Diary of an RPGamer - 2011-11-18: Atelier Totori

Really got stuck into Atelier Totori overnight after not really giving it the attention it deserved (too many games half-played). Finding it more compelling than Rorona so far; I much prefer the focus on exploring the world along with the item creation. There is certainly a feeling of freedom that I think was sometimes missing with the previous game - you can generally maintain whatever balance between item creation, exploration and fighting monsters that you prefer.

Many of the supporting characters do a good job of adding some life to the game as well; Mimi, Cordelia, Ceci, Melvia and Sterk in particular are well voiced, well written and interesting and/or funny, as the situation requires. Switching party members often leads to some enjoyable dialogue between the characters, especially if it's the first time they've been used in combination or something significant has recently occurred.

On a related topic, NISA recently announced that the follow up title, Atelier Meruru, will be released in 2012 during the (Northern Hemisphere) Spring.