the game is disappointingly easy, but time management is the real challenge here.
the whole idea is for annie (the progtagonist) to learn how to be a great alchemist AND develop an island into a resort in three years (in-game time). that in itself doesn't sound too interesting, but the game does suck you in. atelier annie: alchemists of sera island IS disappointingly easy in some areas -- the turn based battles are a joke (just keep pressing A, and flee if the monsters seem too aggressive), and the quests not only give you fame (which add to your island/resort development) but money (which you can use to upgrade weapons/armor and buy items for healing/synthesis) as well. there are also three save points, so even if you mess up terribly, you can always go back and fix things. the game is so short that it won't be too much of a both to go back even if your last save point was way before the time you messed up. i should know -- i went back a whole year last night.
this is not to say that atelier annie: alchemists of sera island is a bad game. not at all! i do enjoy the character development (annie makes friends on the island which can be invited to her battle party or asked to manage her resort); each character has unique back stories and their own strengths and weaknesses. and in true NIS america fashion, although the main plot is almost an afterthought, the dialogue is funny and the characters all participate in the telling of the story. also, even though the game is easy, there is one element that separates it from others of its kind -- the time limit. annie has three years to transform the island into a resort AND learn how to be a great alchemist. time management comes into play because EVERYTHING in this game takes up time. synthesizing items can take anywhere from one day to one week, and moving from place to place (from the town to item gathering spots or resort buildings, for example) takes days. the quests (which you get from the adventurers' guild in town, every resort building AND sometimes from other characters in the game) also have time limits. i've missed more than one deadline taking too long to gather items to synthesize for a quest. you really have to look at the date at the upper left corner of the screen constantly, as the date rolls over even during the gathering period. this is the real hard part of the game.
overall, atelier annie: alchemists of sera island seems a little bit too short for me, although you can play a new game+ (which i'm thinking of doing). right now i'm halfway through annie's third year in my first game. i'm going to give this game a solid 7/10. -2 for the lack of difficulty (it really is that easy) and -1 for the game length (or lack thereof; i figure if i had played this game straight through i'd have finished it in less than 48 hours).
(originally posted on my blog: http://miaowow.blogspot.com/2009/12/atelier-annie-alchemists-of-sera-island.html)