Which "Atelier" game to start with?

[ChaosKhan]

Hey guys,
I just discovered the Atelier series and it picked my interest. Now, I neither heard nor know anything about it and the game descriptions are kind of vague at best (as always). Therefore I've got a few questions.

Have those games a connected storyline or are they all stand alone?
Should I start with some earlier released games to understand the setting better, or is it self explanatory in every title?
Finally, which game do you recommend to start with?

Thanks in advance for your help! :)

[Maniak 2000]

Atelier Rorona, Totori and Meruru are considered and Arland "arc", meaning while all 3 games have their own stories, they're connected with each other somewhat, like you can meet characters, locations, some plot points from earlier games.

All 3 games have a time limit in one form or another, Rorona is considered to have the "stricktest" time limit out of the 3, though unless you're a perfectionist or want to do everything in 1 go, it shouldn't be a problem. The timeline goes Rorona>>Totori>>Meruru, so I would suggest starting with Rorona.

P.S. Atelier Sophie, Firis and Lydie & Suelle are considered a Mysterious "arc" and are not connected to Arland "arc" story-wise.

[NightmareHollow]

Arland: Rorona -> Totori -> Meruru
Mysterious: Sophie -> Firis -> Lydie & Suelle

There's also the Dusk Trilogy inbetween Arland and Mysterious but they aren't on Steam yet but maybe in the future

[Sephilar]

The atelier games except for some exceptions, have always been a trilogy followed by new Atelier games that are set in another world. In other words, you could say they are like FF in the sense that except for some of those games that have a sequel and a prequel like Crisis Core and After Years, all of them are independent of each other, even though they have some similarities (chocobos, moogles,...).

In this case, we're talking about the Arland trilogy, which is composed of Rorona, Totori, and finally Meruru. Although it has been announced recently that the new Atelier game will be another sequel of the Arland series, so it wouldn't be a trilogy anymore when that happens (and who knows if they might try to milk this series even more than that).

Rorona is a good way to start the series, and it's personally the first one I started with. Some people that can't stand time limits might say otherwise, but Rorona is a good start because it will help you have an idea of how these games were meant to be, while it's not really as hard as other Atelier games, and the game itself is of course good too.

Do note though, that these games are based of the Plus remasters of the games and Rorona Plus unlike the others was actually a remake that added some notable changes compared to the others, and that includes an After Story once you beat the game. Without giving away spoilers I can only say it's meant for the player to have played Totori and Meruru before for a better experience, so if you plan to buy the three of them, I would recommend you beat Rorona first without playing the After Story, then go for Totori and Meruru in that order, and finally go back to Rorona and beat the After Story. Then it goes without saying, you'll be ready for when the new Atelier game that will be called Atelier Lulua The Scion of Arland, is released.

So answering your questions, you don't need to play the previous games. although when it comes to a trilogy like this one is better if you play them in order, in this case Rorona. As I said there some exceptions, being that some of them are not a trilogy, or for example when it comes to the Iris trilogy (they are not available for PC), being that Iris 2 is actually a prequel of Iris 1, and Iris 3 is a spin-off that doesn't have a direct connection to Iris 1 and Iris 2, but yeah, the games are made so that even if you started playing a prequel or sequel first you wouldn't be spoiled or anything of the sort, although you'll be missing some references that you'll only get if you play them in the correct order though for the best experience.

[Gin-chan]

The atelier series are usually released in trilogies. With each trilogy/series taking place in a different land/word. Each series would usually have reccuring characters and themes in them. Currently both the Arland and Mysterious Trilogy are available on steam.

The games are usually stand alones with each focusing on the story around the main character of the title, Though as i have said before recurring characters are pretty common in each separate trilogy. So if i have to pick any starting point it would be the 1st game of any of the series/trilogy Which would be Atelier Sophie for the Mysterious trilogy and Atelier Rorona for this series.

If you don't like time limits i's suggest you start with Sophie. As the Arland trilogy are oldschool atelier games and have pretty strict time limits for the assignments,

[General Plastro]

I would like to point out that while each trilogy are diferent separate stories, some things do cross over, like character cameos. For example, Logy is one of the protagonists in the Dusk trilogy, but he also shows up as a Blacksmith NPC in Atelier Sophie. Another example would be Pamela, whos the serie's unofficial mascot, as she pretty much shows up in every single game.

These things give us the feeling that all games are connected in one way or another, so its not like Final Fantasy, where its a 100% new world.

But your perfectly fine just choosing one trilogy and going with it. As the small character cameos are far and few and are barely aknowledged at all.

As for Pamela, well... it really doesnt matter what game in the series you pick to start with, you will experience her character quirks in full, as no game assumes you already know her from the previous ones :)

[Gin-chan]

Ahh yess Pamela and Hagel. My 2 favourite recurring cameos.

[D's Journal]

Escha and Logy.

[Monterossa]

Just play them in chronological order: Rorona, Totori, Meruru, Ayesha, Escha & Logy, Shallie, Sophie, Firis, Lydie & Suelle.

I'm not recommend those games older than Rorona since they're kinda outdated, unless you really love this series after playing 2-3 of them and want to see what it was in the past.

[NightmareHollow]

Originally posted by Monterossa:

Just play them in chronological order: Rorona, Totori, Meruru, Ayesha, Escha & Logy, Shallie, Sophie, Firis, Lydie & Suelle.

I'm not recommend those games older than Rorona since they're kinda outdated, unless you really love this series after playing 2-3 of them and want to see what it was in the past.

Assuming OP (still) has PS consoles for the Dusk Trilogy at this time

[Monterossa]

Originally posted by NightmareHollow:

Originally posted by Monterossa:

Just play them in chronological order: Rorona, Totori, Meruru, Ayesha, Escha & Logy, Shallie, Sophie, Firis, Lydie & Suelle.

I'm not recommend those games older than Rorona since they're kinda outdated, unless you really love this series after playing 2-3 of them and want to see what it was in the past.

Assuming OP (still) has PS consoles for the Dusk Trilogy at this time

The Veeeeta is still a good thing to own. I don't care who said what, it's an awesome device for JRPG fans.

[Algester]

cant go wrong with the first one Atelier Marie on the PSX it aint translated though other than that EHHH

do you like MICROMANAGEMENT? no? go skip most of the Atelier series and get the "JRPG" titles starting with Iris 1-3, Ar Tonelico (not exactly part of Atelier verse as it's more of a spin-off with a spin-off), Mana Khemia 1-2, Dusk Trilogy, Mystery Trilogy
do you like like shop keeping? with a dash of micromanagement? Atelier Viorette maybe for you aint translated though

do you play on the go and still has an NDS or 3DS with you? Atelier Annie and Atelier Liese will be for you its still the basic Atelier format and all that shenanigans that come with it