Atelier Lulua: Cute girl crafting Bombs

 After "inheriting" my mother's Atelier, I felt pressured. But also I was short of cash so I did a few quests on the side.

Then I decided to focus on inventing a stronger bomb to blow a big door. To a point I was left to my own devices, and had to figure it out on my own... almost.

I'm not going to tell you what we found behind the door. Never mind that, I'm off to just battling more monsters and crafting more stuff.

Nearing 20 hours play, Atelier Lulua got into its own. It is signposted, but also, Lulua has friends everywhere and much stuff to do. Then the signposting suddenly arrows back to the core loop. Unsubtle, perhaps.

As an exploration device the Alchemyriddle has not grown on me. As a narrative device, it partakes building a ghost plot where the main character are guided by an invisible hand. The joke is always on Lulua, and that's okay.

Unsure whether the game is approaching its mid-way milestone (was that it? If so the Galaxens have been very silent elephants)

At this point, Lulua really feels like a heuristically good transition between the more classic structure found in Ryza and Sophie 2, and the systemic progression of the Arland and Mysterious trilogies. Doesn't always coming across as articulate, but mostly fun. 

Cute girls with bombs is a trope; wonder how far they pushed it (guessing: not far enough).

Note: formulating key objectives (and milestones) which also don't spoil the narrative (or the game) is an art. Probably.