Atelier Meruru: The Apprentice Of Arland

The game takes place over three years and after each year, the progress (population and expansion) is measured against a set of goals. The way to fulfill those requirements is by participating in typical RPG activities: taking on quests, traveling to more or less far away places over a world map (additional locations open up over time) and fighting enemies. Besides the required tasks, there are also a number of optional quests and boss battles. When the time comes to expand Arls, Meruru gets to choose which building to construct next. Each building rewards a different permanent bonus.

Like all games in the series, the focus is on alchemy: much time is spent with acquiring ingredients to craft items like armor, weapons or other specialities. The only way to get those items is by using predefined recipes because merchants only sell ingredients - the better quality they have, the better the item becomes. While in hostile zones, Meruru and her adventurer party will run into enemies which have to be defeated in standard turn-based battles.

The main problem with this is that every action takes up a certain amount of time. There are different endings which depend on Meruru's success in her mandatory and optional goals.