How you feel about Atelier Lulua ~The Scion of Arland~ will be largely influenced by which parts of JRPGs you like most. If you are drawn mainly to an engaging story and the interaction between characters, you’ll probably enjoy it. If you’re a fan of lots of combat and fast paced action, it might not be your cup of mana. If, like me, you enjoy tweaking stats and finding the best combinations of items to maximise your characters, then you will love it. I spent more time crafting than anything else and I loved it. It took me back to the days of spending an hour in the menus of Final Fantasy VII, trying to find the perfect materia combinations and for that reason, I loved it.

Atelier Lulua: The Scion of Arland is the perfect way to conclude this now tetralogy. That said, Gust could surprise us with another game set in the world of Arland. For now, though, Atelier Lulua is a crisp and clean experience with cute visuals and an even cuter cast of characters. While the gameplay is simple, it’s engaging enough to hold your attention and the best part is that you don’t need to have played the previous three games in order to understand this. With the added bonus of the simplified alchemy procedure, it’s an overall great title to pick up if you’ve been curious about the series.

With dozens of hours of enjoyable gameplay, this polished title will appeal to JRPG enthusiasts and Atelier fans alike.

Atelier Lulua is a fun game to play in small spurts. It combines crafting/gathering with a decent JRPG combat system. While crafting and gathering can be tedious at times, the general concept is pretty fun.