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[GUST] Games. Atelier Ryza is now out, post your opinions here.

QuiotuQuiotu Registered User regular
edited November 2019 in Games and Technology
New discussion thread about GUST games, which means almost strictly Atelier and Exa Pico games. Since Ar Nosurge comes out in a week, let's start with an in-depth look at the game, mostly from AT's Wiki page.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6egQT8AQg34&index=5&list=PLVV9QZaXHBubjbRo2pRDHyYDR4zHpE9_q

Setting

The themes of the game are "human bonds" and "the inner surface of the heart". On a fictional planet named Ra Ciela, humans and a spiritual lifeform known as Genoms previously co-existed, however after Ra Ciela was destroyed in a failed ceremony that sought to convert it into energy for long-distance interstellar travel, humans began to travel in search of other planets to inhabit using special spaceships. Following contact with a hostile life-form known as the Sharl, the people of Orei were abducted; humankind was technologically incapable of fighting against the Sharl, who utilize a power known as "song magic". Thousands of years later, the Felion Wall opens, and from inside emerge the Ancients, people with the ability to use the same song magic powers.

Story

Hidden in case you want zero information about it until you play.
The story of the game is told through the viewpoints of two character pairs: Cas & Delta, and Earthes & Ion. Initially, Cas and Delta are tasked to find out a song called Ciel N Protecta that their friend Sarly developed, but it was stolen and it supposedly has begun causing the machines in Felion to go haywire. During their searches for it, they are captured by the Genomirai Church led by Zir, and as they try to escape from them, they discover Zir is planning to set up and sing a very dangerous kind of Song Magic. On the other hand, Ion is trapped in the sealed world through which the player interacted with her in Ciel nosurge, and having Earthes as her helper, she decides to escape from it. After escaping from the sealed world, they both reach the city of Tenryosara, where they meet with Tattoria and Kanon. And from there, both pairs continue their journey in search of the truth about this world.

Field Exploration

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7lyxof2iytM

In the fields, the players can explore the areas and collect items in a way akin to that of Gust's Atelier series, as well as talking with other characters, interacting with some elements of the scenery and activating events. They can also talk with the other characters that form their party in order to get their viewpoints on the current area or the objective they have to accomplish.

If there is more than one character accompanying the main party, they can be switched for conversation with the L1 and R1 buttons, and the conversation scrolled by pressing the Square button. The player will have a bar that constantly changes colors, alerting them to the possibility of entering a battle the closer it gets to a red color and the faster it flashes. The bar will have at its side the number of enemy waves that can be encountered in that area.

Zapping

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z2xG9UsWgak

As the player is given control over two pairs of characters: Delta & Casty, and Earthes and Ion, the player is given the ability of changing which party they are in control at any point in the game after a certain point in Phase 1, which is done by examining a Save Point and selecting the Zapping option. However, there are certain points in which the Zapping is forced by story reasons.

Additionally, if the player advances too much with one of the two parties, at a point they won't be able to proceed any further with the storyline despite being free to do anything else they want. They will be notified of this by either a large 'Episode Reached!' or 'Episode Locked!' notice displayed at the top of the screen, and the Episode Online mark on the main menu will be replaced by either of these notices, depending on which one appears on the screen. When this happens, they will have to Zap to the other party and proceed further in their side of the story in order to continue advancing in the game.

Battles

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GUl55P5z5_M

During battles, the player will control two characters: the protagonist and his corresponding heroine, while they battle multiple enemy waves, so once an enemy group is defeated, other group will take their place until the player defeats them all, they run away, are defeated, or the turn limit is reached. The protagonist has the purpose of actively attacking the enemies and protecting the heroine, while the heroine stands behind the protagonist singing a Song Magic chosen by the player.

Turns are divided in Player's Turn and Enemy's Turn, of which the Player's Turn is used for the protagonist to attack the enemies a set number of times while the heroine charges up her Song Magic. For attacking, the player can use four attacks that are mapped to the four face buttons in the PlayStation 3's controller, as well as also being able to bring up a menu by pressing Start where they can use items, activate Friend Skills, run away from the battle or activate the Heroine's Song Magic whenever they wish to.

The better the player battles, the faster their Harmo Level will rise, which in turn will speed up the Burst Gauge, which is the representation of the strength for the heroine's Song Magic. However, received attacks as well as the usage of the bonus actions triggered with the L1 and R1 buttons can reduce the Harmo Level, so the player must be careful. Additionally, the heroine may use weaker Song Magic blasts of variable intensity against the enemies to support the protagonist during the Player's Turn, which also depend on how high the player has the Harmo Level and the type of Song Magic she is charging.

Once the player has used up all the attacks the protagonist can use during that turn, the battle will move over to the Enemy's Turn, during which the player will have to watch for the timing of the enemies' attacks and press the Circle button in order to block them and protect the heroine. Successful guards reduce damage taken and increase the Burst Gauge, while failed guards result in a loss of Burst and greater damage to the Heroine. The number of times the player can guard during the enemy's turn is limited, so they should be wise about which attacks to block during boss battles, as many bosses summon minions that don't deal much damage while the boss itself can easily defeat the pair if their attacks aren't blocked.

It must be mentioned that the protagonist can't die, as he doesn't even have an HP bar, but the heroine does have an HP bar at the side of her portrait, which is segmented into four parts. Each of these four parts corresponds to a Barrier, and if her HP falls below the threshold for a specific part, the Barrier corresponding to it will get destroyed and it won't be possible to heal her HP beyond that point unless an item with the Barrier Repair property is used. If all of the four Barriers are destroyed, the Heroine will fall and the game will count it as a defeat, giving a Game Over to the player.

Battles have a time limit, as if they aren't finished in a certain number of turns, the game will consider the battle as finished and send the player to the results screen, where they will receive experience, Dive Points, money and dropped items depending on the types and number of enemies defeated. After this, they will be taken back to the field and the encounter gauge will be reduced depending on the number of encounters for the area and the number of waves the player managed to defeat.

However, if the player manages to defeat all the waves before the turn limit expires, the encounter gauge will be emptied upon returning to the field, allowing the player to explore the field without worrying about enemies. This gives more importance to Song Magic due to the fact that once it has reached a certain Burst threshold, it can deal damage to all of the enemy waves currently present in battle at once, allowing the player to clear the area of enemies with a single attack. This is denoted in the wave indicator at the top of the screen by marking in red the waves that the currently charged Burst level can destroy at the moment. Additionally, the player can gain additional turns by attacking the enemies marked with a Break mark enough to fill a yellow bar below their HP, which when it gets filled, it will Break that enemy and leave it stunned; as well as killing enemies that don't have the previously mentioned mark. Additionally, event and boss battles are exempt from the turn limit, so the player doesn't have to worry about it for particularly hard battles.

HarmoBurst

When the player has reached the max Harmo Level (Lv. 4), the option for activating the Song Magic is replaced by other called the HarmoBurst, in which the protagonist will be able to attack enemies continuously until the Harmo Level gauge gets completely emptied. Additionally, this will allow the protagonist and heroine to activate a more powerful attack, in which the protagonist launches a super move followed by the Song Magic of the Heroine with amplified power, if certain conditions are fulfilled.

Friend Skills

The player can also call upon the characters that have established a friendship with the party in order to attack the enemies or provide support to the pair after certain conditions are met. However, only one of these skills can be used per battle.

Synthesis

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jUI3SJj59cA

At shops, the player has the option of using the items and recipes they have collected to make newer items, always with the assistance of the shopkeeper of the place they are at. Aside of this allowing the player to gain items they wouldn't be able to in any other way, this also triggers scenes in which the characters involved in the creation of the item discuss it and give it a name the first time a specific item is made, as well as also having humorous sequences of dancing and singing at the end of the synthesis process. It's in this way that the items for strengthening specific parts of equipment of the party can be made: TxBIOS increase the power of Song Magic, Cathodes increase the power of weapons, and RNAs increase the power of armors.

Genometrics

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TSfLliWXOcE

Carrying over the Dive system from the Ar tonelico series, the player can also Dive into the Soulspace (mental world) of the characters, which receives the name Genometrics here, and have adventures through them. During this time, the gameplay changes to be more like that of a visual novel, where the player only has to read through the events taking place, move the protagonist through the Genometrics map and take decisions when prompted. Entering each point in the map requires the player to spend a set amount of the DP they have gained from battles, as well as taking some of the decisions in the events, so if the player doesn't have enough DP, they will fail to complete the events and get expelled from the Genometrics they are exploring. Unlike the Ar tonelico series, however, this isn't limited to the heroines: the player can instead Dive into the Genometrics of several of the characters they meet, and the decisions taken in each individual Genometrics will have some impact in the other, by changing the friendly disposition of these characters towards the current party as well as their introverted, extroverted, masochistic and sadistic tendencies. This is also the only way in which the Heroines can gain new Song Magic for use in battle.

Purification

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ThlymgNbCZE

This gameplay element consists of the heroines and the protagonists taking a bath in a hot spring together. During this, they will change from their normal clothes to swimsuits and have conversations to know each other more in-deeply. Additionally, during the Purification, the player can Install Genometrica Crystals they have received from Dives to increase the abilities of the party. It's possible to Install them into anyone of the playable party members (Earthes, Ion, Cas and Delta), and while there are five possible spots where the crystals can be Installed (legs, abdomen, chest, arms and head), not all of these will be available from the beginning: the player will be allowed to Install on them when both the protagonist and the heroine have gotten a deep enough relationship.

The game will be out September 23rd in the US and September 26th in Europe.

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Quiotu on
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Posts

  • QuiotuQuiotu Registered User regular
    Well shit, one of the videos doesn't work when embedded. Ah well, I'll find a replacement or just remove it eventually. And I'm gonna christen my new thread with some filthy shop music, because I can.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=faAM-qgegxc

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  • DonnictonDonnicton Registered User regular
    Just one more week for NoSurge. HYPE

  • BonepartBonepart Registered User regular
    edited September 2014
    Excellent, now I can talk about Ar Tonelico freely without being shamed into silence ;)

    Sept 23rd! I didn't realize this was coming out so soon. I need to get on the ball and finish up 2 & 3!

    Bonepart on
    XBL Gamertag: Ipori
  • QuiotuQuiotu Registered User regular
    Bonepart wrote: »
    Excellent, now I can talk about Ar Tonelico freely without being shamed into silence ;)

    Sept 23rd! I didn't realize this was coming out so soon. I need to get on the ball and finish up 2 & 3!

    I'm on a quest to finish AT3 one more time. Then I'll have platinum'd the game and can move on with a clear conscience.

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  • vagrant_windsvagrant_winds Overworked Mysterious Eldritch Horror Hunter XX Registered User regular
    Man, I can't wait. When the Japanese say the game's better than Ar tonelico II, I'm hype.

    // Steam: VWinds // PSN: vagrant_winds //
    // Switch: SW-5306-0651-6424 //
  • BonepartBonepart Registered User regular
    edited September 2014
    See, I really didn't care for 2. I know that makes me the odd one, but other than the battle system I vastly preferred 1. I got almost to the end and just didn't want to continue.

    Started up 3 and was much happier with it. The battle system was fairly weak, but the rest was much better.

    Bonepart on
    XBL Gamertag: Ipori
  • QuiotuQuiotu Registered User regular
    Bonepart wrote: »
    See, I really didn't care for 2. I know that makes me the odd one, but other than the battle system I vastly preferred 1. I got almost to the end and just didn't want to continue.

    Started up 3 and was much happier with it. The battle system was fairly weak, but the rest was much better.

    No I think people agree with you, they just see a lot more wrong with AT3. AT2 has the nice battle system, but everything else is rather blah, not wrong just uninteresting. Most people really don't like either girls and end up choosing the third option (best option), and the story is really low on information until the very end, and then it kinda throws it out as something they never talked about until JUST then.
    I'm almost willing to say that AT2's biggest issue is it's TOO long, information is spread too thin and it takes too long to gather all the information and know exactly what's going on. That and the girls aren't nearly as sympathetic as 1 or 3 (best girl notwithstanding).

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  • KamarKamar Registered User regular
    Quiotu wrote: »
    Bonepart wrote: »
    See, I really didn't care for 2. I know that makes me the odd one, but other than the battle system I vastly preferred 1. I got almost to the end and just didn't want to continue.

    Started up 3 and was much happier with it. The battle system was fairly weak, but the rest was much better.

    No I think people agree with you, they just see a lot more wrong with AT3. AT2 has the nice battle system, but everything else is rather blah, not wrong just uninteresting. Most people really don't like either girls and end up choosing the third option (best option), and the story is really low on information until the very end, and then it kinda throws it out as something they never talked about until JUST then.
    I'm almost willing to say that AT2's biggest issue is it's TOO long, information is spread too thin and it takes too long to gather all the information and know exactly what's going on. That and the girls aren't nearly as sympathetic as 1 or 3 (best girl notwithstanding).

    Well, they had to make third girl best girl in AT2, to keep you from screwing up the yuri romance.

    I didn't even know about Nosurge until I saw this thread, just went from zero to HYPE in record time. Ar Tonelico 2 is somewhere in my top 3 favorite games--I did my first playthrough in two sittings. Ar Tonelico games aren't objectively THAT great...but subjectively, I need another hit.

  • QuiotuQuiotu Registered User regular
    Kamar wrote: »
    Quiotu wrote: »
    Bonepart wrote: »
    See, I really didn't care for 2. I know that makes me the odd one, but other than the battle system I vastly preferred 1. I got almost to the end and just didn't want to continue.

    Started up 3 and was much happier with it. The battle system was fairly weak, but the rest was much better.

    No I think people agree with you, they just see a lot more wrong with AT3. AT2 has the nice battle system, but everything else is rather blah, not wrong just uninteresting. Most people really don't like either girls and end up choosing the third option (best option), and the story is really low on information until the very end, and then it kinda throws it out as something they never talked about until JUST then.
    I'm almost willing to say that AT2's biggest issue is it's TOO long, information is spread too thin and it takes too long to gather all the information and know exactly what's going on. That and the girls aren't nearly as sympathetic as 1 or 3 (best girl notwithstanding).

    Well, they had to make third girl best girl in AT2, to keep you from screwing up the yuri romance.

    I didn't even know about Nosurge until I saw this thread, just went from zero to HYPE in record time. Ar Tonelico 2 is somewhere in my top 3 favorite games--I did my first playthrough in two sittings. Ar Tonelico games aren't objectively THAT great...but subjectively, I need another hit.

    Hey, that's why I wanted to set this thread. It's been so long, and the last game wasn't even brought here (though calling it a game is stretching a bit), people need to know that this is coming out so it does okay. It's not exactly getting a lot of marketing, but we do know we have a greater chance of getting Ciel Nosurge after the fact, and maybe even Ar Nosurge Plus if it sells better than expected.

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  • SagrothSagroth Registered User regular
    So very, very excited about this game. The first Ar Tonelico remains one of my favorite games of all time.

    This one looks like it's going to devour my life, and I am okay with that.

    3DS Code: 5155-3087-0800
  • BonepartBonepart Registered User regular
    If this game was on the PS4 I would go buy one today

    XBL Gamertag: Ipori
  • CantidoCantido Registered User regular
    Threat title sounds dirty, which makes sense really.

    3DS Friendcode 5413-1311-3767
  • DonnictonDonnicton Registered User regular
    Got an e-mail from NIS that my limited edition is due to ship any day now. Literally cannot wait. Literally. Like, totally.

  • StericaSterica Yes Registered User, Moderator mod
    Cantido wrote: »
    Threat title sounds dirty, which makes sense really.
    PLEASE SELECT BODY AREA

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  • NosfNosf Registered User regular
    So which of these is actually coming to Vita in NA? I see a lot of mention of them in the East, but nothing over here.

  • QuiotuQuiotu Registered User regular
    Nosf wrote: »
    So which of these is actually coming to Vita in NA? I see a lot of mention of them in the East, but nothing over here.

    There's no definitive when for a Ciel Nosurge or Ar Nosurge Plus outside Japan yet. It's simply hinted that we might get releases for those if Ar Nosurge is a big enough success.

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  • QuiotuQuiotu Registered User regular
    So to keep discussions up until the game is out Tuesday, I have a question for all of you following the thread. Since a giant part of the series' appeal is the music, share your favorite song here. Doesn't have to be a Hymmnos song, but they do tend to be the best and most popular. If you need to choose one from each game, that's okay too! I'll be sharing my own later when I'm not posting from a phone, but my most favorite to date still has to be the final boss song from AT2. Might just be one of the saddest boss fights I've experienced because of that song.

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  • DonnictonDonnicton Registered User regular
    Quiotu wrote: »
    So to keep discussions up until the game is out Tuesday, I have a question for all of you following the thread. Since a giant part of the series' appeal is the music, share your favorite song here. Doesn't have to be a Hymmnos song, but they do tend to be the best and most popular. If you need to choose one from each game, that's okay too! I'll be sharing my own later when I'm not posting from a phone, but my most favorite to date still has to be the final boss song from AT2. Might just be one of the saddest boss fights I've experienced because of that song.

    Pfft, tied between like four.

    Hiabanation is especially impressive because it tells an entire story in Hymmnos, and they sing it for fourteen fucking minutes.

  • KamarKamar Registered User regular
    Quiotu wrote: »
    So to keep discussions up until the game is out Tuesday, I have a question for all of you following the thread. Since a giant part of the series' appeal is the music, share your favorite song here. Doesn't have to be a Hymmnos song, but they do tend to be the best and most popular. If you need to choose one from each game, that's okay too! I'll be sharing my own later when I'm not posting from a phone, but my most favorite to date still has to be the final boss song from AT2. Might just be one of the saddest boss fights I've experienced because of that song.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4oGdjaLmLqw

    EXEC_SPHILIA/. is so good.

  • QuiotuQuiotu Registered User regular
    edited September 2014
    Alright, here's a link to mine. Sublimation.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tqGEb7ZLCYw

    Listen to that for a while and then remember that is FINAL BOSS music. It was a rare moment where I didn't want to win, and just wanted to keep listening to the song.
    Kamar wrote: »
    EXEC_SPHILIA/. is so good.

    And just for you, the only other Hymmnos song I know of with guitar shredding, one of the new Ar Nosurge tracks.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=am1v1U8t0gc

    Quiotu on
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  • QuiotuQuiotu Registered User regular
    Gonna throw out a few oddities I always considered when it came to this series. I'll make sure not to spoil anything, but this seems like the best place to toss it out now.

    In AT3, shortly after getting the third Reyvateil, she mentions Aoto being a Medley. Basically a male with reyvateilic properties, but nothing ever manifests because the properties only emerge if you're a girl. Now there's an in-game reason to why they exist on the Sol Cluster and only there, but I felt they missed out on a potentially interesting way to write off all the protagonist's abilities to fight above and beyond others.

    I liked the idea of Reyvateilic powers only being provided by girls, at the cost of a limited lifespan. But having a rare case where a handful of males have those properties and then have it manifested in different or more subtle ways, like say being a natural in battle or being able to soak more damage than others or just having really good instincts, would've been an easy way at the end of the trilogy to just go 'Lyner, Croix, Aoto, and a few other exceptional males in the series had this condition'. Just a shame that it was mentioned briefly, then essentially turned into a mild plot point for a 'condition' that's only mentioned a few times in the entire game.

    Since they seem to be changing the names of everything dealing with the series itself (due to copyright issues I believe), anyone else a little happy that some words will be mercifully retired? I'm talking about the names that were pretty butchered by the localization. Words like Rinkernator... seriously, who thought that was a good word? Sounds like a place where cyborgs go to roller skate (kinda sounds awesome if it WAS that). In Japanese they're saying 'rinkaaneishon'... it's literally them saying 'reincarnation' in Japan speak, it's where the Tower Administrator can manifest in a physical body again. Why they didn't just call it 'Reincarnation Chamber' is beyond me.

    Anyway, THREE DAYS AND COUNTING! Keep sharing your thoughts here until it arrives, folks.

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  • QuiotuQuiotu Registered User regular
    Well, I got my copy. Got a feeling others are just playing it, though I've heard people that ordered the LE are getting shafted a bit from NISA. Hopefully everyone's copy comes in soon.

    A few hours in, I can honestly say it's what I was expecting. After so many Atelier games, I can tell GUST treats this series a little differently. The budget isn't nearly on the level the Atelier series gets, which is a real shame. It really runs the gamut for the first several hours as it tutorials you on most activities in rapid succession, even moreso than other JRPGs. Battle! Field Battle! Synthesis! Genometrics! Purification! They really tried to get everything out of the way in a few hours time.

    The first field I really didn't have any problem at all killing the whole field in one battle. Hopefully the battles get more difficult, but the series isn't really known for its difficulty either. The NPC dialogue was done in a very weird way, almost like they're saying things in reverse order. That along with the trophies still being in Japanese (they pop up in English, so must be a small glitch) are the two big annoyances I have that'll hopefully be patched.

    Not the best intro I've seen for this series, but certainly not the worst. AT3 I nearly put down after 20 minutes because of its intro. "Okay, so there's a girl being defended by a dying old man. Who's the dude in the skirt? And now we fight, and reinforcements come. The girl's praying now, and... there go her clothes, and... most of the enemies are now cake. WTF is going on?!"

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  • DonnictonDonnicton Registered User regular
    Still waiting on my limited edition to arrive. NISA decided to send it 2-day shipping on Monday so I won't get it until tomorrow. I think that's what I'll be playing through tomorrow though.

  • TakelTakel Registered User regular
    I've only just ordered my copy via Play-Asia. There's nothing really in the LE that would grab my attention, given how I already own all the music CDs and the Drama CDs are on the wish list.


    The whole thing about Aoto being some sort of "medley" is explained a bit more with the Settei books. The entire Clusternia region is part of a project to create hybrid humans/reyvateils and the Outbreak? disease is a symptom or side-effect of that experiment. Basically when such a hybrid experiences a massive emotional situation, that's normally the cue for a reyvateil to create song magic. However the hybrids, not being true reyvateils, don't have a 'memory address' on a song server to create the song magic so they effectively null pointer themselves. Aoto being a "medley" isn't a special thing in Clusternia, every person afflicted by that disease is the same.

    Reyvateils having a shortened lifespan is only true for the 3rd generation reyvateils, ie: those born from a reyvateil and a human father. In their case, they are missing some sort of self-regulating mechanism that regenerates damage caused by the link with an Ar tonelico tower. Otherwise, a 3rd gen reyvateil is human especially when they are taken out of range of their 'home' server.
    This is why Cocona was so important for Mir's plan. Mir cannot go to Clusternia since that is well outside of the range of the Ar tonelico so she'll disintegrate if she attempts to go there. Sol Marta, the setting for AT2 is the 2nd tower of Ar tonelico and is a relay station for the first tower. As Cocona is a 3rd generation reyvateil, and she's capable of kicking ass on her own right, she's able to act in Mir's stead in Clusternia and stay safe

    Steam | PSN: MystLansfeld | 3DS: 4656-6210-1377 | FFXIV: Lavinia Lansfeld
  • IanatorIanator Gaze upon my works, ye mighty and facepalm.Registered User regular
    I really need to finish AT The First. Or just start over again. Listening to the music in the first Atelier Iris really makes me appreciate the progression in sound design between the two.

    Also I refuse to listen to any EXEC_whatevers until I can experience them in-context. Nope, not touchin' em!

    steam_sig.png
    Twitch | Blizzard: Ianator#1479 | 3DS: Ianator - 1779 2336 5317 | FFXIV: Iana Ateliere (NA Sarg)
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  • SagrothSagroth Registered User regular
    Played through a few hours yesterday. Not even to the first
    zap

    yet, and I'm already totally engaged.

    Crafting and the new version of diving feel close enough to AT1 and 2 that it's tough to tell the difference, and the new battle system is waaaaaay better than 3, although perhaps a bit on the easy side(I've yet to have one barrier go down).

    My only complaint is that there's too much moe stuff for my tastes(one gal shows off like half her butt at all times, and all the girls look too young despite insistence a that they are 21 or more), which I guess isn't really a new thing.

    3DS Code: 5155-3087-0800
  • QuiotuQuiotu Registered User regular
    Sagroth wrote: »
    Crafting and the new version of diving feel close enough to AT1 and 2 that it's tough to tell the difference, and the new battle system is waaaaaay better than 3, although perhaps a bit on the easy side(I've yet to have one barrier go down).

    My only complaint is that there's too much moe stuff for my tastes(one gal shows off like half her butt at all times, and all the girls look too young despite insistence a that they are 21 or more), which I guess isn't really a new thing.

    All Hail Nay's butt cleavage. I had to snicker at that too, then just realized they took the idea of a bikini top and used it on her ass instead. Weirdly enough it still covers more than other outfits in the game.

    And yes, the combat is easy, even for the AT series. I was given the recommendation to crank the difficulty to veteran, and you're still liable to only lose with the occasional boss. Doesn't make the game bad anymore than it made Dust: An Elysian Tail bad, just makes it not that challenging.

    After reading an abridged summary of the story in Ciel Nosurge, I can safely say everyone should read it before getting too far in Ar Nosurge. There is a LOT of plot there people should learn, or a lot of the later story will seem random. I'll have to see how well the game explains Ciel as I progress further.

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  • SagrothSagroth Registered User regular
    Question: is there any point where the crafting opens up and let's you substitute component items to find hidden recipes, or is it already an option from the get-go and I just can't find it?

    3DS Code: 5155-3087-0800
  • BonepartBonepart Registered User regular
    Got my copy yesterday, but I'm still in Phase 4 of Qoga. Getting pretty close to the end!

    XBL Gamertag: Ipori
  • QuiotuQuiotu Registered User regular
    Sagroth wrote: »
    Question: is there any point where the crafting opens up and let's you substitute component items to find hidden recipes, or is it already an option from the get-go and I just can't find it?

    I would be surprised if the synthesizing was that complex. It's not Atelier, it's usually just 'find the recipe, gather the ingredients, DANCE!, have a scene'. The most complex it ever was came from AT2, where the same recipe made different things with all 3 girls, and that just made a mountain of stuff where only a handful were useful.

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  • BonepartBonepart Registered User regular
    Sagroth wrote: »
    My only complaint is that there's too much moe stuff for my tastes(one gal shows off like half her butt at all times, and all the girls look too young despite insistence a that they are 21 or more), which I guess isn't really a new thing.

    I'm a big fan of fan service in games, but I have much the same issue. Seems hard to find one without the other though.

    XBL Gamertag: Ipori
  • QuiotuQuiotu Registered User regular
    Bonepart wrote: »
    Got my copy yesterday, but I'm still in Phase 4 of Qoga. Getting pretty close to the end!

    I'm curious to hear how far you are. Also curious if you're using something to make sure you get a true ending, and which singer you choose, if any.

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  • BonepartBonepart Registered User regular
    Quiotu wrote: »
    Bonepart wrote: »
    Got my copy yesterday, but I'm still in Phase 4 of Qoga. Getting pretty close to the end!

    I'm curious to hear how far you are. Also curious if you're using something to make sure you get a true ending, and which singer you choose, if any.

    Spoiler for my progress
    I'm just about to fight Harvestasha at her maintenance pod. I actually started the fight last night but it froze on me.

    I am using a walkthru. When I was younger and unmarried I had time to play through games over and over looking for all the bits. Don't have that kind of time anymore. I expect to go back and get all the endings and trophies, but I'm going to make the process as painless as possible.

    As to girl, I chose Saki.

    For 1 I went Aurica, and 2 was Cloche.

    XBL Gamertag: Ipori
  • QuiotuQuiotu Registered User regular
    Bonepart wrote: »
    Spoiler for my progress
    I'm just about to fight Harvestasha at her maintenance pod. I actually started the fight last night but it froze on me.

    I am using a walkthru. When I was younger and unmarried I had time to play through games over and over looking for all the bits. Don't have that kind of time anymore. I expect to go back and get all the endings and trophies, but I'm going to make the process as painless as possible.

    As to girl, I chose Saki.

    For 1 I went Aurica, and 2 was Cloche.

    Ah, you're at Ru then. Got a ways to go still, 4 is actually the longest phase, but also one you never see unless you're on a True End route. You know the first time I went through the game I chose 'none of the above'? I chose the hidden fourth girl. :lol:

    Wow, went with Aurica eh? Truthfully Lyner seemed like such a douche I didn't want him to be happy, but I did make sure he made Misha happy. And for 2 Jaqli seems the most popular choice (and mine), due partially to her link to the first game, and partially due to the other two girls just being bitter at the world for mundane reasons next to Jaqli.

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  • BonepartBonepart Registered User regular
    Quiotu wrote: »
    Bonepart wrote: »
    Spoiler for my progress
    I'm just about to fight Harvestasha at her maintenance pod. I actually started the fight last night but it froze on me.

    I am using a walkthru. When I was younger and unmarried I had time to play through games over and over looking for all the bits. Don't have that kind of time anymore. I expect to go back and get all the endings and trophies, but I'm going to make the process as painless as possible.

    As to girl, I chose Saki.

    For 1 I went Aurica, and 2 was Cloche.

    Ah, you're at Ru then. Got a ways to go still, 4 is actually the longest phase, but also one you never see unless you're on a True End route. You know the first time I went through the game I chose 'none of the above'? I chose the hidden fourth girl. :lol:

    Wow, went with Aurica eh? Truthfully Lyner seemed like such a douche I didn't want him to be happy, but I did make sure he made Misha happy. And for 2 Jaqli seems the most popular choice (and mine), due partially to her link to the first game, and partially due to the other two girls just being bitter at the world for mundane reasons next to Jaqli.

    Aurica had her issues, but she had the bonus of NOT being in a 10 year old body. You didn't get Misha's adult form until waaaaay to late.

    I may be misunderstanding your meaning but
    Tyria already fused with Ar Ru, so I have her now, and the Think Tank has been dealt with.

    Harvy XP has been rebooted and now I'm fighting Harvy Vista to reset her personality

    XBL Gamertag: Ipori
  • rockrngerrockrnger Registered User regular
    Aurica is one of my favorite love interests in a video game because it was so refreshing to see the writers let her be unpleasant sometimes instead of just telling you how awesome you are.

  • SyphyreSyphyre A Dangerous Pastime Registered User regular
    The dive in AT1 where
    Aurica chains you and is going to imprison you forever, for love.
    is one of the more disturbing character developments I've ever seen, it actually took me aback.

    Also, the dive into Cloche in AT2 where
    The cosmosphere glitches and breaks
    happened for me when I had been playing at 2 in the morning and it freaked me the hell out.

  • QuiotuQuiotu Registered User regular
    Syphyre wrote: »
    The dive in AT1 where
    Aurica chains you and is going to imprison you forever, for love.
    is one of the more disturbing character developments I've ever seen, it actually took me aback.

    Also, the dive into Cloche in AT2 where
    The cosmosphere glitches and breaks
    happened for me when I had been playing at 2 in the morning and it freaked me the hell out.

    I'm curious if you've gone deep in Finnel's CS in AT3. You don't know uncomfortable until you dive into the realm of
    government sanctioned bullying and torture.

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  • SyphyreSyphyre A Dangerous Pastime Registered User regular
    Yep, I beat AT3 once, and I picked Finnel's path. Yes, that was really really uncomfortable. Finnel, however, was really my only choice as I disliked Saki so much (and meh about 3rd Revy)

  • BonepartBonepart Registered User regular
    COSMOFLIPS is AWESOME.

    That is all.

    XBL Gamertag: Ipori
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