YMMV / Atelier Meruru: The Apprentice of Arland

• Die for Our Ship: People who like to ship Rorona, whether with Sterk, Cordelia, or someone else, obviously don't like that she was turned into a child who's much too young for any kind of romance, and as a result tend to hate on Astrid for doing this.
• Fanon Discontinuity: Meruru was originally the last game in the Arland series, so players expected to be able to play as all three of the Arland alchemists to send off the series before the beginning of the next one. However, the developers apparently balked at the idea of having to depict Rorona (who starts the series at 14) in her 30s... thus writing a plotline where Rorona is mistakenly turned into an eight-year-old with no memories of her own history. She stays like this for the entire game. In the original PS3 version, she was never allowed to grow up either, implying that at best she was turned back into an amnesia ridden 14-year-old because Astrid finds that cuter. Fans bounced off of that idea since even a Butt-Monkey like Rorona deserved better than that, wanting to ignore it or write out that fate for her. Hence the need for the Author's Saving Throw from Plus to at least show one ending where Rorona became an adult again. This died off after Atelier Lulua was released and takes place later with Rorona finally allowed to be in her thirties with a daughter, hence her "child phase" went from being a disappointing send-off to just one of the many wacky things that happened to her.
• Game-Breaker: Synthesize the best equipment in your first playthrough and New Game Plus is a cakewalk.
  • The "Infinite Gio" build takes the Makina Domain and META bosses from face-meltingly hard to pathetically easy. You essentially build a Gio that can always go first, repeatedly using his Slash attack to generate consecutive hits, and then heal his own LP so he never runs out of attacks. It's the only set you can't build before New Game Plus due to both Gio and Makina Domain being unplayable in the first playthrough.
  • Pamela's unique passive makes her absolutely critical in many strategies for tackling the Machina Domain end-game dungeon.
• Hilarious in Hindsight: Sterk's comments about a tiny rock that could endanger Meruru was funny on its own. Cue Meruru asking what kind of rock is dangerous anyway. Oh if she only knew... Lampshaded to hell and back in this video.
• Surprisingly Improved Sequel: Generally the reaction the game got on both sides of the Pacific. In Japan it was the highest-reviewed Atelier game since the original release of Atelier Marie all the way back in 1997 (until Escha & Logy took that crown, anyway), and it's the best-selling Atelier game in ten dog's ages. The reaction was a little more varied among critics on the other side of the pond, but the high scores remain among the highest the entire franchise has ever seen in Anglophone publications by a county mile.
• They Changed It, Now It Sucks!: For many fans, the decision to turn Rorona into a child was highly unpopular, as it undid all of her growth throughout the previous games (and ruined any ship potential), all for the sake of supposedly preserving her cuteness. This was also seen as far more selfish and extreme than any of Astrid's other Troll schemes, making her come across as much viler than intended.