New Atelier Rorona’s Battle System Is Actually Rather Different

New Atelier Rorona is pretty much a chibi-style remake of Atelier Rorona: The Alchemist of Arland, but its battle system is actually quite different. Here’s a summary of how the combat works in the upcoming 3DS remake.

The battles start with symbol encounters, and touching a monster will seamless transfer into the game’s grid-based battlefield. You can also press the Y button to perform a pre-emptive attack.

Here’s what it looks like on the top and bottom screens. The bottom screen has commands, such as Attack, Item, Skill, Special Attack, Defend, And Escape.

While fighting, the grid makes it easier to gauge movement with lines showing wherever you move.

The assist system will have allies help Rorona out in combat. Each time you do an action, the Assist Meter will go up, and it can then be used to help add attacks to Rorona’s attacks.

Exclusive to alchemists is the “Item” selection. They range from attacks to heals, and have all kinds of different effects that can help you out in combat. The grids also makes it easier to see the areas items cover.

If you feel like kicking back a little, you can also go with the “Auto-Battle” feature. Using this will allow you to select a monster, and all the characters will automatically move and attack whichever one you select.

This function will come in handy whenever you want to grind, or when you’re required to fight multiple battles in order to get something you need.

Attacking a monster from behind will do more damage to the foe; however, monsters can also get you with back attacks, so you’ll want to be careful on where you’re facing.

For the cost of some MP, you can pull off powerful skills. Skill effects vary from healing allies, to blinding or sleeping enemies, depending on the character and their skill.

Once you reach a certain level with your characters, they learn special attacks. By using attacks and skills, you’ll raise the special attack meter, which is then used to do an extra dose of damage against enemies.

New Atelier Rorona will release in Japan on March 26, 2015 for Nintendo 3DS.