk trilogy. I haven't hooked up a PS3 since I moved, which interrupted my playthrough of Shallie.

[suppadoopa]

Character herself. And I'd disagree on Meruru. Is she cutesy? Definitely. A little too fanservice-y to make fans? At times, definitely. But she doesn't act like a brain damaged child like Rorona does, nor is Meruru age regressed to pander to a particular crowd.

Rorona's "quirkiness" does get stupid at a lot of times but it didn't hinder my experience.

I tend to be more forgiving whenever I play jRPGs and overlook a lot of "flaws"

[Supermanisdead]

I only played Escha and logy and it was a pretty good game. I will probably play Shallie one day. I'm probably never going to play the earlier ones since they look like garbage.

[studyguy]

Totori the GOAT
Rorona WOAT
Meruru just sort of okay

Dusk as a whole is sorta eh.

[shidoshi]

Rorona's "quirkiness" does get stupid at a lot of times but it didn't hinder my experience.

I tend to be more forgiving whenever I play jRPGs and overlook a lot of "flaws"

Nothing against you for liking her, but she ruined any chance I had of playing the game. I hated her that much.

And I used to forgive JRPG flaws all the time, but it's getting harder and harder to. I just can't stand seeing the same stupid stuff I saw 20+ years ago, and though I never thought the day would come, in enjoying western RPGs more and more.

I still really want to love the Atelier games, and I do in many ways, I just wish they were better developed. And I wish the heroines were more like they used to be in the series, not what's common now.

[suppadoopa]

I actually don't like Rorona (Tiffani would of have made a better protag), I just like her game. It's straight forward and simple. It was also the most charming out of the Arland series.

I do wish Atelier was given a higher budget though. (Pretty sure TK can give them left over musou dinero) With a bit more development time and resources, the series could really shine. Which I'm really hopeful for as I've been looking to replace my main B-Tier jRPG experience with another series (which would be Tales of), and I want that to be Atelier