Atelier Lulua: The Scion of Arland

If you're a fan of turn-based Japanese role-playing games (JRPG), you'll no doubt fall for the charm of this third-person adventure, which captures animated cartoon flair and deep adventure gameplay. Atelier Lulua: The Scion of Arland is a highly enjoyable game, even though all the text you need to sift through may not please impatient gamers. If you haven't played any of the previous Atelier games, it's important to know that the story needs to be completed within three (in-game) years, so keeping an eye on the time, like gathering and crafting healing items that can take half a week to complete, is a big part of the game. Part of the strategy is learning, through trial and error, which items to craft and how long you should set aside to do so. If you don't waste too much time, you'll be just fine with having space to explore the world (Atelier Lulua is more forgiving with time than previous Atelier titles), mining, fishing, and gathering other resources required to make new items.

The turn-based battle system has you controlling up to five characters in your party, choosing the right kind of attack or special skill (or defensive maneuvers; two of your party members serve as support). In total, your main options are similar to previous games, but particularly notable is the new Interrupt ability, which one of the alchemists can use at any time during battle to inflict damage with a pre-equipped item (even during an enemy's turn). It's fun to trigger, but you need to wait until the gauge is full from performing attacks. This could be especially useful during boss battles to help you take down larger, tougher enemies. Aside from a lot of text to sift through and some repetition in the turn-based battles, there isn't much to complain about with this single-player game. Between its engaging story, deep characters, crafting and synthesizing, and tight battle system, Atelier Lulua: The Scion of Arland is a really good – and good-looking – JRPG to sink some time into.