Atelier Rorona: The Alchemist of Arland is an alchemic RPG. The designation may not mean much to a majority of players, but for fans of JRPGs, it denotes a special sort of RPG. It still carries elements found in traditional RPGs, like leveling, combat and complex story elements, but most of the game’s mechanics revolve around the idea of crafting items using alchemy.

As the series' first PS3 entry (and the best selling entry in the series), Atelier Rorona has received a major visual upgrade. Past games were limited to 2D sprites, but Atelier Rorona is completely 3D. The switch is a bit drastic, but still manages to retain the look and feel of past games thanks, in no small part, to it’s effective use of cel-shading for characters. The show floor is the worst possible place to see most games, particularly multi-hour RPGs, but Atelier Rorona’s visuals are a real stand out. There I was speaking to a rep about the game and I all I could do was comment on how sharp the main character looked.

In terms of plot, Atelier Rorona is a slightly more personal story. For centuries, the Kingdom of Arland was a poor, famine-afflicted kingdom. Then came the discovery of machines, transforming the kingdom into an economic powerhouse. As technology improved, the need for alchemy dropped, leading to the closure of many shops, including Rorona’s. In order to prove her shop’s viability to the kingdom, she must create specific items and present them to the royal authority.

Atelier Rorona sticks to the series' core mechanics, though it does find a few ways to mix things up. There’s a decent amount of open-world exploration, most of which takes place via a static world map depicting the town of Arland and its surrounding wilderness. Rorona and her friends will need to venture into the wilderness to collect the ingredients needed to craft items for the authority. Each section is set up by an Event Sequence, which resemble the “visual novel” concept introduced in Disgaea Infinite. These segments mainly boil down to making decisions about which direction to take the story, opening up new plot lines.

While on the field map, you’re able to see enemies, offering the ability to fight or flee. Choose to fight and you’ll drop into the standard turn-based battle menu. Battles take place in a familiar back-and-forth manner, though your survival in them depends heavily on your crafting ability. Better materials result in better stuff, increasing your odds of facing down bigger foes.

We’ll have more on Atelier Rorona: The Alchemist of Arland when it ships later this summer. Until them, check out the game’s E3 trailer.